Dark Castle - By faun_me (8.5/10)
This one is a rich and heavy story. Slow burn. Alot of lore. The love interest is an 8 foot tall half human rat man. Memory loss. You've seen some of these tropes before, but they're done well. The art improves steadily as well, and the creature design is well above average. No generic dragons here
Our nameless heroine has no memories. She knows so little that her common sense is gone. She isn't afraid of demons. She has been dragged into the demon realm for unknown reasons. She's being stalked by a friend that looks human, and his demon master desires her. Luckily, she is captured by another influential demon.
At first he seems very nice. He doesn't welcome the stranger warmly, but he doesn't throw her to the wolves. She would die for sure out in the open. The ruler of this castle, Nemalla, doesn't know she's someone else's prey. He really becomes her protector by accident. He even investigates the cloud in her memories, out of pity. It's....a refreshingly normal reaction. Our confused heroine doesn't get special treatment right away, BUT the male leads personality gets established. He's not unreasonable, for a demon.
His kindness is not too good to be true. We see his life outside of his conversations with our protagonist. He's a feared and fearsome leader that doles out capital, cannibalistic punishment with his own hands. He is weighed down by loneliness, because he never expected to rise so high. He was trying to survive, but success left him alone with many enemies.
He is never overtly awful to her, even though his daily life demands a manly/harsh attitude.
The lore is a ton of fun.
Our heroine is ugly. Her features are hideous. She has no tail. No soft fur. Her white skin is gross and unseemly. She does not elegantly blend into the dark, the way a sultry demoness would.
We get hints.
Nemalla is attracted to her, even though her looks are repulsive to any demon.
It starts out very innocently. Nemalla likes her company. He's used to fear and hate, but having a friend is a precious new experience. It soothes his mind. When he shoos our protagonist away to focus on work he regrets it. He muses over how to invite her back over for...him.
He doesn't just want her to regain her memories.
He wants to hang out.
Our protagonist must regain her memories on her own. Nemalla can only help her so much. That's the rule binding her amnesia curse together.
She remembers her name when he takes her to his gorgeous personal garden, to impress her.
Simona.
He tells her to stop.
Names are power in the demon realm, but she gives it to him.
He does the unthinkable.
He shares his name with her too.
He explains the gravity of their exchange.
Knowing a name means you can influence that being, in this particular realm.
Nemalla knows many names, because he is powerful.
Simona has nothing, and she has foolishly given her name away.
He considers...showing her. Punishing her to give her a reason to think. To be less innocent, but he doesn't do it because of his perverse attraction and his loneliness.
Nemalla was imprisoned before. He was at the bottom, with less than nothing. There's an extremely creepy scene. It kind of comes out of nowhere, and it's a red flag. It is why I'm reviewing this series.
Nemalla sees himself covered in blood, back in his chains.
Simona appears, glowing with ethereal light.
He looks at her like she is his only savior, and the illusion snaps away.
Nemalla isn't dreaming.
He had that visceral vision as soon as she touched his hand.
Simona has a friend named Alter.
He kisses her while she's asleep.
He grabs her while he's wearing a mask, and he torments her. He tells her nothing. He lusts over her in the shadows, and his master wants her too. I don't care if he's hot he made a terrible first impression, and the way he treats Simona screams "annoying yandere". You know what I mean. The kind of persistent guy that exists to be slapped around by the real male love interest. He's not that intimidating.
Hopefully his master will be better.
Boom.
Lore drop.
Nemalla was born a prince. The son of a queen. That queen...became lovers with a demon outside of her marriage. The bastard prince was eventually thrown in the dungeon, with his mother.
She died there next to him.
It's implied that she loved her half demon son, and he loved her, and that makes their story even sadder.
It also explains why Nemalla is attracted to Simona neatly. (He likes demons too)
It's nice that it's clear he likes HER, not just her body.
The master who wants her has not revealed himself yet, but I have no doubt. I have total faith in Nemalla. He is absolutely going to tear the other men after her into shredded demon beef.
(Important note: Nemalla can probably change shape. His real body most likely is the rat demon body, but I do think he'll try to seduce Simona with a hot humanoid form at some point. He's already done for. He thinks about her whenever they're apart.)
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