sadslime's manga / #Arranged marriage(17)

Tono Asako is known as a spinster, but she doesn't mind as long as she can take care of her frail younger sister. But when the soldier Shintaro Kido requests her sister as a bride, Asako can't let someone with his reputation take her sister, especially when she hears he only wants a bride to give birth to an heir. Asako begs him to take her instead, and Kido agrees, beginning their relationship as husband and wife in which Asako believes herself to be a replacement bride, but Kido seems to have wanted her all along. Asako starts off seeming like a very strong character, but once married it feels like she immediately loses any strength to her actions and just becomes your basic FL and dutiful bride. It's fine, but not a standout story. Trigger warnings: Sexism, attempted rape, threat of suicide.

Ch.1 - Looks like I'm Engaged to the Demon Chancellor - Lui is a court sorcerer who just wants to do his research, but his parents tell him he's suddenly engaged to the supposed "demon chancellor" Owen in a political marriage. Lui decides to get out of it by making sure he's not a virgin before the wedding night, nullifying the marriage, and goes out to find a partner, not realizing the true identity of the man he ends up with. Trigger warning: lying/manipulation. Ch. 2 - I Was Supposed to be Reincarnated as an NPC, but I am Passionately Loved by my Favorite Character - Joel was isekaied into a BL dating sim, but he's just an NPC, so he's content to see his favorite character, the knight Celestin, from the sidelines. But when Celestin comes to school, he and Joel end up really hitting it off, and when Joel tries to leave the knights to Celestin and go on his way, Celestin isn't ready to give him up! This one was really cute, and I was so bummed to realize it was just a oneshot. Would have loved to see more. No trigger warnings.

Yuuki is a regular salaryman descended from mages, and to strengthen their spiritual power, he's been engaged to someone from a Chinese family with strong spiritual power all his life. When they finally meet, his partner Shunen turns out to be a young man with loose morals, and Yuuki is not interested, until he finds out that as a "floral pearl," Shunen needs to have sex or he'll die (or something like that). Thus begins their adventures as an engaged couple. Interesting and funny, but it's not finished and unlikely to be updated any time soon. Trigger warnings: dubcon, drug (roofie), attempted rape.

After a war between clans, the clan leader's son, Heuk, is sent the daughter of the losing clan's leader as his bride to ensure peace between them. Little does he know, the bride was replaced with her twin brother, Jayeon, who has instructions to kill Heuk. Although his clan doesn't trust Jayeon, Heuk can't help but pity the poor child when he sees how young his bride is, and his pity touches Jayeon's heart, so that he wants to stay there forever. The only problem is that their clans still intend to go back to war, so if they really want to stay together, they can't stay there. Also Heuk still doesn't know Jayeon is a boy. Trigger warnings: abuse, child bride.

Sayako is an ordinary girl dreaming of happiness with her beloved Takahisa who assures her they'll be together soon. But when she comes home and finds that her family has lost everything, the only way to save their finances is for her to marry Count Kijoin. Sayaka gives up on her love and goes to be married only to find her husband is in fact a demon called Lord Amenoi who only wants her to bear him a child. However, if she can do that, he promises to set her free, and perhaps she can reunite with her beloved. So far no reason to really like any character, Sayako isn't strong or particularly interesting and Amenoi is obviously coercing her into sex and doesn't care. But it's still early enough that it could be interesting to see how their relationship develops. Trigger warning: coercion (buying a wife).

Shion and Ao are of two totally different classes, but they're to be symbolically married in a "binding ceremony" that imitates the story of their ancestors who were in love. Shion begrudgingly goes through with it, only to be shocked when Ao actually wants to take him to bed, but though Ao is sweet to him when they're alone, he's standoffish and rude with others. The answers Shion seeks seem to be in their shared childhood, where they were friends before Ao became chief, but even if Shion comes to understand why Ao wants him by his side, what will that mean for them going forward when Ao's clan wants to get rid of him? I liked their dynamic well enough once it got past Ao being a jerk at the beginning. Trigger warnings: dubcon, drunk sex, attempted murder.

Kazumasa and Takaomi are alphas in an arranged marriage, but although they've been married for a while, they can't agree on who will bottom. Kazumasa attempts to find a solution on his own and visits a sex therapist who helps awaken him to anal pleasure, but Takaomi is pissed when he finds out. Then, to make matters worse, Takaomi's mother gets sick of waiting for grandchildren and decides to take matters into her own hands. I personally don't like "bottom battle" setups, but other than that I liked this couple. The mom's actions are so completely insane and illegal, I wasn't even sure how to include them in the trigger warning. Trigger warnings: possible cheating, voyuerism, lying/manipulation, drug(aphrodisiac).