BL Library - Fantasy

Manhwa Review | Why Ophelia Couldn’t Leave by Joo Ahri

Title: Why Ophelia Couldn't Leave

Author(s): Joo Ahri

Artist(s): samo

Ophelia has lived a tragic life. She was the child of her mother's love affair with a mercenary who helped rescue her from her poor life in the countryside. Unfortunately, their relationship soured and ultimately ended in tragedy as Ophelia's father died on the battlefield. Ophelia's mother moved on fairly quickly to a knight, who also ended up dying an untimely death due to disease. Then, she meets a baron whose wife is frail, and Ophelia and her mother end up living with them for a time. Once the baroness passes, Ophelia's mother marries the baron, only for him to pass away from illness as well. Finally, after the funeral of her husband, Ophelia's mother meets and soon marries the Duke of Arpad, where Ophelia meets her new stepbrother, Alexander.

The two don't hit it off right away, but after the unfortunate carriage incident that takes the lives of both Alexander's father and Ophelia's mother, they are soon intrinsically tied together until Alexander comes of age and is able to take over the dukedom. Ophelia attempts to leave after the funeral, but Alexander begs her to stay, at least until he becomes an adult. Then, she can leave whenever she wishes. So, Ophelia stays, but as time goes on, the question of whether or not the carriage accident was truly just an accident comes back to haunt the family of two, and the undercurrent of Alexander's taboo affection for Ophelia steadily grows. Will Ophelia be able to make it until Alexander's coming of age? Or will she be swept away by the mysterious circumstances of her place in Arpad manor?

Title: The King and the Paladin

Author(s): IRINBI

Artist(s): Park JiEun

Ezekiel is a noble paladin. For years now, he has been steadily building up his reputation, wealth, and standing in society in hopes of one day reuniting with his long-lost love Calli, and finally establishing a life with her. However, before finding her, he is appointed as the heir to a dukedom as the illegitimate son. Ezekiel accepts his role, and as the heir, he meets with the newly appointed queen of the kingdom. To his surprise, though, the bloody queen Calliope is none other than his long-lost love Calli. Before he can even express his joy, Calli captures him and forces him into a marriage ceremony right then and there.

Calliope has suffered for years under the power of her father's concubine and her children. Her only reprieve from the suffering was the company of a mysterious man named Ezekiel, who was being kept and trained by the church. The two shared many sweet and intimate moments. After discovering the corrupt and salacious nature of the church, Calliope's goal is to help rescue Ezekiel and take over her rightful place on the throne as its only direct descendent. However, upon making this decision for herself, she discovers Ezekiel has disappeared, and all she has to go on is the rumors that he has left to become a noblewoman's concubine. Betrayed by her only love, Calliope goes on the warpath, ascends the throne, and with Ezekiel back under her thumb, she is determined to keep him by her side, even if it means destroying him in the process.

Title: A Kind Goblin's Bird

Author(s): 8cat

Artist(s): 8cat

There is a tale about a woman who can help grant wishes in people's sleep. All she has to do is sing as the person falls asleep, and in their dreams, they will see their wishes granted. She is an oracle and one that Sah Heonyoung seeks out to test her powers. When he sees her, they are inexplicably drawn to each other; Sah Heonyoung, in particular, is drawn to the oracle. However, his identity as the twin of the crown prince, a goblin, makes it impossible to want anything without fear of losing it.

The oracle in question has never had a name. She is forced to live out in the woods of the mountain, surviving on weeds and grass in between the few times she is called to perform her wish-granting ceremony. Over time, her body has accumulated many scars, her legs have weakened to the point that she can't stand for long, and her eyesight is poor at night. Her life is an endless struggle until she meets the goblin in the red mask. He whisks her away, gives her a name, and asks her to be his bride. In an instant, her life has changed, but the imperial family, his family, threatens to steal away her happiness forever.

Title: The Thorn That Pierces Me

Author(s): MaCherie

Artist(s): Piggyback

Heesoo was just trying to find an escape. Having just toured America and decided to go back home and better her life, Heesoo is finally seeing the brighter side of life. However, on the way back to Korea, the plane she's on ends up getting sucked into a strange portal that transports the plane and everyone on it to a fantasy world. Heesoo is one of the few to survive the crash, but just surviving the crash isn't enough. She ends up running into creatures called maenok, which are zombie-like creatures that attack the living and that can't be killed. When she isn't running from zombies, though, she faces enslavement, starvation, assault, and misunderstandings due to her inability to communicate with the locals since she can't speak their language.

Things aren't going so well in the new world. Resigned to the fact that she probably won't survive, Heesoo plans to stop fighting and accept her fate. That is until a super sexy paladin appears to save the day. Finally faced with a glimmer of hope, Heesoo is determined to latch onto Calix in the hopes that he will keep her safe, and she does that the best way she knows how: by seducing the chaste paladin. Unfortunately, Calix isn't all that receptive to her feminine wiles, but Heesoo's persistence slowly but surely wears down the wall her savior has put up. However, as that wall begins to fall, it reveals that Calix may not be as pure as he appears to be.

Title: Bride of Elysion

Author(s): Bora Wang

Artist(s): Hansol

Ina Yoo is just going about her day on Earth when she faints and wakes up to find herself in a cage with other women, who all seem to be from different places. None of them seem to know what's happening or where they are. They are carted off to a stage where many masked men overlook them. Ina Yoon is terrified, as expected. While standing in the middle of the stage, she catches the eye of a gentleman in a cat mask. Before she can ascertain his identity, she is chosen and suddenly flies up to a higher balcony. Once there, she is introduced to a gentleman named Aivan. He has decided to be her supporter.

However, the gentleman in the cat mask, Asbell, comes to take her for himself. The two men get into an argument; all the while, Ina is stuck in the middle, only growing more lost and confused by the second. Finally, the two men ask her to choose between them. When pressed, Ina selects Aivan. Aivan then takes her back to his mansion, where he explains that she has been summoned to the world of Elysion, a world where only men are born. As a result, they have to summon women from other worlds. Once the women make it over, they are praised and worshipped by the men, taught how to live in Elysion, and allowed to marry and take on as many men as they see fit.

In exchange, the women help produce mana, magical energy, which can only be done through a “mana exchange” with their boyfriends. It's a lot to take in, but Ina doesn't take long to catch on with all the beautiful men around. It's not all sexy time and butterflies, though, as the drama between her suitors and even other women crops up, but Ina's not going to let that get in her way. She will follow her heart and do everything she wants in this new world.

Title: Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts

Author(s): Yu Tomofuji

Artist(s): Yu Tomofuji

Beastkind and humans live entirely separate lives. Each is designated land with an agreement to never cross into the other's borders, except for the agreed-upon ritual. To uphold the peace between the human kingdoms and the beastkind, humanity must give a human sacrifice to the king of beasts. Unfortunately for Sariphi, it is her turn to be sacrificed. Oddly enough, though, she isn't afraid. She has known she was meant to be a sacrifice for a long time and has resigned herself to this fate, ultimately happy that her life and death could be meaningful.

During the ritual, she is faced with the king of beasts. However, instead of killing her, he turns into a man and tries to set her free. Since taking the throne, he has never once killed a sacrifice and instead helped them all to escape. Even so, Sariphi doesn't leave. She has nowhere to return to and now has no meaning for her life. The king is entranced by her lack of fear, something he must contend with every day because while he is the king of beasts, he is not entirely a beast. Drawn to her, the king decides to let her stay with him under the pretense that she will one day be his bride and help close the divide between human and beastkind.

Having lived her whole life under the assumption she would one day die as a sacrifice, Sariphi must now find a new motivation to continue. She battles against prejudice, political schemes to keep her from becoming queen, and efforts even to take down the king of beasts. Can a human girl survive in a world made for beasts?

Title: I'm the Soldier's Ex-Girlfriend

Author(s): Ji Hyun

Artist(s): SETE

Maise Hazelnut is supposed to be the saintly female protagonist of the harem romance novel The Soldier's Girlfriend. But, unfortunately, the current Maise is not that saintess character. Instead, she is a girl from the 21st century who has reincarnated into the world of her favorite novel! But she's not just any character – she is the saintess! She initially enjoys the adventure and her cute, soon-to-be-soldier male protagonist boyfriend, Sucre. However, it doesn't take long before all of it gets old, especially when Maise is often getting kidnapped so Sucre's enemies can threaten him. While he is off gallivanting on various male protagonist adventures, he is also flirting with all the beautiful women of the novel.

Fed up with the plot, Maise decides to live her life her way. The first step to do that is breaking up with Sucre, and while he doesn't take it well, Maise holds firm. So, newly single and living her best, peaceful life, Maise goes out to look for her true love. In her pursuit, she is set up with the mysterious Eith Lancell. He's handsome, considerate, and everything that Sucre wasn't, which is just what our independent female protagonist is looking for. Eith seems just a bit too perfect, and it isn't long before Maise suspects there is more than what meets the eye with her devilishly handsome new beau.

Title: Hello, I am a Witch and my Crush Wants me to Make a Love Potion!

Author(s): Eiko Mutsuhana

Artist(s): vient

Rose is a witch – a being that lives outside of the laws of any country, government, or man. Since she is a being separate from humans, she has lived in isolation on the city's outskirts her entire life. As a result, Rose isn't the most socialized person in the world. To make matters worse, the only reason witches can use magic is due to the singular rule they can never break: they can never tell a lie. This leads to almost all of Rose's conversations being vague responses, riddles, or just non-responses. This has never been an issue, though, since she lives alone, and the only people she interacts with are her guardian, Tien, and the occasional customer seeking out her potions.

Her peaceful existence is rocked, though, when a man she happened to fall in love with four years prior suddenly arrives on her hermitage's doorstep. He is part of the royal guard and is a nobleman in his own right by the name of Harij. Rose encountered him once in the market after her grandmother and caretaker passed, where she was subjected to people celebrating her grandmother's, the witch of the lake's, death. Harij was the only one who defended her grandmother and, by extension, Rose herself, and Rose never forgot him. Unfortunately, though, Harij isn't there for just any reason. He is seeking a love potion.

Rose's pride as a witch won't allow her to deny the man she loves such a potion, but that doesn't mean she won't take advantage of the situation. She draws out the time it takes to make the potion, sending Harij out on errands to procure the ingredients needed, and as time goes on, Rose's love for Harij only grows. Meanwhile, his affection toward the witch grows, too, or is that just Rose's imagination? Even if Harij did fall in love with her, how could a witch fall in love with a human?

Title: Satan's Bride

Author(s): Huyusora

Artist(s): Huyusora

Rupia is the only daughter of one of three major noble families in the empire. As the only daughter, Rupia is lovingly doted on by not only her parents but also her brothers. The only downside is that she has yet to debut into society, even in adulthood, simply because her family is overprotective. Unfortunately, though, her family cannot protect her from everything.

One day, the demon oracle Cleora demands that the underworld takes in 500 human women as their brides, starting from the ruler down the long line of succession of the demon throne. When the decree is sent to the royal family, they put out a royal decree to all noble families to give up one of their daughters for this noble task. That, unfortunately, includes Rupia. Her family, of course, detests this command but is unable to fight against it due to their standing in the empire, so Rupia, along with 499 other human women, is transported to the underworld.

Once there, the women are met by demon maids, butlers, and even the demon king himself, Edith. Almost none of the women can communicate with demons except for Rupia and three other women, as they have learned some of the ancient language, which is one of the few languages humans and demons share. As a result, Rupia and those three other women are chosen for the king, and the three demons next in succession for the throne.

By random draw, the women are doled out to their respective partners, and by pure luck, Rupia is chosen by the king of the underworld, Edith. However, Edith is just as displeased with this situation as Rupia. As it turns out, he didn't want the human women at all. Even so, Rupia and Edith have no choice but to be together. As the new queen of the underworld, how will Rupia manage her new life in this strange place, and will she be able to thaw the icy Edith?

Title: Bug Boy Boyfriend (Tapas) | SOS! My Love Has A Bug (Comikey)

Author(s): Tu Jie Zi

Artist(s): Comicloft

Xiao Fan is your average high school student… or at least she wishes she was. In actuality, she is the daughter of a venomage – a shaman who uses nature and the venom of animals for various experiments. Though Xiao comes from a line of powerful venomagi, Xiao herself couldn't care less about it and would rather pretend like it didn't exist. This is primarily due to the stigma around venomagi. They are discriminated against and generally hated by the general population, which is why Xiao does everything in her power to hide the fact that her mother is one.

Unfortunately, this becomes much more complicated once Xiao's mother creates a human-type venomal – a living creature made up of venom, animals, or other natural properties. This venomal is a moth-boy who goes by Yamu. As a recently manufactured bug-human hybrid, Yamu is prone to causing trouble whether he tries to or not. While Xiao is vehemently against his very existence, Yamu is inexplicably drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

As much as she doesn't want to, Xiao grows attached to Yamu, and they quickly form a bond. However, because Yamu is a rare hybrid venomal, he quickly draws the attention of many other dangerous venomagic practitioners who want his power for their own venomals. Yamu isn't the only one in danger, though. As it turns out, Xiao, though she never wanted anything to do with venomagic, is destined to a fate that could force her away from everything she loves.

Fantasy

Manhwa Review | Why Ophelia Couldn’t Leave by Joo Ahri

Manhwa Review | Bride of Elysion by Bora Wang

Manhwa Review | Satan’s Bride by Huyusora

Manhua Review | Bug Boy Boyfriend by Tu Jie Zi

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