Apologies for the slight delay in posting this week’s episode review. I have been busy preparing for my end-terms (yup, the world’s in a freaking pandemic but we still gotta give exams!) so, taking time out to write reviews has proven to be a bit difficult. I hope you’ll excuse some other possible delays in the coming weeks. Though, I’ll try my best to adhere to schedule.
Anywho, this week on Arte, the soon-to-be-full-time-working-and-money-making artisan, things get shaken up a little with the introduction of two new characters: the sweet-talking Yuri Falier and Leo-san’s old friend(!), Ruthanna. How does Arte deal with their arrival? Let’s talk about it.
After last week’s let-down of an episode, it was nice to see Arte pick itself back up and introduce new and interesting plot elements. Yuri Falier being the most important of these, going ahead. Belonging to a rather famous Noble family from Venice, Yuri appears to be the guy who takes what he wants, by hook or crook. He takes a particular liking to Arte and makes her an offer she cannot refuse (so he believes) of coming to work as a tutor to his sister in Venice. Arte confides in Leo-san about it who suggests her to hone her artistic skills first and foremost as that will lead to even better job opportunities down the line. So, she respectfully declines Yuri’s offer.
Soon after, she runs into a pregnant woman who introduces herself as Ruthanna. She tells Arte that she’s looking for an old friend who works as an artist and goes by the name, ‘Leo’. Funny name, Arte thinks to herself. Surely it has no connection with that Leo-san. Because, as is well-established fact, Leo-san has no fRiEnDs. But to her surprise, Ruthanna’s friend does turn to be the same Leo-san she knows. And on top of that, the two seem to be on real good terms with each other. Leo-san asks Arte to leave the room so that he can talk in private with Ruthanna and she can’t help but think that something’s amiss. She wishes to help Ruthanna in any way as Leo-san seems to care deeply for her. Arte finds out that Ruthanna’s husband had recently passed away and her paternal family won’t return the dowry given by her parents in marriage.
Coming from a culture where arranged marriages and dowry practices are still the norm, I could really relate to the plight of Ruthanna. Women in such cultures are always seen as lesser members of the family they marry into, if they ever get the honor of becoming a family member at all. They are forever fated to listen to taunts and insults about them and the families they come from. Whenever they do something commendable, they are the family brides and when they do something wrong, they become their own mother’s daughters.
When Arte sees Ruthanna’s mother ill-treating her and having no concern or care even for the baby she holds in her womb, she decides to take the initiative of helping her out in any way possible. She goes up to Yuri and tell him that she can come work at his house for six months but only if he helps Ruthanna get her dowry back. Yuri is pleased by the proposition and surprised that he didn’t even need to carry his whole plan out to make it happen. He keeps his word by utilizing his family’s connections to get the dowry back. And all that’s left is for Arte to fulfill her end of the deal.
What will this new step into uncharted territory bring for our beloved and noble Noble? What other difficulties lie ahead in her path? What kind of a person really is Yuri Falier and what may his ulterior motives be? Join me next week to find out!
Hmm…I liked this episode okay, but Darcia just seemed to appear out of nowhere. She doesn’t even get an introduction or scenes where Arte meets her for the first time. It made me feel like I had missed an episode or two.