The manga follows the story of Nakaba a princess who has been shunned her whole life for having red hair. She is forced into a political marriage with a prince from the enemy country a marriage that is supposed to bring peace. But the prince Caesar is kind of a racist asshole so the only friend she has in the enemy palace is Loki her servant and childhood friend that came with her from her home country. She also discovers that she has an arcana of time a special power that might help her change the rotten world around her. The story starts out as a fiery romance and the gradually evolves into a reflection on the origins of evil in human nature. You see the world of Dawn of the Arcana is a dark place plagued by systemic inequality prejudices hatred and war. As the story progresses Nakaba learns more about why people hate and hurt each other. Its human weakness that breeds evil peoples inability to see past their own suffering. People who cant cope with their personal tragedies hurt others further spinning and spinning the spiral of hatred and violence. But the more Nakaba understands the more she suffers because she knows that even if she sympathises with the villains she cant let them off the hook. I like that the manga doesnt forgive well almost ... but I cant help but feel sad as well. But there are hundreds of stories out there that attempt to explain or justify the actions of assholes. But what really makes this story stand out from all the others is just how skilfully it draws the readers attention from a tragedy that is unfolding behind the scenes. While following Nakabas story and cheering her on her adventures we miss the same things she misses and we take for granted what she takes for granted. Almost like the villains that Nakaba condemns she gets so immersed with her own suffering that she fails to notice the suffering of others. In a way the manga manages to fool us by playing into our romantic trope and character expectations. I mean even tags here on Anilist feature love triangle and male harem. Because apparently when a heroine so much as breathes next to more than one male character it automatically makes it a reverse harem... ??? wtf Because we think we know what to expect from the characters were in for a very rude ruthless awakening at the end. This story is definitely not perfect and not all the elements of it make perfect sense to me and I dont always agree with the authors sentiment. However it was definitely quite a powerful read and I find myself thinking about that ending even long after I read it. Even though its dark and sad and bittersweet like all Rei Toumas manga to be honest its definitely not a tearjerker and it was very fun to read.