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There have been quite a few comments written about confusing points in this series, and my attempt to answer to some recent ones asked in the comments section got so long that I thought it would be a good idea to start a forum thread for this. This thread is a place where you can ask about whatever has left you scratching your head in this series and hopefully someone will come up with a theory to solve the puzzle. 
Of course, be warned for spoilers.
So whats the deal behind this series? Why did Arthur propose to Orthez but doesn't want to make it a real relationship? And why is Orthez just fine with that? And what is Marchioness Ricel's relationship with Arthur?
1st ques. "So, what's the deal behind this series?": This series is a romance and intrigue story set against the background of political marriages during the Medieval Ages in a fictional European country. It is really key to have an understanding about how arranged, political marriages worked between people back in those days to understand a lot of the characters' reactions, motivations, and actions.
2nd quest. "Why did Arthur propose to Orthez but doesn't want to make it a real relationship?": Despite vol1 ch5 p16 where it sounds as if Arthur is the one who proposed marriage, vol 1ch1 p13 makes it clear that Orthez's father is the one who first proposed the marriage between his daughter and the Earl of Felluah, aka Arthur. -So, that line in vol1 ch5 p16 might be a mistranslation of a vague original sentence.- We don't know all of the motivations behind the marriage on either side yet. However, many clues have been dropped from which I think we can make some inferences.
1) The Duke of Tessa, Orthez's father, made the marriage proposal and even told Arthur to marry Orthez as soon as possible. This, despite Prince Paris being well known to be interested in Orthez, and with her rank as a duke's daughter she would have been prime crown princess material.
The king also seems to have gladly given his blessing to the union between Orthez and Arthur, which also means a bond between the Tessa and Felluah domains. From these things and the vague conversation between Arthur and the Duke of Fano in vol2 ch2, I think that the Duke of Tessa and even the king have a clear reason why they wanted Orthez to not be available to Prince Paris any longer. -Of course, we do not know (yet) how Prince Paris's own engagement to Lady Kristianne figures into all of this. We don't know whose daughter Kristianne is and of which noble rank. We also do not know when their engagement was formed; before the Duke of Tessa engaged Orthez to Arthur, or after. Though it seems to be after, considering Orthez stated in vol1 ch5 p15-16 that she didn't marry Prince Paris because the engagement proposal to Arthur was formed before Prince Paris ever asked for her.-
2) Arthur accepted the marriage proposal before even seeing Orthez's portrait and went along with the Duke of Tessa's wish to rush the marriage without hesitation. We don't know yet if Arthur might have had other reasons for agreeing to marry the daughter of the Duke of Tessa, but I think it has been clearly hinted that he started the marriage not caring about who his bride would be. He was in love with Igraine, aka Marchioness Ricel, but she had married another. As the lord of Felluah marrying and having an heir to secure the family line was a necessity. And, as a reader should be seen from the perspective of many marriages in those days had nothing to do with love. Even Arthur's own late parents were apparently estranged from each other after his birth.
Of course, Arthur went through the motions of the wedding vows, etc., but it seems to me that when it came down to it he found himself unable to coldly consummate the marriage with Orthez when his heart was still elsewhere. I don't think that his declaration right after their marriage that he had no intentions of consummating the marriage was a rebellion against their marriage. There has been no sign so far in the story of him having been forced into it. Rather, I think he accepted the marriage proposal in part as a way to actively cut ties with Igraine by his own agency, instead of just being forced to accept her choice to marry another. So, the marriage between him and Orthez was, among other things, a way of making himself unavailable to Igraine even if she should later become widowed and want to come back to Arthur; of saying "You can go to another. Well, so can I."
However, we see as the story continues that he does deep down wish for more than just a show marriage, even if he is not fully aware of it himself yet, by his growing respect and attraction to Orthez and by his conversation with her at the royal court in vol2 ch4 p12-13 about living with the one you love.
3rd ques. "And why is Orthez just fine with that?": Orthez replied to Arthur's declaration that she was fine with not having a passionate marriage for a few reasons that I can see.
1) To keep her pride.
2) She was not agreeing to absolutely never consummate the marriage. As seen later in the series, she knows full well that Arthur will have to have relations with her at some point if he wants an heir, because in those days only the offspring of the legal wife could inherit the title. Arthur is an only child, and considering his uncle, Wion, seems to be a childless bachelor who is going to enter a monastery now that Arthur no longer needs him as guardian, Arthur is the only one to carry on the LaPrez family line and pass down the title of Earl of Felluah. He needs to have an heir.
3) In those days the only respectable occupations for a woman of Orthez's rank would be marriage, becoming a nun, or possibly becoming a lady-in-waiting -but depending on the country, being a lady-in-waiting and marriage were not always exclusive of each other from what I understand-. As the daughter of a powerful duke -the highest rank of nobility-, Orthez would have been raised expecting that her occupation in life would be to run a castle and raise heirs of whomever her father should arrange her in marriage to.
We've been given quite a bit of insight into how Orthez views her marriage and the topic of love. She loves scandalous romance novels but at the same time approaches marriage very pragmatically. She already views herself very blessed to not have been married off to a man old enough to be her father or who is violent, uncivilized, or ugly. From vol2 ch4 it seems clear that she wasn't expecting romantic love from marriage.
However, just like Arthur has been changing, we can see from the latest chapters in vol3 that Orthez is starting to become aware of Arthur as well, and vol2 ch5 shows us her growing dissatisfaction with her difficulties in connecting with Arthur despite their being the same age.
4th ques. "And what is Marchioness Ricel's relationship with Arthur?": To understand that, you have to understand her Felluan background, I think. Marchioness Ricel, aka Igraine, was born in Felluah and her father was the old commander of the Knights of the Order of Pabina who serve the Earl of Felluah. It seems her family were lower nobles without land of their own. -I find it curious that her father has died and wonder if he died at the same time as Arthur's parents.-
We have seen from Arthur's memories at various points so far and the lock of hair Igraine keeps in a locket, that they were young lovers. From the way Igraine spoke about how everyone would adore their child if she and Arthur were to have one it seems clear that -a- they were close enough to think of marriage, and -b- that their marriage would have been acceptable to everyone in Felluah, despite their rank gap. This is further stressed by the way all of the Pabina knights presently seem angry with Igraine.
And then we have the mysterious gap between Igraine and Arthur's adolescent love to Igraine having become wedded to the Marquis of Ricel and the mistress of the king. We don't know in which order this occured. Did she marry the marquis first and then become the king's mistress or the other way around? -And, how did she even come to be in a position to attract the notice of either man?- Either way, by the way Arthur and the Pabina knights treat her coldly, it would seem that it was her own choice to marry the Marquis of Ricel and leave Arthur. -I think the backstory here is going to be more revealed as the story continues and may end up becoming a key point.-
Igraine still seems to love Arthur despite her choice as seen by her keeping his lock of hair, her sending him a letter, her watching him dance with Orthez, and her going all the way to his quarters in the royal castle at night.
It still seems unclear to me what all her intentions are in approaching Orthez. I think she, of course, has the motivation of wanting to be nearer to Arthur and hoping to confirm whether she still has a place in his heart, and perhaps hoping for a chance to seduce him -though I'm going to keep erring on the side of neutrality on that last one until the story develops a bit more. It wouldn't surprise me if there is some sort of plot twist that reveals her to be misunderstood.- However, she might also change to really develop a friendship with Orthez as they are both intelligent and Orthez does not shut her out like most do. Her jealousy towards Orthez will probably also become a key point in the story, though, as Orthez has everything that Igraine would have ideally wanted; a powerful, living father to protect her and a place by Arthur's side.
...It really is confusing so far why Igraine left Arthur. If it was for the sake of material gain and rank advancement then that makes no sense, because an earl is higher in rank than a marquis. Edit: Oops, nevermind, I remembered wrong. A marquis is slightly higher in rank than an earl/count. So, at the moment, it looks like Igraine broke Arthur's heart by leaving him for a marquis and is even proving herself to be a loose woman further seeking power and affluence by gaining the king's attention as his mistress; which is likely why people are scorning her. I think it will be interesting as the story further develops to see what the author reveals to be the truth behind these matters. It might be just as it appears or it might be very different.
Whew, that ended up being quite long. I hope it helped. Does anyone else have any theories?
Edited by zel, 14 January 2015 - 02:00 PM.
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