Roulette Review: Falling for a Dying Princess

Premise: Princess Kirona suffers from Tetra Fever, a terminal illness. Desperate for a cure, she embarks on a perilous journey eastward, where she meets the mercenary Jade Eclipse. Along the way, multiple suitors enter her orbit — and she finds herself pregnant, with the father’s identity a mystery. The story blends myth, love, and royal intrigue in a world ruled by a matriarchal empire.

About the Suitors

There’s a variety of male characters orbiting Kirona — from knights to mages to mysterious nobles. While the story sets up a potential mystery around who fathered her child, the romantic focus quickly becomes clear.

Mage supremacy ✨: Personally, I want the Mage to be the ML. I’m tired of every ML being a copy-paste knight or prince type with the same loyal, stoic, sword-wielding aesthetic. The Mage stands out — he’s sassy, delicate, beautiful, and nearly feminine — which creates an aesthetic imbalance when paired with the FL. But that contrast is exactly what makes their dynamic interesting. Sadly, it’s unlikely he’s the ML.

Same goes for the “fish guy” — again, visually striking but probably not endgame. From chapter one, it’s obvious who the real ML is going to be: Jade. And while I like Jade, I wish the story had leaned into the reverse harem mystery a bit longer.

Season 2 Changes

Season 2 drops the vibrant full-color style in favor of a monochrome palette with only golden accents. It’s not a downgrade per se — it actually looks elegant — but it’s jarring if you’re coming in fresh from Season 1’s visual richness. Readers should know this going in so they’re not surprised or disappointed.

Thoughts on Story & Worldbuilding

The setup had so much promise: a matriarchal empire, political drama, mystery fathers, and a heroine on the brink of death. But it all falls a little flat. The matriarchy is surface-level — aside from a ruling Empress and reversed marriage roles, there’s little depth to how that society functions differently. No cultural nuance, no gender-flipped power dynamics, no meaningful implications. Just set dressing.

As for Kirona’s motivations — we’re told she wants to live, but we’re rarely shown why. There’s no emotional root, no yearning that grounds her struggle. Do you want to live for love? For power? For your child? It’s never clear. The story instead drifts into magical solutions and vague trauma flashbacks without grounding in consequences. Even her illness is brushed off in the present-day chapters.

The timeline jumps also hurt the pacing. We get present → past → five years later → back to a younger Kirona, with no transitions to orient the reader. Suspense is deflated before it begins. Jade disappears only to return a chapter later. The child subplot fizzles out quickly. All this builds to a story that’s predictable despite its gorgeous packaging.

Final Verdict

Premise: 9/10
Execution: 5/10
Art (S1): 10/10
Art (S2): 7/10
Characters: Mage supremacy ✨ (but Jade’s still fine)

If you love soft romantic fantasy and don’t mind some narrative chaos, give it a try. But if you’re here for tight storytelling or depth like Your Eternal Lies… temper expectations.