Being an avid reader of Hidaka-sensei's work, I can't say this is anywhere near my favourites of hers so far. The art, as expected, is magnificent and both main characters are perfectly lovable in their own way, no matter how misunderstood they come across like more often than not. My main concern is, I think, with the plot. It drags in an overly complicated- arguably unnecessary- way, so much so I caught myself squinting and scrolling more times than I would like to. The historical and political intrigue, coupled with the issue of the problematic social status, goes on and on forever in a way that is neither stimulating - artistically or culturally speaking - or easy to follow and assimilate: and the larger the conversation, the worse it is, I reckon.
I don't mean to say this is a bad manga. Not at all, it has some pretty valuable points rooting for it: interesting and compelling characters developed to the needed extent, lovely intimate moments between the main couple (great smex by the way), plus an intricate storyline that goes far beyond the formulaic BL out there, even though it remains, for the most part, a Master-Servant relationship. However, a few chapters down the road, I did question how well executed the plot was, as I was getting less and less from it. There's too much babbling on seemingly important subjects that lead nowhere except when they do but you can't tell they do because you've forgotten all about it 😐
It's not just a matter of being "complicated" but that it's complicated in a very iffy way.
Some of Hidaka Shoko's works are, and always will be, in my Top 10 --- or make it 5. But this one, so far, I say, is not impressive. Of course I'll keep on reading it, so long as chapters are out. We'll see.