The Princess's Jewels
is a Harem Webcomic by JYUN, with illustrations by Hong Cha.
The comic stars Princess Ariana De Sacramise, the first princess of the empire of Arbezela, daughter of the 31st Emperor, Jaider De Sacramise. Despite her father favouring her over her brothers, Ariana is all too aware she'll never become the empire's first empress. If anything, she'll probably become wife of some neighbouring king.
Well, Ariana decides "Nuts to that!". She decides to make it her goal to become empress of Arbezela so she can fulfill her dream: surround herself with multiple gorgeous men.
The comic was released on Webtoon on July 14th, 2021.
The Princess's Jewels contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Benela emotionally and physically abused Bavilo for being Always Second Best to Roserice's children.
- The Ace: Princess Ariana. This is exemplified by her besting Sir Belloque in sword training in episode three.
- Animal Motifs:
- Nell, as well as the rest of House Phantom, can shapeshift into shadowy wolves.
- Prince Efrit and Abal have the ability to turn into hawks.
- Raymond is compared to a fox by others, and controls a fox plush to get close to Ariana during a ball.
- Haun is often called a sly ferret, and begins wearing a ferret mask after rumors spread of his past at home.
- Prince Kamal is said by Bavilo to have the brains and eyes of a bat.
- Once Duke Crytear loses his weight, his shifty eyes and demeanor are compared to those of a snake's.
- Best Her to Bed Her: Haun agrees to join Ariana's harem on the condition that she beat him in a duel with one sword strike. She succeeds.
- Blackmail: In order to capture Jade, Ariana poses as a common street dancer in order to trick Lord Meldea into scouting her out as a potential concubine, which he does by sending his men out to caputre her. After revealing herself and beating them down, she then informs House Meldea of his attempted assault of royalty and makes a deal to keep hush about it: oust and castrate Lord Meldea for his transgressions, give the firstborn daughter the role of lord in his stead, and trade Jade over to Arbezela as a peace offering.
- Bound and Gagged: Prince Efrit ties up and gags a man in episode 13 because of an article he wrote in the newspaper, which was about Princess Ariana favouring Haun Baek.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Prince Efrit eventually uses the journalist he kidnapped in episode 13 to print news about who was behind the Sun Ceremony attack as well as Ariana helping the victims recover, but uses the opportunity to make him slip in rumors about Haun Baek's past with men.
- Connected All Along: Raymond is revealed to be behind Duke Crytear's gaudy clothes in his first appearance as well as his weight gain (through drugging his food), in order to portray him as an undesirable fiancee when he finally returned.
- Covered in Kisses:
- Prince Efrit in episode 11, after spending some quality time with Princess Ariana following a hunt in Xek.
- In episode 50, Duke Crytear is shown covered in kisses before he spends the night with Ariana.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Prince Efrit is the most possessive of Ariana, often showing jealousy when she pays more attention to other Jewels. He kidnaps a journalist when they publish an unflattering rumor about her anonymously to the news, beats up multiple suitors so he can be the one to accompany her to a ball, and his jealousy of Haun's presence in the harem despite his status leads him to dump food on him and use his journalism connections to spread rumors in Darhan.
- Cross-Popping Veins: As part of the webcomic's anime style, various instances of cross-popping veins appear on characters to indicate when they get irritated.
- Disguised in Drag:
- Raymond and Jade disguise as ladies-in-waiting in order to help Ariana finish paperwork.
- Ariana disguises as a man in order to see Jade while he's recovering from his attempted rape; he's upset by the gesture, however, as it's part of a long line of unwanted interactions he's had since he was first brought to Arzebela.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Averted with Lina's assault of Jade. Her methods of attempting to get Jade on her side unnerve him, and when he definitively turns her down, her drugging, kidnapping, and attempted rape of him are played for drama. Ariana even allows Jade to go home for once to recover as long as he needs to.
- Even the Girls Want Her: In episode 3, when Ariana is in the Kingdom of Xek, we see some servant girls talking about her. One of them says "Even as a woman, I was captivated by her beauty!".
- Even the Guys Want Him: In episode 11, when the royal delegation from Darhan shows up in Arbezela, Haun Baek can be seen at the front. In an accompanying panel, several women, and one man, are seen blushing at the sight of him.
- Facial Composite Failure: In episode 3, when walking about Prince Efrit, Nell states that there was an incident on the field of battle where his face was exposed after his mask was damaged. He presents Ariana with a sketch of him, and it shows what he might look like in his 40s or 50s. Ariana finds the sketch hilarious, and even Nell needs to stifle a laugh.
- Female Gaze: When scouting out members of her harem, Ariana notes details she likes about her men, such as Prince Efrit's pecs, Nell's Tall, Dark, and Handsome features, or Haun's beauty. Scenes where they get romantic with her feature at least one shot from her perspective, which shows off her lovers' bodies.
- Fiery Redhead: Prince Efrit is a very hod-blooded individual with red hair.
- Formerly Fit: Duke Crytear returns from a trip to another country noticeably fatter than before, which adds to Ariana's embarassment over being his fiancee along with his tacky clothes. Subverted later on, when he slims back down considerably through a combination of magic stones, training, and using a cursed sword that takes away body mass the longer it's used.
- Gemstone Motifs: Naturally, since Princess Ariana is working to build her "jewel box".
- Ariana's eyes are often compared to Amethysts.
- Raymond Amber has blonde hair, yellow eyes, and is in charge of deals and finances.
- Jade Meldea has a blue-green motif color and can make predictions by understanding a wave-like "flow".
- Got Volunteered: While the Jewels were picked by a member of their family or Ariana herself, they each had some opportunity to get to know her before accepting. The same can't be said of Jade, whom was traded in under duress; a fact he resents and informs his icy attitude towards her.
- Green-Eyed Monster: King Goldblackrose of Galdeon becomes insanely jealous of Raymond Amber when Princess Ariana shows more interest in him that in Goldblackrose himself.
- Hair Colors: As part of the webcomics anime-inspired style, several characters have unusual hair colours, like Prince Efrit's red hair, and Jade's blue hair.
- How We Got Here: The webcomic begins with Princess Ariana walking through a ball with everyone fawning over her, while she's being escorted by beautiful men. Then it jumps back one year after the Title Drop.
- I Kiss Your Foot: In episode 7, after Princess Ariana wins Raymond's scavenger hunt, the two lean in to kiss... then she forces him to his knees and orders him to kiss her feet in front of the whole party. He's hesitant at first, but the desire to do so overwhelms him. He does it in episode 8.
- I Love You Because I Can't Control You:
- Raymond is drawn to Ariana because she refuses his initial advances instead of fawning over him like the noblewomen he's used to.
- Lina is a Stalker with a Crush for Jade, and every time he refuses to go along with her or acts coldly only makes her want him more. Played for drama, as this eventually results in her kidnapping and attempting to rape him.
- King Incognito: When Princess Ariana goes to the Kingdom of Marloe to get Jade Meldea, Raymond has her disguise herself as a street performer in order to lure out the lord of house Meldea and get her closer to Jade.
- Local Reference: Most characters are from Western-influenced territories, but Haun is from Darhan, a country to Arzebela's west that has Korean culture and traditions. This matches up with the nationalities of the writer and artist, whom are both Korean.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: Members of House Phantom can shapeshift into wolves. Their most common form is that of a large black wolf that can be controlled to be more anthropomorphic, but they can also turn into shadowy creatures that can be used for espionage. When in human form, they have visible ears and tails that can be hidden from view.
- Perverted Drooling: Lord Meldea is seen drooling quite a bit when thinking about what he wants to do to Ariana.
- Property of Love: All members of Ariana's Jewel Box are gifted with a collar bearing their motif gemstone on the front.
- Riddle Me This: In episode 6, Raymond promises a kiss to the first woman who can find a certain object in the banquet hall based on his riddle: it's small, red in color, and makes an interesting sound when you roll it. It's his tongue, as Ariana proves by grabbing his face and gesturing to it.
- Royal Harem: The Princess's titular Jewels, of course. They also double as a Battle Harem, as she picked out each member to support her in both combat and royal affairs, in addition to their looks. There's...
- Duke Nell Phantom, whom previously led the Arbezelan army to victory.
- Prince Efrit Karsia, second crown prince of Xek.
- Haun Baek, commander of Darhan's security detail.
- Raymond Amber, first son of House Amber.
- Jade Meldea, decendant of one of the five holy houses of Mistral.
- Sexy Discretion Shot: Every time Ariana is about to get it on with a member of her harem, the scene cuts away to a shot of her hands being pinned down. In one case, a BDSM session with Raymond fades to the next scene just as he gets blindfolded and his hands tied.
- Shame If Something Happened: When Duke Crytear talks to Raymond about what he'a done, he mentions Raymond's sister and muses that he wouldn't want someone like her to get involved in their affairs.
- Something about a Rose: Roses tend to stand in for shadiness and underhanded tactics in certain cases. The manipulative and abusive Benela Verdi is known as "The Lady of the Red Rose", and the potent drug Rosehip comes with imagery of roses and rose petals.
- Those Two Guys: Marina and Chelsey, Ariana's ladies-in-waiting that tend to her dressing and daily activities. They're often seen accompanying each other, and in rare cases when one is gone, the other will be with Ariana instead.
- Wingding Eyes: Peoples' eyes turn into hearts when they see someone who enamours them (like Princess Ariana, or Raymond in Episode 7).
