Der Pakt der Ewigkeit 04

Eternal Covenant #4

by Haejin, Nina Gliese (Translator)

Ian ist nach seiner Rettung im Königreich Archaia aufgewacht – und plötzlich ist nichts mehr, wie es schien. Denn der Mann, für den Ian Gefühle entwickelt hat, ist niemand anderes als der Halbdrache Soleite, König von Archaia. Und er scheint zu glauben, dass Ian die Wiedergeburt seines geliebten Ritters ist. Während Ian noch Zweifel plagen, ob er es überhaupt das Recht hat, an Soleites Seite zu stehen, plant Kardinal Heron seinen nächsten Schachzug. Denn er ist nicht bereit, Ian einfach so aufzugeben …

Genres: Manga, Manhwa, Fantasy, Romance

256 pages, Paperback

Published May 12, 2025

Reviews

[Jacquie Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really want to know where the cardinal fits into all of this

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why I'm consistently surprised that I like this series. I guess I just keep expecting the relationships to veer off in a direction I don't like, or for the plot to fall apart.

Some things are still a little clunky - I had more trouble keeping my attention on track during the Derwin scenes, and I find all the secret plotlines with the north etc a little bit dragged out - but Haejin does such a good job with the characters' emotions. From the beginning, I've loved the chemistry between Ian and Sol ("Jack"), and that's been getting better and better.

For the first half of this volume, I was kind of amused by Ian's jealousy over Sol's "dragon knight," with whom he's been in love for a thousand years. After all, Ian's jealous of himself, so that's all a bit silly, right? Except...there are a lot of layers to that, and Ian is sharp enough to figure out the connection himself before long.

I really liked seeing Ian taking a lot of initiative to explore the castle and investigate the secrets he keeps overhearing. In reality, he could probably just ask Sol or the prime minister or any of the other actively friendly people in this very accepting country. But he's not used to any of that. He grew up in a country where he was hated and feared simply because of how he was born, and was taught from a young age that he was a sinner who had to be avoided at all costs but also wasn't allowed to go anywhere else.

Hated and trapped and forced to sneak around to find answers or pursue his own sense of justice. That's who Ian has been from the start, and that's the kind of guy Sol met and was immediately attacked by. (And then attracted to.)

Ian recognizes, of course, that he's in a different and far more accepting place now, but you can't let go of trauma that easily. After all, what if he gets used to this cushy life and has it ripped away from him? Isn't he supposed to still be loyal to the Cardinal who's saved his life multiple times and promised to come for him again?

And Sol...how does he truly feel about Sol?

Initially, Ian's anxieties are wrapped up in the realization that he's "Brian" (could you really not come up with a better and less bland dragon knight name), the man who'd tamed a dragon and made him into a king. I honestly really wish we could see more of that story, because I absolutely love the whole concept. Sol, an immortal dragon who fell in love with a human, has been waiting 900 years for his return, and has remained utterly devoted to him this entire time.

That's all incredibly romantic...unless you're Ian, who is not Brian and isn't sure he ever will be. Even if he regains "his" original memories, will he lose his current sense of self? Does Sol care about Ian at all or is he just waiting for Brian to return and take over?

And, Ian realizes........he's not sure that his feelings for Sol are entirely his, either. They connected so instantaneously, maybe it was Brian's love for the dragon king that was sparking inside of him, and "Ian" - whoever "he" is - may not have had an actual choice in falling in love.

It's fascinating, really, and I hope it stays as lovely as it has been. I would like to see Ian regain his original memories, but I like Ian as himself and am probably as worried as he is about how things will change. I don't think he'll lose any of his personality once he remembers his past, but we'll see.

Meanwhile, Sol is one of the most caring and gentle romantic leads I've seen in manhwa. You have this guy who's the ruler of a country and an extraordinarily powerful dragon with literal superhuman abilities, and yet he never once touches Ian without ensuring that Ian's okay with his presence. He adores him. He always prioritizes Ian's well-being but respects him and his choices. While I get all of Ian's concerns, I think it would've been pretty difficult for him to not fall in love with Sol in either of his lifetimes.

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This continues to be a very slow world building, but it also gets more interesting as pieces fall into place. While Ian is struggling with finally understanding he's believed to be the dragon knight, he can't actually recall those memories clearly at all, but there are small things here and there that would not be so familiar or he would know nothing about if he didn't have some vague awareness of those memories. His dual feelings for Jack and Cardinal Brixton continue to be a challenge to navigate as well as the Cardinal has his loyalty as a knight and for saving him as a child, but he can't deny his feelings for Jack at this point either, even with this new turmoil over if the feelings are really his or his past self's. For all that Jack is so aware of Ian, he doesn't seem to understand how his mind works or what he is struggling with now, which makes some sense with the added knowledge of how he learned to be "human" in the first place. Really, they both seem to want the same things, even if coming at them from different points of view. If only they'd actually talk about it instead of all this cloak and dagger, especially before Cardinal Brixton's next plan causes any other issues for them.

[Shiritaku · Rating 5 out of 5]

Der Band war sehr intensiv. Die Geschichte nimmt immer mehr Fahrt auf, die Emotionen kochen an manchen Stellen etwas über und es kommt immer mehr Licht ins Dunkel.. zwischendrin wusste ich weiterhin nicht so recht, wohin das ganze führt, wie die einzelnen Charaktere nun eigentlich wirklich sind und welche Absichten sie tatsächlich haben.. doch je weiter es voranschreitet, umso mehr wird aufgedeckt. Und so viele Twists, die ich absolut nicht erwartet hatte! 😱 Wirklich super spannend und ich bin froh, dass ich die Reihe doch angefangen hab, denn sie zieht mich tatsächlich doch sehr in ihren Bann.. 👀 zum Glück hab ich Band 5 auch schon da und muss nicht so lange warten um weiterzulesen, haha 😄

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot thickens.
Es bleibt sehr spannend - das aktive Geschehen ist gerade etwas langweilig und besteht aus vielen inneren Monologen, da Ian alles mögliche über seine Vergangenheit erfährt und über seine Entscheidungen nachdenkt. Sozusagen eine Existenzkrise, die ziemlich nach zu voll ziehen ist.
Aber dafür ist der Hintergrundsplot über die Vergangenheit und worum es überhaupt geht, richtig gut in Gange und spannend. Der Mangaka ist wirklich gut darin, Storyparts einzustreuen und so das große Ganze immer weiter zu öffnen. Und es wird auch immer politischer. Wirklich spannend :3

[Sarina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es ist wirklich super spannend! Ich freue mich schon darauf in den kommenden Bänden noch mehr Hintergrundinfos zu erhalten. Mich hat nur genervt, dass Ian und Soleite nicht richtig miteinander reden, wodurch es zu Missverständnissen kommt, die zwischen den beiden stehen.

[Yui · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich liebe es, wenn BL auch mal richtig spannend ist und ne gut überlegte Geschichte hat. Daher: Bin so gespannt, wie es weitergeht.

[Stronglysalty · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

[Giulia Grassi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vi prego sposatevi