Nina the Starry Bride, Vol. 6

星降る王国のニナ [Hoshi Furu Ōkoku no Nina] #6

by Rikachi

Nina, the girl with eyes the color of Lapis Lazuli, was scouted by Fortna's second prince Azure to act as a replacement for the dead Princess Alisha, who was to be married off to the neighboring land of Galgada. These two who were born under lonely stars found themselves drawn to one another. However, Nina swears she will become the queen of Galgada in order to protect Azure from the King of Fortna, who is plotting against his life. But the crown prince of Galgada, Sett, is a cruel young man who has never known love. She suggests he try falling in love with her, and they grow a little closer, but then the king suddenly eliminates the current order of succession, and a war for the throne revolving around taking Nina breaks out. And on top of everything, Azure arrives as a messenger from Fortna! He suggests to Nina that they return there together, and her heart is enveloped in an instant. Sought by the Sun Prince and the Moon Prince, what will be the Astral Priestess's decision?!

You won't be able to put down the sixth volume of this courtly fantasy series where destiny is closing in fast!

Genres: Manga, Romance, Fantasy, Josei, Shojo, Comics, Young Adult

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 13, 2021

Reviews

[mikaela (spinebreaker) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'M TIRED OF THIS GRANDPA 😭

[★ray's bookshelf★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS VOLUME IS THE BEST FOR NOW 🔥🔥

[Camille Crak · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'adore ce manga comme d'habitude ❤️❤️

[Lissa Hawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well that escalated quickly.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Content warning: suicide]

With Sett and Az literally at each other’s throats, it’s down to the king to keep the peace. That solves the immediate problem, but Sett’s scheming brothers and Nina’s precarious position leaves our heroine vulnerable to all sorts of mischief, both emotional and otherwise.

If you like your political intrigues with a side order of spunk, you could do so much worse than this series, which juggles its heart stopping antics with lots and lots of danger and peril. And one urchin of a heroine who isn’t afraid to speak her mind and do things her way.

Sett’s more foppish brother misreads the events of last volume and assumes Nina is in love with a mere guard, of all things, and arranges for her to get a little time with Az, which is precisely what this series has needed an injection of for a bit. The two of them have such a strong connection the second they get back together.

Of course, old habits die very hard and Az is going to Az, leading to Nina taking off, a bit of a chase, and some genuine emotion between the two. Nina gets given an easy way out of all her problems, but the easy way isn’t always the right one, of course.

It turns out that Sett might be the key to the whole plan to invade Nina’s home country, Fortna, as his skill on the battlefield is legendary. Or it was when he had nothing to live for, at least. There’s more than one way to stop a foe and it’s clear throughout the story that Sett’s affection for Nina has changed him.

Which ends up with Nina trying to make her own path forward. Rivals are going to rival, but the Az-Sett match-up is one of the better ones I’ve seen recently. Sett’s a butt, but the effect Nina is having on his demeanour is obvious and that’s great, provided she’s around. Now, when he finds out the truth of things, well, we’ll just have to see…

There’s also a very straightforward poisoning plot line that becomes incredibly convoluted because feelings get involved and it’s quite good because it doesn’t involve our heroine being a dupe. No, everybody in the palace has shown themselves quite capable of skullduggery when given the opportunity.

This one gets pretty grim and has lots of unintended consequences, shocking reveals (apparently there were clues, but I sure didn’t see them), and tons of peril to go around, including a cliffhanger that takes a hell of a last minute swerve.

I don’t think this book stands out in any one area, but it’s always been reliably strong across the board. It has a little action, lots of romance, oodles of plotting, some comedy here and there, and a trio of excellent leads along with some despicable villains. It’s not flashy, but it doesn’t need to be either.

4 stars - a pretty good volume with a reasonably solid reveal. Maybe not quite 4 stars, but, having read more than enough books lately that either didn’t do plotting well or didn’t have their romance sorted, seeing one that manages both makes me want to reward it.

[subaha]

i admit it is quite entertaining watching our quirky heroine who has a knack for finding trouble deal with situations with quick thinking using unorthodox methods. till now the story is somewhat a jumble of random scenarios featuring a ridiculous bunch (the crown prince's brothers and even the king) but it is still gripping enough with cliffhangers right at the end of each volume that makes me want to keep continuing the series. but i think the manga will keep on going in circles with little information in between which i don't wanna invest in rn plus the fmc(Nina) is too starry eyed for me exactly what you would expect form a princess raised in seclusion (which she's not). the story spends so much time on her feeling like a fraud and how she's not a princess but i just don't see that.

one thing that i like about Nina is that she's a really strong character that stays true to her values and doesn't diverge from those principles even admist all the political drama and solves it all her own way. but both the male characters have changed so much since their first introduction that it feels like she's not developing at all. stuck in between atrocious characters who go from seeing her as only a pawn to further their ambitions to willing to give up the fight for her sake, Nina seems stuck in her initial character.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cliffhanger??

I was so nervous about Hikami, I'm glad they're okay. I was hoping that Sett and Nina would have more scenes together, hopefully in the next volume they will be reunited. I am curious to see if Azure or Sett will get to Nina first.

Prince Toat is really weird. He's kind of giving mad scientist vibes.

[Kat]

I can’t get enough of this series! It also won an award yesterday in Japan for Kodanashas best shoujo ♥️♥️♥️

[Maude · Rating 5 out of 5]

well that took a turn

[Carl's · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,75🌟

[aspho’ · Rating 3 out of 5]

quelqu’un m’explique pourquoi nina a l’air d’avoir douze ans et les gars dix sept genre par pitié

[Artemissia G · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'ai adoré ce nouveau tome ainsi que ses innombrables rebondissements !

Notre héroïne fait preuve de beaucoup de courage et de résilience ! Et au moins, elle ne se voile pas la face entre son attachement fort autant pour Azur que pour Seth. De mon côté, je préfère Seth même si des deux protagonistes masculins, Azur semble le plus stable.

Entre conflits politique, complots et révélations, je ne me suis pas ennuyée avec cette suite et par contre la fin est une véritable torture pour moi, car ça se termine sur un cliffhanger. Vu ce qu'il s'est passé ici, je n'ai qu'une envie, c'est de savoir comment notre Nina va s'en sortir !

Des dessins toujours aussi beaux, et maitrisés avec une histoire addictive à souhait. Vivement la suite !

[Abeey Morsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hope nina end with sett not azor.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

One star knocked off simply because this volume was upsetting. All the backstabbing and poisoning and political plots are handled well, and are fitting for the genre (not shoujo, but whatever this turned out to be). But it was still a pretty rough read.

And honestly, I thought the Hikami reveal was a bit silly. Why couldn't Hikami have been a woman, instead of a man posing as Nina's lady's maid? The king of Galgada is a woman...all of Bidoh's guards are women...why would it be unreasonable for the old king of Fortna to have had a female spy/assassin in his employ? Is Fortna that sexist of a nation?

The rest of Hikami's secret was big enough: that he was sent with Nina to monitor things, possibly kill Prince Sett or other royals, and maybe even kill Nina herself if necessary. But as their friendship developed, he found it difficult to strike those final blows and bungled Sett's poisoning, which left an extremely dangerous man alive, with a fresh grudge against Fortna, and put Nina in danger since she was the one who'd unwittingly given him the drink.

All of that was very significant and dramatic enough for the emotional jail cell conversation between Hikami and Nina. I didn't get why it had to also be: oh yes and I was a man all along! Even in the author's note, it seemed like Rikachi and their editors spent several volumes failing to signal Hikami's secret gender, so why not just leave it and have a badass female character added to the mix. It's already a pretty male-heavy cast.

Incidentally, since I'm on the topic of wondering what Fortna's societal structure is like, Nina does find out a little more about Galgada. Unlike in Fortna, the market town seems clean, prosperous, and full of happy, well-fed, well-clothed people. But part of its prosperity is run on slavery - prisoners of war are sold in the town markets, which keeps the rest of the populace fairly well off, with more leisure time. So while some elements of their culture are decent, and it seems like the standard of living is potentially a little higher, that's only true for those in power.

I don't know if either Azure or Sett is going to engage in more substantial reforms, but it does seem like something Nina would be invested in, wherever she winds up as queen. She's already been standing up for people like her maid, Anne, other abused servant girls, and the tournament entrants who were being ruthlessly mowed down by a criminal who'd been planted in the mix. I'd like this series to run past the "happy ending" in terms of the romance and show what a nation under her rule could look like.

That won't happen for a while, though, because she's been trucked off to a winter prison, due to the machinations of the fourth prince, Toat, who was also responsible for the tournament disaster and Sett's poisoning. He'd meant that for Nina, whom he hates for softening and "tainting" his godlike, cold, unfeeling brother, but Hikami had redirected it to the prince instead.

The thing that frustrates me about Hikami's decision was the complete lack of faith in the path Nina's been working so hard to tread. Sett even promised Nina that he would not invade Fortna himself, or participate in conquering it. He couldn't do more than that - she'd have to figure out the rest on her own, he told her, trusting that she could and probably would.

Which is a big reason for what makes me, at this point in the narrative, really strongly believe that Sett is the right future for Nina to choose. And in this volume, she continues to choose Sett, even when Azure comes back for her, asks her to run away with him, and says he wants to be with her.

Nina struggles. It's a horrible decision to have to make, and she hates that he's even put her in a situation where she has to choose. But she does choose...she tells Azure that she's happy he's made big steps in Fortna and is doing what he can to ensure his own future. (In some ways, does he even need her anymore? She went to Galgada to save him, but he overthrew his king all by himself.) But she's the one who decided to come to Galgada and to marry Sett, and she wants to see it through.

And that's the thing. She says a couple of important things in this volume. One is: "He really listens when you speak." Sett seems cold and heartless and uninterested in anyone, but from the start, he has listened to Nina. He follows her lead in some surprising areas, and a lot of his admiration has grown from how clever and resourceful and ambitious she is. He spends a lot of their time together listening to her.

When Nina is with Azure, Azure speaks. In the market town, when Bidoh gives them a chance to be alone, Azure immediately begins lecturing her and telling her all the things he's planned out for her and all the decisions he's made on his own. Nina looks at him, startled, and thinks: oh yes, this is what he was always like.

She still loves him, and he loves and values her, but...Azure isn't really treating her like an equal. He never has. Sett does.

The other thing Nina says is that Azure was "the person who found me" and Sett is "the person I found." Azure was something unexpectedly wonderful that fell into her lap, and rescued her, in a sense. With Sett, she's been rescuing herself. She's been rescuing him.

With the poisoning, the separation, and other big elements pulling them apart, I don't know if Nina and Sett can still find happiness, but at this point in the narrative, which is as far as the anime gets, it is very hard for me to want her to pursue a path that takes her back to Fortna. She's already left that life behind and has been forging a new one, made entirely of all her own choices.

[Ester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Resuelta a quedarse en Galgada, Nina se despide de Azu a pesar del dolor que siente en el pecho. Sin embargo, las cosas dan un vuelco. Mientras Sett está encerrado, se vuelve a decidir que él es el heredero y que en un mes se casará con Nina. Pero la mano negra que quiere matar a Nina vuelve a atacar.

Leer la reseña completa en mi blog:

https://unabibliotecaentremundos.blog...

[BeckyisBookish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm still so obsessed with this one, so much darker than I was anticipating. Like not super dark but I wasn't expecting much.

[Héloreadsalot · Rating 5 out of 5]

La suite ! La suite ! La suite !

Ah et i love Seth that’s all.

[Sunread26 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chronique complète :
https://sunread26.wordpress.com/2025/...

Extrait :
Beaucoup de rebondissements dans ce tome, le prochain promet sans doute encore plus d’action. La guerre semble inévitable entre Galgada et Fortuna ce qui met mal à l’aise Nina. Elle qui a tout fait pour éviter cela, la voilà prise dans un piège qui pourrait bien la condamner elle et ses connaissances. Tant d’efforts réalisés en vain, celui qui mène ce piège ne tarde pas à montrer son vrai visage, au vu de son caractère c’était prévisible…

Nina reste tout de même très polie, à sa place j’aurais eu du mal à tenir ma langue et quitte à mourir après avoir été accusée à tort. J’aurais vraiment fini par lâcher à la reine (qui ne s’assume pas puisqu’elle se fait nommer roi) qu’elle est bien idiote et qu’elle se fait mener en bateau. Elle dit qu’aucun des princes n’a ce qu’il faut pour être roi, mais elle ne l’a pas non plus. Elle ne connait visiblement pas les princes, sinon elle saurait que ce n’est pas celui du palais noir qui aurait pu manigancer tout ça (à moins qu’elle s’en doute mais fait mine de le cacher). En tout cas, elle ne recherche que la guerre et le sang et n’utilise Sett que dans ce but ce qui est écœurant, sans lui, ils ne seraient pas tous aussi arrogant. Je me demande qu’elle sera la réaction de Sett à son réveil, tombera-t-il dans le panneau ou trouvera-t-il le vrai coupable derrière tout cela ? Azur continue de n’en faire qu’à sa tête, malgré que Nina le repousse… Plus le temps passe, moins je le supporte, Sett n’est pas irréprochable non plus, mais la kidnapper sans lui demander son avis, je n’appelle pas ça de l’amour mais considérer l’autre comme un objet. J’ai l’impression que les deux prétendants fonctionnent en sens inverse, je m’explique, là où Sett a plutôt mal commencé, Azur lui avait plutôt bien assuré. Puis voilà que la tendance va en s’inversant, Sett semble devenir plus appréciable, tandis qu’Azur devient détestable. Moi qui pensais que Nina allait devenir quelqu’un de fort et utile, au final, elle est juste bourlinguée à droite et à gauche pour au final finir avec l’un des deux… J’en suis presque déçue…

Au final, son manque d’évolution fait qu’elle va se retrouver en prison pour un crime qu’elle n’a pas commis. Le pire étant qu’elle sera visiblement dans la pire du royaume, c’est à se demander à quoi sert cette foutue reine si elle n’est même pas capable d’avoir plus de pouvoir que l’un des princes… Et elle souhaite avoir du respect ? Personnellement, je la trouve aussi pitoyable et stupide que le prince du palais noir. Le bougre s’est fait avoir deux fois en peu de temps, il ne se doute même pas qu’il a un espion dans ses rangs. Son impulsivité fait de lui la cible idéale pour celui qui est un peu plus malin. Quant au coureur de jupon, je commence à croire qu’il cache bien son jeu. Il ne semble pas être intéressé plus que ça par le trône, même s’il apprécie d’embêter Nina (à moins qu’il cherche à découvrir un secret). Je ne sais pas trop si on peut le qualifier d’allié ou d’ennemi, il maîtrise assez bien ses mots et ses gestes. Là où le petit génie ne s’est jamais vraiment caché et du coup, ses actions étaient assez prévisibles. Ça m’étonne qu’aucun personnage n’ait pensé que Nina serait à nouveau prise pour cible aussi vite, certains sont supposés être intelligents en plus… J’imagine qu’ils manquaient tous d’informations, de contexte ou de possibilités d’agir. En tout cas, le monde de Nina pourrait bien se briser à nouveau, même si elle ne l’est pas encore elle-même. Le fait que presque personne ne pense qu’elle est innocente est assez flippant. Même un idiot ne ferait pas en sorte d’être trouvé sur le lieu d’un crime, donc il est évident qu’elle a été piégée, en plus de ça, elle n’est pas cuisinière pour un sous…

[...]

[Mathou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amour et politique

Suite au tournoi, Sett est emprisonné dans une tour. C’est à la princesse d’aller le libérer!

En attendant, Azur redemande à Nina de le suivre mais cette dernière refuse…par amour. Elle veut pouvoir le protéger, lui et le royaume de Fortuna. Mais tout est remis en péril lorsque le roi avance le mariage de Sett et Nina pour le mois prochain…et surtout annonce l’envahissement imminent de Fortuna!

Nina est apeurée, mais bien décidée à se battre…même lorsqu’elle est accusée de tentative de meurtre!

C’est un vrai bonheur de continuer cette série, là où la romance se mêle à la géopolitique dans une harmonie parfaite.

Les dessins sont toujours d’une très grande qualité et les intrigues se mélangent. Il n’y a aucune redondance, pas trop de clichés (et s’il y en a ils servent réellement l’histoire).

Alors que ce genre de série s’essouffle rapidement en général, celle-ci semble pouvoir se réinventer à chaque tome, chaque péripétie nous permettant de mieux comprendre le monde qui nous est proposé.

Je souhaite me lancer dans le prochain tome immédiatement!

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nina is who gives meaning to the throne...

Wowww... Az' expression after hearing Sett call Nina by her name is priceless... that's one of the things I love about this artist! She's so good at conveying the characters' emotions!

Pff Nina is finally realizing that, even though not her intention, her impulsive actions always end up backfiring and troubling others. 

Damn Nina rejecting Az('s) kiss hurt so badly...  DAMN and Az telling her she'll always have a place in Fortna! You don't deserve him Nina..  just stay with Sett. I love Nina! But her immaturity, impulsivity, and naivety still hurt. Now she wants to go back! Back and forth all the tiiiime... but it's so like her. 

But it's great..  how the author pulls it off. As a  reader, I totally feel Nina's confusion, since I like both Azure and Sett. Anyway. Things start getting more and more complicated from here on... Awesome story.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like I need to fully catch up on this manga before I fully formulate an opinion, but besides the very pretty art, it hasn't really set itself apart from any of the other fantasy/romance I've read and seen. Parts of it are good but at the same time it's hard to get immersed in the world or care about any of the characters. And I feel like with fantasy/romance, you gotta have both of those things.

[Karina Catellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quantas reviravoltas nesse volume!!!!
Primeiro a depressão depois da Nina meio que ter rejeitado o Az, depois o Toat tentando matar ela e quase matando o Sett.
Hikami é um cara hahahahahahahaha nessa hora eu gargalhei porque eu nunca desconfiei, nem quando ele ia nas outras alas disfarçado de homem Ç_Ç
Toat tá sendo nosso vilão atual, ainda bem que o Sett acordou e vamos ver o que ele lembra da situação.
Alguém tem que ir salvar a Nina e a Anne T.T

[Alessandra Ceravolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Che dinamica sconvolgente Hikami che sembrava essere dalla parte di Nina sia in realtà un ragazzo, che abbia quasi ucciso Sett tradendo la fiducia di Nina ma quest’ultima è stata confinata accusata di aver avvelenato Sett. Sono sconvolta dal fatto che Toat fratello di a Sett lo abbia avvelenato per renderlo vendicativo, che Nina venga cacciata dal palazzo ma che sia determinata a tornare per Sett e sollevata dal fatto che Sett si sia risvegliato. La copertina della Night 22 mi ha affascinata moltissimo.

[marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vol. 1 ★★★☆☆
Vol. 2 ★★★☆☆
Vol. 3 ★★★☆☆
Vol. 4 ★★★☆☆
Vol. 5 ★★★☆☆

While I understand why Nina's upset, I'm on Hikami's side. Nina is just some girl that Azure found off the streets. Resting the fate of a country in her hands is too much of a gamble. Besides, love is capricious. Who's to say Sett isn't lying and won't change his mind in the future?

I wish Hikami's death isn't a fake out, because it would've been a brutal reminder of how high the stakes are.

[ℂ ✧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Em fa pal resumir tot el que passa en aquest volum, però tornem a l'essència de girs de guió, enganys, tripijocs i traïcions a palau mentre la Nina busca la millor solució per Fortna, l'Az i el Sett (per molt contradictori que pugui semblar). Pren força l'elenc de personatges secundaris, en especial el germà més calladet del Sett i la Hikami. Lectura trepidant i molt addictiva!!! ^^

[Jess | jadecanread · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot thickens!!

Sett drinking the tea with zero hesitation because he thinks she made it 😭

RECAP: sett is thrown into a tower for a month, Nina is scrambling because the King says she’s to marry Sett when he’s released. Attack on Fortuna is imminent. Nina accidentally poisons Sett and is in the dungeons. Az leaves for Fortuna. Nina’s lady in waiting is a man. Az sends the messengers home and he stays to help her. Nina is sent to a brutal prison and Sett wakes.

[Cress · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi, hello. My heart is silently screaming and inconsolable.
Sorry for the lack of a summary; there are only feelings here.
Loud feelings.
Like "How dare you end it like that" followed up with "the audacity of hurting me this way."
Can't wait for volume 7!

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
So viele Intrigen und Erkenntnisse. Die Story und Figuren sind einfach super und vor allem der political intrigue dieser Reihe ist spitze. Will gar nicht aufhören zu lesen, weil ich unbedingt wissen will, was passiert. Ninas Weg ist einfach total spannend.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a lot that happened in this volume furthering the brothers plot line, Nina and az, and we learn a lot about her ladies maid. The ladies maid has been the most interesting to me since she left and it was good. My fav character still at the moment.

[Linn J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stackars Nina! Hon har nog aldrig blivit så förkrossad som i denna Volume! Å andra sidan spelar folk riktigt fult här, det sker bedrägeri och förräderi i varje hörn... Kommer Sett att överleva?! Var är Az?! Oh gud...