Soo, managed to finish the route and get all endings without a guide!
When we moved to "stage 2", I was surprised. Although in hindsight, it was such a Chekhov's gun, I should have seen that coming from the beginning! Also because "stage 1" was quite easy, I should have known that couldn't just be it. But I was too happy in my ignorance and so, missed the elephant in the room lol.
Frederique is the best boy ever ^^ I just adore him so much. They spoil each other so much with MC!
When they talked about "addition to the family", I nearly freaked out... then laughed so hard when they meant pets!
It's been a while since I played the prologue in the demo, but if I recall correctly, originally Duchess di Parisi didn't straight up disown them, and gave them the tasks? Or maybe the outher routes got too much into my head lol. But I quite enjoyed how for once, the Duchess wasn't the one assigning the tasks and leads to follow!
Of the paths in "stage 2", I liked Penelope's the most. Even if it's to the end of runing her family, I feel like we're actually helping her follow her dreams and gain her freedom! Funnily enough, I already began in "stage 1" to stoke her rebellion and told her she could be the first noblewoman in theatre, lol. So just had to pursue that avenue first! After trying the others... it also turned out to be the most fun and lighthearted path.
The bad endings are painful ;; Frederique dearest deserves better!
I think I explored most paths, there's one thing bugging me - when trying to help Lord Lamont's cause and chose the approach to convince Guillaume and Charlotte. I could not convince Charlotte :/ Will have to check with the guide (once it comes out) if that's a doomed venture from the start since Charlotte is so unwilling, or I just couldn't find the good choices.
Also, just a curious observation, I feel Frederique's route has similar vibes to Leopold's. From both men being such lover boys, the 2 stage structure and the real secrets coming out and action going down in stage 2, also Belvais mirroring Francelli as the unwilling ally if you choose a specific path, and similar struggles of the LI in the bad/middling endings. Don't know if that was intentional, and it's most definitely not a bad thing, noticing parallels just makes me feel smart and gets me excited, haha.
Okay that's enough of my incoherent rambling, thank you so much again for your hard work and gifting us with this experience!