Ciel: The Last Autumn Story

The main cast, from left to right: Krohiten, Lariatte, Yvienne, Daughter, and January

Marie said her dream was to own a piece of land, no matter how small.
Lizzy said her dream was to marry the second son of the mill owner.

But I- I never saw any future for myself at all.

—Yvienne Magnolia

Yvienne, at 15, has no dreams or ambitions. Even though she's the most beautiful girl in her small village, she envies her friends who all have goals for the future. But she herself can only focus on just getting by day-to-day, working for the family of aristocrats who lord over the area while avoiding the affections of their son. Unfortunately, this gets her into trouble with the family, and her only chance at saving herself is enrolling in the magic school she received an invitation to. While there, she'll come to realize that her future would take her higher than she ever imagined.

Ciel: The Last Autumn Story is a beautifully illustrated Manhwa written by Rhim Ju-yeon. Though Yvienne is technically the main character, the series also focuses heavily on three of the friends she makes while attending Lowood: Lariatte Kingdiamond, January Lightsphere, and Daughter. Most of the attention is given to the pairs of Yvienne and Lariatte, and January and Daughter, detailing their adventures at the school and the steady deepening of their friendships (or more). But behind everything, there lurks constant hints that all is not right with the world they live in, nor is all right with Yvienne herself.

Needs More Love, badly. Also, there are marked spoilers for up to volume 18 below, so read them with caution. Licensed by Tokyo Pop and, unfortunately, entered their long list of Orphaned Series when they closed shop.

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Tropes used in Ciel: The Last Autumn Story include:

• Arranged Marriage: Octavia is in one, despite being in love with Krohiten. January is also mentioned to be engaged to his younger cousin, Socié, but he doesn't treat it with any seriousness. Socié, on the other hand...
• Art Evolution: Just compare Yvienne and Lariatte in volume 1 to them in volume 10.
• Ascended Extra: You know the reporter who chats with Yvienne and the bandit who tries to kill January back in the first volume? Yeah, that's not the last you're going to be seeing of them.
• Asleep for Days: A usual side-effect of a witch using either too much or overly powerful magic. It happens to Yvienne at least three times.
• Big Screwed-Up Family: The Lightsphere family
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Yvienne occasionally makes such comments, from how the author put a joke in at an inappropriate moment to scolding a character for wasting three pages with his entrance. Sometimes other characters get in on the fun too.
• Canon Immigrant: The mage Snow White and her familiar Christian were both characters in Rhim Ju-Yeon's previous series, President Dad.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Bet you didn't think the reporter from the second chapter would end up being the Earth Dragon?
• Clock Tower: There are three in the kingdom; two are in Newton, and one in Sierra. All of them end up being plot relevant.
• Death of the Hypotenuse: Lariatte's death could be considered this, if one interprets her feelings for Yvienne as being romantic. Although, rather than bring Yvienne and Krohiten closer together, their grief and guilt over it end up driving them apart.
• Defeat by Modesty: How else would you defeat the most powerful witch around?
• Despair Event Horizon: Lariatte's death is this for Yvienne.
• Eternal Love: This is both subverted and played straight with the immortal couple Marion and Skaa Everett. Marion claims that her love for Skaa has died with time, though Skaa seems to still be as in love with her as he ever was. And they're always together, regardless.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Yvienne, with January being an opposite-gender case.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Yvienne, January, and Daughter all get different ones after the time skip.
• Five-Man Band:
  • The Hero: Yvienne
  • The Lancer: Lariatte
  • The Chick: January
  • The Smart Guy: Daughter
  • The Big Guy: Krohiten
• Foreshadowing: Frequently. One of Marion and Skaa's main purposes even seems to be just walking around dropping hints about the fates of the world and the main characters, especially Yvienne. They aren't usually good.
• Fourth Date Marriage: January proposes to Yvienne after knowing her for about two weeks. Needless to say, she turns him down.
• Four-Philosophy Ensemble
  • The Apathetic: Yvienne
  • The Realist: Lariatte
  • The Cynic: Daughter
  • The Optimist: January
• Gender Blender Name: Daughter, lampshaded by Yvienne when they first meet and revealed in volume ten to have been on purpose.
• Genre Savvy: Ecliché and Yvienne, frequently.
• Happily Married: Yvienne's parents, Theresa and Euse Inne.
• Heroic BSOD: January has one after he's told the nature of his magic power. Daughter and Krohiten manage to snap him out of it, though.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted in volume 12- Lariatte and Yvienne attempt one to defeat the March Hare, but Krohiten ends up saving them just in time.
  • When Lariatte goes up against Infinity in volume 16, however...
• Hot Dad: It is very obvious where Yvienne gets her good looks from.
• How We Got Here: The first chapter takes place after Yvienne has already arrive at Lowood and partnered with Lariatte, and ends with Krohiten asking Yvienne to tell him about her origins. We don't get caught up to that scene until volume seven.
• Important Haircut: While not cutting it himself, Daughter gets one in volume 14. He keeps it short for the rest of the series.
• Interspecies Romance: Between Krohiten (an Arc Dragon) and his deceased wife, Carola (a human). And because he didn't learn his lesson the first time, one starts to develop between him and Yvienne later on.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: By the end of volume 8, Lariatte seems to have come to this conclusion about Yvienne.
• Journey to the Center of the Mind: Lariatte and Krohiten have to do this to Yvienne after she overexerts her magic abilities and falls into a coma in volume 12.
• Just Before the End: In volume 15, it is revealed that the sun has already died, and the only reason the planet continues to survive is because the Arc Dragons are keeping it alive with their powers. And they're planning to leave.
• Kissing Under the Influence: Happens between Yvienne and Krohiten, and as a result the former finally realizes her feelings for the latter.
• Longing Look: Oh Lariatte... Oh Daughter...
• Magic A Is Magic A: Though it's left a bit vague at times, there are still some very basic laws that apply to every witch and sorcerer. All magic is performed in a 'field' that the magic used creates. Sorcerers generally have weaker magic than witches, but witches cannot leave their field on their own, and so must form a partnership with another witch in order to use magic. Mages are classified as witches with the speed of a sorcerer, or a sorcerer with the strength of a witch.
  • One Person, One Power: Each witch or sorcerer can only use a few specialized spells depending on the nature of their field. This can range from 'controlling time' to 'repairing broken things' to 'making oneself intangible'.
• Mage Tower: Invoked- when a witch or sorcerer become a mage, they are sent to a tower and isolated from the rest of the world for the remainder of their lives, with only their familiars for company. This is done by the king to keep them from joining forces and plotting against him.
• Meaningful Rename: Daughter's name is the result of one, as a way to constantly remind himself of his mission in life. After achieving it, he eventually starts going by December instead.
• Noble Fugitive: As of volume 14, January ends up as one of these.
• No Name Given: The Earth Dragon- and he plans to keep it that way.
• The Not Love Interest: In Yvienne's own words: "Master is the man I fell in love with. But you, Lari, are my life!"
• Obfuscating Stupidity: The Earth Dragon, around everyone but Krohiten.
• Our Dragons Are Different: Some of them. There were normal reptillian dragons that have gone extinct, but also Arc Dragons, which are shapeshifting God-like Elemental Embodiments rather than monsters.
• Power Floats: At least, Yvienne's does.
• Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Yvienne again, after the time skip.
• The Promise: Daughter makes one to kill January should he ever abuse his power and turn into the monster he fears becoming.
• Put on a Bus: January and Daughter in volume 14. They come back into focus at the end of volume 17, after the time skip.
• Rescue Romance: The way Yvienne became Lariatte's familiar is basically a (sort of) platonic version of this.
  • Later on in the story, the Earth Dragon tries to play this completely straight as a way of getting Yvienne and Krohiten to fall in love. It fails miserably.
• Romantic Runner-Up: January ends up being this to Yvienne, but it's just as well since they decide they're Better as Friends anyway.
• Romantic Two-Girl Friendship: Witches need to form these in order to use magic without dying.
• Schoolgirl Lesbians: Judith and Ecliche are heavily implied to be this.
• Shipper on Deck: The villagers who work for the Lightsphere family definitely ship Daughter/January.
• Ship Sinking: Yvienne/January was hit hard back in volume 2, and ended up being sunk definitively in volume 5. Not that it stops them from pretending to be a couple for the perks, though.
• So Beautiful It's a Curse: Played with; Yvienne only ever jokingly complains about her beauty, and has no qualms about using it to her advantage whenever she has to, but others notice that because she's been able to get so much so easily with it, she doesn't know how to value anything. She's also often compared to Saskia- an equally beautiful older woman who ended up killing herself.
• Spell My Name with an "S": Between the three different scanlation groups that have worked on this series, the original Korean, and the official German translation, there's a lot of variation in the spelling of names. Is it Yvienne or Yvien? Lariatte or Larriat? Euse Inne or Euge Eyne?
• Teacher-Student Romance: One ends up developing between Krohiten and Yvienne.
• Temporal Theme Naming: January and, as of volume 17, December.
• Time Skip: At the end of volume 17, there's a five year jump between chapter 16 and chapter 17.
• True Companions: Although it's best developed between January & Yvienne, January & Daughter, and Yvienne & Lariatte, the friendship between the four main characters is pretty clearly meant to be an example.
• Tragic Bromance: Yvienne and Lariatte It's foreshadowed pretty frequently.
• Two Lines, No Waiting: At almost any given point, there are two main plots going on at the same time: one focusing on Yvienne and Lariatte, and one focusing on Daughter and January. Krohiten is usually involved in one or the other.
• Villain Takes an Interest: Tenial takes one in January very quickly, once he finds out they had similar upbringings. It helps that January doesn't pick up on Tenial being a villain in the first place.
• Wham! Episode: Volume 14: Daughter's finally gets his revenge, and ends up sentenced to death. January saves him by selling himself to the king. After being freed, Daughter finds out that Tenial plans to kidnap January and use his power for his own purposes. He then saves January, and the two run away together, while Tenial vows to hunt them down and make them pay one way or another.
  • Volume 15: It's revealed that the planet is being kept alive solely by the Arc Dragons, and they're planning to leave. Also, the monsters that keep appearing were created by an evil, insane Krohiten in the future, after planet has died.
  • Volume 16: Lariatte pulls a Heroic Sacrifice and ends up getting Killed Off for Real, all because Yvienne left her alone several chapters ago on a spontaneous decision to visit Krohiten and just never got around to coming back.
  • Volume 17. Yvienne slips into a Heroic BSOD after losing the most important person in her life. After fighting and coming into contact with Infinity, she crosses the Despair Event Horizon and ends up killing some soldiers and vanishing into the sky. And cue the time skip.
• Wham! Line: "That is not the sun."
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: Marion Everett clearly holds this opinion after living for centuries has caused her to lose any and all interest in the world.
• Wizarding School: There are two- Royal Blue Union, for witches and sorcerers born into aristocracy, and Lowood, generally for commoners (though as January proves, there are some exceptions).