I have been excited about this chapter ever since I did the first rough translation. I have so many theories about King Aleph and Mishe that I can barely contain myself. But I’ll have to for just a little longer so I don’t spoil the chapter. I’ll vomit words all in the comments section on Sunday. For now, though, please share your thoughts and theories in the comments section. I can’t wait to read what some of you all think. I just hope that King Aleph is a complex villain or just complex and not necessarily a villain at all. He’s too hot not to be interesting *Shoujo Logic* I can’t wait to see what happens in chapter 13!!!
And now onto the release!
Links to “Sabaku no Harem” Chapter 12: (PDF) (Zip)
Next up will be either “Koori no Joou” Chapter 4 or “Kanojo ni Naru Hi” Chapter 14.
The Crimson Flower Blog 
That was a good chapter. >3<
Thanks for all your hard work! 😀
Thank you very much!
it was so good but I don’t know about that king is he after Mishe? I don’t I don’t trust him.
You’re not supposed to. I think the last panel may be misdirection. King Aleph seems to be purely politically motivated. What could he want politically is what I’m asking myself.
I seriously adore Prince Kallum, Mishe doesn’t deserve him. Also I hate King Aleph, he’s going to get in the way of Kallum and Mishe, but I think finally Kallum will get some peace after this is over.
I seriously love this manga so much, its interesting and the art style is great. You guys did amazing an amazing job! Thank you so much for taking time to do this!!
I’m waiting for this chapter^^
Thanks for ur good work
i think Now,Maybe king aleph little interesting with mische who status is kallum wife?or maybe “old friend” means they’re rival from long time ago?
Hmm…
#sorry for wrong word :p
I want to know too. When were they friends? And what were they like as friends? Did Prince Kallum used to be awful to women too?
Maybe king will get Mishe into his harem.
That “shoujo logic” indeed, lol. It’s true, I have yet to see — that I recall — a good-looking antagonist in shoujo manga who was completely evil.
I’m curious about King Aleph and Mishe’s past relationship (Mishe was very brief about it here), but I also want to know more about his relationship with Kallum.
Mishe is going to try to do something! I hope she won’t mess this one up and need Kallum to save her again.
That would piss me off so much. For once, Mishe needs to save herself and the day.
It’s kind exciting! I think King Aleph will be the rival of Prince Kallum to Mishe’s heart. I also think that King Aleph has a big role to this story. I can’t wait to see more chapters.
It’s kinda exciting! I think King Aleph will be the rival of Prince Kallum to Mishe’s heart. I also think that King Aleph has a big role to this story. I can’t wait to see more chapters.
thank you for your hard work😁😁
Thank you for your hard work.
I will read this chapter after I am done with my finals. It will be my reward
“If you love someone, set them free.”
It’s Sunday!!! Hooray!!! Okay! This is going to be verbal diarrhea, but here I go!
While translating this, the first thing that struck me is the difference between what King Aleph did to Morgiana and Mishe who were both his slaves at the same time. He gave Morgiana a sex slave to a politician to gain influence and he set Mishe free. Who was used as a tool? Aleph set Mishe free, yet Mishe interpreted this as abandonment and uselessness (in other words a she feels like a “tool” without a purpose). What happened to Mishe after she was set free? She got picked up off the street and ended up in a harem — yes, it’s a comfy situation, but it’s defacto slavery. And like the tool that she is, Mishe is searching for a way to be useful to Kallum. In this way, both Mishe and Kallum have misunderstood “slavery”. I hope this is the lecture King Aleph will give them both. I’m probably overthinking this, but I think that’s what Aleph meant when he said Mishe was a slave after all. Mishe never understood that she was set free. King Aleph educated her and set her free. He gave her an opportunity and she ended up being enslaved again.
The question is why did Aleph set her and the other slaves free? Why did he give Morgiana to another master? Why not Mishe? Was Mishe’s education unique? Honestly she has training that’s per the female spy or assassin trope (Dance, language, medicine, and possibly some fighting/weapons skills). What was Aleph training her for? Why did Mishe and Morgiana think they could become Aleph’s wife? Doesn’t he have have a harem? Wouldn’t he look to them first, especially since he’s politically motivated? I hope some chapters of the story are spent on Mishe’s past with Aleph when he was a Prince. I want to understand why she’s feels abandoned and conversely, why she felt such strong loyalty to him as to feel betrayed after she was set free. Did Aleph only supervise her and the other slaves’ training or did he have some hand in personally training Mishe? Honestly, I don’t care what happens next until I know what happened in the past.
Next, what the heck was that look on Aleph’s face at the top of page 28 (29 on the pdf)? Prince Kallum thinks that Aleph won’t attack Mishe because she’s part of his harem, but what if that’s not the reason? You would think King Aleph wouldn’t remember any of his numerous slaves. (As a side thought, I think Aleph was actually after Morgiana and not the pirates as a whole because she killed the guy Aleph gave her to. That kinda put a damper on Aleph giving more girl presents to lecherous and abusive men for political gain. Basically, he has to go after Morgiana to save face.) And then to tell Mishe that he had some small bit of hope for her? WTF, dude? What’s that supposed to mean? Why does former-slave Mishe believe she has any status to even open her mouth to address a King? Ah… but here’s the sticking point! Mishe wanted to be King Aleph’s wife to prove she wasn’t a tool and Mishe wants to be Prince Kallum’s wife because she loves him. Since this is shoujo, one has to wonder whether the matter of who Mishe loves is the nut of it. Ahh… but then another idea crept into my head… What if Mishe is Aleph’s half-sister — a child of Aleph’s father and a slave girl? 1.) It gives Mishe legitimacy to become Prince Kallum’s legal wife. 2.) It make her very useful pawn to manipulate Kallum and Jalbra because their union would forge a political alliance by blood. But at the same time, Aleph might care a little about his sister, and hence his expression on page 28 and why he set her free. IDK… it was just a thought, and I think it would make the story far more interesting, as in Aleph believed his sister could be just as cunning as he is.
As for what will happen next, I have no guesses, and I don’t particularly care. To be honest, I won’t care until the past between Aleph and Mishe and Aleph and Kallum are laid bare.
Interesting analysis!
I am also inclined to think that King Aleph probably has plans to use Mishe to politically influence Prince Kallum, but I am expecting that that will probably blow up in his face. xD
It seams that he likes to use his slaves for political gain – in this case two women (that we know of) – using completely different methods. (With specific ‘missions’ for each, it’s no wonder he remembers who they are)
I am guessing that he set Mishe free for two reasons: 1) she wouldn’t have been able to act as a ‘wife’ as Morgiana was set out to, 2) roaming in the streets of someone else’s country, there was a chance that she would end up in some Prince’s harem (maybe Kallum was a target himself), and that would give Aleph some influence/power by manipulating her.
Aleph’s line about hope seemed like he was mocking her (to provoke her? who knows?) and my guess on the whole arc is that the author wants to illustrate (once more) how differently each man treats women: one is ruthlessly manipulative and using women as tools, while the other respects women, treating them as equal, with the power to act however they want. Kallum and Mishe *did* touch on this subject in this chapter.
And also to provide an antagonist and make Kallum jealous! 😀 (which he has been extensively, in the previous chapter)
Question: if Mishe is indeed a half-sister then why care for her now(not attacking-hurting), and not when brought up?(tortured, overworked, treated completely as a slave)
oops, I take that back, Kallum does not treat women as truly equal, just a lot better then the rest xD
That’s my feeling too. That’s why I think being in a harem is just a more comfortable form of slavery. I don’t think Mishe is free to leave Kallum’s harem.
Thats true!
It’s not clear exactly want happened to Mishe while she was enslaved. We do know that she was tortured (whipped), but overworked? I don’t know. It seemed like she was going through intensive training for something rather than “working”. It’s also not clear whether whipping was for motivation or whether motivation came from Mishe’s desire to please Aleph. My understanding is whipping is a mental breaking technique. I imagine all the slaves were equality beaten to keep them submissive. From what we see from Morgiana, there were slaves that did domestic tasks and slaves that were doing academic and social training. What’s would be the purpose of giving slaves any sort of education?
As for the half-sister theory — fundamentally as a child of a slave mother, Mishe would be a slave. There’s no familial love there. But there is the question of whether royalty and slavery are in the blood. So potentially as a daughter of the king, Mishe could by blood exhibit royal qualities that would defy being treated as a slave. Who knows Aleph’s true thinking. It could have been a whim or him looking for a high-value token to play. But also as his sister, he could have been disappointed to see her not recognize her freedom and frustrated that their relationship was only that of master and slave. (This could also be the same frustration if she’s not related, but had he feelings toward her instead.) Perhaps she wasn’t a tool, but that’s all she ever thought of herself as because that’s how he used the other slaves. Even now with Kallum, she’s still trying to find a way to useful to him. Leaving that aside, the situation Mishe’s in makes her a potential tool for Aleph to use to manipulate Kallum. He may not have considered it before, but maybe now he has a plan.
Taking this a bit further, Morgiana fought her way to freedom and took to the seas. She took the initiative to do what she wanted to do despite not becoming Aleph’s wife. Mishe has stayed within the confines of Kallum’s harem where she is protected and coddled. Morgiana is a free person onto herself. Can we say the same of Mishe?
That makes sense 🙂
You are right, it doesnt seem that Mishe is free to do whatever she wants (if that want is leaving the harem).
Because what I wrote before was from memory, and I hadnt read the previous chapters for a while, I revisited them to check out the details of Mishe’s past. Now I have this hypothesis: (could be of course completely wrong)
Mishe was originally a slave and treated as such with phycological and physical torture (see: whipping) until at some point Aleph bought her and started ‘educating’ her(joined his harem). To motivate her and the other slaves, he could have presented the situation of getting married to him (and thus gaining status and power) as a prize. That explains how both Morgiana and Mishe had this same desire. At some point, for reasons we dont know, nor Mishe, she is cast out and left on the streets. This explains why she felt betrayed. She probably saw him as a savior at first, who then inexplicably threw her away, despite her great efforts.
And soon after that, she is discovered by Kallum and forced to join his harem. I will grant you that, she probably never realised she had her freedom. Or if she did, why did she so easily stay at Kallum’s harem? One answer to that could be that she realised that by helping Kallem, she could eventually help women as her. ( a bit far fetched, but she does get impressed by his behaviour) ( aaand she also sees him as a savior. Oh, dear Mishe!)
On Kallum, as very bluntantly stated on Chapter 1, he ‘recruited’ Mishe because of her ability to stand up to royalty. And based on that and other small comments throughout the chapters, I believe that he is coaching her to be his legal wife. It would be very beneficial to him to have a legal wife that can stand her ground and not shy away at other politicians’ advancements and demands.
Of course in the meantime, he is falling for her and even changing his tactics for her (see how he handles Morgiana and the pirates).
You are right that Aleph may not have considered the aspect of using Mishe to manipulate Kallum before, but right now he must have noticed the situation. (There is also that panel where he sees them hug)
I am waiting to see how Mishe reacts to both men and the situations they represent, I think it will be interesting!
Thank you so much for your hard work! I recently discovered this amazing manga and I AM HOOKED!! Can’t wait to see what happens next!!
I’m glad you’re enjoying the series.
Thank you for always translating this manga!! I just know this manga and read them until chapter 12.
Can I ask a question?
In your translation for next month is sabaku no harem special, but next chapter (chapter 13) in May. Usually, if special is supposed chapter 13 in there too. Or maybe, chapter 13 and special release together but put translation to special first?
sorry I just curious and for my bad English, I’m really glad to know this manga:)
The Lala Special is in Lala Magazine, which is different than Lala DX. The Lala special is NOT chapter 13. Chapter 13 will be in Lala DX. We will get the raw for chapter 13 in mid-April, but the redraws are INTENSIVE, so we won’t have the release ready until May. The redraw work for two chapters of Sabaku is especially taxing on the group, so please have patience. If you want releases sooner, then volunteer as a redraw artist for the group.
im volunteering ^^,)/
Uh? You are? I have not received any email.