yapping abt ch 18 (long read)

!! all purely interpretative, take what u want and leave the rest. i just want to discuss the things i noticed in this short yet visually symbolic chap. HM TO TEI'S TITS AND SHURAKA'S BEAUTIFUL HAIR.
• like user sari said in their comment, the change in flowers may symbolize a change in shuraka's feelings for tei, with pear blossoms symbolizing his innocent love as a child and red roses symbolizing his mature passion and devotion. however, this change can also symbolize shuraka himself. pear blossoms: shuraka's childhood innocence and both his personality and body's purity; red roses: the dirty things shuraka had to do and had to be over the course of 12 years, which most likely involves blood being spilled.
• um yeah guys personally i think we still have at least 8-15 chaps yet until tei goes "oh he's really really really really not a kid anymore and he loves me and me only. oh ok" and then maybe a few more before "ok i love him too but not like in a pedo way but in a 'how i saw u as a child and how i see u now is two completely separate things' way". i can't coherently explain why i think this but something about that line where tei went "is it me who changed, or you, shuraka?" is giving me a gut feeling. that question is still a seedling compared to the truths yet to be revealed. i don't think it's even the right question to ask bro. so i really think this is going to be a long ride
• there's this really interesting contrast in how tei reacts to change in shuraka and change in arnata. in ch 17, and most prev chaps, tei finds the changes in shuraka "unsettling" or confusing. meanwhile, in this chap, as he looks out to arnata and sees the peace that replaced the tension he once knew, he is at least calm or just pensive about it. it kinda shows how the ruler and its kingdom switched roles, and it highlights/foreshadows the price shuraka had to pay for peace in his land.
• on the godforsaken topic of the perfume. for some reason, cheating was not the first thing that i thought of... moving on, i think that the perfume is related to how shuraka doesn't want tei meddling/worrying on his shaiwaa thing going on. since tei is now aware of his whole celibacy drug thing, which lead to not only tei bleeding out of his ass and scaring shuraka shitless, and then lead to tei finally telling shuraka his thoughts on shuraka getting a consort who is a woman so as to satisfy the eye's requirements — i believe shuraka just simply decided to cover the shaiwaa smell up with perfume, expecting that tei won't ever bring up "not being satisfactory" or his "duties" again. but the interpretation of tei thinking it's the perfume of shuraka's other lovers and he spent time with them first before going to tei is a juicy one, and jealousy does so very well in propelling a love story forward.
• risky bet but i think that the other brother that gave his loyalty to shuraka was one of the brothers 12 years ago that wanted him dead. maybe everybody knows his pledge of loyalty is bullshit and that's why all three brothers are tense, because this guy's starting to plot again. placing another risky bet to say that tei's arrival could be a key point in a plot or at least the start of one. like there's no point in the suspense if he isn't important, and shuraka has already reached the maximum number of genuinely loyal brothers (1), so having two genuinely loyal brothers wouldn't explain the tension. wait holy shit im a fucking genius i just realized as i was writing this
• contrary to my second point above, i think, i truly really think, that this chapter marks the start of tei slowly falling in love with shuraka. I CAN'T EXPLAIN IT THERE'S JUST SOMETHINGHFFHFHFJ guys there's something in tei's inner dialogue on the later parts of the chap that just GETS me like brochacho i am so excited to see you in love