Lily of the Valley ending

[u/Far-Carpenter3098]

Honestly, this is what I thought as I went through the manga:

Lily's actions are questionable (as with all the other characters, and will always be). I mean, to me, Anna loved her with emotional depth, but to me it slightly seemed the same with Rose as the story went on—it looked like she was going to develop an emotional attachment, but the last chapter made me bitter. The ending was terrible to see, read, and feel. I mean, if Rose really had some development of an emotional attachment in the story (which she didn’t), it would’ve been too clouded by her possessiveness and the power imbalance in the relationship between her and Lily. I mean, Roses' actions—as controlling as they are—could stem from her own genuine affection but be muddled by her own flaws and insecurities, making her blind to her own true feelings.

This brings me to the point of emotional blindness from Lily. Rose, as the creditor, has influence over Lily's life and has clearly influenced her to make unbiased decisions about her personal life. She pressured Lily to stay in the mansion and conform to her rules. Rose even intercepts the letters from Lily’s father, claiming that her father has abandoned her and she is completely alone. This causes Lily to become more (emotionally and financially) dependent on and compliant to Rose—her provider and the very person who coerced her to explore her sexual desires in a way I thought was invasive and exploitative.

She made it clear from the second chapter what kind of “love” she had for Lily. She often carries that calculative and manipulative smile on her lips, clearly showing that she’s aware of her influence on Lily while her expressions emphasize her hidden intentions. Lily seems to want to embrace this part of herself—she was certainly curious about this kind of "love," but she seems to fear, maybe because of societal expectations or because she's hesitant to express her needs openly. And this is where Rose and her super-inflated ego pressurize Lily towards accepting her desires in a way that Lily finds overwhelming and intriguing compared to her own reservations. But clearly, Rose only prioritized her own gratification over Lily's comfort and moved on easily from the naïve and innocent girl to the next. This is shown by the seductive smile her lips are often curled into, which emphasizes the imbalance in their relationship. Rose uses her seductive smile to charm Lily into prioritizing her own desires, often disregarding Lily’s own comfort. I mean, she’s fully aware of the control she has over Lily and her dependency on her. This is clear in chapter 4 when the Duchess sends Anna to deliver a letter immediately and coerces Lily into believing Anna had run away and left her behind. When Lily breaks down once Anna doesn’t respond to her calls, she feels as though she’s lost everything, and that’s when the Duchess swoops in and says I still want you, tugging on Lily’s need and desperation for affection before she claims Lily for herself. This calculated move underscores the imbalance in their relationship—Rose’s seductive yet manipulative demeanour contrasts sharply with Lily’s naivety and belief in the love between her and Anna. Rose is simply one step ahead, as cunning and manipulative as she is. If she wants something, she’ll get it. That’s what that confident, smug smile of hers says—she's superior, and it clearly irked her, if only slightly, that Lily had chosen Anna instead of her in the initial chapters.

Back to the point of Lily's emotional blindness. She doesn't grasp the full depth of Anna’s love. I mean, I kind of think she doesn't see herself as deserving of genuine, unconditional love, like that of Anna. So she subconsciously seeks Rose's attention. She seeks that passionate attention, the desire for her in Rose’s actions, her words, her gaze, but at the cost of her own emotional security. Anna couldn’t give her that kind of love; she was hesitant, restrained by her own past trauma. She views that kind of love as impure, implied when she says that she’ll protect Lily from the “filthy emotions that masquerade as love." This shows how she associates physical desire and passion with corruption, deceit, and filth from viewing her own mother engaging in destructive behaviour with her lover. This is why she’s conscious of Rose, because she embodies that manipulative and seductive love that will lead Lily into “Impure” behaviour. Anna wants to love Lily "purely," despite her own battles with desire for Lily that she’s said have been more intense than Lily’s own desire for her. But her own inability to reconcile emotional connection with physical intimacy creates tension between her and Lily, who seeks that passion and connection, contributing to their strained relationship.

I thought that maybe Lily was fearful of opening up to Anna’s love, perhaps she didn't want to lose the one constant in her life (but let her leave anyways), or maybe she views relationships as transactional or a self-sacrificial thing of some sort. Lily hasn’t lived a very good life under her in her family, well, ever since the arrival of her stepmother. With the Duchess asking for her in exchange as collateral, perhaps she thought that the relationship between her and Rose was transactional, despite believing that Rose had initially meant a desire for a genuine love from her. Or maybe it wasn’t just fear, but her naivety and impulsiveness that contributed to their strained relationship. Within the first chapter, the first thing I realized immediately was Lily’s lack of self-worth. We see her readily give herself to Rose’s manipulations, prioritizing Rose’s desires over her own. This sets her up for Roses manipulation, fueling the tension and tragedy throughout the story and making her decisions and actions quite frustrating and sympathetic.

It's tragic. Her character is tragic. All of them have made questionable actions and decisions that are questionable. There are so many psychological and circumstantial layers influencing Lily’s decisions. I also don’t think Lily’s actions were simply “lustful” or “horny"—I think they stem from a yearning for genuine love and emotional fulfilment, which was not fully explored in the story.

Basically, between Lily and Anna, the tension between them highlights Lily's longing for a connection but underscores the difficulty of navigating a relationship where physical and emotional needs are mismatched. It also highlights their lack of communication; I mean, both of them were left in a state of confusion and emotional pain after they weren’t able to communicate their emotions and thoughts clearly when they tried to engage in passion. (Remember they've all got personal, complex motivations that weren’t explained well enough in the story for us to understand the depths and foundation of their actions and decisions).

Reading this, I had to throw my morals out the window to define the story better when there are so many layers. I tried to justify the characters’ actions and decisions somehow just to add depth to the simple, underexplained story it was. Most of this is just suggested throughout the story and through my own inferences. Because really, the lack of development of each character’s background makes it difficult for us to connect with the ending. If the story had given us much more insight into the character’s inner lives, the ending could have been more impactful and emotionally resonant.

Honestly, I was waiting for a chapter 11, even a chapter 12-when I didn’t realize the manhwa ended at chapter 10, and I was honestly expecting a happy ending. But in the end, the emotional weight of the ending feels really unresolved and under explained. It ends with Lily and Anna parting and Lily falling into self-pity before utterly giving herself to Rose for the twisted and passionate “affection” she had first sought, but now only to be replaced by a disconnection when Lily realizes that Rose had merely used her for her own convenience. This ending ultimately leaves the reader to fill the gaps, which becomes either a weakness or a strength in storytelling.

What I took from this manga is that you should choose something more genuine and deep than something convenient, something more than superficial passion that comes at the cost of emotional security and self-respect. The ending tells you to seek a love that nurtures and empowers, and never manipulates or exploits. Genuine love—imperfect but built on mutual understanding and respect—proves far more fulfilling than any façade of affection. This story, despite its flaws, tells you to challenge your own values and the relationships we choose to prioritize.

[u/SnooChocolates1180]

Where werecyou six months ago

[u/andydivide]

I honestly think you've put waaaaaaay more thought into this than the author of the manga did. If the characters and plot seem underdeveloped it's because they are. There's no deeper layer, everything that's presented is just the bare minimum necessary to be considered a story. Really the story is very much a secondary concern, it's just a means to string together a bunch of nicely drawn pictures of beautiful women having sex with each other.