Fantasy is often a romanticized genre. I would say that, more than other genres that go beyond the world we know, stories that delve into period-esque worlds with magic and adventure tend to be ones where you also get idealized love stories. I’m not sure why this is, but I do think that you expect fantasy romance plots to be more sweeping and melodramatic than, say, science fiction. Very rarely do period matters like arranged marriages or unions for the good of the nation rather than ‘true’ love come into play.
The World is Still Beautiful, though,
thumbs its nose at the idea that this is what is or must be done, to
an extent trying to do for affairs of state and political marriage
what Spice and Wolf would do for economics, making a topic that would
be conventionally found dry and making it central and interesting
through clever storytelling and good emotions
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