Aug 22, 2022
I very much enjoyed this. Congrats on finishing.
Normally, I try to give constructive criticism, but I don't think I can in this case. It's not that it's perfect, but I'm just unqualified. You have a great skill with metaphor that allows you to say much with few words. Re-reading a few chapters, I did notice very slightly awkward phrasing in a couple of places, but nothing that was distracting, and nothing that I had a better suggestion for.
If I had one suggestion, it would be to maybe hint a bit early on at the twist relationship about blessings that's revealed in the last chapter. It makes the ending of the penultimate chapter dramatic, but seems to come out of nowhere and could be seen as a deus ex machina. Given that this is finished and the contest is close to done, however, I wouldn't want to change it at this point.
I also really enjoyed the way the story kept twisting and kept me (often incorrectly) guessing where it was going. At one point, the lack of backstory for Caramello had worried that this would just be a simple revenge plot with a twist similar to Katanagatari. (Katanagatari's twist is well-regarded nowadays, but IIRC it was not especially well received when it first aired.) The twists in The Wanderblood Princess made for a much more interesting narrative.
Good luck with the judging, and I really do hope to be able to read more of your work in the future.