I came here to comment on 薬屋のひとりごと 10, but it looks like I skipped a few steps…
Wait, 6 days ago? Oh, well, that explains why I didn’t realized I skip things. I still remembered posting about the “previous” book 
On LGBTQ+ representation in the series (almost no spoiler)
Well, completely unrelated to the plot, I’m glad there’s LGBTQ+ representation in this series. (Including the T, even though I guess that’s a spoiler, since those characterS are stealth….) I’m especially glad for the B representation, from a major named character (and the fact that he is written in a much deeper way than just “he is the dude who’s bi”). Overall, the whole alphabet mafia is present in named characters, except, maybe, for the G. I feel like ヤブ医者 (I forgot his name, since nobody really uses it, but it was mentioned, so he is named) could count since he has only shown interest in 壬氏, who’s technically a man 
Regarding the plot, volume 8+ are basically one long arc, and is more thriller and less mystery solving than the previous books. That shift in tone was nice at first, but, somewhere on volume 11, I’m starting to find it a bit tiring (said I who read ~ 1000 pages in less than a week), but it’s still fun enough. I’m facing a problem, though, as volume 11 is the last published, and the author takes a long time to write a book. Estimates online puts the end of december (so, in three months) as the earliest estimate, and the end of next year as a safer bet. Oh boy, I sure hope volume 11 does not end on a cliffhanger.
The only thing I want to rant about is the romance part.
Some rant, spoilers for volume... 8? 9?
So, the story so far is that 壬氏 wants to mary 猫猫, but she’s not interested. She gives as a reason, among others, that she doesn’t want to have to deal with the political aspects of marrying someone who’s pretty high in line to inherit the throne.
壬氏 is a pretty smart guy, but sometimes he is very dumb. So he went ahead and made sure that he cannot inherit the throne. Task failed successfully. Lo and behold, 猫猫 still doesn’t want to marry him. Couldn’t have seen that coming.
At some point in volume 8 or 9, 猫猫 snaps and tells him that if he wants to [have sex with her], he can just order her to do it, since she’s a lowly commoner, so that they can all be done with that and move on with their lives. That proves that 猫猫 can also be dumb sometimes. First of all, she should know 壬氏 does not (or at least tries not to) abuse his power (apparently that does not extend to thinking that sexual harassment is problematic, but whatever). Second, as much as she loves to pretend that she is a commoner, she is still the legitimate daughter of the master strategist of the Empire, who’s the head of the 羅 family. Sure, she hates his guts and pretends they are not related, but that doesn’t change the fact that said general would literally turn the army’s cannons against the imperial palace in an attempt to save her. That literally happened. And he has the political power to get away with it without even losing his position (still had to pay for repairs, though). (By the way, that is an abuse of power). 猫猫, what do you think would happen to 壬氏 if he went ahead with the scenario you describe? It’s not even like you could both decide to hide it, since said general has the almost supernatural capacity of reading what’s on people’s mind.
I don’t know. While 壬氏’s attitude is not great overall, I feel like that’s a more than useless answer.
I still not sure what to think of their relationship.
Oh well, it was still fun, and, for once, there was a healthy romantic interaction between 猫猫 and 壬氏.
