I will join in on this for a debate!!
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I think the empress and the duke were friends as children but after what happened with the maid and possible is ex-wife she made herself overly clingy to keep other women away. (That's why she was so rude to FL until the duke said kind words about her)
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I think she really loves her son but pushes him away to keep him safe but now doesn't know how to interact with him so she just keeps pushing him away but if you notice he wants for nothing (except his mom's love)
i like this! if it does happen then that would be a twist cause im genuinely sick of having a female antagonist all for the purpose of being a 3rd party to the main couple
the fact she gave the prince a dictionary confused me all the more lmao but now im having some suspicions:
* theo seems to tolerate her a bit, so shes probably a friend(?) of some sorts, who tends to tease him alot, but im more leaning towards an acquaintance hes somewhat civil towards. she could have also actually liked him in the past (considering theo's straightforward personality, maybe he treated her differently which she liked). theres also no info (yet) of her terrorizing any woman linked to theo (like his stupid dead wife) so any "possessiveness" she shows for him is possibly to a limit somewhat, hence isabel
* u see a slight blush in chap 17 when she says theo was right that isabel wasnt like the rumors. does she ship them?? or maybe as someone who may have liked theo in the past, she "approves" of isabel?
* she gave ignatius a dictionary despite "not raising him" so she must care for him to an extent ig :/
* she was considerate of mentioning noah's blood relations with isabel, so despite her unfilteredness she has a degree of self-consciousness
* im 99.99% sure she saw the flower in the "empty box" which us why she covered up for isabel in chap 17. she knows something about the flowers (why the emperor tends to them himself) and will be a hug assett in the future