F*ck off, Riftan

As if he pushed her away and didn’t tell her about it for evil reasons. He was totally heart broken, lost his child and almost his wife (and almost loosing Maxi was the hardest for him) and blamed himself for it all along. And yes he still struggles with communication, but so does Maxi (and both will keep struggling with it for a long time after that) that is why she ends up choosing to go back to her father’s castle. Her father tells her about the miscarriage to hurt her, not out of some lost sympathy. None wanted to tell her, not just riftan, because they knew she would blame herself for it. The duke ended up holding her up hostage, lying to riftan that she didn’t want to see him anymore, but what did Riftan ? He still tried to see her. And what have riftan done when her discovered how her father treated her ? Didn’t he defended her as a husband should do ? Wasn’t he about to start a war for her even if he knew he could loose everything he worked so hard for by doing so ? It’s so easy to only see the bad sides when clearly the whole situation explains more than enough both Riftan and Maxi’s behaviour and decisions. Was how riftan reacted the best ? Absolutely not, but to put it as if he was just a jerk who pushed Maxi away like he was angry at her for not listening to him again and put herself in danger, or blaming her for the miscarriage just like her father made her believe, it’s petty.

Arguing over whether or not Riftan had “evil intentions” is irrelevant. ***His intent does not negate the harm he's caused to Maxi.***

Being heartbroken *does not* justify withholding critical information from your wife, having her find out about her miscarriage from her abuser—regardless of whether he was aware of her abuse or otherwise, or shutting her out emotionally while still exercising control over her life, which is all he's ever done for most of the story.

You say “none wanted to tell her because she’d blame herself.” That’s still paternalism. Taking away someone’s right to know what happened *to their own body* is not protection — it’s control, which seems to be a constant flaw in Riftan’s character that he unfortunately *never* grows from. Withholding important information like this is especially damning when said person—Maxi—has a long history of being infantilized and silenced. Yes, her father told her to hurt her. That does not absolve Riftan of failing to tell her himself. Two things can absolutely be true at once.

And “he defended her as a husband should” after discovering the abuse? That’s literally the bare minimum, because other than beating her father, we never see Riftan genuinely defend Maxi without somehow blaming the situation on her "recklessness." Reacting violently after the truth comes out doesn’t erase the damage done before — especially when his earlier behavior directly contributed to her isolation and vulnerability.

Also, “he would’ve started a war for her” is not the romantic flex you think it is, lol. Wanting to burn the world down for someone does not automatically mean you know how to listen to, respect, or emotionally support them. Throughout all 5 seasons, we've repeatedly seen Riftan openly disregard Maxi's feelings and wishes under the guise of protection and love. He actively strips her of her agency without ever considering that his overprotectiveness is actually doing his wife far more harm than good.

I’m not reducing Riftan into some cliché cartoon villain. I’m saying that grief, trauma, and love *do not* excuse repeated patterns of emotional shutdown, possessiveness, and control—especially when the story frames those patterns as romantic rather than something he meaningfully reckons with. You’re free to empathize with Riftan, but I’m also free to call his behavior what it is. And that’s not “petty,” I'm just giving valid criticism for a poorly-written male lead.

Simply put, being heartbroken doesn’t justify withholding information about her own miscarriage which led to having her abuser be the one to tell her. Grief explains behavior; it doesn’t excuse it. Defending her later doesn’t erase the harm done earlier, and obsession isn’t the same as respect, not even close.

Completely agree with your point!

Thank you. I've had enough of the Webtoon/Manhwa community justifying and defending problematic characters.

Since when was she pregnant???

Omg very well said!

100% agree. People read stories with nuanced characters and misunderstandings and then get upset when characters act in understandable ways with the information they have. This happens with all nuanced webtoons.

This is just a question, have you read the Riftan's POV by any chance?

CLOCK ITT, you just put my exact feelings into words. Riftan pisses me off so much lmao

Typical.

Yes. I have. And I'll give you the same response I've given to every other person who's used his side story—ad nauseam—as a defense against any criticism levied against Riftan:

"His trauma explains his actions, it explains his feelings and emotional volatility. But it in no way justifies his behavior towards Maxi nor his lack of meaningful character growth." End of discussion.

I'm in complete solidarity with you, man. I cannot stand this man anymore. He practically ruined the whole story for me. Maxi deserved better than this baboon-ass of a ML.

Reading riftan’s pov isn’t even needed to understand him and his way of thinking. The main story already shows it in so many ways, but a lot of people forget that it is from Maxi’s pov, so a lot of things will be shown as how she understands them and feels about them. If the main story isn’t enough to show some readers that Riftan isn’t just a controlling hotheaded a-hole who doesn’t deserve Maxi, reading Riftan’s pov will not change their mind, just like so many people don’t get how Maxi’s recklessness is important and not just her being stubborn for nothing

When did I say that what he did was justified by his heartbreak or love or care ? It explains it, doesn’t justify it nor will never be an excuse. The way the first comment put it was as if he really didn’t care about her and her and her feelings when he did this thinking it was the best for her, and father was the only one caring about her finding about the miscarriage. It was put in too simple words when it is nothing but a simple situation.
And when did I say starting a war for her is romantic ? it’s the fact that he didn’t care about his own future as a lord because he wanted Maxi to get justice, and that is not something to throw away because it came « too late ». There is nothing romantic here. He didn’t know about any of this because maxi herself didn’t want him to. Not just because he had the fantasy of her being a well guarded and loves daughter of a duke. So how is he too late to defend her ? Should he have been a psychic and discover it by himself ? He literally didn’t knew the duke was an abuser of his own daughter, why put it as if he knew he was but still let her go back to her abuser and let him tell her about the miscarriage instead of himself ? That is what I don’t get. Because it is not what happened.

To like or dislike a character is totally personal but still, it seems you really cannot stand the ML so this a genuine question I am asking now: why keep reading ? This is not to start an argument, this is not a sassy question or whatever it can look like. I truly want to come to understand why keep reading a story about a main character you really dislike, because I see a lot of people do the same.

True. When we finally get plots with not black or white characters, green flags or red flags, it becomes an issue because people tend to think good characters can’t make big mistakes but still be good, and bad characters can never redeem themselves (well, some of them really can’t lol). The realism of this webtoon, of the characters’ actions is why people who don’t like it actually dislike in the story, and it’s a little sad.
And it also happens when the setting is medieval-like. To read historical stories only through our modern mindset prevent to better understand the characters (to at least understand them, not excuse them for their mistakes when they make them). That is also why some people don’t like Maxi because she is « weak » and can’t stand for herself at the beginning of the story. But women in these kind of times were raised to be this way, especially noblewomen. And she went through so much abuse, was wed to a man she didn’t know and was so scary for her, so of course she would not be confident or immediately ask for more freedom. And in the end she does, but still some readers will disregard her efforts and growth because she is not a girlboss like they want her to be.

Bruh, I swear I don't care, I'm not reading this. Piss off.

I never said *you* personally claimed his actions were justified. What I’m pushing back against is the framing that keeps dragging the conversation away from Maxi’s lived experience and toward Riftan’s intentions, grief, or ignorance—as if any of that meaningfully reduces the harm done to her.

You keep saying it “explains, not justifies,” but explanation is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. In practice, it’s being used to soften accountability. When the end result is that Maxi is silenced, isolated, physically handled during arguments, and kept in the dark about her own miscarriage, intent becomes largely irrelevant. From her perspective, the damage is the same no matter how noble Riftan thought he was being. The point of explaining one's actions in a narrative—especially for a character like Riftan, it's to establish a *character arc* for said character, but the issue with Riftan is that he never gets one. Ever.

No, Riftan isn’t psychic. I’m not arguing he knowingly sent her back to an abuser—I already addressed that, though apparently it got lost. What I am saying is that his long-established pattern of control, emotional shutdown, and physical intimidation meant Maxi didn’t feel safe enough to confide in him in the first place. That’s why she made decisions alone. That’s why she kept things from him. And that’s why his “defense” only kicks in once the situation becomes unavoidable and external.

Yes, pursuing justice later still matters. I never said it didn’t. What I’m rejecting is the idea that it magically wipes the slate clean. You don’t get retroactive moral credit that erases harm already done—especially when the story rarely requires Riftan to meaningfully reckon with his earlier behavior beyond “he was sad and loved her a lot.”

As for “why keep reading”—simple. I read for Maxi. Her arc, her struggle, and her growth are compelling. Liking a female lead does not obligate me to romanticize or excuse the male lead she’s paired with, particularly when that relationship is framed as aspirational while repeatedly bulldozing basic boundaries.

You’re right that liking or disliking a character is personal. But I’m not misreading or oversimplifying the text—I’m actually engaging with it. And engaging with it means acknowledging that “complex” does not automatically mean “acceptable,” or "well-written," nor does it require readers to stay emotionally invested in a male lead whose behavior consistently raises red flags.

If you don’t like (or understand) my rebuttals, feel free to argue with a toilet instead. At least you’ll understand its feedback better—especially after flushing the heavy turd of a response you just dropped.

Some people just want simple, drama free stories that are easy to understand. Black and white good vs bad person so they don’t have to think about why x character would act x way. Also! I wanted to say sorry the OP is being so rude to you. It’s so crazy lol. They tell you to piss off in one comment and then reply a whole bunch of stuff in the next while being a jerk about it. You didn’t say anything wrong but I don’t think they’re comprehending what you’ve said correctly.