The last 20 to 40 chapters could have been cut and it would have been better. The ending dragged on. The entire "friend" plotline was such a nothing burger. It went no where. It was literally a circle, starting and ending in the same place. I was a little hopeful for a second when she said she would leave her to her fate when the friend couldn't overcome dark magic but nope. Seconds later, she's arrested and "saved." Same with the little brother plot line. It added nothing to the story. I think he had less than an entire chapter worth of screen time in 120 chapters. I felt zero investment in his story. He's illegitimate? Okay. He's weak since birth? Ok. He has an inexplicably bad relationship with Sherin despite her early on characterization having her only being concerned about her mother and her brother as a child? Makes zero sense but okay. Corrupted by dark magic? Cool story. Randomly overcomes it because of a fucking GLARE???? Kay. All of this was shown in about 15 pages over more than 20 chapters. We spent zero time with him so by the end, I don't care what happens to him.
The sorcerer and the jealousy arc was also pointless and SHOULD have been cut. It was only thrown in to make the sister and the princes a Tony bit more threatening. It just dragged things on way too long. And it's resolved with a food kitchen??? Reminder that the girl who got fucking SCAPHISM as a punishment only fucking stole jewels. Everything else she was framed. HE LEGIT THREATENED THE FATE OF THE ENTIRE KINGDOM.
By the ending, the first half seems like a joke. That's the issue with adding in medieval punishments. If you don't keep up with the horror of that time, it just makes everything else feel lacking.
Don't even get me started on the father story line. The ending makes me think that they forgot how they set up the father and mother. It was an arranged marriage. She claimed to love him and died for him. He felt only difference and dismissive towards her, worth some disgust mixed in whenever he had to see her. He was in love with another woman. There is no logical reason he would want to be together with her in a painting, even after death. There's no romantic reason, either, because he had zero interest in what happened to her even after he found out she was poisoned. I could be maybe MAYBE convinced to believe the mother wanted to torture him for all eternity in the painting but she no longer loved him by the end. Or are we just ignoring her feelings in the couple of days before she died?
And most pointless plot line of all, the north duke. So tired of the multi-directional dukes, to start of with. Might as well call one southwest at this point. I hate it. On top of that, the grandparents mention him like they're was some secret or forbidden romance between him and mom. Nope. He was just in unrequited love with her. He there to be yet another unnecessary war plot line. He probably has about a chapter worth of relevance. He adds zero to the plot overall. The war? Plot device so that ML goes away for a couple years to "age up" quickly. The info he gives? Another character already knows. He isn't necessary. He adds nothing.
I don't even want to try to fix it because that would mean rereading and I never want to slog thru that again.
The last 20 to 40 chapters could have been cut and it would have been better. The ending dragged on. The entire "friend" plotline was such a nothing burger. It went no where. It was literally a circle, starting and ending in the same place. I was a little hopeful for a second when she said she would leave her to her fate when the friend couldn't overcome dark magic but nope. Seconds later, she's arrested and "saved." Same with the little brother plot line. It added nothing to the story. I think he had less than an entire chapter worth of screen time in 120 chapters. I felt zero investment in his story. He's illegitimate? Okay. He's weak since birth? Ok. He has an inexplicably bad relationship with Sherin despite her early on characterization having her only being concerned about her mother and her brother as a child? Makes zero sense but okay. Corrupted by dark magic? Cool story. Randomly overcomes it because of a fucking GLARE???? Kay. All of this was shown in about 15 pages over more than 20 chapters. We spent zero time with him so by the end, I don't care what happens to him.
The sorcerer and the jealousy arc was also pointless and SHOULD have been cut. It was only thrown in to make the sister and the princes a Tony bit more threatening. It just dragged things on way too long. And it's resolved with a food kitchen??? Reminder that the girl who got fucking SCAPHISM as a punishment only fucking stole jewels. Everything else she was framed. HE LEGIT THREATENED THE FATE OF THE ENTIRE KINGDOM.
By the ending, the first half seems like a joke. That's the issue with adding in medieval punishments. If you don't keep up with the horror of that time, it just makes everything else feel lacking.
Don't even get me started on the father story line. The ending makes me think that they forgot how they set up the father and mother. It was an arranged marriage. She claimed to love him and died for him. He felt only difference and dismissive towards her, worth some disgust mixed in whenever he had to see her. He was in love with another woman. There is no logical reason he would want to be together with her in a painting, even after death. There's no romantic reason, either, because he had zero interest in what happened to her even after he found out she was poisoned. I could be maybe MAYBE convinced to believe the mother wanted to torture him for all eternity in the painting but she no longer loved him by the end. Or are we just ignoring her feelings in the couple of days before she died?
And most pointless plot line of all, the north duke. So tired of the multi-directional dukes, to start of with. Might as well call one southwest at this point. I hate it. On top of that, the grandparents mention him like they're was some secret or forbidden romance between him and mom. Nope. He was just in unrequited love with her. He there to be yet another unnecessary war plot line. He probably has about a chapter worth of relevance. He adds zero to the plot overall. The war? Plot device so that ML goes away for a couple years to "age up" quickly. The info he gives? Another character already knows. He isn't necessary. He adds nothing.
I don't even want to try to fix it because that would mean rereading and I never want to slog thru that again.