before i start reading

i like your point and agree that the behaviorisms of modern world shouldnt applied esp to a world where they are fighting monsters for survival, but i also think as people, since humans are social creatures, we will always prioritize how interactions make us feel and see things far too often at face value instead of actually looking deep

it's not that the behaviour is natural or not natural, realistic or not realistic.

actually i know the behaviour (discarding mc because she's not his type) is just following the plot and so it's necessary to be like that. it's actually have no deeper meaning.

it's just a shame that with fantasy setting author prioritize human behavior as main conflict...

also my actual curiosity is why using "expressionless" as the excuse when it's not actually a big flaw or even a flaw at all since we see ML have no problem with it... i actually have a lot of guesses.. but i am still a bit annoyed that author used a non-flaw and made it seem like a big flaw or have to tell readers that hey it is not a flaw at all, like that already obvious (at least to me) ... it's like a useless message to me. at the same time it also give energy that "hey there's actually people who really hate expressionless person even if that people are jerks"
although maybe i am wrong about author's intention bc i don't actually continue reading this ╮(￣▽￣)╭

heyy I actually said the original comment without reading the manga. I have now since read it and I do think there are things a little bit deeper than just being expressionless which caused her to get so much ridicule

1) Phillia was hated because she was doing "more" than expected. When there is someone who exists that is so perfect, people begin to feel some disconnect and think she is not human. this does happen actually in the new country too, except they choose to idolize her as a Goddess (still non-human). When someone who excels and is doing so much better than people who also spent their life into becoming better in their field, that person become an object of envy. Notice how many people within the plot were jealous of her and her abilities due to the inferiority they felt toward her. This, unfortunately, is a very common trope in both fiction and real-life.
2) gritonia seemed to encompass many patriarchal values and the fact that Philia is a woman just hurt the many male egos. A man's words held far more weight than a woman's words could hold. This is demonstrated even further with the aunt/philia's mother who was ridiculed and isolated due to the words of her younger brother despite literally being this nation's saintness. And we see that Mia was not an exception to this treatment despite being described as beautiful and lovely (always with a beautiful expression on her face). Whenever Mia began to voice her opinions or resemble Philia even in the slightest way, she would be brushed off and patronized.
3) Finally, due to a mix of factors, being expressionless and non-talkative does NOT help Philias case at all in making herself have a better reputation. Something important is Philia and Mia are used as examples of both great saintesses but very different people in the way they practice their sainthood. Philia was an easy target to continue to ridicule because she would not do anything about her position. This is unfortunately just a result of the abuse she had endured. Meanwhile, Mia was actually creating courses of action to get rid of the root cause of the abuse. We could think, maybe if Philia was more friendly and had a better disposition toward the people of Gritonia, they would have even revolted to get her back to their country, but they never did because Mia served as the kind and gentle back up.

wow thank you for the detailed explanation

yikes seem like i'm not going to read it after all bc it will make my blood boil. maybe philia will make them regret it or ML will, and revenge will be served but I'm also not into revenge story. after all before revenge you have to read through the reason for such action. it still a no for me even if there's great art and sweet romance ┗( T﹏T )┛ only if the story has comedy or aura it will reduce my anger

i think the plot is quite plausible, people are just full of inferiority complex especially men with power. remind me so much of politicians in my country, except they discarded the actually good and skillful politicians because they don't want their corruption to be hindered. real life motive is powered by money.

meanwhile in historical/historical fantasy setting it's usually for fame because during that time fame = power according to chinese emperor who often discarded their famous general after they run out their usefulness or even before. it's really similar situations.

but as a story, I think the main conflict has too much going on. that philia's being better is a problem, that philia's being more famous is a problem, that philia's being a woman is a problem, that philia's being unable to maneuver the political scheme is a problem....

but in the end i cant speak much bc I don't read the story after all. but as you explained it, there's more explanation why being expressionless/seem unfriendly become fatal in Philia's case. but it feel kind of evil from author to just summarize everything as her "too expressionless". I still think author has kind of bias towards "expressionless" character, i mean they make an emphasize about it and it seems like an important theme too.. and I'm also become too hung up on that stuff lol

I actually don't like expressionless mc. it's just more fun/interesting to me to see a lot of human expression. but still expressionless characters need a justice!