Ewww...

Lol, yeah. I don't think it's sweet or hot. It's just weird.

Gosh… this broke the bubble. But yeah.. my perspective on the type of presence riftan is to maxi goes back and forth. As sweet as it sounds.. it’s not exactly in the good side of normalcy. Imma keep going back and forth though and enjoy the sweet sour and bitter flavors of this story ლ(´ڡ`ლ)

Y'all just hate anything atp

Fr

Responding to a well reasoned, thought out comment that you disagree with with low brow slop like it's so unheard of for someone to critique the media they consume. Yup, typical stan behavior.

I've mentioned how gross Riftan's obsession is before. I'm not blindly hating like you've implied, lol. I don't care how romantic the scene was meant to be, doesn't mean it actually is once you've removed your rose-tinted glasses. Although, I obviously never had them on if I felt creeped out by Riftan upon my first time reading this story, lol.

Lol, right? Like, I let you girlies gush and swoon and wet yourselves over a guy built like an industrial refrigerator, so let me rip him apart because he isn't as hot as you think he is. I mean, I pretty sure I'm allowed to have "controversial" opinions over a fictional character.

Lol, that's fair.

Personally though, I think he's staying true to his character (dywim) like coming from a regular mercenary who is literally surrounded by men, it's not weird he has that kind of fantasy to marry a rish noble daughter and become wealthy and so on. His obsession is unhealthy, I'm not denying that. But it's probably due to the society perception of woman at the time, weak and always in need of protection. Either way, I'm enjoying this

Wow I see that you never had a crush, and if you are like this in real life I would not be surprised if noone has had a crush on you.

I mean this is essentially set in the 1400-1500s so having feelings and musings like that about a beautiful woman you only get to see glimpses of makes sense. He’s a yearner and a yearner of his time, making up excuses to go to Croyso castle just to see her is not unlike something written about in old love poems.

Lol, it shows a lot about your maturity level if you stoop to personal attacks just because I made an observation about Riftan's toxic obsession. It also shows just how vapid you are if you think that his actions are akin to that of someone with a simple crush. And I suppose you use this same argument for yandere characters. After all, they're just yearning for the one they "love," and jist they're showing it in their own special way "UwU". It apparently doesn’t matter how obsessive, creepy, or toxic they are at expressing that "love," right? Get out of my comment thread, Bozo.

That still doesn’t make it any less weird to me. The setting may be medieval-inspired, but it’s also fantasy. The author already bends reality constantly through magic, worldbuilding, and modernized character writing, so “historical accuracy” isn’t really an excuse here.

I’m just saying the story absolutely could’ve depicted Riftan’s obsession as tragic or unhealthy without constantly framing it as deeply romantic. Especially when the two barely knew each other to begin with and still spend most of the story fundamentally misunderstanding one another. Their entire dynamic is built on obsession, poor communication, imbalance, coercive intimacy, and emotional exhaustion, so the narrative trying to package all of that as some grand love story just feels gross.

Bro I think if you’re not into this kind of story then you’re in the wrong place, stop complaining and go find a different manhwa

Nope, I don't think I will. I can enjoy other parts of the story (i.e., Maxi’s journey) while simultaneously criticizing other aspects about it. I mean, you're here responding under MY comment. What did you expect? Tf are you getting up at arm's about, lol?

I think this is more normal than you might think. Riftan’s feelings started as a crush and eventually became his first love. Plenty of people daydream about a future with someone they like, especially when they’re young.

For me, the difference between romantic longing and something genuinely creepy is whether someone acts on it in a harmful way or refuses to respect boundaries. Riftan admired Maxi from afar, but the story also makes it clear that there were huge social barriers between them. He wasn’t in a position where he could simply walk up and introduce himself. he was a low-ranking soldier and she was the daughter of a duke. The man basically had to go fight a war that most people were sure he was going to die in for him to even have a shot. That's part of why his feelings stayed in the realm of longing and fantasy for so long.

I can understand why some of yall find his fixation uncomfortable, especially because Maxi wasn’t even aware of him at first. But I don’t see it as uniquely creepy within the context of the story. A lot of romance dramas involve one character longing for someone from a distance before they ever get the chance to know each other. Riftan just happens to take that trope to an extreme because of his background and circumstances. That said, I do think it’s fair to view some aspects of his attachment as unhealthy. I just don’t think that automatically means it wasn’t genuine love.

I think it's creepy when you consider everything that comes afterward. From the fighting, the stonewalling, the coercive sex, even the marital rape on their wedding night, adding in the fact that he'd been in love with her before she even met him feels extra wrong when you consider how much he ends up hurting her in the end, and never ends up apologizing or atoning for his mistreatment of her. It's just wrong.