So I see some people sad about Callian having feelings for Ophelia so I wanted to alleviate people's worries (novel spoilers)
Callian's arc is about self-realization, not romance. Callian's issue (directly stated in the novel) is that his mother (who everyone loved, including OG Ophelia) died giving birth to him. He feels that she should have saved herself rather than him, however she wanted him to live to become a better person than her.
Because of these mommy issues, he seeks love from women to essentially fill his mother's spot in his life. It's why he liked Fleur (nice, soft-hearted) and why he grows to like Ophelia (reliable and cares about him).
However, both of these women have to play roles for him and he doesn't (and won't) like the honest versions of themselves. Our current Ophelia is not some perfect girl: she's manipulative and will give back what she gets (she beats up Fleur in the novel so bad that her nose bleeds).
What the story is leading to is Callian realizing that he is prioritizing what he feels is love (which is actually his mommy issues) rather than actual wanting to become a better emperor than his father.
So I see some people sad about Callian having feelings for Ophelia so I wanted to alleviate people's worries (novel spoilers)
Callian's arc is about self-realization, not romance. Callian's issue (directly stated in the novel) is that his mother (who everyone loved, including OG Ophelia) died giving birth to him. He feels that she should have saved herself rather than him, however she wanted him to live to become a better person than her.
Because of these mommy issues, he seeks love from women to essentially fill his mother's spot in his life. It's why he liked Fleur (nice, soft-hearted) and why he grows to like Ophelia (reliable and cares about him).
However, both of these women have to play roles for him and he doesn't (and won't) like the honest versions of themselves. Our current Ophelia is not some perfect girl: she's manipulative and will give back what she gets (she beats up Fleur in the novel so bad that her nose bleeds).
What the story is leading to is Callian realizing that he is prioritizing what he feels is love (which is actually his mommy issues) rather than actual wanting to become a better emperor than his father.