most of the defenders probably read the novel so they actually know more about him than the manhwa that covers barely the beginning and doesn't reveal the biggest twist? if you want a story with a ml that worships the fl from the very beginning then go read a story like that, there's so many manhwas like that. shit is just gonna get worse so if this tiny bit makes you so mad then I recommend you stop reading for your own sanity
lmao "read the novel" only makes my point stronger Varkas doesn't even realize he's in love with Thalia until AFTER she dies, and she literally dies thinking nobody ever loved her. wow, what an amazing ml.
all y'all keep talking about what's going on in his head, but Thalia doesn't live in his head. she lives with his actions. and his actions were too little, too late. meanwhile her knight actually had the balls to stand up for her despite having a fraction of Varkas' power.
he realized everything after it was already too fucking late.
It doesn't make your point stronger, what in the world are you talking about lmao. You do realize that the story isn't over yet? That both of them dying is supposed to be the turning point? That this is the first part of the story that we rarely see in manhwas cause it's often shortened to "I reincarnated and want to change my life around"? That this is the "bad" before they get a redemption? Both of the main characters are a bit twisted but isn't that what makes this story interesting? The grey morals, questionable choices and the slow burn? Barkas left her alone cause she asked him to. He's not an empath that would try overthinking her words cause the story isn't about that. So what if he himself realized his feelings this late? It's not like she made it easy for him to read her with her conflicting behavior. After they get married his attitude shifts, he's more lenient towards her, lets her off for so many things, including naively feeding him something she thought was an aphrodisiac but turned out to be a poison that almost killed him. It gets so apparent in his actions that he feels something more even without him outright saying it or even realizing it.
The knight isn't even there for most of the novel cause he's a plot device that's supposed to underline and show contrast of his (normal) actions to theirs. Cause they're both traumatized and emotionally constipated. Maybe later on he'll get more of a role but so far he's just that nice guy in the story.
It literally does. You're explaining why he is the way he is, not why the outcome somehow isn't tragic.
You're saying "it's the bad before the redemption," but that doesn't change the fact that Thalia's entire first life was nothing but suffering. She was abused, humiliated, treated like garbage, and then died believing nobody loved her. Varkas only realized he loved her after she died. She literally had to DIE for him to change. How is that supposed to make me think, "wow, what a romantic love story"?
I don't care if he's traumatized or emotionally constipated. That's an explanation, not an excuse. The consequences are still the same.
And the aphrodisiac argument doesn't help your point either. Thalia was so desperate because Varkas was emotionally closed off and impossible to read that she genuinely thought an aphrodisiac was her only chance to get closer to him. That doesn't prove he was already showing his love it just shows how lonely and desperate she had become.
And "she told him to leave her alone" isn't a convincing argument when he had no problem getting involved in other aspects of her life. The knight had a fraction of Varkas' power and still found the courage to stand up for her when she was being humiliated.
ml defenders are bending over backwards to prove how much he cared about Thalia. meanwhile, the only person with the balls to stand up for her is her knight, who's obviously nowhere near as powerful as the ml, yet the ml does absolutely nothing while she's being beaten, humiliated, degraded, etc. he supposedly loves Thalia, but he does NOTHING to make her situation any better. her disgusting brother calls her a bitch, a bastard, and wants to exclude her from the blessing, and only Thalia's knight has balls of steel and stands up to the crown prince!!!! Thalia should stop giving a fuck about the ml and be with her knight. the ml is such a fucking pussy that I can't even stand looking at his face.