finished the main story and honestly the arguments about whether the ml can be redeemed or not is practiacally irrelevent cuz ml suffers/grovels a lot (as he should) to the point i even felt bad for him and i just wanted mc to be happy even if it meant falling for ml. (coming from someone who dont give a damn abt a mc forgiving a trash ml if the redemption arc is bad). every action he commits snowballs into a resoundingly tragic consequence. and the story is unrelenting in reminding us that the consequences are essentially ml's karma. it's very satisfying seeing how the ml changed from cold-blooded guy who used mc as a pawn to a groveling simp who would beam with joy at the faintest scrap of attention mc gives him, and who cant bring himself to do anything but weep knowing mc tried killing him several times. granted, it's a complete 180 of his previous attitude, but that and the narrative style of jumping back and forth between past and present offset my anger a lot ngl (and if he was anything less mc would've continued hating him). anyway, the story is hella angsty, mc absolutely hates ml the majority of the story (until the last 10%?) to the extent he secretly funded a rebellion against ml, which indirectly caused a tragedy. but everything can be traced back to ml's actions, so everything is basically his fault and the characters remind him constantly. so yeah, rape and the other reprehensible acts aren't swept under the rug, it's a huge obstacle to any reconciliation and their relationship progressing, ml had to nearly die twice for mc to finally believe his sincerity, and in the last chapter ml does let mc leave, and he returns after 6 years.
finished the main story and honestly the arguments about whether the ml can be redeemed or not is practiacally irrelevent cuz ml suffers/grovels a lot (as he should) to the point i even felt bad for him and i just wanted mc to be happy even if it meant falling for ml. (coming from someone who dont give a damn abt a mc forgiving a trash ml if the redemption arc is bad). every action he commits snowballs into a resoundingly tragic consequence. and the story is unrelenting in reminding us that the consequences are essentially ml's karma. it's very satisfying seeing how the ml changed from cold-blooded guy who used mc as a pawn to a groveling simp who would beam with joy at the faintest scrap of attention mc gives him, and who cant bring himself to do anything but weep knowing mc tried killing him several times. granted, it's a complete 180 of his previous attitude, but that and the narrative style of jumping back and forth between past and present offset my anger a lot ngl (and if he was anything less mc would've continued hating him). anyway, the story is hella angsty, mc absolutely hates ml the majority of the story (until the last 10%?) to the extent he secretly funded a rebellion against ml, which indirectly caused a tragedy. but everything can be traced back to ml's actions, so everything is basically his fault and the characters remind him constantly. so yeah, rape and the other reprehensible acts aren't swept under the rug, it's a huge obstacle to any reconciliation and their relationship progressing, ml had to nearly die twice for mc to finally believe his sincerity, and in the last chapter ml does let mc leave, and he returns after 6 years.