I would have liked the beginning a bit more if the prince had instead broken off the engagement for her sake as well, instead of cuss he was just dumb and lacked common sense. Nothing really would have needed to change in the story either, but his overally character and subsequent actions later would have made more sense/been seen in a bit of a better light. He still could have truly been in love with the other girl, still could have called it off at that party, and still had the fake meltdown. Truthfully if his motivations were different, he was a bit smarter/more cunning, and he had planned it out to a certain extent with her, then her continued loyalty, and his later actions with the investigation would have been better. Again even his meltdown during his house arrest could have been written as the beginning of his investigation, and him finding out could have been through cleverness instead of luck. In this way he helps his childhood friend accomplish her dreams (since she said breaking off her engagement from her end is difficult), protects his family and people, stops a treason plot, and still been able to end up with the love of his life. I think he could have been an interesting/more nuanced character if he was just written a bit better. He didn't need to be written as exceptional, just a bit smarter, with more common sense. I do still like the story and its characters overall, this is just one major aspect I wish was done better.
I would have liked the beginning a bit more if the prince had instead broken off the engagement for her sake as well, instead of cuss he was just dumb and lacked common sense. Nothing really would have needed to change in the story either, but his overally character and subsequent actions later would have made more sense/been seen in a bit of a better light. He still could have truly been in love with the other girl, still could have called it off at that party, and still had the fake meltdown. Truthfully if his motivations were different, he was a bit smarter/more cunning, and he had planned it out to a certain extent with her, then her continued loyalty, and his later actions with the investigation would have been better. Again even his meltdown during his house arrest could have been written as the beginning of his investigation, and him finding out could have been through cleverness instead of luck. In this way he helps his childhood friend accomplish her dreams (since she said breaking off her engagement from her end is difficult), protects his family and people, stops a treason plot, and still been able to end up with the love of his life. I think he could have been an interesting/more nuanced character if he was just written a bit better. He didn't need to be written as exceptional, just a bit smarter, with more common sense. I do still like the story and its characters overall, this is just one major aspect I wish was done better.