Ricardo had plenty of excuses/reasons going for him, making him out to be a character that can't be extremely hated, but still... First, The book is not a "future*, the future already happened and Ricardo never cheated and he did marry Bianca in that future. And then... Ricardo had a reason for his cold neglect, let's say I half believed it that he was too traumatized by war to actually make time to get to know bianca during their long years of engagement. Still... Despite all that, I didn't really feel like shipping Bianca to Ricardo, although his reasons are passable, there's just another character who seemed more deserving for that ml spot... At least that was what I thought while reading the Novel. But then, it came, the arc where Bianca becomes infertile. For a noble lady to become infertile, especially for someone like Bianca who's high rank... It really is a big deal. They're all High rank individuals who's responsibility dictates them. In a realistic view, had Bianca become infertile and the ml was the crown prince, she would have had to endure a complicated life with the prince forced by obligation to have an heir. Knowing the prince, he would have done his obligation as Bianca would too. Since they are both the same type, (someone who takes their social rank and responsibilities/obligation seriously.)
In Ricardo's case, although he admitted he had an ideal type of partner, he still thought he'd marry Bianca even when he didn't love her then, so they both enter a loveless marriage. That's just it, they were nobles with status and obligation... And Ricardo choose to because his obligation was important enough to let go of his ideal life, it was their common sense. But then, only Ricardo would give up that common sense and still proceed to ask for Bianca's hand. So even if Ricardo isn't the ideal ml, I'd give his character credit for prioritizing Bianca over everything else. It wasn't guilt like Maria's bro, Ricardo genuinely choose to be with her even if it means dropping everything else he considered important before like his obligation as heir, his duty to his family. Crown prince was my pick, but they were too similar to each other, that if they ended up in the same circumstances (infertility) I'd say it'd probably end up in tragedy.
Ricardo had plenty of excuses/reasons going for him, making him out to be a character that can't be extremely hated, but still...
First, The book is not a "future*, the future already happened and Ricardo never cheated and he did marry Bianca in that future. And then... Ricardo had a reason for his cold neglect, let's say I half believed it that he was too traumatized by war to actually make time to get to know bianca during their long years of engagement.
Still... Despite all that, I didn't really feel like shipping Bianca to Ricardo, although his reasons are passable, there's just another character who seemed more deserving for that ml spot... At least that was what I thought while reading the Novel. But then, it came, the arc where Bianca becomes infertile. For a noble lady to become infertile, especially for someone like Bianca who's high rank... It really is a big deal.
They're all High rank individuals who's responsibility dictates them. In a realistic view, had Bianca become infertile and the ml was the crown prince, she would have had to endure a complicated life with the prince forced by obligation to have an heir. Knowing the prince, he would have done his obligation as Bianca would too. Since they are both the same type, (someone who takes their social rank and responsibilities/obligation seriously.)
In Ricardo's case, although he admitted he had an ideal type of partner, he still thought he'd marry Bianca even when he didn't love her then, so they both enter a loveless marriage. That's just it, they were nobles with status and obligation... And Ricardo choose to because his obligation was important enough to let go of his ideal life, it was their common sense. But then, only Ricardo would give up that common sense and still proceed to ask for Bianca's hand. So even if Ricardo isn't the ideal ml, I'd give his character credit for prioritizing Bianca over everything else. It wasn't guilt like Maria's bro, Ricardo genuinely choose to be with her even if it means dropping everything else he considered important before like his obligation as heir, his duty to his family. Crown prince was my pick, but they were too similar to each other, that if they ended up in the same circumstances (infertility) I'd say it'd probably end up in tragedy.