I literally already forgot the ntr chapter happened, why is everyone still hung up on it?
Writing whole novels in the comments about how much you dislike something instead of just moving on shows immaturity and insecurity.
Calling people bitches and being horribly nasty Does show immaturity.
If you can't handle scenes of concubines, don't read historical fiction where concubines are integral to the story.
(Also going to mention, reverse harem is literally a genre. There are many very popular stories where women have their own harems)
Plus the entire point of that scene was for him to realize he only liked her.
He's not been with anyone else since.
Idk if y'all just don't know how characters work, but they're supposed to grow, change and develop as the story does.
An emperor with a madness that makes him kill recklessly and have no compassion for others, is going to be someone who does shitty things as he heals from his madness.
He's even mellowed out a lot in the recent chapters.
Don't like don't read, is a great thing to remember here. Remember kids, a drawing that does bad or not nice things, is not an endorsement of those actions but merely a plot device/character foil/metaphor/following a story theme etc etc.
You are well within your right to have an opinion on a story, you're even allowed to dislike it.
However....If you are not mature enough to handle when a drawing does something distasteful, enough to where you spew intense rage filled abusive language at other readers, then you should not be reading this kind of content.
And you should certainly not be nasty to other readers when they try to explain the plot or say "hey it's ok you don't have to read this".
You are not morally superior bc you dislike what a drawing did. You are especially not morally superior when calling people bitches when they call you out on your behavior.
Holy based response, I'm following
Lolol yww
Also find it funny people call it cheating when like.... The concubine is his legal wife. She is just a maid. If we're going to talk about cheating and ntr... She is the affair partner, not the concubine.
I also do think people have gotten to comfortable with not being uncomfortable. A bad thing or miscommunication or a drama plot point happening in a story is SUPPOSED to make you uncomfortable! If a characters actions bother you .. congratulations the author did their job.
If you're uncomfortable in a scene where the MC is made to watch a mad king sleep with his wife .. congratulations you felt exactly what the author wanted you to.
The problem comes when these kids throw a fit and claim some moral "this is evil and shouldn't be read by anyone" grandstanding.
And maybe my current covid infected brain isn't explaining this right but my god... Why do we want every character to do the right perfect thing all the time every time???
That makes for such a boring story !!!
Drama is good! Angst is good!
Hey actually queer person here, none of y'all know what twink means if you think the ML is a twink. Our MC you could maybe call a twink.
But big muscles and sharp facial features do not make one a twink.
He is a pretty man, and he has been so since the beginning.
The art didn't change.
I would also suggest yall look up how lighting can change skin tones in art. If you're in a well lit room, skin will look lighter. Darker room does the opposite.
Yes the skin will look different in different chapters... Bc they are in different rooms at different times of day.
Stop using queer slang if you don't know shit about it please!!!
Girl, if this guy isn't a twink, than you need to go to the gym more often to see what "big muscles and sharp facial features" on man, really looks like...
I think you misunderstood, OP is saying the ML doesn't look like a twink, not the MC
Oh lol, I have dyslexia, OP sorry for misunderstanding
Seeing the parents when they were young is always such a great "ohhh y'all are the root of this!! "
Bc our ml was not a bad kid. He wasn't even a bad guy. But his father thoroughly corrupted him.. then his wife .. which just started this entire thing.
I just feel bad for them now. At least they're together as a family now? Maybe?
her parents are good people, they aren't evil. But they made a MASSIVE MISTAKE in how they sheltered her and talked about the dark area.
They fucked up bad
It would be toxic if he was calling her stupid or saying she deserves it etc etc.
But like he is mostly yelling about how helpless and confused he feels.
He is a man of war, and actions. If something is wrong he fights to fix it. Literally in many cases. He doesn't understand how someone could endure abuse like this and not fight back.
They are each other's character foils.
She is beaten into submission by her environment, her stutter, and her family.
She was molded by her life experiences to respond to fear with fawning or freezing.
He was the opposite, he was raised and crafted into a perfect weapon. He knows how to command troops, to have the perfect battle strategy with minimal casualties.
If there is someone being hurt he stops it, and fights the abuser.
To him freezing isn't even a thought.
But it's all she can do.
And since this is all new information for him, plus he literally witnesses his wife who just recently miscarried being whipped so hard she is SOAKED in blood...
Ofc he's going to yell, he's confused and scared and blames himself more than anything.
Him asking her why is him trying to rationalize her decision, he can't wrap his head around why anyone would Want to go back.
He doesn't understand that she felt she had no choice.
He thinks that she is telling him by going back that this is preferable to being with him.
THAT is why is he angry and yelling.
I swear to God no one likes stories with conflicts longer than a few chapters.
It's OK for stories to have long arching character driven conflicts that aren't solved easily. It makes them more human! It would be boring if every story had quick and easy resolutions with perfect communication.
Angst is good!!
I also think kids don't like to feel uncomfortable anymore. It's ok if conflict makes you uncomfortable, that's how you push through and grow!!
Also as someone who was Beaten frequently by a father.. some of y'all have NO idea what's it's like to be under someone's control. To have zero agency. Even when you escape you still end up coming back at least once.
Bc you feel as though there truly isn't another choice sometimes. That you have so little worth that there's no point in trying.
Maxi has been WHIPPED since she was EIGHT !!
She trusts NO BODY
Ofc they're going to struggle as a couple!!!
Tldr; Riftan is a flawed but good man. He is not abusive. Y'all, learn to read difficult things and idk work on media literacy.
THANK YOU. he's yelling yes but not AT her
He is still yelling though, that can be traumatising on its own. And it's all he can do all the time lol. He makes it about him again and it's cool to have a flawed character but I can't see what makes him a good lover after everything that happens in this story, poor Maxi
Hey so people are allowed to yell when they're going through intense emotions.
Its called being human and caring about people you love.
If he sat there and didn't raise his voice once this scene would fall completely flat and be devoid of character development and emotion.
"It's all he can do all the time"
Gee I wonder why the warrior since childhood who leads an army and subjugates monsters would yell all the time it's almost like that's his job
Yk what else is probably traumatizing for Maxi?
BEING WHIPPED SINCE SHE WAS EIGHT
EXACTLY !!
People take their tik Tok therapy speak way too seriously and my god.
It's healthy to yell! It shows you care! It shows you're human and capable of intense emotions.
Nothing he's said has been blaming her.
Gosh, I wish we had more readers like you here, because this fandom is full of fucking idiots who can’t handle or analyze complex stories and characters. If they can’t stand plots with heavy themes, then maybe they should stick to reading fairy tales, watching Peppa Pig, or consuming stories where everyone holds hands, communicates perfectly, and lives happily ever after by chapter 5
EXACTLY THIS LMAO
LIKE CMON YALL IF THERE WAS NO CONFLICT ITS BE WORSE THAT CHILDRENS BOOKS !?!
I don't understand either why people make such immediate judgement calls on a characters entire self within the first 20 chapters. And then hold onto that image and refuse to "forgive".
Nobody wants to push past their own levels of comfort.
"This is a bad action so he's 100% evil" is just sooo reactionary and childish truly!!
"She should just leave", ok cool there are sooo many revenge titles you could read. This never said it would be.
It's like ordering chocolate ice cream then getting mad it's chocolate not mint. Go get the mint you want and stop trying to change something that already told you what it was.
Gun to these kids head and they couldn't tell you what a character foil is or the 5 main elements of a story structure.
Bet they couldn't even fill out the chart!
Like hello what do y'all want? No rising action? No exposition ?
Just straight to climax then conclusion?
That's boring!!
Found this randomly and saw so many comments that hated the ML...
And now that I'm caught up to 35, I'm unsure why y'all dislike him??
We've not seen him enough with her yet to determine much other than cautious interest.
He's not in love with her, he just sees her as a good potential ally.
They've met by chance at almost every occasion? Except maybe one?
Unless all these comments were meant to be on a different story I hope new readers give this a chance and y'all... Maybe wait before judging?
They've had a total of 4 conversations together. All being of the political drama nature.
Even him feeding the pie to her was him getting her to drink a specific potion.
So far he is an interesting character, I like him!
I was actually surprised he wasn't boring me.
Thank you ! I totally agree with you.
She also see him as nothing but a pawn at the moment so why be mad at him ?
Because he also has his own goals and is not solely focused on her’s ?
No seriously!!! Like the comments had me believing he fell hard and was sneaking around her obsessed. Dude is just curious about her plans and trying to figure out if she can help him. Especially with his curse!!
And she doesn't give a shit about him, other than his possible usefulness.
They'll be such a bad ass couple.
I'm actually really enjoying this one.
Oooh I like how you think ! Badass couple is what I am hoping for. The stories were the ML is just a second character that help the FL or where the FL is weak are boring. Why choose when you can have both being strong characters ?
I'm sobbing rn, this is exactly what I'm glad to see.
This is growth and grief.
If y'all wanted a revenge story it was never going to be this one.
This is about the trauma of two people and their love.
They BOTH lost their baby!!
Ofc he's going to handle that differently than her!
If y'all wanted her to hit him or destroy him, that wasn't going to be this.
Idk how many of y'all have actually lost children but it will destroy a relationship, and it takes a lot to come back whole as a couple.
And with both of their backgrounds these reactions make sense for them both.
She runs away, he buried the pain and took the blame.
I hope they continue to heal and talk and see how things go.
Maybe eventually they can have another child, they'd be wonderful parents
Pls pls pls give us anal play with him
Naos is so uptight about his desires, he needs to let loose
16 of y'all are homophobic prudes!! Let a man enjoy a tentacle up his butt! Don't y'all know of the erogenous zone there?!
May have coiv messing with my brain rn but y'all need to lock in to some real freak shit