Ian is very deeply insecure and i believe the manipulation stems from that too. So he seems like hes just manipulating him for fun but i genuinely think its because hes painfully insecure of himself. There are points lord anatold proves his insecurities wrong time and time again by just wanting to treat him as his wife and loving him regardless, and ian misunderstands that awkwardness/shyness as disliking him/being around him, even if it seems like hes just saying these things to emotionally manipulate.
Ive missed teary eyed, inexperienced melty ukes lmfao. I didn't know i did till this moment, so cute.
Maybe you can try Ch13-16 of this story for inexperienced ukes teehee: https://www.mangago.me/read-manga/double_date_1/










Wow i love this so much. What a breath of fresh air, and the build up to them getting intimate has been so realistic and makes the pay off even better. Looveee this story, the characterisations, etc. havent read something that gave me so much enjoyment in my heart to read in such a long time!