honestly i get that the whole point of richt's character arc is realizing there is life outside of hestia/his betrayal and that he deserves to forgive himself (by finding happiness with peony) but... it kind of bothers me how both characters prioritize love over literally everything else... like peony disregarding her family at every turn (who literally almost lost her once already) so she could gtfo as fast as humanly possible to live with richt... not understanding or respecting how much pain she was causing them at all and continuing to put herself in danger... richt abandoning the literal empress to save peony without at the very least giving directions to them to coordinate the empress' rescue... like yes if you told all these soldiers in the war before to forget about their loved ones and prioritize the imperial family over all else (when for you it was always about love), i think you should feel guilty actually. idk. romance stories like these always make realize i could never center my life around one person.
what do you guys think edith would have chosen to do if she failed? the author says its obvious what she would have chosen, but i honestly don't know... maybe she would have stayed to watch over killian because he's the only person she ever felt true belonging with and received love from? i know the reason edith said she didn't choose to live a new life and escape from the rudwicks was because she felt like she had nothing to live for if it wasn't to be with killian.
but also, a core part of her philosophy was to always persist on living as well and as honestly as you can, and that time heals all wounds... so maybe she would have left? i don't know!










i wonder what happened to the burn victim in the end