Agreed. When I was getting to some spoilers from before, it was discouraging, but there had to be some reason why authors or editors would gamble on a story with elements that could cause readership to decrease. I had to take it as it is and hope for the best. Reading it is proving to be satisfying so far, and the characters have depths of personalities that you wouldn't naturally find in shallow shoujo.
Yes, I also read the spoilers and I liked that they finally developed a romantic relationship, but I also feel indifferent towards the way the story progressed, and I felt really bad for the concubines. Altho, like u said, the story is good so I'd still read it and hope for a good development.
Ohhh how sad, the concubines are nice and relatable but we all do love our Ms. Paul
Exactly, this manhwa should have a Josei tag since it's not for youngsters who don't want to burst their bubble ╮(￣▽￣)╭
Ohh it doesn't? Haha we should add it then (≧∀≦)
I can understand why people are getting impatient and sad over the fact that the emperor had concubines, got another woman pregnant, and pau and him not being together, but i think that's what makes this realistic compared to other 'historical' manhwas. Originally, they're emperor and knight. They're not gonna hook up suddenly especially that pau doesn't even see the emperor in a romantic way but a master that she admires and serve so i understand that they're still not together after a lot of chapters and i think it's going to take them a looong time seeing as how slow the progress is (which i like btw). Their development is very realistic. It's also understandable because the war just ended and the emperor has to focus on building the empire, his goal all along. The emperor also having to marry his concubines is also realistic because in this setting, they value social hierarchy and it also makes sense because the emperor needs the influence of other noble families as a backing or smth. I can understand why people feel indifferent with this kind of plot, but for me, i think having a realistic plot like this is a breath of fresh air after reading a lot of the fairytale type of historical manhwas.
Also, i don't see a lot of people making comments about this, but the way this portray the struggle of women in this kind of society is so realistic and good. You can't hate on the concubines because you know that as a woman, this is the only choice that they have to gain power and security, something they weren't privileged enough to have from birth. Each character have their own internal struggle which makes them feel real to me and i can relate a lot to them. The fact that the story doesn't only revolve around the emperor and pau is refreshing because we get to see the perspective and the stories of the other characters.
This got a bit long and I can make it longer, honestly but i don't have the braincells to write a more in-depth analysis on the story but to sum it up, i really love this series. The storyline and the characters are so good. It may have a few flaws but the plot, the well-written characters, and the development is enough for me.