Honestly the Dude Looks broken. I mean like, at least he had a little bit of that Latin spice to him but now he just looks like, he's just going through the motions. I missed the spicy he used to have, now he just looks like, a doormat. Like seriously? She broke this man so bad he went from a wolf to a, I don't know, a beaten dog
I agree to an extent. But he doesn't look broken to me, more like his "asshole side" is used as an excuse to justify his past/future dickery yk what I mean? Just bc he's an idiot in love now doesn't excuse anything, it's not like he as a person changed or at least I see none of that.
The author rushed into the romance and their mcs' personalities suffer under it, thats the issue imo.
And yea, they should've commited to his dickery way more, make FL and his relationship more tense and transactional - no fluffy blushing, let their relationship evolve more naturally over a longer time span.
I'm not gonna defend their actions but I'm totally defending their feelings.
You're very naive if you treat feelings like something you have any control over, it just happens! Original Robellia loved the emperor for who knows what reason because he was a tyrant, that doesn't make it an obligation for him to return said feelings. Alexandros likes current Robellia because she's something more than a tool for legitimacy, she acts like a real person.
And current Robellia has already fought a lot to make the memory and suffering of the original empress be ackowledged and respected, what else do you expect? Not only that, Robellia worst enemy about that was the original Robellia herself, because since she was in love with the emperor, she left many residual feelings in her heart, which current Robellia is now taking hold of. They're not her own feelings yet, but even if they were, is not like she has any power over them, as I already stated.
Sure but idc about their feelings when these feelings were rushed into so early story-wise. It's just makes both of them look kinda vain to me. It's not a good look. Feelings happen but in this type of situation you need more than it "just happens". If the foundation for their feelings is "omg he's handsome even though he's an asshole" or "ok I basically left her for dead but she's not boring anymore" then - how to say this? Meh. Sends a messed up message to say the least. That's what I got my panties in a twist for ig.
Their attitude towards these feelings is also lackluster imo. I like that MC is aware that these feelings are not very cash-money in her situation and resists it, but how is that all she feels towards the guy with the knowledge she holds?
Also, with the Emperor you can't just seperate his actions and feelings. So what if he has feelings now? He's for the streets. The AUTHOR should've done literally anything to dig him out of that hole first before deciding to let them blush over each other like school kids.
But none the less. TLDR; it's frustrating to see her, them, like that to begin with. Just to put my thoughts into even further perspective.
This is my take on things (doesn't mean I'm utterly right, just my opinion). But I wouldn't say "rushed", we're already in chapter 86 and the plot has barely moved on! XD
Again, I remark that Robellia loving feelings were initially an echo of the original empress, who loved a jerk Alexandros. Current Robellia didn't want to have anything to do with it, that's why she tried so hard to divorce and get rid of him. Those feelings only began to mix with her own when Alexandros actually started to behave like a human being, treating her with attention, care, respect... because she had finally become someone interesting to him. I'm not saying this to defend the emperor but Robellia, her affection feelings (still small) came from being treated nicely (to the point of obsession) and former empress neglect has nothing to do with current Robellia and her relationship with the emperor.
About Alexandros through? That's thorny. We've seen that he was believed to be a sociopath, so good feelings are not exactly his forte. I doubt there was any way for him to care about a wife that couldn't hold his attention nor stand by his side in his endeavours. Not my intention to be cruel, but that's the truth. Current Robellia however is lively and can stand her own ground, which catches his interest. From there, care and respect towards her are born, and eventually love. Alexandros also seems to be completely lost about his feelings for Robellia, always trying to rationalize them, possibly due to sociopathy again. To me it doesn't feel rushed at all, quite the opposite, having to analyze every single drop of affection he now feels for current Robellia.
She's a whole entire idiot for trusting and falling in love with a guy who abandons his own wife just because she's an irrelevant chess piece in his eyes. In the end even if she isn't a doll anymore she's still a toy to him, remember the only reason why he's interested now is because she bacame "entertaining" and "useful". She should be laughing at his change in attitude instead of blushing; even better act disgusted. Wdym "how dare he flirt when we're about to divorce?", how about idk... "how dare he flirt now when he treated his wife like absolute dog shit all this time?".
FL was so upset for og Empress but can't manage to stay mad at the source of her misery because uwu handsome anime mans, and that sucks.
Conclusion: Big stinky doo doo.