True.... but, I think we have to think about this wrt the emotion of the mc/affected child rather than logic
Personally though, as someone who was also forced to discard my original personality for survival, I can kinda sympathise on why Phil would prefer the magical dad over the emperor dad
That experience.... takes something away from u that u can never fully recover & leaves a big big scar, so much so u would want to stay away from the cause of it, even if he treated u better.
Moreover, since that good treatment was a result of tremendous cost (essentially discarding urself to receive love), it won't feel unconditional (even if it is) until a long time away.
In contrast, magical dad & family has been showering her w/love w/o asking anything in return from the get go and they've been showing *some* effort to be.... less inhumane w/regards to other people (to please Phil).
If I was in her position, I'll want to spend more time w/them as well & heal my inner self slowly w/people who gives such unconditional support rather than someone who only gave support once I passed a condition
*sry for the long reply.... the experience kinda hits close to my heart
No I understand her wanting to be close to her OG family, I don’t understand her not realizing how loved she is in the palace as well
Because she isn't loved in the palace, her mask is loved.
The persona she crafted to please everyone is what they love. The version of her that killed her own needs, her own wants, her own personality, gave up on her dreams, love and happiness. And worst of all, an imitation of the real princess, she copied her achievements and behavior to be loved enough to survive.
In the palace she won all of them over by being the perfect, kind, loving, caring child, but everyone is someone who actively wanted her dead and worked against her in the original timeline.
How are you supposed to feel truly loved when you know everyone would have killed you if you were being yourself ? And what is there to love when your entire existence is a fabrication of your own ?
Phil was deeply hurt and traumatized as a child, that's why she can't feel loved.
An event like that makes you question everything, you know? The trust issues would be off the roof. What emperor did, shattered her trust on the people there. (No matter what you do, it just won't help. No matter how much emperor try to salvage it) So even when he's being genuine, she doubts it. Because your mind believes you've already seen the real him. Even if your mind thinks he might be genuine, you'll still build walls around him, not wanting to feel the humiliation (not outward humiliation, just from her mind) of trusting him again.
Yeah but phil also remembers what happened to her character in the novel. The king was ruthless to phil in it. She said it to herself, even if she's evil executing the child u have raised is vile. I don't think she's going to forget her ending in the novel. And she put on an act for years to not be killed. U have to remember all that, compared to this her new family is refreshing. She gets to be herself without any pretense.
Knowing what’s going to happen between the emperor and Phil - I’m unsettled and disappointed by it.
Yes he was dick when she was young but he has stopped being like that for a long long *long* time now. She has always been loved growing up and even now he makes sure to stay fair and loving towards her. Yes I agree what he said about her knowing she was listening as a child was terrible but he literally isn’t the same person any more. We’re supposed to support the magical dad who only thinks of his children as experiments before he suddenly developed a caring nature for Phil (not even addressing how he treats his sons like there’s some straight up cases of abuse but played off as comedy). Idk man I keep feeling like Phil comes off as a tad ungrateful.