Stopped at ch 68. It feels stupid. Its like a waste of time. I don’t like the Empress. I...

you should read more chapters to understand

Sorry I meant to dislike

its good that there is something to understand but after 68 chapters of mindnumbing senselessness…my patience was drained. it shouldn’t take almost 70 chapters for a story to start making sense. im glad you guys love this story but i think its not for me. i’d rather move on to other stories. maybe im just disappointed bec my expectation for it was so high since i saw posts praising the story a lot. but it was such a let down, i dunno.

but you guys keep enjoying it.

"Its not like the Emperor cheated on her. Having a mistress is s custom to their kingdom." ???? what do you even mean by this? i dont clearly remember everything that happens in the first 68 chapters (which you said you read), but one thing i clearly remember is that the emperor cheated on her. not because it is a "custom" on their kingdom, it doesnt mean he didnt cheat.

the emperor is a cheating manipulative bastard, and while navier acts cold, she has never bullied trashta. youre acting like a woman who knows her boundaries is worse than that gaslighting scum.

i understand that the characters and the story is not your cup of tea but lets keep the facts straight. (=・ω・=)

Aside from the fact that it isn’t a custom in their country, THE EMPEROR LITERALLY PROMISED THE EMPRESS HE WOULD NEVER BE LIKE HIS CHEATING SCUMBAG DAD WHEN HE GROWS UP SINCE HE SAW HOW BRUTAL PALACE FIGHTS ARE

Nice ragebait btw.

Just remember that the Emperor you're pining for is the major douchebag of the story. In the first place, he took Rashta as his mistress since he believed that the Empress is infertile. When they're still betrothed, he snuck in to his father's woman's room and took a cookie in which she gave to Navier. No sooner will he find out that the cookie is laced with some drug that leaves the woman who ate it infertile.
Plus, after Navier marries Heinrey will Sovieshit acts terribly towards Rashta. Much so when Rashta gives birth.
Moreso will he gets more twisted and more pathetic as the story goes on.
In short, he resorted to such pathetic and lunatic actions rather than telling her the truth unbeknownst to her in the first place. Obviously led to major consequences and Rashta's demise too.
Clearly not a good person but sure, you deserve what you tolerate.

I respect dropping the series bc 1) its valid to not like anything and 2) I agree at some point it was dragged on too long (maybe it was where you currently are). Still, your impression of the characters is very odd to me.

What you said is very innaccurate. Taking a concubine and cheating are two very different things, concubines are official wifes, just as the empress, but in a lower category in terms of power and can be chosen less strictly. In his case, he saved a poor slave AND cheated on his wife, and AFTER cheating consistently and lying about it, made her a concubine because she was already pregnant. It was illegal for her to be a concubine in the first place for her slave status. He continued to lie and cover up for her illegally in many ways.
I recognize it was pretty ambiguous in the begining if he was cheating or just helping Rashta, but it was later made very clear with her pregnancy.

I will defend the empress in two ways: she was never evil and bullied Rashta, she was pretty cold-headed and acted according to her position. She acted politically many times, which you might dislike, but Sovieshu taking Rashta in as a concubine was illegal in many levels, and she was super innapropiate. She just let her know repeatedly It is also pretty clear in the later parts of the series that the empress loved Sovieshu dearly as her life companion. It might have been as a friend, but she was still super betrayed. He was an increasingly terrible douchebag to her, though you probably haven't seen the worst yet, just as Rashta got so much more evil with time.

About Sovieshu, I find pretty odd that the only one slave he ever saved was the most stunning citizen ever. Trashta was terrible late-game but she was definitely stunning. He went through a lot of trouble to make her the official wife because she was a slave, but he never saved any other slaves nor did anything to abolish slavery. Even if I disregard everything else, he was not a nice person. He should have started by abolishing slavery instead of just stealing one particular slave and lying about it.

You really managed to "piss" people because of your opinion
ε=ε=(ノ≧∇≦)ノ

The only time i felt pity and sympathetic to soviepoop is when the author made his "supposedly" ending humane than trashta. I don't understand why the author did that
But you haven't read that yet, so you will never know.

This story is a bit heavy and political in so many ways that's why it's dragging long. You can just stop reading this cause it's so looong.

The hateful part is that until now, no babies in sight. And someone is still alive and kicking ¯(◉‿◉)/¯

I really think you should finish the manhwa before making these kinds of comments. You’re missing so much context that it’s hard to take your words seriously. Saying things like “having a mistress is a custom so it’s basically law” is a wild oversimplification that completely ignores the emotional, cultural, and personal layers at play. That statement alone shows you either skipped a lot or weren’t paying attention.

The Empress has gone through emotional neglect, public humiliation, and constant political attacks. You call her a covert bully, but did you even try to understand what she’s endured? She’s not cold for no reason—she’s guarded because she’s been hurt and betrayed in front of the whole court. She’s not cruel; she’s surviving in a world that constantly tries to tear her down. You can’t expect someone who’s been repeatedly disrespected to suddenly be warm and affectionate.

And I seriously don’t understand how you can feel bad for the Emperor or even Rashta. The Emperor did cheat. Emotional betrayal is cheating. Publicly showing affection and giving favor to a mistress in front of his wife? That’s cruel. That’s intentional humiliation. And Rashta? She is manipulative, insecure, and causes harm to others just to secure her position. She’s not a victim, and she’s definitely not innocent.

Calling Heinrey bland and accusing him of coveting someone’s wife is also a complete misread. He never forced anything. He supported the Empress when she was at her lowest. That wasn’t “coveting”—it was caring. It was offering her a choice. Unlike the Emperor, Heinrey never demanded loyalty or love while giving her pain in return.

It’s fine if you feel something for the Emperor—that’s your take—but twisting facts and blaming the Empress, saying she only cares about her position and neglects her husband? That’s just wrong. You’re putting the blame on the person who suffered most, and that says a lot.

You’re probably the type of reader who defends problematic characters and then calls the strong, dignified ones “cold” because they don’t cry or beg. But strength doesn’t always look like softness. Sometimes, it's silence. Sometimes it’s standing tall when you’re breaking inside.

So before you go on blaming the MC or calling people “good” just because you feel bad for them, take a step back and try actually understanding what’s happening in the story.

Ultimately because he grew up with absolute power as a crown prince because of his mother’s machinations… what he wanted was a wife who would be under his thing and he could not tolerate treating her as an equal …. We can clearly understand from navies monologue from the novel that soveishit shuts her down regularly… she is that familiar to being disregarded that she don’t even ask more