wasn’t it already mentioned in the chapters here that the mom sold her daughter out to save her and her son from mandatory military service? And that she’s in total clear mind when she made the decision?
And in the original timeline, she did more and worse.
Why is she written that way?
Rightt?! That what I was thinking the whole time I was reading the novel I was waiting for her to make her move. Like even though the whole empire is against the emperor she still chose to be loyal like wtf?!
They didn't do her character justice. She was smart enough to be a researcher, strong enough to survive war at a young age, and cold-blooded (it's proven that she doesn't care about the means as long as she keeps her family safe) It goes against everything she is to side with the emperor when being an ally with MC's father is the smart choice.
At this point, I feel like the author is projecting. This reeks of internalized misogyny.
Like the villain here should only and only the emperor. Even cowards know that siding with the emperor in the later half is suicide
I was a bit disappointed that the mom ended up being framed as a villain. Looking back, there really aren’t any well-developed female characters—even the aunt feels kind of flat. I didn’t really notice at first cause the pacing's good.
Honestly, I think the mom made the right call by not meeting her daughter. She was a child soldier and then forced to be a baby maker to produce more soldiers. That's seems traumatic. Seeing her daughter might’ve brought back painful memories from a time when she had no control over her life.
She probably knew she couldn’t give her daughter the love or stability she deserved, so she let her go. It’s unfair how women are expected to always be nurturing, when that’s not everyone’s reality—and those pressures can lead to things like postpartum depression in real life.
It would've been nice if Mc's dad and mom become allies to defeat the emperor and then go back to their respective families (they both share the same goal of saving their kids from getting enlisted) There really was no need to turn her into an enemy. Also, MC wasn't really abused or lacking in love.