I feel like the writing has gotten sloppy ever since it got back ngl
SAME. Which makes me so frustrated because the premise of the story is so good. I was expecting Kayla to have all these elaborate plans/battle strategies on how she was going to navigate the political conflict/coup d'état after Astaire came back and follow the vibe of enemies -> comrades -> lovers. Or uncover the truth herself and realize Astaire wasn't the villain. But instead shes barely doing everything and just freaking out all the time. She's lost her level headness which is what I loved about her character most
Kind of getting annoyed with Kayla constantly underestimating the queen & her faction. I understand wanting to remain neutral, but the queen has made it clear from the beginning that she wouldn't accept Kayla's poor excuse of being 'loyal to Vesta' and not swearing allegiance to the queen directly. Even if Astaire didn't come back & propose, the Queen more than likely would have ordered her into a marriage anyway because it's the easiest way to guarantee control outside of using her brother as a hostage.
Also, the 'she doesn't have a legitimate reason to attack my family, so we're safe' mentality is killing me. When has royalty ever needed a reason to wipe out a family or a bunch of people? This story literally started with the Queen's faction k*lling a whole civilization/family & Astaire having to pretend to be a girl not to die. You think someone who actively committed a genocide suddenly follows rules & needs legit reasons to kill people? You are not the exception. Of course, she was going to turn on you eventually.
Finally, I get she's acting the way she is because she knows future information and is scared her family will get wiped out, but why haven't we seen an elaborate contingency plan yet?? Remaining 'neutral' is the bare minimum. If Astaire is as crazy as she thinks, why would she think that would protect her family? She started as a relatively smart and calculative character, but since the time skip, she has consistently made poor and impractical decisions based on her emotions. Like if a magical psycho with pink hair who I stabbed in the eye came back for revenge, I would have more plans in place other than, stand on the sidelines, claim 'neutrality' and hope things work out. (and before someone mentions the sword & shield we already seen him bibbidi bobbidi boo through that before, so clearly there needs to be a change in plan or at least some additions added onto it.)