What grooming they were both kids
He was 21 when asha was 15 that is not normal
They knew each other since early childhood and nothing unusual happened between them till now, he was even assigned far away the past several years, emperor did nothing that he couldn’t also do if he had no feelings
You are so fucking weird defending grooming but anyways, here's the receipts from chapter 6:
BUT WHEN ASHA TURNED FIFTEEN, WEARING THE WHITE KNIGHT'S UNIFORM AND JOINING THE HOLY ORDER, I REALIZED THAT MY DESIRE TO DEVOUR THAT PALE SKIN, TO TEAR IT OFF AND CONSUME IT, WAS ACTUALLY LOVE.
This is a 21 year old talking about a 15 year old. And even as kids it's still fucking weird, he kidnapped a 4 year old and said he wants to marry him. Honestly if you think kidnapping or that an adult is in love with a child is "nothing unusual" GET HELP!!
17 years of persistence when asha is only something like 24-26 is crazyyy. Age gap is not that bad but why add the grooming part??!? Fucking weird as hell