It's a little weird for sure but if you felt that put off by it why read 70 chapters? This has been the premise for most of the story it's not like they just now revealed that those two are gonna start dating...
It's weird but it's fiction ╮(￣▽￣)╭ so chill and enjoy the weirdness my friend
i think abel also got the squick when they kissed if that makes u feel better lol like in his mind he knew he had grown up, its been 11 years so now abel and karas are the same age mentally, but since it was a time hop for abel its disorienting. he had imagined him to grow up as a frail young man and completely separated the concept of the kid he raised from the grown man he's been interacting with the rest of the story. i think he started to develop feelings for 'captain commander' independently and now fusing the two - the kid he raised and the king he's intrigued by - is confusing and complicated. he pretty much shorted out when they kissed and i attributed it to that internal conflict.
i think this is the most tastefully done version of this trope ive seen - the guy who is older is on pause while the other guy grows up, he has no idea its him as he falls for him, and they are intrinsically bound by fate to be together so it was unavoidable in the first place like the regas is sent for some divine reason to be there for the king in whatever capacity he needs, so him coming as a caretaker, then dying and returning as a lover makes a whole lotta sense for this type of plot. i dont like the whole "dating ur adoptive son/dad" trope
Mc why are you turned on by the kid you basically had to baby in your past life. I don't understand if I'm tweaking and this is normal and not an insane concept because ml is an adult. However MC was actively imaging ML as a child throughout the entire story when he was asking for "his highness" so I'm not sure how I feel about this...