Eh I wouldn’t blame Helios entirely. Diana is a grown adult woman and can make her own decisions. She knew what she was getting herself into by choosing love over reason, knowing she wouldn’t be able to use her powers on anyone but the royal family (btw she was perfectly fine with those terms. She was only bothered when others brought it up). She has a choice any time. And in the end she also easily makes her decision of what she wants to do with their marriage.
If anyone is to blame, it should be the temple for Diana being raised as a saintess. All the attention and worship got to her head as an saintess and now she believes her word is right. She refuses to listen to anyone who does give her guidance. Diana became more twisted once she realized not everyone loves her as much as she thought.
It could be that simple that but also something deeper. Not only did she not heal people anymore, she spent her time in politics (which imo is the opposite of faith lmao), she got involved in "worldly" affairs which poisoned her faith. Like something within her fell into a dark place where divine light couldn't reach anymore. And I totally agree that Helios is partially responsible for dragging her there without thinking ahead. He let the butterflies in his stomach catapult a naive saintess into an intricately vital yet isolated role.
But in the end it is Diana who chose to become the way she is now. I remember she had this whole pov of how "Ofc I chose Helios, he's THE prince". People can go through a lot of change, especially when they're having a bad time. There is a reason why there are sayings like you don't know a person until you've seen them during times of need.
SO tldr, my argument here is that her powers were taken away because she chose to be a worse version of herself. And homegirl effectively kneed herself in the gut with some of the stubborn shit she pulled.
While it is heavily Helios's fault, he could have never predicted how Diana would lose her powers. She's a grown woman who can make her own decisions and she chose to be crown princess over being a priestess. While it was selfish of Helios to want to marry Diana, Diana is equally as selfish for marrying Helios, its a two way train after all. A righteous person, even if being backed into a corner, would NEVER use another person's love as a tool to keep their status- which is exactly what shes doing to Kael. She even has thoughts of infidelity and treats Kael as if hes her possession and expects him to continue to love her unconditionally, even after all shes put him through. to me, that isn't being "driven mad," thats her true nature being revealed
Imo Diana wouldn’t have lost her powers if she had chosen anyone but Helios. He is right when he says he ruined her life by putting her in a place that she wasn’t ready for.
Ill be honest I dont think the author thought that far but if we wanted to be poetic for me Diana lost her powers because the royals selfishly took her whole
She didn’t heal the people anymore and what is a saint if not a healer of the people? The gods saw she chose being a queen to being a saint and so took her powers. In my eyes if she had stayed a saint (or even if she did her duty bro) she would have kept her healing powers
Hestia was told 'the crown princess doesn’t have time for the likes of you!' And if i was a god id say bet she doesn’t even use them for the good anymore might as well take it back
Im yapping here but seriously i know there are much more diana haters here but isn’t it Helios' fault entirely that Diana turned twisted? She wouldn’t have become someone like *this* if she had continued healing people
I feel like Hestia, Helios' and Diana's marriage is based on selfishness but not for the same reasons as hers
Helios should have realised Diana never would have changed her ways he is the crown *he* knew what is expected of him. Pursuing Diana knowing what type of woman she is and that Cael loved her was incredibly foolish and selfish.
Diana accepted the courting and wanted to become queen. She never tried to understand what that meant and failed her original purpose and herself. She acted... well, we all know. She should have known better. Helios didn’t completely stop her and takes responsibility for marrying her and doesn’t divorce her because he knows it is mostly his fault that she lost her life. Diana makes no effort whatsoever. She is sealing her fate not because she is actually evil but because every story needs a villain
I pity her more than i hate her