Mate did you even read the story..
boyyy did you read this with your left boob or what
i’m confused by these replies the original older duke leaves alois alone and lets him go off to experience the world, but alois returns to him and then continues to confess his love for the duke. nowhere does it say that the older duke held romantic feelings for alois when alois was a child. while the age gap is def suspicious, the older duke isn’t explicitly a groomer or pedo (which is why i said they could potentially be sweet together). however, the younger duke goes back to his timeline and searches for alois, knowing that alois will grow up to love him. he specifically takes alois into his care with the intention of raising him to be a man who is head over heels obsessed with him, which is objectively gross.
You’re very right in calling this grooming. While he let Alois meet other people, he stayed close to him and waited for the moment that Alois would come to him, something he already knew would happen. That’s literally what grooming is
i think the main couple could be sweet? but then the idea of the younger duke going back to his own timeline and grooming an abused child bc he’s starved for love is a little…. yikes