
honestly, how can he even turn her down when she, a royal, asked him to be her partner IN FRONT of other people
turning her down would only humiliate her and the royal family, even if he's the duke, he has only received his title and his power is by no means near the royal family's
it's all just politics, you can't blame the ml for his action because he had no choice, the princess trapped him

True to this, the princess was also cunning, but I thought he was acting like an aloof to the affairs of high society like spending money as if it's water. Or atleast he could've told fl "this is what happenned, and this is what I'm going to do" smth like that to atleast reassure her that they are still on.
I mean all that talk abt contract marriage, and you show up with the princess... like that's asking for trouble, if they get together people will think she stole him from the princess. I think this is the type of plot where the fl is better off without any ml haiyahhh