Probably because he is developing feelings for Chloe. I think that if he didn’t develop feelings for her, he wouldn’t have given a damn about her and her background. Judging by his curiosity, it seems like he did not pay any attention to his slaves or other servants attitude towards him. ┑(￣Д ￣)┍
* does not
*sigh*
I'm gonna sound super pessimistic. Good thing he's hot??? Like his face and abs are his saving grace. Cuz personality wise...ugh. I don't expect the protags in these stories to be paragons of virtue but he's so blinded by the privileges of his station it seems. And then to top it off he seems to want a good bit of the power, but getting married and producing an heir is to troubling for him??? He seems to enjoy some of the freedoms but wants nothing to do with the constraints. A part of me kinda hopes that he keeps thinking that she's some 15 year old slave that's uncommonly bright. But we know that the moment a viable love rival shows up he's gonna fall for her. I just wonder if the writer is gonna do something special with how she ends up falling in love with the man who was seconds away from killing her.
I agree with your statements. He’s very privileged but, I do like how he’s not interested in getting married or having kids. In a lot of webcomics and mangas I’ve seen, ML’s who are similar to him will try to “sleep” with the FL and/or demand she has his kids. I do like, so far, that he’s not interested in doing any of that with Chloe. I actually like how he likes being single. So his falling in love with Chloe will make it sweeter, at least for me.
Also..... you’ll be in a treat for what he’ll do to Chloe(▰˘◡˘▰)
I think he is surprised she can't hide her emotions. And a slave that can read and write could easily be a spy or assassin. They normally do not have access to an education because they are seen as less than dirt.
So the fact that she has these skills and can recall from memory and skillfully, accurately scribe medical information is highly suspicious. He knows she doesn't want to sleep with him and therefore, she is allowed to stay by his side because he knows at least it isn't the work of his father.
I think the first part of the story just stuck with me?? Like I said, I don't expect him to narrow it all down. But it just seems that he and other "nobles" have no idea how the lower classes work. We started the story watching a bunch of captured women become slaves. And this is supposed to be a mighty empire. Who knows how many once learned people became slaves with all the conquering they did? Chloe was a slave even before she was married off as a princess, and she claims she had a decent life. So perhaps so long as they did their jobs(and weren't branded as low class slaves) they were given some leeway? Granted she is also a reincarnation.. but still. What about the other girls that became slaves? They might also know how to read and write too.
Though thinking about it Chloe has never been free after her reincarnation?? He mother was a slave and thus so was she. And then when she was made a princess she was just married off so no freedom there. And now she is a slave again but just when it seems that she could live more like a servant than a slave here comes the Archduke so now she has all this stress trying to dodge him.
Well, granted they are still women. So, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if women who came from very patriarchal kingdoms/empires don’t know how to read and write. Second, Chloe gave it away that she was not just educated but very smart. I guess it never dawned to the Duke that he has captured people who might have been very well educated in the past. It seems that he just sees them as slaves who are only capable of serving people and nothing else. Judging by his reactions, it seems like he rarely interacts with slaves.
Chloe has added stress because she is afraid he will remember having captured her. And if he remembers, he might slice her through like the other princess. I highly doubt the archduke will ever remember because it was so low on his list of priorities. And with the way his father is acting towards him, I actually can understand how much more stressed he is in that area. If he falls in love with Chloe, he probably won't remember she was a princess (or for the plot to marry her suddenly remembers. However, his father is desperate so I think he would take any woman to give him children.)
For whatever reason I don't think he ever wanted to kill her. He seemed to feel sorry for the her as a princess because her husband sold her old. Of course I doubt him back then would care about her life, but unlike that blonde princess he didn't seem to have a personal stake in killing her, so he was fine making her a slave.
She would never know that, and either way he was a total brute and did not loudly denounce that rapey dude with the red hair. So she should be wary of him. Even if it was a political union, her first husband sold her out, and the Archduke as second husband is super rustles. Realistically neither is a good match. But his face, abs, and conditional leniency will sway her into thinking he is a good man. LOL
I don't expect him to figure out who she is but why is he so surprised that a slave is afraid of him? Or that a slave can read and write? And he is pretty ruthless in battle....Like just maybe, maybe, it was your army that is the reason why she is a slave? Doe he not k ow what happens to some of the people that his army doesn't kill?