The weird thing is...in the earlier chapters she had already explained why he didn't accept his previous marriage proposals.
He doesn't want his wife to love him when his job requires him to go to war. Leaving a wife behind with the possibility of dying was why he avoided relationships. Apparently this was the reason but with the way the author is going.... i think a whole new backstory is going to be invented now.
no offense, but I can't tell if that first part was meant to be sarcastic bc you just restated my assumption. pardon me if you meant no ill will tho. it's just I read the entire thing thoroughly but im pretty sure there wasn't a whole explanation like that if my memory serves me right.
the idea that he didn't want to get married bc of the war thing reflects his kindhearted nature, but I think it might have to do with something more emotional now that I've pondered over it for a bit. because he could have gotten a political marriage, seeing as how he was quick to accept Ivonas proposal even though it's basically the same gist. and as such a high ranking noble he has to have an heir for the dukedom. marriage and kids are like essential, especially in this time period. it's probably why people assumed he was sterile.
I think he's emotionally closed off probably from his parents or something. I'd really like to see how the story develops and why he was fine with marrying Ivona and not the others who've probably proposed. (tho its probably bc she was a bad ass and needed help to get out of her previous engagement and such)
im pretty excited for one and it would be a wonderful addition to their overall bonding arc
I want his back story now
though I think he never took up a wife because of his hero status, maybe he thought that he wouldn't be able to keep her happy because he'd be so busy with saving people and stuff. like if Ivona wasn't a badass herself he'd be on missions like this alone and they'd barely see each other.
there might also be an emotional aspect to his decision to die a virgin
also I knew nothing was gonna happen but the fact that he used the dog to cockblock h i m s e l f sent me