You are way to biased...
. He let the execution happen, so it is on him. The fact that he didn't smile change nothing, as well has his regrets. Like Tia said "What good does it make to someone who is already dead?". He was abusive (slapped her often for nothing) and didn't care enough to try to understand her. The poison did not take his rationality away, it just made him have fit of rage occasionally. And yes, the "lick my shoes" part was not, but the real version is just as bad with rape by coertion)
I said 90% of the things that happened in the PROLOGUE didn't happen, I didn't say he didn't do anything at all. This all the while under the influence of the drug and the poisoning of his mind against Tia, which is something that never happened in the second timeline because she became a knight, thus, stirring the future away to a new outcome and allowed Ruve to know her as she truly is.
Asked her to lick her feet? Never happened.
Comforted Jeun while smiling at her execution? Never happened. Not only did it not happen, it failed to describe the emotions he felt when he saw Tia's face before the axe fell, that even though he was powerless, he was still about to STOP the execution right there until he changed his mind, after Jieun stopped him. This you can blame him for. He died regretting this.
Looking fully manipulative and in control while telling her her dad died? Didn't happen. He spat that out whatever came to mind, thinking she lowered herself to sell her body to him after sleeping with him, which made him feel stirring emotions. Let's not forget that her dad is ALIVE the whole time, and he didn't understand why he, as well as other nobles, didn't plead for her innocence. Instead, her father preferred the execution to happen based on her honor.
There are many more. What the prologue DID get right was Tia's confusion on why he was panicked and cared for her more than she thought. This was a glimpse of the inner storm turmoil of feelings Ruve had for her: he thinks she was nothing more than a mechanical doll, a pawn used by her faction to undermine his influence, but he had real feelings for her, which he never knew until her death.
The whole prologue was based on TIA's narrative, and of course the novelist would've expounded on Ruve's side as well. What the manhwa should have done, is to be neutral in its story of the past. The two perspectives are completely conflicting, and unfortunately, took Tia's side on this one.
* The prince spent more time agonizing over his relationship with Tia then Jieun, it was nowhere as one sided as the prologue had shown. In fact, he already began to lower his opinion of Jieun even before the execution happened. It was the relationship between Tia and Ruve that the faction wanted to tear apart completely, and in first timeline, succeeded.
Tia is not that an unreliable narrator. A lot of the actions presented were actually done or worse in the novel (they switched the shoes part for exemple because the actual scene was to sickening to be drawn), so saying "90% did not happen" is overdoing it. For the relashionship part, he did hate Tia and he said it himself. He didn't want to see even one or her hair. He also hated her at the beggining of the second timeline. He never loved her in the first timeline because he didn't knew who she really was. It was all regret for what he had done and the realisation that he tortured someone who cared from for no reason at all.
It was a prologue that was biased from the very start, it skewed the narrative enough to cause readers’ hatred of the prince and painted a rather incorrect picture of the whole thing. Tia was an unreliable narrator in the sense that we are viewing the prologue through HER eyes, with the mistaken understanding that the prince completely abhorred her and smiled at her execution. He never did.
Nobody said he fell in love with her in the first timeline. But his entire story speaks of his actions that were influenced or stirred by his feelings for Tia, that he suppressed for obvious reasons, and all this takes a backseat to the brainwashing and Jieun, who he thought was his symbol of love in his life.
Throughout the whole story, you could tell he was at peace AS HE DIES thinking of Tia. The only thing he thought of was his childhood memories with Tia, and even when he took his last breath, he never stopped thinking of Tia, and imagined himself reunited with her. So anyone who’s read the prologue as it stands has an incomplete understanding of how things really went, and hence, all this hate for Ruve. That’s that then.
They explained everything based off of the novel with webtoons/manhwa/manga adaptations they don't go into depth like novels so the original comment wasn't wrong. They broke down every single thing that happened in the prologue that was wrong. On top of that there was many factor for the prince to hate Tia and all of it wasn't his fault he was just vulnerable enough to to be used as a pawn
Three things:
1) Prologue in the manhwa can be considered incorrect. Prince actually didn't do 90% of the things shown. Can be either considered narrative bias in Tia's eyes or manhwa creator didn't really follow the story novel well enough. Prince died in first life grieving for Tia.
2) Jieun returning in this timeline this time? People shouldn't worry. Prince Ruve had only eyes on Tia, and no one but Tia, the whole time. They will confront the wounds of their first lives (though prince of first life is treated as a separate person by both of them)Treat Jieun as the antagonist of first half of this arc, then Duke Zena in second half for story purposes.
3) enjoy the story.