I have to wonder if he liked her before they were married? His feelings seem to be very in...

well i think so too he surely knew her long time ago mayba she is not remembring him but he does

there's a scene were riftan told maxi about a man who sneak to the castle just to see the 1st daughter of croix maybe he is that man... at the same time riftan saw maxi sitting at the garden while passing by... that's he's flash back before they got merried

He loved her since he was a little kid he saw her with the big black dog (there is a picture of her with the dog in the first chapter ) and in his eyes she is the only beautiful girl in the entire world (since he had a past trauma about his mom)... But he truly loves and cherishes her a lot

Spoilers
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In the novel he says he had feelings for her and keeps dropping hints about his love for her. But sadly due to Max’s past she doesn’t take it seriously. She doesn’t think she’s good enough for him and keeps thinking about how useless she is.

yea and it takes him a heck of a long time to realize her past circumstances with her father ughhghghgh

Spoiler.. read this if you really want to know
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He used to work under a blacksmith that works for Duke Croix. It was near the Duke's mansion and so he met Maxi when they were young(maxi- 6; riftan-12) and had some interactions with each. Since then when faced with hardship (he really did had a cruel life before becoming a renowed Knight) he would always think about Maxi so you would say at a young age he already has his heart set on loving Maxi ε=ε=(ノ≧∇≦)ノ

Continuation







Sadly Maxi doesnt have much memory about this maybe it was because of the constant abuse? Im still hoping she could remember those precious moments though