Same thoughts, i was screaming red flag last night when i read those... like miss girl thats not how it works...
Same! Adele's behavior in this part of the story rubbed me the wrong way
This! I thought I was the only one who felt her behaviour at the end was completely manipulative. Duke Elias had been trying his best and the fact that he was tying up loose ends with the whole Susan thing himself made me want to really slap Adele. Did she seriously expect everything to be settled quickly???? The fact that she always guilt trip him is the worst. She didn't even bother to listen to wait for him to open up either. I always hate how people are encouraging "strong female leads" to be abusive mentally to a male lead or just any male in general but when a guy does it, they bitch about how he's an asshole. Duke Elias deserved better.
So... as someone who somewhat liked (or at least tolerated) Adele from the beginning, I HAD to skim through all of her scenes and the remaining "romantic" scenes after she ran away (went back home). Her character lost me at that point. Her behavior was a big red flag for me as abusive behavior. As a romantic partner, she had manipulated Felix/Duke Elias by threatening to leave him for various reasons: feeling insecure, feeling jealous, not being told "I love you", and for the sake of receiving a lavish proposal. This manipulation, although played for jokes in this story, was extremely distasteful and I began to really hate Adele's character. Duke Elias was LITERALLY saving his life, her life, and finding justice by tying up the lose ends of the crimes currently occuring; yet, she had the audacity to feel like she was the victim because as a handsome and wealthy noble, he has it better and she might suffer in the long run?! No, no, no. She doesn't know his backstory, and she doesn't even try to understand his position (mentally and emotionally). Just because you feel in love (within a month, by the way) doesn't mean you get to demand his proclamation of love. Just because you said "I love you" doesn't mean he's ready to say it, nor does it mean that his "love language" is the same as yours! Ugh, she became a hateful character in my eyes, so much that I skipped past all her parts after she decided to go home. I know the ending is "happy" but I felt the need to write my feelings because this behavior in reality is dangerous. Mental abuse, especially from a woman to a man, is often ignored or brushed aside and I felt like I needed to write my feelings about it when I saw an example in this story. I still like the story but... Adele turned from an assertive and confidently intelligent woman to a manipulative gas lighter. I understand her plight, but it didn't matter. Duke Elias and the Crowned Prince are the MVP and if you mess with my babies, I WILL HATE YOU.
lol, thanks for listening to my tedtalk.