readers can forgive anybody and like a “bad guy” male lead as long as they have a good enough backstory to justify their behavior + moments of goodness to justify a romantic relationship.
a lot of nocton’s actions can be explained away once you think about it. brainwashing? since he was young, other parties had ulterior motives and bad intentions so his use of it is understandable. treating FL like dirt? he thinks she’s brainwashed + his parents never loved him so he doesnt know how to express care properly + he was nice to her sometimes. yeah etc. etc. even your problem with him being unable to explain himself can be explained away as a result of being insecure with his standing with FL + bad childhood leads to being unable to express himself properly
this webtoon (and other webtoons) go through great lengths to make you understand the ML, usually at the sacrifice of other characters’ likability (because once we see the ML’s perspective, the other characters against him or mean to him start looking unfair).
im really not a nocton fan, but i can see why people would be very on his side. he’s very “im a tragic handsome male lead, i have no one but FL, if i have a crumb, just a crumb of love, ill be good and not bad” - an over simplification ofc
this is the first webtoon i read where i really dont like the ml jhsdfgjsf like why cant he just explain himself? whats the problem?? theres so much unnecessary drama and he acts shady af right now lmao
nocton stans please tell me what makes you like him? i really want to understand