VOICE OF LOGIC

What's the point in trying to use horrible situations like rape and murder to make the MCs more pitiful but then throwing that all away and trying to justify it with plot armor? Not only is it an incredibly shitty portrayal of how one copes with PTSD and trauma, but it's just a bad way to create a story that seems to focus on healing from the past and moving forward. It's a slap in the face to SA survivors and those with PTSD in general.

I'd be more than happy if the MC was finding healthy ways to cope with her trauma and perhaps even moving on from her previous memories, but also acknowledging that despite the prince's actions were wrong and that she is in no way obligated to forgive him for murdering her father, raping her, abandoning her, and letting her die so horribly. Even if he was drugged, that still does not make his actions any right; it's akin to a drunk driver or a person assaulting someone while under the influence, it's still a crime and trying to excuse his behavior and actions is just sick and vile.

Yes, it may be an "alternate universe" where he raped, humiliated, tortured, and killed her, but that doesn't mean it's not the same guy who treated her with the same amount of contempt in the "future" and when she's reliving her second life. If anything, he STILL treats her like garbage until he gets it through his stupid fucking thick skull that "hey, I might actually be making things even shittier because not only do I have the ability to essentially wipe her family and her out as I please due to a strong power imbalance between the both of us, but I also have a stupid inferiority complex and mommy issues directed unfairly towards the MC." Honestly, if the MC decided to avoid changing things, we could probably even predict that he would still treat her with the same level of hatred as he did before if not for her attempting to change the wheels of fate. Like cool, maybe he wouldn't have killed or raped her at that point, but that's meeting the BARE MINIMUM of human respect.

When you write trauma, you best expect that you do a good amount of research on it and how victims and survivors cope with it. Clearly, it took a long while for the MC to reopen back up to the ML- yes, they got the scared shitless part down. However, somehow, the trauma is all gone and she's forgiven him as soon as we bring in the fact that he was drugged. Not only that, it becomes so inconsistent at some points that she blushes or becomes visibly flustered at certain actions as if she was back in love? That's not how it works, especially with the level of torment and humiliation she endured; all gone. It's clear that the author only placed those scenes as shock value and simply a way to make the MC look more pitiful before throwing it out the window to try and come up with a pathetic reason to excuse the ML of all wrong-doing. It's such a lazy plot point made to make him to, somehow, look better. If anything, her being terrified for so many chapters just PROVES that she was at a level of trauma that would barely constitute any amount of saintly forgiveness and babying once she learned about the ML's set of issues. It would be more acceptable if she showed a level of understanding towards his situation, but to the point where she'd marry him? No way. At that point, that's just being absolute hogwash.

No matter what, survivors would certainly not find it in their heart or mind to let bygones be bygones and marry off with the instigators; very few may find it in their heart to perhaps forgive, but keep level of distance away from their abusers. It is possible to recover from trauma, but not towards the person who gave you it.