This was such a tragic and beautiful ride! The depth and realism of each character’s trauma, growth, and recovery, as well as how the relationship developed and deepened over time really set this story above most of its peers! ヾ(☆▽☆)
Wow she’s so desperate to one up someone who lives an objectively miserable life that she’s going to one up herself into an early grave
Not Eungyo trying to sue his parents’ gene editor over his horniness
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That's what happens when you have too much money. But at least he's seeking help to not accidentally grape the MC (although being honest and banging each other would have been free).
I don’t feel like that’s it, he’s just mad frustrated. Pride can be so destructive to relationships. He knows Sunwoo’s limitations are going to stop him from figuring out enough to make the first move, but just feels petty about “giving in” first
There were two instances when ML touched MC without MC's consent (MC was sleeping) because he was so pent up. He was frustrated about his uncontrollable urges. He acknowledges that his pride stops him from confessing to MC, and that literally stops him from solving what needs to be solved. Frustratingly, he already knows the answer (he even gets annoyed at the therapist for not having a solution to his sexual frustration cos all the therapist said wasn't all that different from what his older brother said). He's basically going back and forth here with everyone except the MC. He is passing on the responsibility of them getting together to MC (without MC knowing!), by using the baby.
I don't remember where I'm going with this. I'm pretty sure I had a point. But anyway, i need sleep.
So I already knew Mincheol was a POS, but this is really on another level. He can’t get in contact with his partner at all and has left her alone for an extended time. When he comes back home he finds questionable men inside with no trace of Haesoo. He’s assuming that they are debt collectors which may have assaulted, kidnapped, or sold off his lover (over the debt he took out in her name without her permission no less). He even suspects that she may have been SAed, but decides to start fucking his mistress while he still has no idea where Haesoo is or if she’s safe. Also he’s lowkey dumb for even trying to find her like that. Woman works like 20 hours a day, so why would she randomly be at home during peak hours of a regular workday?
Olivia is basically used as a scapegoat/punching bag by everyone in her life since she’s powerless.
Her father brought her home solely to sacrifice her in Estella’s place and somehow managed to place all of the blame from the chaos brought on by his infidelity onto her shoulders. The duchess had no idea she existed, or that there was any infidelity at all until she literally laid eyes on Olivia. The entire situation was terrible, but that was quite possibly the worst possible way to broach the subject. She was going to divorce him because of the infidelity. Olivia’s existence may be tangible proof of that betrayal, but she wasn’t the reason for it. If his wife had been told earlier, she may have visited her parents sooner, creating a much different timeline and possibly preventing the accident. It was a sudden and unplanned trip because of the random news of her husband’s illegitimate child.
The comment the Duke made at the funeral about how Hazel “would never have known anything” if they hadn’t ran into each other in the hallway shows that he knew about, approved of, and probably encouraged the abuse Olivia experienced. She already knew about Olivia’s existence and why she was brought into their home during their first meeting, so the abuse is the only new information she got after actually interacting with Olivia. That may have been an even greater trigger for the divorce. Cheating is one thing, but learning that your spouse is deliberately abusing a child they only brought home to exploit for the benefit of their “real” daughter is an entirely different beast.
Olivia did not choose to be born a bastard. She did not choose to come to the duchy. He could have sent her away, adopted her out to other people, or raised her at a different estate. The entire situation was solely caused by the Duke, but how convenient for him that everyone including his kids were more than happy to blame the child instead of him. I feel like he just rolled with it so he wouldn’t have to own up to the reality that everything was/is his fault.
Since they had no decent adult guidance it’s not surprising that her brothers were poisoned by the tidal waves of malice directed at Olivia from every direction at any given time. However, they are old enough to have matured and recognized reality. The fact that they haven’t, and go out of their way to show cruelty to someone who is essentially suffering in Estella’s place is beyond the pale. It’s honestly sadistic at this point. Who sends back vital aid supplies in wartime because they don’t like the sender?! It just shows the level of immaturity, self centeredness, and unwarranted hatred.
Estella is also at fault, though everyone else contributed to the mess by keeping her in the dark about something so publicly “known” that there was no way she wouldn’t hear about it eventually. She heard something terrible about a person who has always been kind and loving towards her from someone she knows to be duplicitious and malicious. She immediately believed her words without any investigation and spit poison at Olivia. I think Estella is going to be devastated and horrified when she learns the actual details of her mother’s death because she is going to recognize who was actually at fault while Olivia is constantly and unjustly punished for it.
The prince and Ethel are angry and frustrated that they can’t marry, but Olivia makes a much easier target that the Emperor, Empress, and Duke who are the actual reason the engagement can’t be called off. Both of them clearly consider Olivia to be inferior. Ethel was outraged when she was called a mistress, but that is genuinely all she will ever be. It’s clear that the emperor and Empress are insistent on forcing a marital alliance with the duchy (which they apparently can’t refuse). Even if Olivia runs away, the fiancée slot will be passed to Estella, still rendering Ethel nothing more than a mistress. That would be much more difficult for the prince and Ethel because the Duke would actually start pressuring them to treat her appropriately as a fiancée. Ethel’s family would probably get smacked by the duchy’s power. I honestly don’t understand why if the empress constantly makes threats about taking Estella if Olivia doesn’t measure up, the Duke hasn’t found her a good fiancée to get engaged or married off to so she’s safe from palace machinations. If Estella was unable to marry the prince it’s likely that they would find yet another fiancée from a powerful family (basically not Ethel’s).
The prince takes Olivia’s feelings for granted while openly mistreating her. He knows that he can do whatever he wants to her without complaint or condemnation from the ducal family or the public at large. Olivia is powerless to call off the engagement, but she’s easier to condemn and blame than the actual architects, his parents
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It seems as the spoiler say, that the olivias father was druged and her mother was blackmailed (not sure who) and it seems like a grape case from her mother and other people that wanted his downfall.
In short ... olivia is a doormat for everyone...
I don’t know if I would call her a doormat because that isn’t her innate personality. Even in a state of constant derision, abuse, and oppression, Olivia tries to carve out a place for herself and protect whatever small dignity and authority she is allowed to possess, but every single time that happens, everyone else swoops in to to smack her back into the ground.
She’s only laying on the floor because any time she makes the slightest movement to assert/protect/prioritize herself the servants, nobility, her fiancée, family, and the royal family all immediately start screaming at and punishing her until she’s back down.
A genuine doormat wouldn’t even be trying at this point.
I’m usually on board with my badass MC, but girl is acting surprised that the object of a political marriage is… less than happy about it. Her country is dirt poor and her marriage was the only way to help it, so it’s not like she really had a choice.
There’s no way a princess would be hidden away like that if there weren’t some issues going on. I feel like she could have at least met with her first instead of leaving her to stew in uncertainty about what her situation would be like.
Poor families: I’m working hard to support my child’s needs and hopefully give them at least a slightly better life than I had… I try to be supportive of their dreams, but put pressure on them to pick a more realistic career that will be financially stable
Rich families: I’m filthy rich enough to support my child in whatever dreams, career, or life goals they have that will make them happy… so I’m going to crush any hopes and dreams they have, force them to be an executive/administrator in a soulless corporation, try to control every single aspect of their life, and then degrade them when they become maladjusted and upset about it
I kind of dislike how MC and Sinclair’s relationship is being depicted as so intense and all consuming that their children are neglected and mistreated. Just rubs me the wrong way. Apparently Sinclair treats the kids as competition, and MC is really insensitive in how he compares them. They mentioned that they were essentially chucked out of the house by Sinclair as soon as they became adults and Martin was just ok with that. It seems like all of the kids really adore Martin and try to make loving gestures towards him, to which he just compares whatever it is to a better version that Sinclair did/made/bought.
They’re not depicted as having trauma, but it would be absolutely brutal to have every gift, favor, and surprise made towards someone you love constantly degraded by that person. Even if your spouse got you a better and more expensive watch, you don’t have to say that to your kid right as they’re giving you something they picked out for you. The entire dynamic is way off.
I agree queen!!
While I do personally agree with you that they are shitty parents (at least by human standards), but I have no issue with them being this way because it's pretty much in line with their characters, and the story itself.
I’m not sure if I agree with that. Sinclair would obviously care more about Martin and see the kids as inconvenient distractions, but Martin seems like he would care a lot more than he is depicted to. He was so devastated by the loss of his OG baby that he literally went catatonic.
He didn’t even want a kid at that point, so even if the timeline was different I feel like he would at least show his kids an average degree of affection and consideration
Ugh I will ALWAYS hate when parents are in competition with their own children for affection and favouritism based on gender. Like idc if it's fitting with the characters attitude or shit, just change blud why have kids when U can't take care of them.
Martin does show an above average level of care for the 3 boys. If he didn't, he would have left Sinclair to raise them as he liked instead of interfering.
But in the same Sinclair views Martin as a priority, Martin also view Sinclair as his number 1. Which is why in my opinion his grief over the initial loss of his pregnancy was not because he lost the child, but because he lost his and Sinclair's child.
I said AVERAGE, not subpar. Martin stepping in to prevent abuse, neglect, or dehumanizing behavior towards his kids doesn’t make him a good, or even average parent in terms of affection. It’s the bare minimum to not be considered a shitty parent.
Going by your logic, he was so devastated at the loss of their child (at a point in time when he had never wanted kids and spent most of his life trying not to get pregnant) that he literally went into a non responsive catatonic state. This version probably had a lot less trauma and clearly wanted kids enough to get pregnant more than once (I’m pretty sure the daughter was born separately from their sons).
I guess it’s true that Martin never had healthy parental figures to model how to treat his kids, but this situation is so bad that it’s more of a basic social issue than parenting specific. Martin has been shown to have at least average social skills, so the idea that he can say shit like that without understanding how weird and upsetting it would be for the other person…is kind of nonsensical.
Ugh, I wish I could just send a voice note
I honestly think Martin is just an average parent — mostly based on how his kids interact with him. The author doesn’t give us a ton of material, so we’re left to read between the lines
I am reading between the lines. All of the kids really love Martin and feels strong desire to be close to him, but there are definitely some glaring issues in how they were raised as kids and treated now.
Sinclair is obviously an emotionally distant, cold, and jealous parent to the boys, so it’s not surprising that they would be more dependent and closer to Martin. I suppose on a financial level they would be considered average parents because they provided, food clothes, shelter, and material support until the day they turned 18 after which they lost average status since they kicked out their kids for no reason.
On an emotional level, they are both subpar parents. Sinclair’s coldness, jealousy, and lack of interest would do a lot of harm to a developing child. The reason they favor Martin so much is only because he is so much better IN COMPARISON.
If Sinclair was a normal parent in terms of warmth and emotional support, they would have issues with Martin for all the callous comparison that make them feel unappreciated and never good enough. The reason they think Martin is a saint is because he is compared to Sinclair, and they have no way of knowing the way he treats them isn’t fair or normal without experiencing healthy family dynamics.
Just because the kids love him doesn’t mean he was a good parent. This is the kind of scenario that subtly messes a child up until they finally notice in adulthood, go to therapy to deal with it, and go low contact with their parents.
Top is a pathetic, narcissistic man child. Without the pheromones pushing it along, the relationship wouldn’t exist since MC would kick his obnoxious ass to the curb. I hate when authors nerf an otherwise independent and assertive character (always the woman or bottom) to force along a stale relationship with a subpar at best man that doesn’t deserve them
I don’t get why everyone is trashing her so hard. What happened to her is like the equivalent of someone winning the Olympics or some shit winning military honors, getting a favor from the president as a result, and them pointing at you randomly walking on the street happy with your fiancée and being forced to marry him since he did such a great thing for the country. She was essentially used as a war trophy and people just expect her to not be angry, upset, or traumatized about it.
Sure he treats her well as a husband (I guess) and puts up with her outbursts, but that doesn’t change the fact that he forced her into it. She screams, ignores, makes a scene, and hits him… but they are not in a relationship and she can’t ever leave, just like she couldn’t say no to the marriage. It’s not surprising that she’s less than well adjusted about it. It’s the only thing in her life that she has any control over, so of course that aggression is going to be directed towards the culprit.
He forced an unwilling person to marry him, then put zero effort into creating a functional relationship because he “knew she hates him”, then got so jealous of rumors of an affair that he assaulted her. All it took to create an actual relationship was the bare minimum affirmation that she wasn’t just a toy or trophy to him. That’s how easy it was
He is possessive and obsessed with her. Sure, he’s not beating her up, verbally abusing her, or SAing her, but I really don’t think that constitutes giving this guy a medal. It’s like calling a kidnap victim ungrateful for not appreciating all the luxurious things their kidnapper buys for them. It still doesn’t change the root of all other issues, that her autonomy was disregarded.
Everyone in the comments saying that she doesn’t deserve him are crazy, but right in a way. She didn’t deserve to have her life torn apart in that way. Sure, the og fiancée turned out yo be a psycho, but it’s not like ML knew that when he snatched her up. Everything he did was for his benefit at her detriment. He wasn’t swooping in to rescue her from a violent or perverted fiancée, he wanted her and had the means to take her by force, so he did.
You're right about everything forever and ever
please if it was ml who was forced in this marriage then everyone would side with him but everything is a problem if its a woman
Agreed. Can't blame her. He should have asked for the chance to woo her instead of just taking her.
THANK YOU?? everyones shitting on the fl so bad without ever understanding her