beta
MC is so irritating. He just barely managed to get his head off the chopping block (literally) with the infidelity accusation, only to jump right back on it. He’s practically tap dancing under a guillotine ffs.
I get that he doesn’t have a lot of resources, but the scummy guy who schemed with your enemy to oust you from your position and potentially get you executed for infidelity is not the one. He literally risked his life for nothing other than the chance to harm the MC’s position!
It’s just so beyond stupid to even meet with him alone after that debacle, much less even attempt to team up, on top of the actual kiss. I hate it when authors write “clever” bottom/woman protagonists who magically become dumb as a box of rocks to facilitate subpar sexual encounters and artificially accelerate a shambling plot.