No wonder Jurim wouldn’t let him anywhere near his kid. He met once and is already trying to send her abroad without knowing anything about her abilities and emotional needs
The aunt coming into the picture gives even more context for how Richard was treated that led to him becoming how he is. It seems like both his father and aunt at least subconsciously blamed him for his mother’s death even if they never said it to his face. They want him to justify that loss with his existence. His father raised him from birth as a replacement to throw his responsibilities on so he could leave the capital and sit vigil for his wife.
Material comforts and basic physical needs being provided are not enough to raise a healthy child. He never got any affection or assurance from any of his family during and after childhood, so he almost still craves it. He feels crushed under the expectations that his father raised him for. He is someone who has taken advantage of his power before, but he has never craved it, and even felt it to be burdensome.
Surrendering control is like releasing that burden, and the dynamic he seeks out with Courtney allows him to pursue his emotional needs.
Honestly, the best course of action is probably to create a new village for those contaminated by Krukurk to settle in. Miraculously healing land that nobody could do anything to help since recorded memory is going to bring a lot of unwanted attention. It’s clear that the victims face stigma and rejection everywhere else, so setting up a private community for them to settle and rebuild a functional community would be best.
Feels like trope soup
Author decided to push the “select all” button when picking out the tropes.
We’ve got secretary x CEO dynamic, sex as a “need” for guiding purposes, accidental pregnancy, down bad man refuses to admit/express his feelings thus frustrating himself and sabotaging any potential relationship, and feels passing in the night
Lol
It’s kind of crazy how weak the ML is compared to the espers in every other Guideverse. He’s supposed to be an S rank mental esper but was driven to the verge of rampage after one attempted psychic interrogation of a normal guy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an F rank esper depicted as that weak.
I get that the power scaling may be different in different series, but if the range between each rank is the same, most espers would be barely different from regular people.
I don’t get why everyone is treating ML like some white knight compared to Vorodin. ML admonishes his rival for proposing to such a young and inexperienced 20 year old MC in exchange for her exclusive guiding as if he’s taking advantage….when he is proposing a casual sex relationship with that same person on the same timeline. And FL agrees with him?
She was never going to accept the proposal for other reasons, but it’s really weird that they act like he’s such a creepy weirdo for proposing as they’re finalizing a contract to provide casual sex without emotional strings under a legally binding contract.
If I was going to judge either one of these scenarios more than the other, it’s not going to be the first one!
I also kind of dislike how the writing bait and switches the factor of her poverty. She has a lot of debt from her deceased mom, an ailing grandmother, no other family/support, and basically a one track future of minimum wage jobs. On top of that, her radiant guiding is super weak, so if she wants to work as a guide, contact guiding is her best bet for any degree of financial stability and success. If any of these factors was less difficult, she would probably have more options. These financial struggles are identified as her primary motivators in chapter 1.
ML recognizes that she’s “been through a lot”, which means that she’s under a lot of financial pressure to go this route whether she really wants to or not. Then the author tries to dismiss it by having her say she’s “just being greedy” to explain why she’s doing this. Yes, greedy for a lack of debt, being able to afford AC/heating, and the ability to pay for her elderly grandmother’s medical care. This statement discounts everything that was explained in her background and really doesn’t make sense with the rest of her characterization.
It’s primary purpose seems to make the ML seem like less of a bad guy for profiting from her unfortunate situation. It just doesn’t feel genuine to me. He knows she’s young and poor with no other options besides contact guiding, so cheap distractions from that just mess with the integrity of the story.
Honestly all his comments about Vorodin, comments about her age/vulnerability, and double checking her situation just make him seem sketchier. Because in the end he confirmed her poverty, minimal ability to radiate guiding, and lack of better options as he was putting down someone who made a marriage proposal..,then immediately decided to make a casual sex contract with her.
Nobody is specifically forcing or coercing her into this, but it would be accurate to say her situation is. I feel like if he was going to go for it anyway, ML would be a better person if he recognized her situation, but just understood her financial need and created a mutual contract rather than treating her like a child/victim only to go through with it anyway
Idk, all that buildup for such a cringe name? (●￣(ｴ)￣●)
Follows random woman around all day until it starts getting dark, demands her number, and physically restrains her when she refuses” “I’m not a weirdo haha”
Σ(っ°Д °;)っ
While I would spontaneously combust out of embarrassment if my partner ever said that in public, I do recognize that it was a glorious power move perfectly designed to piss off the doctor and psycho guide
These side stories were so perfect and enjoyable. Please make more
╥﹏╥
That outfit is about to do the opposite of what he wants it to
I love how down bad they are for each other in every universe ╥﹏╥
Bro this a toxic dumpster fire on so many levels. Dark hair MC is genuinely unlikable in every way, manipulative little creep. Every time I see him it feels like he’s supposed to be the villain or secondary romantic rival that turns out to be a psychopath, forcing the plot developments to get the main couple together.
That’s before we even get to the most glaring red flag sirens moment of all, in which MC has been raising black hair SINCE HE WAS 9. (╯°Д °)╯╧╧
In no realm is any form of romantic or sexual relationship between those two not going to be a problematic dealbreaker. Also don’t like the barely legal aspect of the age gap here, plus the way grey hair references him as a kid (though he is an adult). Age gaps can be tolerable if both parties are on the same level and the dynamics are healthy, but not in this case. Barf.
Even if there were no problematic age gaps or dynamics, black hair’s nasty personality alone is enough to ruin any possible enjoyment of this series.
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.
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
(〜￣△￣)〜
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
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.