I think it’s not solely built on the oath but akso because of the influence of his past love for her. After all they did really reincarnated but merely regress. He turned back time but what happened in the past happened, the evidence is the only half power of the philosopher stone
i understand very well where ur coming and i seconded as a lot of webtoons with power imbalanced relationship has taken precedence with stockholm syndrom-esque affection. but i think i manage to not really be bothered bc mikhael retained self consicousness beyond homunculi programming and imprint shackles, and sooner or later he will break free and be immune to mental manipulation as such. and i think also, despite the emphasis on the imprint bond, mikhael is falling in love all over again with evie in a more personal and intimate setting bc now they have a foundation for a relationship, whereas before, evie doesnt even know mikhael and his love for her is based on her public image and political standpoint, not her bare self. in a way each of mikhaels love process has their own downsides and upsides, is what i think
There are many kinds of love and ways to find it and this is one of them
I hate the fact that the whole romance is built on the fact that he's like her slave now...? Sentences like " having someone on your side is incredibly blissful" could be impactful but I feel them to be so flat because he isn't there by his own choice, he's literally a homunculi slave. that sentece could be used for any other homunculi slave that she would choose.
I just think that the feelings of love of the "first" Mikhaelis were more deeper because he loved her because of her values and personality and the "second" Mikhaelis loves Evenrose because she is a good "owner". I didn't like it at all.