Huh

I don't mind that she's vengeful and manipulative. On the contrary, I think it gives her character a lot of substance. What I'm mad about is the fact that she was singlehandedly responsible for creating the mess that is Dylan, and now she just wants to walk away from it without dealing with the consequences. She purposefully groomed this kid to love her unconditionally to the point of obsession, but she doesn't give two craps about him beyond just how useful he can be to her. And the minute he's not useful anymore and he shifts a little beyond what she can 100% control, she abandons him. It's like she's throwing away a toy because it's no longer working properly, or when someone adopts a baby snake as a pet, but flushes it down the toilet when it gets too big and bothersome to keep. She's doing to Dylan the exact same thing her family did to her, and we hate them for it. Why are we supposed to tolerate it from her? Just because she's the main character? I don't care about her baggage. Many would say that her father losing her mother was a big trauma for him that changed him forever, but we don't use that as excuse for his shitty treatment. Baggage doesn't excuse cruelty. I'm glad that we are getting a different lead than the usual goody-goody girl, but let's not fool ourselves into believing she's a victim of circumstances or she didn't have any other choice. She didn't even do it in self defense, because with her powers, she could've walked right into the emperor's bedroom and killed him in his sleep. She chose to involve Dylan, she chose to raise him as he did, fully cognizant of the fact that he didn't have any other emotional support and that she would abandon him at the end of it. She used him as a tool, and now she's discarding him just because these no longer useful. Not because he harmed her or threatened her in any way, but rather because what she wanted him for is done, so whether he goes crazy or not, survives or not, is happy or not, doesn't matter one ounce to her, and we are supposed to agree with her and react like this is not something the villain would do, rather than the lead. That's what bothers me.

Well said aaaa you've put it into words (๑•ㅂ•)و✧

Yes to all this. In a way it is ironic. She turned Dylan into her weapon against the people who did something similar to her. While Dylan wasn't turned into a physical sword he absolutely became a metaphorical one.

Yes to all this. In a way it is ironic. She turned Dylan into her weapon against the people who did something similar to her. While Dylan wasn't turned into a physical sword he absolutely became a metaphorical one. H

Accidentally posted again

OMG YESS. I wish this was the main comment so that I can like it.

I see where you're coming from, but I don't see where you're getting at. You compared him to a toy or a pet snake, I think he's more like a lottery ticket. The thing that puts reincarnators in an advantage is that they know what is going to happen, and unless it's a obligatory fate thing, they can change it. Same stuff happens with Dylan, my mans was already obsessed in his past life, just from behind the curtain, and not obsessed about her but with accomplishing what his mother wanted in her deathbed. In this life, Char decided to turn every ounce of whatever feelings he had in his past life that made him be who he was, into her, which is in line with what reincarnators do, we just don't see it on relevant plot characters, but thats not the point rn.
Moving on, it is unfair to compare the relationship Char had with her family, to the relationship she has with Dylan. Neglect and exploitation aren't the same. What her family did to her was neglect. What she does to Dylan is exploitation, I know she's using his feelings for her to her advantage, but that is the point of the whole revange thing. She is, well was, trying to give him the kingdom afterwards in a (not really) God-honoring way, I'm guessing as a form of compensation but don't take my guesses seriously, by making him a saviour like existencr in the eyes of his people, but as I said before, it got out of hand because human emotions cant be predicter nor controlled.
True, she is cruel. True, she didn't care about anyone else othere than herself and her goals. And I personally love that about her.
She should take responsability, but there's not much of a plot in that now, is there?
Char isn't the heroine, she's more of an anti villain, kinda like Deadpool, but in korean and conservative.

It doesn't matter one bit that he was obsessed or that he was a psycho in her past life. He's a person. A person who never harmed her in any way, who never did anything to her or actually to anyone at the point she met him. He was innocent. And yet she was willing to ruin him in order to use him for her revenge. Your argument that she wanted to leave him the kingdom or make him a savior in the eyes of others is not valid, because its only what SHE wants, not what HE wanted. I don't mind reading about actual villains and villainesses, and sure anti-heroes might be more fun. If this story would actually compromise to the villainess plot, I'll be all over it. But the story doesn't do that. This is not one "How to Save the Heroine's Brother" or "I want to be you" in which the main character establishes herself as a villain from the get go. Charlize established herself as the victim, the avenger who was done a wrong and she has the right to correct it. And even during her treatment of Dylan and the whole revenge plot, she keeps her victim persona. "I'm just doing this for justice", "I just want this to end as humanely as possible", " I'm entirely justified in running away since Dylan turned out to be a psycho." She shirks responsibility at every point, that's what bothers me. Because she's supposedly strong enough to deal with that responsibility. Deadpool never tries to argue with the audience that he's not a piece of crap, he revels in it. Are you telling me that, considering how powerful and driven and experienced she is, she couldn't find a way to deal with Dylan even if he IS a psycho? She 100% could. But she doesn't even try. Either it's a very big inconsistency in character on the author's part just for the sake of moving the plot forward, or she's just a cruel b*** who likes making other do her dirty work but refuses to take responsibility for them afterwards.

I agree with every bit of this. I don't even dislike her characterization, I think she's well crafted as a "villain who doesn't think she's a villain," but the hypocrisy of people defending her actions when she's doing to Dylan exactly what her family did to her is too much for me. And, as you said, she could have killed the Emporer without involving Dylan, just like she could stop Dylan if she needed to--but in both cases, she chose not to.

I hope that going forward she learns more empathy and changes, proving that she is fundamentally different than her abusers and takes responsibility for the boy she essentially raised. But if that never happens and she keeps acting like a victim, then it's a waste of a good character and unique story.

So kudos to you, thank you for the excellent analysis!

Okay, okay, I see y'all. I still don't agree, but I see what you're saying