Helena

She most definitely could have rejected him. Left the palace and worked somewhere else. Hell she could have left the kingdom and started fresh. But she lacks any semblance of a back bone or independent thinking. I can’t stand people who just go with whatever someone tells them to do while being upset about what they’re doing. If you have an issue say something, otherwise everything that happens is your fault as much as the other person.

i mean…you’re saying that like it’s easy. we don’t know all the aspects of the culture in this story but quitting or getting fired from the royal palace is generally a huge disgrace and can prevent people from getting work elsewhere. not to mention she has to support herself and her mom. and this isn’t even getting into the fact that the prince seems to be a raging asshole with a fragile ego, who’s to say he wouldn’t lob her head off for hurting his feelings? lmao. idk, it’s not that deep, but I just think she’s getting a lot of hate when she herself feels helpless in this situation lol

Okay but you have to understand Helena’s character. She is going through her own trauma with her mother telling her to act like a damsel to survive. That type of thinking instilled on you at a early age just doesn’t go away. They were best friends during their childhood so how could she know he was gonna end up being a pos. And you can think that way but when you grow up in a patriarchal society with misogynistic men around every corner and especially if one is the future crown prince, the odds are against you at every corner. That even when she does try to say something (when he slapped Eris, when the head maid got in trouble) her words were literally never heard.

this too!! all very true

It was really ROUGH for commoners back in the days. I think keeping her job was the better decision.

Moreover someone as egotisical as the prince... I think at that point he would've hunted her down.

But I partially agree that she could've done much more. Just because you have few options, doesn't mean you have no options.

I mean I get what you’re saying but the prince is definitely entitled enough to not stop if she ever refused him, might actually get more possessive and punish those around her for “convincing her to reject him.” And I think Helena gets that there’s a sense of entitlement the men around her have to her, which makes refusing them more dangerous for her. Even if it wasn’t actually dangerous for her she grew up being told that she won’t survive by defending herself, she’ll survive by keeping low and acting as if she doesn’t know that she’s not being seen as a person with her own rights, but as a possession to be prized. I just think Helena deserves a lot more credit for trying to survive in an environment that would punish her for pursuing what she wants instead of rewarding her.

I have to disagree. Its not that easy uprooting your entire life and leaving everyone you know and love. Why should a woman have to drop everything because of the actions of a man. What would happens if she leaves anyway, would the prince treat the ml better? Also, he’s a prince, she’s a SERVANT and he could easily stop her. And even though she has no real choice in the palace, she probably sees him as someone she trusts, someone nice to her after she’s had a bit of a shit life. Maybe she doesn’t want to go away and that may be a bit selfish but not infuriatingly selfish and definitely not worth villainizing her. Lets normalise hating men for their decisions and not the women in his general vicinity.

Her chapter showed her as a helpless person. She's in a "do or die" situation. She doesn't have the authority to go against the prince's and empress's decision. If she does, she'd might end up either completely imprisoned or dead. That chapter made me feel more sorry for her than anything. The recent chapter even more so. I highly doubt she chose that dress for herself...

You were right lol she didn’t choose the dress