Before anyone says anything. You're a 13 year old girl and you're sick. A man way older ...

Sorry meant to like. But you do have a good point

I feel so bad for him, he was only a child..

Was anyone even questioning if it makes since that he has trauma tho?

Yes... Their comments aren't popular but they kept going on about how she never did anything to him and he was acting extra.

Well, the last soul on the body was always trying to seduce and touch him. It's kinda hard to open up about your trauma to someone like that. Telling them stop is enough tbh

That isn't the same as saying that he doesn't have trauma tho. That's just complaints on how he's letting his trauma effect others. I don't think anyone expects him to suddenly be able to touch women. But that fear he has is complicated by the fact that he did get married again. So like...some people have triggers. Most avoid them if they can. He did the opposite by getting married again. The original Abagail being a bitch doesn't negate the ML's bad decisions and lack of communication.

And yeah it would be hard for him to open up to her about his issues...The question is if maybe he should have said something to her before they got married. Not even the whole story, just a heads up for what type of lifelong commitment she's getting into. Which is part of why there have been so many arguments over this. There is no indication that she had reason to believe that they wouldn't have a standard marriage until the wedding night.

In one of the flashbacks we see her asking him what she can do make him attracted to her. He tells her that there is nothing that she can do, and to live like she doesn't exist. Yes she's a bitch. But that second part is a fucked up thing to say to someone.

We've read variations of this trope. The, male lead is cold to his wife cuz trauma trope. Being a villainess she lashes out, and just tries even harder to get his attention. She does so to the point of hurting others and herself. If she were a heroine she would have walled herself off like in To Make You Understand or Duchess of the Glass house. And ended up fading away til something causes her death.

Omg yessss

Your way of wording it makes a lot more sense than what I previously typed.

He's a king. He's expected to get married again to produce an heir.

And if you read you would realize that he thought the way he was treated was normal or okay, as MOST victims in real life have been trained to believe. Which means he also wouldn't expect anyone to sympathize with how he feels. And considering how even his own mother treated it as his duty and how the people around him generally behave with medieval attitudes towards everything it's quite *reasonable" for him to believe that, on his part.

Expecting people to communicate in order to be treated with decency is abusive btw (for one, not everyone has the communication skills to convey those thoughts, like myself, so if the communication fails guess who's blamed [hint, it's not the person who wasn't the victim]? And just simply believing people should do something that doesn't work *under every circumstance* is setting people up for failure. For two, even if a victim has the communication skills to convey their thoughts, being victimized alone signals the amount of emotional labour they've already had to perform. Believing they should do more [in order to be treated with decency] only upholds the victim/abuser stereotype).

And no treating a b**** like a b**** is not f*cked up. Bbb.

Who's gonna make him now that he is an adult king though? What exactly do you think a king is? He isn't a sickly 13 year old anymore. Who is gonna stop him from finding an arrangement that works for him? There was a recent chapter where they wanted him to take a second wife and he said no. So in what way would he be stopped from finding a woman that would be okay with a no touch contract marriage? HE WAITED FOR OVER A DECADE BEFORE REMARRYING. If there was so much pressure why was he not forced to remarry shortly after the first queen died? Clearly he has some control over his own affairs now.

In the end what happend is that he got married and hasn't produced an heir after a year. Expectations or no, there is no baby. And even with the new emotional growth between him and the FL their won't be one for a long time. Oh I'm sure there will be folks commenting on their continued childlessness, but unlike when he was a child no one can force him to have sex now. And so he hasn't had sex.

Right now we have seen nobles talk about that Raven guy and what would happen if Raven had a son. Basically this Raven guy's son would be the next king if the ML never has a son. Ok, and? Him needing to have a marriage and child only strengthened his position when he was a child. But nothing threatens his right to the throne now. Blanche isn't allowed to be the Queen as things stand(rules can be changed) but that the NEXT king. Not the ML. The ML's position is secure.

It is not abusive to expect people to communicate their needs because people are not mind readers. Even the empathetic and modern minded FL didn't know. She wasn't different from the original Abby simply because she is a better person. She just didn't want to be chummy with some dude she doesn't know. And since she has Abby's memories she figured that she'd take advantage of the "fact" that he hates her to put some distance between them. Now she feels bad for the ONE time she put sexulized pressure on him AFTER he tore up her present to Blanche. But how was she supposed to know that was a traumatic trigger for him?

Also he treated original Abby coldly, and then she started acting out. Not the other way around. I am not sure why people forget that. She got married, her husband told her to live like she didn't exist. She refused in a major way. He started out not treating his new wife with decency. He threw the first stone. He just got more than he bargained for in return. I guess he figured that she'd go down quietly instead of throwing a fit.

Complex characters and situations make for good storytelling. This situation is not black and white. So yes, it can both be true that The King has been traumatized and that he's a been a subpar husband and father because of lack of communication. It is also true the Original Abby got stuck with a love less marriage and that her reaction to that situation was a horrible one.