Bonus points if the governor knew the mc has already set up a method of death for him (like poisoning or dying by sword through ambush) but he calmly accepts it with open arms because he knows the immense pain and suffering he has caused him. I can already imagine the delicious heartbreaking pain it brings.
Or.. if yeonjo supposed to try to kill the governor but didn't proceed with it because he's already fallen for him. then somebody tried to assassinate the governor but failed and the blame got pinned on Yeonjo. Imagine the betrayal ML would feel. Like he thought they're in love but yeonjo tried to kill him?? And he needs to kill Yeonjo because of that. They'd both feel so betrayed and hurt. And when yeonjo is gone gone, the governor would find out that yeonjo didn't really tried to kill him but was just used as a scapegoat for the real killers. I imagine the governor would loose it. Maybe he'd go on a rampage killing or something
Ooohhh wait that one's a pretty juicy theory! But I wonder if the love interest will fall for the fake out though since he's pretty seasoned with mindgames and most ppl in court are not as sharp and cunning as him. He also has a good grasp of the mcs personality and thinking.
What if the coup against the governor failed and Yeonjo was captured along with other traitors. Then the emperor heard of their treason and ordered the love interest to execute everyone involved. Now he needs to make a difficult decision whether or not to heed emperial orders, which he has followed so religiously.
If he goes through with killing the mc, I think the theory of other readers about him taking his own life won't come across as an out of character decision.
If he refuses to kill the mc, I would like to imagine the emperor calling for his death as well so him and the mc dies together. But I don't think that will happen because the love interest is such an important pawn to the empire.
Sorry for the long reply! I really enjoyed reading your theory and it got my mind working as well. I hope you don't mind me sharing my thoughts about it.
This only shows how good this story is. Because there's lots of great theories going around the fandom
So true! Also, you can tell the author really cooked so well during these recent chapters because more and more readers are beginning to see Yeonjo and the governor as multifaceted characters rather than flat.
I feel like it's going to have a tragic ending. Something like, they both ended up with feelings for one another but have to kill the other.