No because for the entirety of my read I was contemplating why on earth he CHOSE Shuri, specifically her. Any other woman of any other status would've been enough if it was just a dependable mother he was looking for but mannnnnnn. See because even when we got the previous empress face reveal with the painting I thought his intent was to make sure the royal family (more specifically the emperor himself) wouldn't attempt anything against her, he didn't know his sons would end up causing the problems that they did but I'm sure his foresight was thought out for any type of trouble the family could've found itself in if the emperor were to personally interfere. I thought he was just playing it smart and safe but the further into the story I got the less sense my theories werebecause all of what we knew of him was through Shuris memories and he seemed like a well kept and respectable man but it still didn't make sense why he chose her unless he wanted someone who wouldn't waver so easily, which is why I got disturbed when we get the whole violent reveal about how he treated her when he experienced delusions and made it seem like he was playing his cards so close that he was basically grooming her to become like a replacement of his long lost love. I dont even know how much of his image of the previous image of the empress I should believe at this point. I was in shock the entire last couple chapters and had to walk around the room a couple times
And that creep johaan said he married shuri cz 'he always deserves the best'... lunatic
bruh never thought johanne to be a creep bcs he was somehow given a pretty nice imge, although him taking in a 14 year old as a wife is creepy. but as soon as they showed te emperor's first wife, man that nice image will never be salvaged.