NOVEL SPOILERS

So I completed the novel and most of the extra chapters (events of daily life after the main story). The novel is really sad to be honest, but it’s really good at the same time because it’s well-written. Unfortunately the MC does develop this sort of Stockholm syndrome for both Jerome and Simon, however it’s not a submissive type of Stockholm and more like he’s willing to kill anyone to have them type. I’m sharing a list of questions that I had during the novel so you don’t have to wait an eternity or read the entire thing to get answers.

What is the relationship between Simon, Jerome, George and Hugh?:

From what I understood, Hugh is the main reason why George, Simon, and Jerome are attending the boarding school. Hugh is part of the Donwell family which is a huge manufacturer of a cigars or cigarettes. The Donwell family maintains a lot of wealth which means that Hugh is able to extort that wealth to control other people because he’s a sadistic psychopath. Hugh essentially controls Jerome but has tamed both George and Simon (George being his lover/pet and Simon just follows his orders). Jerome is the only character with a strained relationship with the rest of the group because he refuses to submit completely to Hugh.

Who is Jerome and why does he hurt Raymond?:

Jerome is a complex character. He’s the illegitimate son of Princess Mary (fictitious princess) and a criminal father who was sold to the Donwell family to hide his existence. The Donwell family wanted to keep Jermoe as because he was ‘well-bred’ (has Royal blood) which made him a valuable to Hugh. Because of his Royal lineage, he treated him as a ‘stallion’ (stallions are breeding horses). The Donwell family used him during ‘clubs’ (social gatherings with debauched people) to present him breeding with woman in-front of everyone. They were able to do that using a drug known as ‘kiss and embrace’ which is a complimentary drug to other drugs. They used this drug to make Jerome unable to resist and become sexually aroused to the point where he was unable to control his actions, resulting in him being forced to rape many woman. During this time he was also still a child and he was first forced to rape his nanny (someone he considered to be his family) and later reveals he was forced to also rape Anna (who might’ve been the nanny) which is the girl we see in the green blouse in the first chapter. Anna also had a daughter which might’ve been a direct consequence of Jerome being forced to rape her, however nothing is confirmed. Jerome was sent to the boarding school with Hugh as well as the others because Hugh wanted to form a his own ‘club’ because to participate in ‘clubs’ you had to be a certain age and Hugh was underage. Hugh was sent to the boarding school because of something bad he did (I don’t think the story every explicitly details what he did). Jerome is also an agent who is put through high stakes missions for purpose of being killed to prevent his existence from tarnishing both the Donwell family and the Royal family. He tries to get ultimately tries to get revenge on both but he is disrupted by Raymond.

As for why he hurt Raymond, unfortunately there isn’t a very a direct reason. The story implies that the abuse that he inflicts on Raymond is due to the oppression and psychological abuse that he received when he was younger. Overtime, Jerome just naturally become more demented as he was a ‘stallion’ for the Donwell family as he was forced to rape many women at a young age. The story also implies that he hurt Raymond because he was forced to under the control of Hugh (however some things don’t add up). Also, Jerome did it because he had a strange attraction to Raymond which he admits to Raymond that he had feelings for him since the day he saw him. Despite all the hurt he causes Raymond, he tries to make up for it throughout the course of the story by giving him chances to survive, allowing Raymond to almost murder him, and by helping him. By the end of the story, he says what he did to Raymond is unforgivable and that there is still not atoning for abuse he caused.

Who is Simon and why does he hurt Raymond?:

Simon is the grandson of a senator who is also an unwanted child of the family, which is why he was given to the Donwell Family as a child. The Donwell family tried to give the same drugs ‘Kiss and Embrace’ to him, but fortunately for him he had sexual dysfunction which meant that the drugs were very ineffective for him and often did not have as potent an affect on him as other it would other people. Because of this the Donwell family did not use him as a sexual tool as they did to Jerome, however he was still psychologically abused. His existence was ignored which made him unable to comprehend the feelings of others (people treated him as if he wasn’t even there). He adapted to this response and listened to the orders of the Donwell family by becoming their lackey. Because people ignored him, he didn’t know how to react when people looked at him (I.e. Raymond). This spiralled into him becoming afraid of Raymond when Raymond looked at him, he didn’t know how to react since he was mainly ignored all his life. He said that we he sees Raymond’s eyes, he doesn’t know what he’s feeling, he doesn’t know what he’s thinking, and he wants to cut Raymond’s wrists because he’s afraid.

The reason that hurts Raymond is to follow the orders that Hugh places for him. However, he also likes Raymond ever since the beginning and he is the first person to rape him on the first night that Raymond stays at the boarding school (Jerome is the second person to rape him on the first day). Also, Simon is only able to have sex with Raymond while he’s sleeping because that’s the only time Raymond is not thinking or feeling anything. Simon in my opinion is probably the most tragic character because he has fully submitted to the psychological abuse that he has endured since he was young, and there’s no salvation for him because his sense of right and wrong is so warped that cannot trust Raymond. He eventually dies at the very end of the story trying to kill Raymond because he cannot trust Raymond’s thoughts or feelings.

Who is George and Hugh?:

The story doesn’t explain too much about either Hugh or George. However, Hugh is the main reason for the suffering of all the characters and he’s also the reason for the suffering of previous predecessors before Raymond (George being one of them). Hugh is just a sadistic psychopath with the pleasure for the torture and abuse of others (he dies in the fire that Raymond starts). George is the pet of Hugh through being tamed, but interestingly enough he is also a high ranking official in some intelligence agency as a hacker. That’s why he’s always on the computer, because he was promoted from a young age to be the hacker for the intelligence agency. The psychological abuse that George goes through, through being tamed by Hugh is not explained but he comes out falling in love with him. Hugh was never truly in love with George (because he’s completely crazy) which is also why they try to get another pet to ‘complete their love’.

Who were the previous predecessors and what happened to them?:

The story never fully talks about what happens to the previous predecessors. There is a character named ‘Christine’ who becomes a drag queen but the story of abuse he suffers is never explained. For a large part of the story, it was assumed that Jerome, Simon, George, and Hugh were the abusers of the previous victims however it was only George and Hugh that did it. Both Simon and Jerome only hurt Raymond because they ‘loved’ him from the start which is why they were both the only ones to rape him first when he is sleeping.

How did Raymond end up at the boarding school?:

Raymond ended up at the boarding school because of Jerome’s assistant Anna (green blouse) because she was trying to save Jerome from Hugh’s wrath by using a substitute character (Raymond). He also ended up there because of strings that were pulled by Julia’s Assistant (John). Essentially, John wanted to get rid of Raymond away from Julia because he loved her and Raymond (being an illegitimate child) was a stain on Julia’s life. John knew what was going to happen to Raymond and threw him there anyways.

Does Raymond get Revenge and who does he end up with?:

Raymond ends up killing Hugh by burning the dormitory, however the rest of them escape but George ends up severely burned by trying to save Hugh from the fire. George takes the Alias ‘Mr. Acacia’ where he tries to avenge Hugh but ends up being killed by Raymond after a 5 year time skip by being hanged. He doesn’t end up killing either Jerome or Simon and ends up with both of them for a while, however it doesn’t really work out. Later on while Raymond tries to save Simon and Jerome (characters are about 35-36 y/o), he is almost killed by Simon but he wears a bulletproof vest. Jerome thinking Simon killed Raymond, kills Simon and then Raymond is deeply devastated. He eventually ends up with Jerome after everything and ends up settling up somewhere in the northern region of Canada with him. By the time the extras are finished, him and Jerome are about 39-40 y/o and it’s mainly about his daily life living with him and Raymond processing the lost of everyone over the past 15 years after he had left the boarding school.