The emperor certainly did a lot of bad things… but they pale in comparison to what Rasta did. Yes, the emperor’s actions hurt people… but he didn’t actively look to kill people who got in the way of his plans (except Heinry… he did technically try to kill him by shooting down the birds), but Rasta did (or tried to). And because she just said whatever came to mind, she ruined people’s lives. Honestly the worst that the emporer did was not rein in Rashta.
Agreed. She's called trashta for a reason. Sovieshit didn't pull the kind of crap this woman did, nor did he make her do all that. It was alllll her. His fault is he never tried too hard to stop her, he gave up on her pretty quickly.
This is why Korean readers are different from y'all. They understood that Rashta was basically groomed and was molded to be this way by the emperor. He pit the empress and Rashta to each other and for what? He made her think she is better than the empress. You failed to realize that she didn't have anything and know nothing, she only knew evil shit when the emperor brought her in. It's even in the side stories that she wished to meet Navier the most because she looked up to her. Her age might not be mentioned but it's obvious that she's likely a teenager when she's brought in. The way she speaks, everything, it is literally a sign of illiteracy but no. Let's put all the blame on her.
And someone who graduated and is studying for a PhD in Psychology, people who came from trauma, poverty and such are very impressionable most especially they are young. That's why TEENAGERS can suddenly flip their world upside down because of who they are exposed to. That is what y'all don't understand and it frustrates me that y'all look at things so black and white but never ever thought about how she was brought up here. She is at fault for her decisions AND CERTAINLY it's also because of the emperor. It's not all her. If the emperor communicated with Navier that he only wanted a baby with Rashta and have also communicated that with Rashta, it wouldn't be like this. In the side stories, Rashta was most excited about seeing Navier because to her she was the most kindest. She wanted to be around Navier. If the emperor didn't instill a superiority complex on Rashta, they would have live harmoniously. She always wanted to have an older sister not as the emperor's lover. She never even thought about anything about the emperor. She even wished that all people should be like Navier because of the constant abuse that she experienced growing up as a slave. That's why for me, Rashta turned into an evil person but she was as much of a victim of the emperor's mindgames because of his ego.
Actually if anyone groomed Rashta, it was the Duke. After all, he was the one giving her advice on what she should wear, who she should hangout with, etc. as was his intent. He wanted to tear the empire apart, and Rashta’s naiveté and the emperor’s indifference was the perfect setting he needed for his plans. So in hindsight, the real villain was the Duke. Also, naiveté can only be excused so far. In the beginning, yes her actions were mostly innocent, and most certainly, the emperor’s support of her actions did not help. However, once she was actually starting to get a proper education, she should have known better than to do what she did. The emperor never taught her to kill people, true, he didn’t do enough to truly stop her; but that was all her, and technically the Duke
people put all the blame on Rashta and not even the emperor