+ the commoner/royalty trope
UABHH
Ngl... Its kinda like kingmaker , since the mc is a genius, he can help him ascend to the throne
if this actually was the case in this story itself it would be kinda fire, imagine angsty plot twist that there was actually another hidden villain putting pressure on ennid and so varabus collided with them so all the threats coming at him never actually reached ennid by being the one to pull all the strings but then lost himself in fear and didn't have enough power to give all what he took from him back and continued to watch over him waiting for the right time to repay him all that he took from him or smt but nah this varabus is likely just a stalker freak on an obsessive powertrip rip LOL
u cooked w this
but just like u said, he is unfortunately, a lost cause
You dug deeper than what i was thinking
when you said it i knew i had to make it about second male leads
Tbh... If varabus or whatever his name is green flag, and he really cared about the mc and didn't start acting like a bastard in the academy, their story would be good.
It's like forbidden love since the country they live in doesn't allowed same sex to be in love/wed.