what other way would it work tho? He can’t step down because Dorothea would be mad asf tht he only did tht again for her sake. He can’t die duh, he also can’t run away bc Dorothea know that he loves his empire and the people. Like i understand where you are coming from, but at the moment this is the only plausible solution for her to have a chance without everyone saying she only has this opportunity because he left.
Idk, maybe TALK THE FUCK OUT?
Like- it's so simple, tell her you don't want the throne, not for her sake but for your own and the empire. Which I not even a lie cus he wants to farm and wants the empire to be well taken care of. He also needs to reassure her and support her. It's not that hard of a task if he just be honest towards dorothea.
and i hear u!! but we need some type of conflict
Conflict can still be there without stupidity yk?
(Stupidity cus he didn't even know how to think rationally,,)
Honestly, I'd really hate it if Ray faked this 'for Dorothea's sake' like- lemme be honest.. All her efforts could be invalidated just as "she was given a chance only cus ray was ill, he'd done better than her".. Something like that mentality is what we've been seeing from the nobles. Yk? So this just gives them more reason to yap lol