i agree! i feel like everyone is overlooking the fact that he has internalized all the criticism, pain, and suffering his family and his people have experienced. like after only he survived his family, his people all began dying because he couldn’t fulfill the contract and his duties as the duke. imagine the survivor’s guilt you would feel as the sole survivor of your family, and then add even more guilt for all the lives lost because YOU couldn’t make a pact with a spirit. and then, to add even more oil to the fire, the only person who he could cling on to after his whole family died, told him that his wife was complicit in his brother’s death. like i agree that what he did was neglectful and wrong, but i do understand why he did what he did. i do not think he deserves the pain and suffering the people in the comments want to inflict on him. i genuinely feel like he’s suffered just as much as the FL, if not more.
Everyone is really hating the ML, but from my perspective they are both traumarized individuals that did not try to understand each other, the ML did not try to understand Lily and Lily ALSO did not try to understand the ML. Only looking out for someone to save her and when the ML did not do so, she focused on the hurt and dissapointment that the ML inflicted out of his own fears and resents him for it. But what about him? He was in no way in his right mind to do anything, he also was looking for understanding and comfort, which the author illustrated. The ML also has his own struggles and huge responsibilities as Duke. His people were dying and starving, come on now. We all know how extreme stress and pressure can do to a person. Not taking away that the FL is also traumatized and hurt, dont get me wrong. But the only thing she did for the territory was personally distribute food and blankets to the people, and this was out of her sense of guilt because she is and Everett.
My point is, its not fair to hate on the ML while the FL is ALSO at fault. She said he did not listen to her and try to understand her, well from what I saw she did the same thing to him, not trying to understand him and his position.
Seeing how broken they both are, from ones own perspective it can be difficult to see beyond our own pain and suffering and think about what the other person must be going through, and that from my POV is what is happening here folks. So I dont hate the ML nor FL, they both need to heal and forgive each other, all relationships goes both ways and each person is equally responsible.
Whatever decisions they make later I hope its from healed versions of themselves and not making decisions out of pain or fear and also important that they forgive each other.
Thats my two cents, hope it can give a different POV. (〜￣△￣)〜