Nah to come at a point where u would marry someone else for Alicia it is obvious he loved her but now it feels like he is waiting secretly for her to depart for afterlife so he can move on and be with mc. Genuinely speaking I would say it's better to break of clean since mc doesn't deserve being treated as second choice
But that’s all from fl’s own perspective she thinks he married her for Alicia’s sake, same way he thinks that fl married him only for Alicia’s sake (which we know isn’t completely true so it really wouldn’t be shocking if she actually has a misunderstanding herself too). In his mind we know he thinks Rachel thinks of him as a younger brother so of course he would go along with that excuse. It gives him time with his sister and the girl he likes who otherwise keeps brother zoning him.
Then again this is just my theory for now since this chapter and previous ones keep dropping clues he doesn’t seem happy at all whenever fl mentions they’re not a real couple. If he really does like Alicia and only starts pursuing fl once alicia is dead then I hope they don’t ever get together. I don’t want our girl as a second choice
To be real I just think he has a sister kink like the only barrier in my love is incest.and if u remember he started to get annoyed only after she started calling him bro. But I say ml was actually In love with Alicia since even the side characters notice this and he himself tell her he likes Alicia and other stuff wanting to be comforted
That’s why I think he couldn’t work out what the difference between familial love and romantic love is. No side character has worked out he “likes” Alicia, most of them like the older bro can just sense the awkwardness between the ml and Rachel. If he really had some sort of sibling kink he would’nt care about the fact Rachel calls him a little bro
This chapter shows he definitely liked her but why did he lie and say he loves Alicia ? Is it that common trope where he initially didn’t know the difference between familial and romantic love ….