Responses
like esp bc he was king. there'd have been people who could have noticed what his end goal was, and one could argue that the people around him saw it for what it was and took advantage of it, and the others could have warned him about or against it. especially since nobles talk
she had to die for him to come to that realization... that's a very expensive price for a measly realization. if this was real life, there'd be people who aren't completely allied with him that could have already made him realize that, esp because they both went to war. but idk the finer details on the author's mind so...