Does Tess have any character ter depth outside of being a love interest for the MC?
Does she have any screen time when it's not MC related, or trying to make her look like the perfect girl for the mc? Where she's just treated like the average supporting character? Do they have natural chemistry or do all the scenes with them together feel like the author is like bending the world to try and make it seem romantic?
An example of forced romance is jinwoo and his girl. An example of NATURAL romance is jinwoo and the ginger healer girl, the reason they're more natural is because the author doesn't introduce her with the sole purpose of her being his damsel in distress, but for her to be a stepping stone and just another bg character, so the author isn't trying to bend the whole solo leveling universe to make every scene romantic, as they start out as friends.
The BEST example of natural romance is bromance in action, fight me idc but that's because the male characters aren't intended to be together, their bond is real and not forced as they are genuinely just the MC and a supporting character who happen to get into scenarios that build their bond. With the female characters, it feels like she was only ever introduced into the story to be a damsel. That sums it up
Forced romance for me is when characters haven't interacted except for one or two chapters and suddenly are now a couple.
Tess and arthur, for me are not forced romance since Tess was steadily in the story. Nor is she a damsel a distress.
Oh then we have completely different ideas of forced. Forced for me is when it feels like the author has to actually try their best for the interactions to come off as romantic, when the scene isn't like naturally something a romance fan would be excited about
"forced romance" as if Tess hadn't been here from the beginning.