vhilo's Topics (139)

You’re asking us to pick between a ML who doesn’t have a Snow White complexion or a ML who doesn’t have the moody black hair setup? Oof hard choice.

Honestly it's not creepy, annoying sure but he doesn't want her involved with terrible men it seems.

YES! THANK YOU! What irritates me also is it feels like there's no in between. Either it's all sex or no sex. Sex is just kind of natural you know, portray it normally! It happens quite often for many why not show it that way?

Eh, I think it's normal tho, especially if you think about their time and place setting. I don't think contraceptive like condoms and birth control pills are freely available in their time period, so you can't expect them to have easy time approaching sex. Plus, they are NOBLES. A little gift from a noblewoman to a nobleman could easily be interpreted wrongly (like how Juvi from "Father, I Don't Want To Get Married) bought cufflinks for her dad and it downspiralled to a scandal of she having a secret lover and is being a promiscuous woman) and vice versa. There are status and social norm of aristrocrat that these characters have to consider, and any wrong move could be a weapon to bring downfall to their households. So apart from the etiquette touch (kissing hand, for example) it is normal, expected and reasonable for them to be on guard when approaching affection and sex. Clea (the OG one) is lucky to get away from complete ruins because her family is mega rich, but you can see how her lifestyle drag her name across the filth. That is the context of their settings, thus with Isaac being depicted as an HONOURABLE and powerful nobleman, it is very easy to see how he is so used to being guarded and reserved in the matters of women, love, affection and sex. Women usually approaches him with the desire to be the duchess. Y'all be joking if you think he will be fine expressing affection or desire for sex when that can be used as a weapon against him to ruin his household, since y'know, Isaac won't be so honourable if he knocked up all the noble ladies around town wouldn't he? Abstinence is his easiest and safest way to be safe.

And yes, they're married now, and it is within their contract for them to indulge in marital intimacy, so it all gucci to approach sex BUT you have to consider the context of their marriage in the first place, especially from Isaac's point of view. He walked into this marriage like a business. At the start, he has no feelings for her, and Clea herself is being extremely blatant in treating this relationship like a business. It is not a lovey-dovey ground they're dancing on. Now, taking the context on his life of abstinence, he wouldn't have much of experience approaching woman that his heart flutters for and he clearly doesn't know how to judge the water and test Clea's boundaries because they both aren't in this marriage for love. At one hand, he desired her and at another he doesn't know if she will be okay with it or if intimacy is truly a line that he is allowed to cross. He is staying in his established character by being cautious so that he isn't taking advantage of her as a person with feelings and ability to consent just because their contract permits him sex as an extra benefits. This Clea is the same too. She has no feelings for him, and assumes that every time her heart flutters for him, it is because of OG Clea's feelings. She admired Isaac as a person and does not see him as a husband or potential lover, bur rather as a friend and a business partner. The way she randomly wanted to kiss him in this chapter is the equivalent of us looking at a handsome celebrity and internally goes "kiss me, daddy". It is a desire, but a fleeting one, who she, as someone from the modern world, would be aware of. She would know that it is unreasonable to randomly kiss him despite their contract since she doesn't really know if he would consent to that. I don't think she is aware that Isaac is catching feelings and assumes that his overbearing protectiveness is because he is being a good BUSINESS partner looking out for his investment (her) for his eventual profit (the Reno's family wealth). Sex and intimacy comes naturally in a relationship, but in their case, both of them think that the other is viewing them as a business partner rather than just a partner, Clea more so since she not only think of Isaac as a tool for her to return home, but also assumes her desire for him was not her own but the OG Clea's. They aren't close enough to be naturally lovey-dovey, nor are they able to judge each other's boundaries and where is the lines that would make the consent to sex that their contract permitted will be revoked. They aren't close enough for that. YET. By this point, they are at the stage of close trusted friends, with one of them having a one-sided crush on the other.

Taking that, and the context of their time period and aristrocrat norms (where it is even common for married couple to sleep in separate rooms unless they want to make an heir because birth control aren't easily available unlike in modern world), they are doing good with the intimacy up to this chapter.

Also, if you want to break the fourth wall and understand why these manhwas have high level of abstinence, the authors are usually Koreans. I'm not a Korean but I am an Asian. As an Asian, living in the continent of Asia, I can confirm that we do not talk about, nor approach sex as openly as Westerners do. Even married couples keep everything behind closed door of their room (room, mind you, not house). Hell, even in this modern period, I have never seen my parents kiss each other on the lips (cheeks and forehead the most) despite living with them for 18 years, yet I know that they're happy and still in love with each other. Although varies from country to country, the general rule of thumb of Asian culture is that we do not openly approach nor talk about sex, and when it comes to pre-marital relationship, we have these weird hypocrite thing about wanting to keep up the image of abstinence prior to marriage/committed relationship despite doing the exact opposite by secret having pre-marital/pre-committed relationship sex anyway. I personally think that there is a plausible reason for this thing, but that's a whole other can of sociocultural worm that I don't think we want to talk about.

Hmm, well that makes me feel slightly better about the lack of intimacy. It's not like this shit's Game Of Thrones