
I don’t think I remember him from the novel, he seems like an important character?

His name is Nahan, he is one of the co-leaders of the Star of Nagran. You cn say he is one of the main antagonist who believes the Awakened People are the New Gods and are deserving of a better life than the nobles. Continue reading to learn more.
Spoiler Alert:
He almost killed Kiolle, he uses illusion on Yuder in the image of Kishiar to escape him, and he abandons twin subordinates of his to Yuder.

Is there a novel to this?

there is! i read it in korean but you can find it in english in this website https://nirvanatales.com/series/genius-wizard-who-sees-rainbows/ although it is not fully translated

Why is this better than any dating show I ever watched?? Like I can’t seem to figure these characters out, so much tension~~ ┗( T﹏T )┛

I feel the same way, I think it's because it's completely fictional. Real dating shows try to make it look like they're real, but we all know they're scripted and edited to create more drama. The participants are real people who probably don't perfectly fit the roles that were written for them - the nice guy might be a bitch and the true-love-couple might actually hate each other and break up right after the show ends. But here? We get all the drama of a dating show AND the knowledge that all of it is real for these characters. It feels better to get invested.
The pacing is so fast it’s thrown me off the story line lol