beta
Moving the romance ahead before the brutality is what saves this BL and elevates it higher than the rest of the historical BL that has rape in it.
Both characters don't trust each other, one plans on killing the other, but they both catch feelings. When shit hits the fan, it makes sense now that rape would be included. It's portrayed as this tragic breakdown of what could've been and a betrayal.
With how the ML has responded so far and this isn't even the brutality yet, the only redemption is to kill himself. I feel like the author has foreshadowed this already. He carries a lot of guilt from the people he's had to kill, including strangers. I could imagine he couldn't handle himself if he killed the MC or drove the MC to off himself.
There are interesting places this could go.