beta
estelle was a living weapon. she had no friend (essentially, her friendship with khalid is onesided, the rest is camaraderie), no family, no love, no life. her only purpose was to be used by the crown ruling the kingdom. she was groomed and later maybe, taught to be willfully ignorant of what being human means, bc shes her king's useful weapon. if she started having feelings, learning the folly of human kind, learning anything at all, she would start becoming human and cease becoming a tool. in a way, ironically, shes an ultranationalist (lol) and not a patriot. she didnt even knew how the people fared in her now gone kingdom bc her loyalty wasnt to the people, it was to the crown.
ig this was quite incredible writing bc it revealed how unreliable of a narrator estelle is and i personally as a reader didnt even thought of doubting her side of the story bc ig i was trope blinded and already focusing on revenge for khalid. meanwhile he was actually the patriot estelle believed herself to be. he did sacrificed her for the good of the remaining people, he had more humanity than estelle as a weapon did. its a good read