Im sorry but why is the emperor narrating his mistress’ private trauma to the empress?? First, why should Patrizia give a crap? He knows there is bad blood between all of them. His mistress hired an assassin for fucks sake, and he knows that the empress is convinced of this (he only suspects if its true I suppose). Second, why would Lucio think it’s appropriate for him to share what his mistress told him in confidence with someone else? I’m sorry to say it but as a character the mistress is more compelling than the inconsistency Lucio displays throughout the whole story. And that says something because her present self is more or less an almost one dimensional antagonist. He’s just wishy washy as hell about everything.
And as much as I can’t stand the mistress with her bullshit, I also can’t stand when people talk like Lucio is some innocent flower who got manipulated like he holds no accountability at all. They both met as teens and bonded through sharing their traumatizing pasts with each other. They fed each other’s need for revenge and selfishness because they were victims of people’s selfish actions towards them. Everybody is harping on her how dare she want to be Queen and such, but Lucio also wants her to be his Queen. He told her so while rolling around in bed with her. He had to marry for political reasons and chose a bride that was barren and not the best in the contest so he could get rid of her more easily. The mistress acts all high and mighty because Lucio promotes her entitlement as he already sees her as his Queen. They are both assholes but the mistress is at least steadfast in her desires and plans. Lucio is all over the place. He knew this bint for years and had no problems with her behavior. They had the same goals. Making her empress by using a girl who is barren to get her out of the picture without too much fuss and backlash. Suddenly he’s all shook up about his mistress behavior and I have to wonder why. Probably because he stopped seeing Patrizia as a stepping stone but as a human being. That’s all fine if his feelings have changed but why is he not keeping his mistress in line to keep Patrizia safe? He could easily do this, but he’s not doing anything at all. He only cries and wails about his past and the past of his mistress to the woman they want to get rid off.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this webtoon will lay all the fault on the mistress to make Lucio look like an acceptable love interest to Patrizia but I’m sorry, I just can’t stand him as he’s the source for all of Patrizia’s problems with the mistress only being a symptom.
Exactly. The emperor literally killed an innocent empress and her family in the previous life. His mommy issues doesn't justify what he did, it merely explains it.
Yeah I agree. The thing that makes me the most sad is the MC just starting to fall for him because now he shows her a little interest. That Mo-fo murdered her whole family. That’s what he’s capable of. Urgh, I hope this ends up with her alone on top. Why even have a ML if he’s this shitty.
This comment really solidified my perspective... thank you
Omg, it actually pisses me off to see Patrizia soften towards this guy. And why??? He never did anything for her. He only ever talks about shit that concerns him and she listens to his self pity filled monologues. So what did he actually do? He married her sister and treated her like shit. He executed her and her entire family for “treason” to finally marry his lady love. That was his goal in the first timeline and it’s still his goal in this timeline as well. And I don’t believe that her sister did anything to deserve this treatment. He already laid out his plans in the new timeline by choosing a barren bride. That was his decision, not that of the mistress. There was a reason the last challenge for the contestants was changed to that of physical health by him. He wanted the worst. And what’s worse than a barren empress?! So I never understood why he was so shaken up for suspecting his mistress of hiring an assassin to get rid of Patrizia. It might have not been his direct plan and would have been messy, but in the end that’s what he wanted anyways. Patrizia did so much for him I’m not surprised he’s all confused. She held back, couldn’t give a fig if he banged his whore. She saved the banquet. She saved his life by almost sacrificing herself. She took over the emperor’s duties splendidly. She stayed with him the night he had a nervous breakdown. She (for some reason) cries for this fool’s tragic backstory. What does he do to return the favor? Nothing. He actually does everything to show her that he doesn’t care. After the trial he went back to his mistress who he didn’t reprimand for her aggressive actions. He’s only subdued and the mistress notices this. So of course she would continue to scheme around to bring both their plan to fruition. Patrizia sees them hanging out after all this shit. Why is she softening towards the snake that wants to kill her? That actually killed her and her family in the past timeline? I thought she wanted revenge on both of them? Now only the mistress because she feels sorry for Lucio’s past but not the past of the mistress? This webtoon started out strong but it’s faltering now.
Lol. I also can’t wait for her to find out and cut this loser out. Seeing him grovel will be exquisite to visit. But yeah, I don’t know how I’m going to react when she starts to soften towards this bastard again.
Spoiler.....
I’m not sure if this is true but I read this before in the comments. He will soften Patrizia up with food ┑(￣Д ￣)┍
Seriously???? Patrizia witnessed his assholery personally in the first timeline. She’s seen her sister probably unhappy for years before the emperor decided to chop her and her family’s heads off. Patrizia herself seen the self satisfied expressions on Lucio’s and his mistress’ faces. She comes back all strong, planning to revenge her sister and family in the new timeline. She has to deal with this self satisfied cow while the emperor continues to keep a log lodged in his ass. She saved his life because she’s not an asshole and backstabber. What I don’t understand, why does she soften up in the first place here? Because of him crying about his childhood? Personally that wouldn’t touch my sympathy at all if my enemy would tell me something like that. Not after everything that happened. And I posted this in another comment where I thought that her sobbing for him comes out of nowhere and is just a ploy by the author to move the relationship along. It also happens shortly after the trial, where the mistress got off almost scot free. Patrizia sees him continuing on with his mistress like nothing happened. That’s a slap in the face. If he didn’t believe her then that’s fine but this would also lead a person to harden themself towards such a prick even more. If he actually believes her then that makes him culpable in what the mistress will do to Patrizia later. He’s the emperor and could easily keep her in line to not act out and continue to play the long game. You know, the plan to get rid of her because she’s barren. Anyways, if it’s really food that softens Patrizia towards this POS, I will probably be done as well.
What I find hilarious. The author deploys the “tragic past” trope to make Lucio appear all pitiful. Which is an attempt by the author to make us forget that Lucio holds accountability for his actions, especially when we see him wallowing in his self pity and see the MC pitying him too, so is trying to pull on our heartstrings. The author also deploys the same trope for the mistress, but because she’s a go getter (who was promised to become Queen), and is extremely enterprising with her personal campaign and won’t wallow in bouts of self pity, she suddenly holds all the accountability for everything. I see her being ripped to pieces in the comment section by people who at the same excuse Lucio. I don’t get it. They both suck! And he more so because he’s weak and doesn’t do anything ever.
Can I finally get an omega verse where the alpha who loves a beta, actually ends up with the beta? Why push an omega in between all of the time? Most annoying are those works where the MC starts out as a beta but then magically turns into an omega. No!! Anyways, this story is unsatisfying and rushed. If the alpha loves the beta, why isn’t he trying his luck instead of raping the omega, who he knows the beta has a crush on? It says it’s completed but is this really true?
well it has been some mangas that has that tho (=・ω・=)
There is this one. I know another one but I forgot the name. It’s very cute. I’ll put it here when I find it.
http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/kakumei_no/
Found it. The Beta and Alpha couple are the second couple.
http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/kashikomarimashita_destiny/
This one also have a Beta and Alpha couple but they aren’t the main couple either. But it’s cute. There is even a Beta and Omega couple if I remember correctly.
http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/love_is_an_illusion/?j84w
Thank you. But I read all of them already
If you're still interested I'm making a list about that uwu
http://www.mangago.zone/home/mangalist/1105815/
Omg! Thank you!!(づ￣ ³￣)づ
This was unresolved and rushed as hell in the end. The red head is a disaster. He’s a cheater and he knows it. He couldn’t give less of a fuck who he hurts on his path of self satisfaction. I hated how he acted clueless in the beginning when he was telling his lover how he kissed his underage student. Like bitch? Seriously!!??? Then the lies and denials of having feelings for the black haired kid and his contradicting actions just brought my piss to a boil. Why in the fuck does he play house with this kid, spending the weekend there to fuck, while boldly lying to his bf? Then he breaks down. Not because he’s cheating scum and felt bad for his bf but because his side piece left the country to study. Wow! He confesses but not long after gets back into a relationship with his cousin. The worst for me was that, after the black haired kid came back, he immediately rushed to him (again lying about it to his bf), and he actually brought him back to the home he shared with his bf to fuck the other dude in their bed. What a hoe bucket!! I felt sorry for his simp cousin until he fucked him on his wedding night in their former apartment. Seriously?? Where was his bride? I see this as an attempt to equal the asshole scale so we won’t hate the redhead too much. There was a similar attempt where the redhead had to “endure” painful sex. Anyways, after he cheats on the black haired dude, he just boots it out of everybody’s life and like a coward writes him and his cousin a “dear John letter”. The whole time I was waiting for the cousin to hook up with his boss and drop that zero, but in super rush mode he suddenly decided to be straight and marry some random girl he immediately cheats on right after their wedding. And I’m sorry, all the other people in their lives just give fucked up advice, or putting their noses where it doesn’t belong. (╬￣皿￣)凸
10/10 rant. Fucking brilliant. I agree with all the points you made. Only, i know ppl like jimin exist irl who play the victim role all too often while wallowing in self-pity about how tragically heartbroken they are. And other characters are not the most loveable either (i.e. Doyeol roughing Jimin just cuz he's angry, Doyeol cheating on his newly wed wife, using Jimin's phone to text Kyujin) (╯°Д °)╯╧╧ either way the whole thing is a mess
Lol. I couldn’t help myself, this just pissed me off so much I had to rant. I’m amazed you remember all their names lol. I knew people like the redhead in real life too. Selfish as hell, not in love with a particular person only exited by the idea to be desired and fought over. Then being flabbergasted when they get dumped. For a moment I thought this would be turning into poly (which I hate when it’s 2 people only doing it because they are so in love with a third person and it’s not a conscious and equal decision and they couldn’t give less of a fuck about the other cuckold). What pissed me off is that the people around the redhead and cousin always confront the cousin with “you shouldn’t have Hooked up with your cousin anyway”, like it doesn’t matter that the redhead cheats around, lies to him and is breaking the white haired guy’s heart. What pisses me off is how the cousin’s boss is telling him to just get married like it’s no biggie. First, that’s condescending as hell in how the cousin’s sexuality is just ignored. Second, it’s never a good idea to marry a mere rebound as it’s unfair to that person. I liked how the cousin broke up with the redhead like “bitch, you need to move out ASAP, I can’t stand to be around you anymore” but he immediately looks for a girl to marry just because his boss said he should. Anyways, he made his decision, even though it was abrupt but why does the other red head have to put his nose in again and invite the cousin’s cheating ex and the guy he cheated on with to the wedding? I would have blown a fuse if I was the cousin. Then for plot convenience, it’s suddenly normal for the cousin and red head to go off alone on the wedding night to their former apartment? And no one said how weird that was? The black haired guy is not concerned at all even though he knows how fickle and loose his bf is? The bride is not pissed off? I’m sorry but this is just bs in regards to story plot point. Just badly done by the author and rushed as hell. The cousin who had somewhat of the high ground suddenly decides to bang the red head after he told him how hurt he was when he discovered that the red head banged his lover in their shared bed? That doesn’t make sense. Then we are suddenly hit over the head with the red head being alone and him having written some letters to the guys he fucked over. I thought he loved the black haired guy or something? I want to know what happened right after he cheats. How did he get home? Didn’t the bride smell the sex lingering in the air? Did the red head never see his bf again? That doesn’t make sense. It’s not easy to just bounce unless you don’t take anything with you. How was he able to remove his things from his and the black haired guy’s apartment without seeing each other? That’s ridiculous. He must have seen his bf right after him cheating on the same night, but I assume he again lied to his bf. So are we supposed to believe he just waited until the bf was at work to gather his shit from the apartment and leave? Otherwise him writing a letter to his bf wouldn’t make any sense. This spineless bitch couldn’t even formally break up. Ugh (︶︿︶)＝凸
you mixed Kyujin and Jimin up--
ah Σ(っ°Д °;)っ forgive me I mismatched the names to characters but me remembering the character names is already a huge achievement
Yes, that's true
That bint is speaking the truth and worded everything what I was thinking about. Of course I know about...spoiler....
that he was drugged and manipulated to hate Tia and such, but I always felt the resentment and jealousy he felt towards her were his own, and only nurtured by Zena. Jieun laying it out from her view is giving me a more balanced perspective. She was flung into a strange world and thrown into a pit of snakes. She naively fell in love and probably felt like a princess in a fairytale. Of course there is something wrong with a person who falls in love with someone while still seeing them treating their spouse like shit. So I think her being naive as hell and Tia being cast as a cold villain years before she ever showed up, made it easier to ignore the discrepancy of Ruve being so loving and the perfect fairytale prince to her and on the other hand mistreating Tia. She was the perfect villain to her fairytale. I wonder who had it arranged that this girl, who had no preparation to be an empress, would be perfect for that position. Was it Zena’s doing alone? Or did Ruve also do it to rub salt in Tia’s wounds even more? Sometimes I think Jieun was as much a pawn to Ruve, as Ruve was to Zena. Jieun matured (except her immature desire for revenge) to see Ruve for what he is and measures the quality of his character not just in regards to how he treated her after Tia’s execution but also objectively judges his treatment of Tia. And honestly, if Zena’s influence and drugging was 100% responsible for Ruve’s actions and “fabricated” feelings, then why was he falling into depression after her death? Why did he suddenly compare Jieun to Tia? Did Zena stop drugging him or what? Jieun hit the nail on the head with telling Tia that he’s still the same person who could one day decide he doesn’t love Tia anymore. At least it should be a valid concern for Tia who bore the brunt of his abuse. Yet it is not. The only thing that changed was Tia refusing to marry him that started his obsession to have her. And I wonder, why did Zena not start drugging the prince like he did in the original timeline? There was no reason not to drug and influence him. I’d argue that with Ruve softening towards her gives Zena even more valid reason to drug him up. What if Zena does it again? It was made clear how easily he was capable to poison Tia, yet no attempts to slip Ruve some mind altering drugs? Looks like a plot hole to me.
I just don’t like this story at all. The guy was rejected and went overseas for work for like 2 years. He comes back and is still unrealistically hung up on the guy who rejected him. I get why the uke rejected him. In Japanese society it’s almost a given that gay men marry women and continue to have side dudes. So I understand why he didn’t accept the guy’s confession. But after such a long time he easily tells him suddenly all about his problems and invites him into his life and home. He still rejects him for a second but they continue to hang out. Seme just opens himself up for emotional hurt. And uke let’s him. It’s just weird with that kind of backstory to have them move it along so quickly without any conversations about where this is going. Also, uke rejected him the whole time because the seme is not gay (never heard of bi?), because he doesn’t want to get hurt, yet suddenly proceeds to let seme fuck him while his nephew is sleeping in the same bed? I guess not to traumatize a child is not as important. （￣へ￣）
Ikr? Idk all i can see is that the uke are kinda cruel and shameless. Imagine asking help with ur personal life problem from the guy who u rejected 2 years ago, ghosting him after the confession but then suddenly when he just came back from overseas u just used his kindness. And the seme was lowkey dumb, legit letting himself to be hurt, expecting things will change without doing anything to clear things up from the past and dont come crying at me if he still rejected u for the 17288383 times. All i can say yup the plot and characters are sucks but i guess people have difference preference and the baby is the only reason why i still keep reading until the latest chp. ╮(￣▽￣)╭
Shameless is the right word here. I was actually flabbergasted that he sprung all his problems on the seme at the second meeting after avoiding him like the plague. He didn’t want anything to do with him until he wanted help and the seme is such a fool, he went right along to play happy family. But honestly the seme is also a little shameless in immediately jumping on the uke like that after being led into the house and shown a little “trust”. That, for some reason doesn’t delay their relationship progression at all and they act like it never happened. Seme jumps on him again with the kid in the bed and suddenly succeeds. I don’t get it. For someone to reject you so adamantly and avoiding you for years, the uke is rather quickly pulled into accepting the seme. I know it’s not the intention of the author but with how the uke changes so quickly and gives in, looks like he’s desperately wanting to avoid raising his nephew by himself. And he found the perfect fool. Both these characters just plainly suck. And with all these mixed up emotions and this awkward past they shared, 3 chapters are just not enough to make a transition like this believable.
True true
That lady in the last panel was probably Nakyum’s noona from the brothel. I hope she gets him out of that hell hole. Seungho is such a prick. All those slow little “redeeming” things he did, all now for naught after his latest stunts. Nakyum is also getting on my nerves by not standing up for himself and admitting what actually happened. I know he’s scared but Seungho made it clear that he’s somewhat of a favorite with him not allowing anyone else to touch him or how he beat the shit out of the servant who physically hurt Nakyum. He could have just said what happened as there was a high chance for Seungho believing and protecting him. He already resigned himself before this to be the paramour of Seungho. Why not use this? I’d argue his prolonged suffering now is much worse than the threat of a possible quick death. And I still can’t get over the fact that Nakyum was tortured but there is no lingering physical evidence on his body. Doesn’t make sense. Also, didn’t it come off as suspicious that when they discovered Nakyum, Seungho’s servants presented him with neatly folded winter gear while Nakyum was laying on the cold ground with a torn lip (which conveniently disappeared later). If he ran away, why wouldn’t he have donned on his winter gear? Why would a young and healthy youth pass out in the middle of nowhere, Instead of seeking shelter during the cold night? Come on! Logical thought patterns on both sides are just ignored to give us more rape scenes . Ugh. I hate how weak Nakyum is. He’s not even making the best out of his situation. Where is the line for him to finally explode on this bastard? I suppose Seungho will later learn the truth, while Nakyum continues to suffer in silence. Then we will get some “healing dick” scenes. Please no! And I’m sorry, Seungho being so self righteous here is also getting on my nerves. He treated Nakyum like a hole he blackmailed into sex (rape), then slowly fell in love for some reason (they don’t have conversations where I’d believe he would fall for him). It comes off as obsession because Nakyum loves his learned sir (bastard No. 2), and Seungho can’t have a low born of all people not fall all over him. He’s also obsessed with his drawings and gets off on it. Where did he fall in love here? And why would Nakyum, after being treated like shit and made aware of that he’s just a body to Seungho, think that this guy would have any feelings towards him? If he really ran away, why does Seungho act like a scorned lover? Just because he quasi confessed to his rape victim? But that just makes it clear what mindset Seungho has and I think it’s historically accurate. Seungho is a noble lord and the victim of his unwanted “affections” is a low born almost beggar. The whole time he treats Nakyum as his inferior and in regards to social standing, wealth and education, Nakyum is his inferior. Human rights didn’t make the round yet, so the idea of them being equal in a human sense doesn’t appear at all. Nakyum also feels that way. But I hope Nakyum sees his current life for what it is (prolonged sexual and emotional torture) and comes up with a plan to leave with help of his noona. With Seungho right now there is only suffering ahead. They need to be separated, Seungho needs to do some soul searching and Nakyum needs to find himself and get a backbone. He needs to do something that makes him proud of his own accomplishments. He’s very talented and he needs to use that talent to make money and become independent. But he seems to lack that drive for self sufficiency. He made money by drawing acts of sodomy, then his learned sir punished him for it. So Nakyum became a drunk and gave up drawing to make money in any capacity. Just draw something else if the opinion of this two faced snake is so important to you.
Preach gurl(〜￣△￣)〜
I didn't read all but I agree lol
I was apparently wrong in thinking that there was some revenge plot going on but that makes the actions of the seme in the beginning even less understandable in my eyes. So he only picked up the uke because of the contradiction of how he knew him as a pretty face and then seeing him so desperately lying on a heap of trash? So he made a last minute decision to have him as a possible “romantic” partner because he’s interesting and moved as quick as lightning to have sex with him and wanting to move together after him saying “I will love you”. Huh? I don’t get why he couldn’t just have asked to date him to see if they hit it off? Instead he’s more or less stringing an obvious vulnerable and depressed person along and waits until he feels love (or not)? Why did he jump over several relationship steps like going on a date and spending time together to immediately moving in together and having sex? He acts like he took a cat off the streets and not a person. And I could really do without having to watch his porn scenes and seeing the same mid coitus expressions he also has with the uke. I wonder what happens next? Is he going to follow his quasi boyfriend to see what’s going on? Or will he just come to his own jealous conclusions and start treating the uke even more like shit? Why would he even be jealous? He has continues sex for his job with different women. He also never discussed any expectations for the relationship. His interest is so half assed and flimsy, so I hope I won’t see the dreaded “you cheated on me!” Speech from this guy. （￣へ￣）
Yeah, exactly.
(⌒▽⌒)
It doesn’t make too much sense to me. If someone who did you and your family great harm, and you burn with a fiery hatred for that person (like Patrizia), you won’t break down crying when you come to know your enemy was abused as a child. Especially not a levelheaded and on retribution focused person like Patrizia. Of course anyone would feel pity for the child he was but not the grown man he is. Especially considering all the shenanigans he and his mistress were/are up to. I get the author wants to move their relationship along but I’m sorry. Patrizia is like”I want to go to bed and couldn’t give less of a frick if he is a crying mess” two or so chapters ago, to now suddenly breaking down and sobbing at his feet for him. Especially considering what happened during the trial. Of course the false evidence let the mistress off the hook, but the only thing she lost is her baroness title. He didn’t reprimand her at all. Didn’t break it off or distanced himself from his mistress. Which of course would lead Patrizia to believe that he doesn’t believe her. Or worse, if he does, he doesn’t care that his mistress almost killed Patrizia. Why would Patrizia sob for a man so desperately who doesn’t take even one step in her direction or cares even an ounce for her physical well-being? He doesn’t want to know or understand her. They only ever have “personal” conversations about his concerns. He never asks after Patrizia, doesn’t ask questions to get to know her better. To make a negative relationship turn into something more amicable, both people need to take steps. He just doesn’t. It’s always Patrizia who does something for him (saving the banquet, saving his life, taking over the emperor’s duties successfully, staying while he has a nervous breakdown, now sobbing for what happened to him as a kid) what has he done for her that comes just a little close to that? Nothing! He just disappoints her over and over again by his inaction and blasé attitude about everything (unless it’s about him, then the waterworks start) . So I don’t understand why she’s crying for him like they have a much closer relationship. (〜￣△￣)〜
as a novel reader, i see patrizia as depicted to be quite sympathetic but rational. although she still sees lucio as the man who sent her family to the guillotine (though that's questionable) she also empathizes with him. that doesn't mean she's giving in to emotions though. this breakdown scene is merely her being humane - someone capable of feeling pain for others. imagine hating someone for their sins then suddenly bombarded with his issues. plus, she didn't personally know lucio of the past (in fact, nobody but rose did) so she could only hate him for what he did not why he did it or what type of person he truly was. but now, she's a small step closer to understanding him as an ordinary person struggling through life.
you don't have to be close to someone to be able to cry for their misfortune. we're all humans and we're all fighting our own demons. patrizia simply did not expect lucio to have such the amount of demons haunting him
True this
Of course I agree that you don’t have to be close to a person to feel compassion and cry for what tragedies befall them. But I personally wouldn’t be so overcome with grief for a person who ruined my life and the lives of my family, that I would start sobbing for them. Where was the compassion on his part? Character transformations because of another persons influence are always a little shallow to me. It takes away self agency and responsibility the person carries. I can’t take him changing into a completely different person just because of Patrizia’s singlehandedly influence seriously. In the same vein, I also can’t take him changing into such a prick in the first timeline just because of his mistress’ influence, seriously either. A person has certain characteristics, flaws and strength. What and who we are exposed to influences us of course. But not so completely from villainous scum to tragic “hero” because of one single person (I guess unless you are raised in a cage and your abuser having complete power over you during your formative years). The mistress only played with what she saw in Lucio after his abusive childhood. He hardened himself to other people. But the things he did in the first time line, I can’t believe it was just because of his mistress. This might be an exaggerated example, but with Serial killers or child molesters for example, I feel compassion for the children they were and what happened to them, but I don’t have any compassion or start to cry for the adults they’ve become if they would tell me about what happened in their past. I can’t for the life of me, just ignore what they’ve done, regardless of the abuse they suffered as children. Anyways, with Patrizia, he’s responsible for her and her family’s misery. There is personal history here. So I’m not put out by her feeling compassion for what happened to him. I just think her sobbing on the ground for him is an exaggeration by the author to move the relationship along too quickly. Especially with him never giving anything back. Lol. Sorry for my ramble. Merry Christmas
MERRY CHRISTMASS ლ(´ڡ`ლ)
Great perspective! Really liked your take on it. I see it a bit differently, more along the lines of others who responded but the thread you started was awesome. Thanks for sharing, so nice to see engaging discussions!
Lol. Thank you. This just gets me fired up when a rather villainous person gets the “I suffered as a child so I’m an asshole to you who tries to ruin you but please forgive me” treatment. Especially when a character who suffered personally from this person’s actions forgives and forgets and is so overcome with compassion they cry for what they went through and forget what this person is capable of. Forgets that this person is responsible for you and your family’s suffering. I also don’t like when a person like that has taken their responsibility taken away with the explanation that it’s just because someone else manipulated them. It doesn’t make a character look good but weak willed and foolish. In the new time line, he didn’t commit atrocities against her family yet, but the steps to her ruin have already been taken by him and he’s the same person who’s still capable of doing so. I heard...spoiler...
That Patrizia was chosen in particular because she’s barren and would give ample ammunition to Lucio to force an annulment to make his mistress the empress. Another poster made me aware that Lucio didn’t know about this which just makes this a plot weakness. First, how would anyone know Patrizia is barren and second, why wouldn’t he be informed about it? If an official court doctor checked for fertility, then why wasn’t the emperor informed of something that would lead to dynastic complications but his, at the time, untitled mistress was? That doesn’t make sense. Especially with Patrizia not really putting much effort into the competition. Third, while Lucio was rolling around with his mistress in bed in chapter 2, I think, he promised to make her his Queen (the term Queen and Empress are used interchangeably for Patrizia as well, so I think he wasn’t talking about making his mistress a second Queen but the only one), so there was a plan from the beginning to get rid of the chosen bride. And fourth, he changed the last challenge to that of physical health, so he knew that she was barren from the get go. It just makes much more sense that he knew and chose Patrizia so he could get rid of her easier. She’s not the best candidate and barren? Sounds like all the things Lucio could wish for to further his plans. I also heard that his mistress later gets the maitresse en-titre title (official mistress). After everything we see here he still continues on with his mistress, that’s why I don’t see Patrizia warming up to him. Especially so shortly after the trial. The empress accused the mistress of treason, false evidence was procured and got the mistress off the hook. That couldn’t be helped by the emperor. But Patrizia is also witnessing him still hanging around with her and her still having the same freedom and privileges as before. That would tell me a lot and I would harden myself against the emperor even further. I also learned that he later doesn’t sleep with her anymore, but honestly how does that matter if she still gets all that leeway to act out? He’s just so weak willed and half assed about everything. Those two women are running circles around this guy. Mistress continues on with her assassin and undermining attempts against the empress. Patrizia is trying to get a foothold against her. And Lucio is just standing by, crying over his past and leaves both women to fight it out. The thing that bugs me is that none of this would happen if he would take a stance of any kind here. Mistress is acting out because Lucio allows it and let her know previously that he wants to put her on the empress throne. We see many scenes where it’s made clear that he loves this woman, so I don’t see how people can think that it’s all the mistress doing that led to Patrizia’s and her family’s ruin. A mistress doesn’t have that power unless her powerful lover grants her that power. Patrizia crying so whole heartedly for a man like that, it comes off as a writing ploy. He sees how compassionate she is and softens towards her. He immediately compares her to how his mistress acted when he told her the same story. And this I guess this is the start where he sees them in a different light. But not because he’s intelligent and watched both their behaviors on the sideline and came to certain conclusions, but only because Patrizia was sobbing on her knees for him. So him being portrayed as such a victim, who has no self agency, while he is the cause for everything with his mistress being just a symptom, I just can’t buy Patrizia sobbing around like that. Lol. I’m so sorry for my long ramble. And I also love discussing things like this (づ￣ ³￣)づ
I’m really into this story because it’s hard to find the sub genre of horror or thriller in bl. Or the horror aspect is just a side plot. This is mightily intriguing and I can’t wait until we find out what is going on with those hands and people vanishing with only their blood remaining. I wonder if the seme made a pact with something supernatural. I want to know how this works. Do those other people die as part of a sacrifice, with the seme having to provide victims as part of a deal? How are they chosen? Why did it happen to this one random stranger? Because the uke was near? If the seme has power over who will die, that means he chose this person on purpose for the uke to see. Why? To scare him into absolute fear? To make him remember? To break him down so he can manipulate him further for his own goals? The uke is so overwhelmed by the seme he’s ignoring the manipulation that’s going on here. It started slowly with the guy treating the uke coldly but mixing it up with surprising displays of caring. Of course I think the guy was pissed that the uke forgot him and thus treated him coldly but couldn’t help himself and treated him nicely from time to time in the beginning. But for the receiver of such mixed messages, it must be jarring and confusing. The seme also gaslights him a little about his concerns that something is wrong in that house. Uke starts to remember things but the seme never opens up emotionally or gives him more info. Uke becomes more and more obsessed with, I would argue, not really the Seme but more his forgotten past and how it’s connected to that person and starts getting rid of his friends to seemingly appease his childhood friend. The one guy deserves it but not the others. When they fall into bed with each other the seme starts a weird “cut off” mission. He doesn’t want him to attend class, he distracts him with sex and dates. He purposely puts him into an uncomfortable position by making him watch a horror movie in complete darkness. I suppose he wants to force the uke to remember more with this stunt but also make him more dependent on him. As soon as the uke wants to go back to school and actually does, the seme tires him out with sex. I think he wants him to drop out. It’s just all around unhealthy and I want to know what the end goal is for the seme. One could think that the sex is the natural conclusion to romantic feelings but honestly I don’t get that vibe from either of them. I get an obsessive vibe from the uke in regards to wanting a connection to his past which the seme provides. The seme uses sex as a tool for distraction and dependency and what he ultimately wants, I’m not sure. It looks like obsession but also a desire to destroy his partner. He certainly doesn’t want the best for him.
I couldn't agree more
damm this is deep...
My feelings summed up. I genuinely think about the seme as like a monster or a villain disguised as a hot daddy lmao
dilf????!