
Soooo...where's the apology guys?

None from me. Opening up is what he needs to do in order to move forward as a person, a father, and a husband.
He's lucky old Abagail died and new Abagail transmitigatged. Otherwise it would be the usual business of him ignoring his wife while she abused his daughter. New Abagail is a saint. Her patience is what led to this result.

Exactly, I agree with you... even tho it was something traumatic what he went through, i think he's making such a fuss out of it... he's a grown man now with a family and lots of responsibilities, a daughter to raise to be the heir of the crown, he should just move on now!... I don't deny the fact that what the late queen did was disgusting, and something that no one should be put through! However, a woman on her own cannot make a child, if he was being forced why he functioned as a man?... if he was that scare or unaware cuz of the illness i think he wouldn't have had an erection on the queen! Even less if he was passed out!

some of you really didn't listen during biology lessons, huh.... or sex ed if your curriculum has it, either one works. reread the chapter, please - sabelian was TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF when he was sick (aka he can't fight back, aka he's powerless to consciously avoid the former queen's advances). morally-speaking that's wrong on its own, but to fault him for his body's NATURAL reactions to stimuli? i'd advise you to look stuff up if you're so adamant about openly blaming him using that excuse.
if it was the other way around (a young noble lady being assaulted by an older prince/king), y'all would be all up on that male pedo's ass about sexual harassment, smh. suddenly when it's the male who's the victim, it's still his fault? talk about double standards.

I've been spoiled on Old Abigail's upbringing, and how she died, but the manga won't get to why she is the way she is til much later.
Suffice to say Old Abagail's pride, and the King's phobia are the worst combo. Abagail may have been happy if she gotten married to any high ranking man that stayed faithful to her. But instead she got married to someone who can't desire her, and also never explained why. So she lashed out. Another princess could have just as easily wallowed and locked herself away. I kinda think that's what seems to be the difference between heroines and villainess in these stories. Agagail isn't passive, she also externalizes things.
I think when old Abagail is brought up people forget. The king didn't start ignoring her after she began to terrorize Blanche and the maids. She started terrorizing Blanche and the maids because the king ignored her. Still a bitch, yes. But her being a bitch doesn't make getting pulled into a loveless political marriage an easier burden to bear.

Original Abagail got married to the king without knowing that she would be going into a loveless marriage. No talking, to touching, no nothing. That is unreasonable.
That's the sort of thing one should know before they say I do. Not learn on their wedding night. He even told old Abagail to live like she didn't exist. It is all in the second chapter of this manga.
New Abigail is dealing with the fall out. Including getting shit from old Abigail's family for not being pregnant yet. Which is why she asked to dance at the festival.
Now that actual communication has happend they can move forward and work on establishing proper boundaries.

I hesitated a lot when I wrote my first comment, because what I really wanted to say was "if the king's trauma didnt excuses his behaviour, then his cold attitude/his rejection, doesnt excuse old abi's harrassement toward Blanche"
But there was something in your comment that couldn't make me totally disagree with you, even you put the blame on ML and I want to defend. It was this sentence:
"Otherwise it would be the usual business of him ignoring his wife while she abused his daughter"
You're right there, trauma or not, once you see your wife bully your kid, you do something.
I had already reread the first two chapters when I wrote my first comment and honestly... I dont see the ML being that harsh with Abi. He has a phobia of women (he just proved it) he CANNOT touch a woman. And thats all he said to Abi.
In the flashbacks it really feels like the words he said after that happened at other times.
Considering what you said, I guess old Abi couldn't simply listen to his warnings so their relationship worsened, (and he became more cruel) but they both participated to that. Like you said, they are a bad combo.
I have the impression that when you judge them, you look at different point in times. (Sorry english is not my native language, I can't find a better word than "judge" but I dont mean in a bad way)
When you judge old Abi you look at how it all started, and when you judge the ML you look at how it ended. Ofc the ML is the bad one in that case. But if you look at the beginning... Then it's just a sad story with a lot of grey and no real culprit to me (and only one victim, Blanche)
PS: user Oneesama, I have no words.... If you were a man, you would probably go around women saying "you wear a skirt, ins't like you're asking men to rape you" "cmon, you enjoyed it didnt you ?"

.... "I have the impression that when you judge them, you look at different point in times."
............... I guess it seems like I did the same BUT, I only blame abi for what she did to Blanche or her maids. I know whats it like to only know how to express your anger through agressivity, and I prefer to hurt walls (or myself) rather than human beings (if she had only hit the ML i wouldnt have said anything... but I guess hitting the king aint a good idea)

The original Abagail had serious issues for sure. But that's what makes everything so complicated for new Abigail. Its a mixed up situation with fault to spread around. And new Abigail has to make amends as best she can for other's sins.
I am part not anti Old Abagail cuz the way she got married. And part because spoilers. Not that I think the spoilers absolve old Abagail. But like the king gives context.

His country is stronger and larger than her's actually. Original Abi is the one under pressure on that front. Well now New Abi based on chapter 26.
The only pressure he was under to get remarried over was because he doesn't have a male heir and without one his brother could become king. Or if his brother had a son then that son would become king and not Blanche.

Not comparing on my part. But its still bad that he ignored his second wife. Why get married if all you are gonna do is ignore her WITHOUT explanation? At least give her a heads up?
Also he ended up ignoring his second wife to the point of not doing anything to stop her from harrasing her servants and Blanche. He probably should have kicked original Abigail out, but he didn't even lift a finger to do that.

Again ur ignoring the fact that he has a PHOBIA of WOMEN this isnt a simple matter of him ignoring someone he legit FEARS THE WOMEN, like if someone has arachnophobia(fear of spiders) ur not gonna expect them to just go up to a spider and and pet it or some shit or if someone has coulrophobia(fear of clowns) ur not gonna expect them to go high five them or start a conversation???

Again ur ignoring the fact taht he has a PHOBIA of WOMEN, this isn't about him just ignoring someone he legit FEARS THEM like you wouldn't expect someone who has coulrophobia to go up to a clown and high five them or start a conversation with them?? Or if someone has arachnophobia to go up to a spider and pet it and give it love or some shit

It seems Mece's answer wasn't clear enough. We never ignored he was raped, what we are saying is that he should feel responsible, despite having a trauma, because he didn't show the respect abi should have received being his WIFE.
We know, we know he has his reasons. He had a phobia ? well, he could have written a letter... He didn't want to speak about his past to a stranger ? she wasnt a stranger she was his wife. He felt ashamed like he said in the last chapter ? Pride isn't a quality, I shouldn't have to explain why if you have any empathy and use it to look at the bigger picture (its even in the seven deadly sins)
He has a phobia ? ok
He doesn't want to get close to her ? ok
He doesn't pet her ? ok
He doesn't high five her ? ok
he ignores her without explaining ? not really ok
Does that mean Abi shoudn't feel responsible ? no, she too is responsible for what she did.
Tbh Mece, I think we already had a debate on a comment posted by a psychology student, comment was deleted I dunno if you answered me back then xd

Just because someone has the title "wife" or "husband" dosent mean they're suddenly not strangers, like unwanted arranged marriage exists and it's called forced marriage.
Also the part where you said "he ignores her without explaining ? not really ok" , I've already said this but seems u didnt take in the fact so I'll say it again he's not ignoring her he is SCARED of her, there is a difference to ignoring someone and avoiding someone cause ur scared of them, Confrontation can be a scary thing by itself. Also ur sense of empathy in this situation seems blatantly one sided, u empathise with Abigail but not the dude? I understand if you've never been in similar place as the dude but that doesn't give u the right to start judging and pointing fingers on who's at fault and who's responsible, it better to just not say anything if you dont understand.

No. I just think he either shouldn't have gotten married because of his issues with women. Or should have entered a contract with a woman so that she wouldn't try to approach him. Instead he just got married without explaining anything to the other human being now forced to live with him. The mess of his second marriage could have been avoided with preparation.

He should not have taken a second wife. He tied an unrelated person's life to his. He dragged her into his life by marrying her. Once that happend it becomes her business because it effects her. And now it is effecting New Abagail, which was the lead up to the current chapter and why they were trying to practice dancing.
Personally it isn't that I think he should have told Original Abagail about his trauma. I just don't get what he expected her to do without any explanation. Maybe if he married a meeker, less prideful, woman, we'd be reading a story similar to Duchess of the Glass House. And maybe that's the type of woman he should have looked for before remarrying. Someone he could safely ignore. Too bad for Blanche Original Abagail didn't take getting ignored well.

the way i see it (and the direction where this "argument" is going), both sides are at fault. there's truly no need for you cuties to get so worked up ehe ╮( ̄▽ ̄)╭ fictional stories can sometimes be a double-edged sword tbh, whoops
mece is correct in a sense that sabelian shouldn't have dragged a clueless person into his mess of a life via marriage, AND without proper communication at that. he knew what he was getting into, knew that remarrying would bring old wounds back, but the way he actively chose to deal with the matter of his phobia (bluntly telling old abi that he would never touch her, being hostile towards her, etc.) complicated things. i kinda agree that he and the old abigail had their personal issues to deal with in the first place, and that the marriage itself was detrimental to them as individuals. i sorta disagree with the whole "being choosy" thing, however - yeah, he could've chosen someone more meek or kind, but if you notice in most period(?) webtoons, they marry more for strengthening relations with other kingdoms/noble families, AND there's the assumption that sabelian may have chosen on a whim or maybe even had someone choose for him because of implications that he never wanted a queen in the past chapters; there may also be multiple reasons as to why he agreed to the marriage (e.g. had to uphold his image as a king, bc have you ever heard of kingdoms running without a queen tbh).
melonhoe's correct in a sense that his phobia of women is totally acceptable - again, how he dealt/maneuvered his way around it is what's wrong. old abi's personality made it worse - her gargantuan pride and misplaced sense of betrayal (her taking it out on servants and blanche) aggravated the issue further. sometimes you don't have to experience the same thing (not wishing it on anyone!) to empathize with someone who had undergone a traumatic event, being kind is for free. friendly reminder that male sexual harassment victims DO exist, and that not all women fit the mold of propriety (i'm looking at u, miriam u hag)!
that being said, i'm just glad that they now have better communication at this point, and that the fl reincarnated into old abi's body ヾ(❀╹◡╹)ノ~ more fluff for everyone ayyyy

I think most people r disliking/complaining about the mc cause they're only used to the stories where the mc gets op super fast like solo levelling and other stuff, so I can get y the change of pace is a bit annoying. Honestly if the pacing of the story bothers u so much I suggest dropping it rather than complaining about something that won't change. I'm not saying u cant have an opinion I'm just saying there's no point in complaining but if it makes u feel better carry on or not who am I to tell u what to do. ╮( ̄▽ ̄)╭
So confused