it gave the story an air of vulnerability that kinda mirrored the main character's emotional instability. as if it's intentionally unpolished, it felt delicate, and deeply personal, like a diary. it captured the mc's raw emotions, making each panel feel like a quiet confession.
I could be wrong, it might actually be just an artistic choice, but it resonates closely with the main character's inner monologues that I can't help but associate them.
also, I loved the train analogy.
there's something on those kisses, I'm telling you. giddiness, fluffiness, butterflies, and cake (๑♡⌓♡๑)
but he doesn't seem that smart, just somehow powerful and cruel. if he happened to be a character in detective conan, he'd be dead before he knows it. I feel sorry for Seong.
anyways, so far it's all butterflies and flowers, but with that perfectionist father and fishy min friend, I have a feeling the impending doom will hit hard.
ch. 23 marinating...
how the heck did I happen to stumble upon this masterpiece!? (I'm only on chapter one) what a serendipitous trope rawrr
I'm now more thankful than ever that they focused on Athy's familial relationships instead of romance.
they really leaned too much on romance for that ending. the first half of this manhwa is mainly about her relationship with her family. though I admit that how she stood firm about shutting them out was hella satisfying, the development from there was such a let down.
probably because after the time skip, the male leads simultaneously entered the stage, too. but after rion came to firenze, ashtarte's family became useless. and Idk why they'd describe the emperor as someone cruel, and someone who doesn't believe in oracles, but proceeded to make him do the exact opposite. because if those were true, he wouldn't have isolated ashtarte as a child, unless he did it out of spite for rebecca, ashtarte's mom.
I get it, it's a romance manhwa, but I don't know, whenever I think of how ashtarte was crying as she holds her bleeding father, how she healed him saying she doesn't wanna lose anyone anymore, then stood up thereafter to go towards her love interest... perhaps nothing's wrong with it, but I expected maybe a 'hug' between the female lead and her father, not the male lead.
imo, reconciliation or closure is a must for a happy ending. I was very happy that she left firenze, I was wishing for it. I had hoped that she would leave the empire with rion, but I didn't expect her to leave without goodbyes. I understand why she hated the crown prince and the emperor, as well as ryllie, but I wished she could've atleast made up with noah. then again, romance was the main genre, so I guess that was too much to ask. I only skimmed through the epilogue, I expected as much, but instead of tying some loose ends, they introduced another character instead.
I liked it, but I won't probably be reading it again.
and if I may add, that wasn't a love triangle at all. rion was introduced as her destiny even before isaiah came. poor isaiah was made a third wheel.
Genuine question, why do you want for the mc to forgive Noah?....
it's not necessarily about forgiving him, but more about closure. I don't think Noah actually even got the chance to explain his side, did he? it's been days, I'm not sure if I'm remembering it correctly.
unlike the emperor and the crown prince, noah hasn't done anything to spite ashtarte. he was heavily influenced by what the adults are saying against her around him, but he still approached her on his own when he got the chance albeit a little clumsy, hence the coat. and as I've seen it, he felt very inferior towards his older brother, which was why he wanted to hide his relationship with ashtarte(not to mention that they were forbidden to enter the empress' palace). that could mean that he planned to get closer with ashtarte, and was only finding the right time to do so, but everything got tangled up when the crown prince noticed, and he felt he had to lie about the coat. this and that. but I also think that he's also just a child back then, one that's thought to live for his brother since birth, but could still find it in his heart to care for his little sister. I may be viewing this little things with rose-colored glasses, but tbfr this story skipped so many possible plot developments that could've made ashtarte's character shine more.
Ah. I see ur point, but ngl him chasing after ashtarte because of his "inferiority" of his own big bro just cuz he got everything is a littleeee.. idk how to describe it, but it's a bit shallow. I'm gonna be honest, that's like a worse reason than the CP. This is just my opinion, but I don't like the reason.. and if ur saying that he was just a kid going along with what the adults r saying, that also applies to the CP no? Pretty much both brothers. But Noah just has his little backstory that he could use to excuse his behavior about the coat. I do agree that he is the best among all of them, when he saw who ashtarte rlly was, he started "loving" her but I just hoped the author made a different backstory for him or just remove the whole "he took everything!!!!". And when asked about the coat, he could've just stayed silent or left. Idk lol but all I can say is that it felt shallow, it was as if he only clinged to the mc cuz of his inferiority.
yes, but not quite. chasing is a strong word, also I don't see his inferiority towards her brother as his sole motivation for approaching her. he tried to hide his relationship with ashtarte from the cp because he's afraid he'll take her from him, yes, but I don't see that as the same reason why he tries so hard to make amends or why he approached her in the first place. I also didn't described him as a kid heavily influenced by adults to excuse him of anything, I meant that despite so, he still judged ashtarte by what he had saw, and approached her when he realized that they(the adults) were wrong about her. I wouldn't call it shallow, but rather complex. but if you really believe that noah's motivations for all that he's done to make amends is his inferiority towards the cp, I can't really blame you for thinking it shallow.
one thing, you can't use backstories to excuse someone of their wrongs. they may explain why they did what they did, but they can't clear them of their agency. no matter what their reasons are, if they hurt someone, they apologize. this is why it pains me that the coat incident wasn't explored further, and noah didn't get to explain his side and apologize properly, it's all inner monologues, and the cp doing the talking, which didn't help at all.
also, rather than changing or removing his backstory as you said it, I'd say that the author should've took their time to explore it more. because considering all that we're given, it just leaves us to more what ifs and what nots, many rooms for mixed interpretations. tbf, even the relationship between the cp and noah is soo unexplored.
to each our own, Ig. since most of the development was left to our imaginations, most of these are just my ideals, ones that are brought by the build up of her family's story, and my own interpretation of the events that occured╮(╯_╰)╭. but do correct me if I made wrong assumptions, I could really barely remember anything from this manhwa now.
is monthly period not a thing for them? how could she not know that she bleeds green blood...?
I mean she of all people probably didn't have one. She's not a real human, she most likely can't even get pregnant. But someone could've noticed that it never happens and become suspicious that way.
hth am I seeing watercolor in a bnw manga?