I know people really liked Raymond and Ian but I just couldn’t see how Raymond giving up everything he worked for, for Ian. He spent so much time working on his plans he didn’t quite care for Ian the way Ian deserved to be treated. I just didn’t think the catharsis of Raymond’s character was not as in depth as I wanted. Raymond kept betraying all the people around him, and expected them (Ian mainly) to stay by his side. I’m glad to see he realized how cruel he acted and I like the ending and how it was a happy one. But I liked it better when he was the antagonist of the story rather than just the male lead. Of course, this is just my opinion and the way I wanted the story to pan out. I think I expected it to be sadder because of the art style too lol. I still rate it 5/5 tho
i agree with you 100%, the story could've been lengthened to improve the transition of raymond's change in character, instead of just being surprised into changing drastically by ian's absence.
that being said, i think there's also the aspect that raymond was truly tired of court life. he realized he would always be a scapegoat for those who have more power than him (the king), and clean up other people's mess. i don't actually think he betrayed the king purely for love, but that he was just as tired of doing dirty work and wanted another way to live. he already got revenge against the count, and what laid in the future if he kept going down that path was turning into the same nobility he hated.
also the reason he fell in love w ian in the first place was because he admired ian's purity and down to earth nature, so i feel like he was always seeking a form of redemption even if he wasn't aware of it.
sorry i wrote u a whole essay lmao
thank you for your response! that’s so true about how he was getting tired of noble life. I was under the impression that since Raymond wanted revenge against the count, he would stop after the count was imprisoned. But he just kept going after that, his greed became to much for him to handle but then he reined it in at the last second when Ian was gone. I don’t think the ending was as strong of a redemption for Raymond as it should have been. I mean… he was about to wed the princess, while cheating on Ian/her, and betraying all the people who trusted him. The only part of the ending I think was perfect was Kaya and Nicholas ending up together! Whatever happened to Henry tho lmao
Flat Stanley…