#eaa fmc

mc: hey… is it just me or are they-

alex: YES! oh my gods thank you for saying something. they’re head over heels for one another

mc: they are!!! you know, they kind of remind me of us…

alex: because they’ve been friends forever?

mc: more like because we both danced around each other’s feelings for way too long

alex, flushed: ah…… yeah…… maybe we should help them out before we go? give them a nudge in the right direction?

mc, reaching out to hold their hand: oh, I don’t know. they’ll figure it out. we did

I think this scene gets overlooked too much because it is one of the most important scenes for her character development. The entire point of the curse on her lips is because she's so upset about the knight leaving and about her and the knight's love story only be a curse Titania used to get information from her that she curses herself so that anyone who kisses her will obey her. This is also one of the first ripple effects of it being revealed that the knight never loved her and that it was all a trick by Titania.

The incident with the knight runs so deeply for Lavinia, for good reason. It was her happy ending after taking over the ice kingdom, struggling for so long to claw her way to a position where she could live comfortably and then this knight comes along, they fall in love, and it's a typical happily ever after. Except this one isn't. It's probably one of the cruelest tricks a villain pulls on one of our love interest characters.

Lavinia is freshly broken-hearted (literally, the knight runs off with her heart) in pain and shock from everything that just revealed itself to her and suddenly she curses herself out of anger and hurt. She's left alone and she's so distraught by that. So she makes a way so she never has to be alone again, by keeping people with her against their will. However, we also learn Lavinia immediately regretted this, probably not wanting to be similar to Titania, and made the choice to never kiss anyone since the knight because she didn't want to use this ability.

The curse stems from this idea of Lavinia wanting to control the relationship, control that the person she loves will stay. It's not a healthy mindset and is directly connected to the PTSD she suffers from the knight incident. But before her curse is lifted, she tells FMC that her life was made better by her and that even if they separated, FMC would always hold a special place in her heart.