#read along

Currently, it seems that the Austri family is in a bit of a delicate place, narratively. It would feel cheap at this point, after everything, to say that Karvaldr wasn't subject to abuse, intentional or otherwise, and that it was all some misunderstanding. The fact that Harðr didn't hesitate to hit his son combined with the fact that the family traditionally uses whips makes me nervous...but maybe I'm just reading into that one too much. At the very least, Karvaldr was clearly emotionally neglected, and his older brother was verbally abusive. Given the brother was described as highly emotional, we can easily assume that, especially in his younger years, things regularly escalated to shouting or throwing things, and that the older sister simply never intervened. But the elder sister's attitude has now changed and there have been hints that the older brother can also change his ways if he lets go of his immature mindset of needing to blame someone for his mother's death...and now he's getting pulled into this arc's schemes, so maybe we'll get some development there.

As for Harðr...we got the hint that he softened for his wife, and though his on-page appearances have been pretty darn negative, he also hasn't actually done much that we, the readers, can see and judge. He even shot down Valtraus's complaints about Karvaldr "killing" their mother by being born. The fact that he purged the staff after the poisoning and there's no narration saying that the people of the dukedom are suffering from his tyranny also leads me to believe that, at the very least, he's not an idiot and not a particularly corrupt ruler, he's "just" emotionally distant to the point of neglect. If he can realize that his children would do better with at least a modicum of affection and guidance, then there's still room for a redemption arc, but it would have to be a painful one. After all, Imir would never speak for the original Kardalvr and fully forgive him for what must have been an incredibly isolating childhood, no matter how much he changes. And...

...this is entirely speculation, but, though Imir said some fairly barbed words to Harðr during the Family Dinner chapters, he's also deemed Harðr as someone whom it's useless to argue with and, likely, someone whom he doesn't want to genuinely offend or upset, because he still needs the backing of the ducal house. But he also knows that Harðr looks down on people of lower rank because of his comments about "that Baron's daughter," and so...

...okay, I'm thinking that, if and when Reisir and Harðr meet with Kardalvr in attendance, Kar is going to strive to be non-confrontational, because he doesn't want to agitate someone who can easily make it Reisir's problem. This will mean, in other's perspectives, putting on an unusually demure manner and tolerating words and implications he wouldn't have let slide so easily otherwise. If the comment about Karvaldr being weak or "defective" comes up, he'll accept it as a normal, pre-established fact without any notable reaction besides worrying that Reisir might pity him and fawn over him even more...which is exactly what makes it pitiable so he's not getting out of that one.

In other words, what I'm trying to say is—I predict that when Reisir, Kardalvr, and Harðr sit down for a talk, Kar is going to think himself into a corner and, perhaps more unintentionally than he'd like to admit, put on the appearance of an abused child who can't bring himself to talk back to his father beyond a few pointed comments, and won't even argue with the evaluation of his skills as being labeled "subpar", as if he's used to hearing it, even though it still upsets him. Reisir will come away from the interaction understanding Karvaldr better, accurately dissecting how the isolation and bullying he endured growing up shaped his need for unconditional loyalty and affection while simultaneously making it impossible for Kar to simply ask for such things himself, while Kar will insist that Reisir is misunderstanding the situation, externally because "it wasn't as bad as you were thinking" or something like that, and internally, "because none of that actually happened to me"...before being forced to concede when Reisir's summary does, in fact, nail Imir's pre-transmigration psychology. Of course, because the original Kardalvr was even more closed off, and his lack of self esteem manifested as a full-blown hostile inferiority complex instead of a simple lack of self-awareness, there's going to be a comedic misunderstanding tossed in, but in the end, Reisir's conclusions will be mostly correct, and we'll be one step closer to Imir cuddle time.

Oh, and,

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