Callisto Regulus' puppy face♥️

They are the last couple where you could sell me love at first sight. Authors need to realize that this trope cannot be applied to every couple. Cha Siyeon was scared shitless and lying to save her own neck. Freeze and fawn is a common trauma response. Other women would respond similarly. Callisto probably saw this so often he must have gotten bored of it. (And I am still surprised he spared her after hearing such a balatant lie.) To tell me Callisto already fell for this version of Cha Siyeon who didn't feel safe enough around him to act like herself and he found it amusing and continued to corner her despite her obvious discomfort, has horrible implications. This insta-love would actually make me doubt it was love he was talking about and not severe mania. Of course whatever positive feelings he had, would feel different from those he had when he was on a battlefield. Anything would be better than war. I find it odd that he compared his feelings to the hell he was living in since he was 14 years old and came out with the conclusion that the feeling he had for Cha Siyeon must be love, because it was not traumatizing I guess??? Of course, Love would feel different from killing and dying on the battlefield, friendship would feel just as different, even sympathy is not comparable to the feeling of being made a living weapon in a war.

If I was the author I would have chosen for the beginning of Callisto/Cha Siyeon's romance a scene where Cha Siyeon thought they were going to die anyways and didn't give a fuck to put on a mask in front of him. A scene where she tells him her bad opinion of him straight to the face. Like "shutupaboutyourbrother, shutupaboutyourmommyissues, here are 1000 reasons why my life is a million times worse than yours and if you don't want to die right now, I'd suggest you wipe that smirk of your face and follow my instructions or I'll beat the crap out of you with my crossbow." Callisto is probably so used to lies and flattery that someone else openly professing their dislike for him but still willing to work with him to reach a common goal instead of attempting to murder him would be refreshing. Someone who had had to command armies and take responsibility for the lives of millions might feel excited to give up control and let someone else for once handle things (imagine if the guy marketed as a bloodthirsty sadist was actually a repressed masochistic sub that'd be a fun surprise). I wish Cha Siyeon's modern self would have slipped out sooner and she started acting like the one ine charge of the group project to save their grade. Cha Siyeon talking honestly about her family situation instead of trying to "protect" them, would help him relate to her situation sooner and remind him that there are other people living in the Empire who are suffering way worse lives than he did. He could feel guilty for focusing so much on his own pain and using it as an excuse to make the lives of people like og Penelope worse. Sacrificing the lives of a million little Penelopes and Callistos just to get revenge on a handful of evil aristocrats is not worth it and would make him no better than his enemies. I want to see the heroine actually change the male lead in a meaningful way.

This growth of a relationship is taking time and especially in Callisto and Cha Siyeon's a case slow burn on both sides would suit the couple better. It would create a relationship that felt much more consistent and real. Especially since Callisto is the one who killed og Penelope the most and was introduced as the ML of the route with the hightest level of difficulty and because Penelope was not even going for his route, I think it should have taken him much longer to fall in love with her.

im a big fan of this two pairings. they are so sweet and cute 💜

I have some left over from this manhwa... different emotions. Starting with how I felt ashamed when I read comments where the duke was called "sugar daddy", ending with the fact that they wanted me dead because my favorite character was Derrick.

But I was still happy to read this mantra.I liked the characters, the plot, and the novel. And the original Penelope(although we rarely saw her). And I also liked Callisto's mother(don't look at me like that. Like you don't like the characters that appeared for a split second)

(And there's also something coming out on vadtd on Friday, hehe)