That's actually quite an interesting point and it does feel that, at present, he's aiming to have her at his side as an empress with no real power so she would no longer be a threat to himself. Honestly, it does make sense that he would have originally not wanted her as his empress as it would have been no better than ordering his own death warrant. Let's face it, there was no way the Medea at the beginning of the story would have settled with ruling the empire alongside him equally. Both Eros and Medea are too power hungry to have been able to share that responsibility and would have likely spent their married life trying to kill one another in order to be the "one true ruler." At the end of the day, as Eros said, Medea only viewed him as a tool to elevate herself. Yes she was using him to escape the reach of her father but she again didn't view him as a person. Once she achieved that goal of being empress, she would have had no more use for a tool like Eros and would have likely tried to kill him. This is something that Eros would have been more than aware of given how well he can read and manipulate people. But I wonder whether his plans also stems back to the families who profited and gained power during the war i.e. Medea's family and also Helio (I also can't remember whether there was anyone else who gained power). But it seems like he's aiming to take back the power they gained and is already succeeding in destabilising the Belial household. If we look at his current actions, if he had kept Medea as his fiancee and married her it would have only been to the benefit of Medea's father as the engagement was his plan and he would have used it to gain even more power. Eros wouldn't have been able to take down the Duke as he would have become too strong an opponent and would have been forced into being no better than a puppet king. However, he's so far framed Medea's mother for attempting regicide, disgracing the Belial's name through the use of rumours and also utilising Medea's wrath towards Psyche against her to further ruin the families image. So at present the Belial family is in disgrace however they haven't lost their power which appears to be his next step. He didn't seem shocked by any of the revelations towards the Duke's slave trade which leads me to think he's fully aware of it and he's been planning to use this as his final method to destroy the Belial household completely. I wonder whether the attempted kidnapping Psyche experienced during her childhood was linked to the slave trade and whether this indicates Eros has been investigating for this length of time? However, his comment about Medea trying to push for the trial being "too soon" makes me think that there's something else he's still waiting to happen before he moves in to destroy the Duke. I also mentioned Helio as I don't think he's going to escape either the trial or party unscathed. Whilst the true nature of Medea and Helios relationship is meant to be secret I wouldn't be surprised if Eros is aware of it or is at least aware of the rumoured affair they had during Psyche's attempted assassination. What also should be noted is that Helio and Medea have attempted to assassinated King Hennel but we've heard nothing since which is an immediate red flag as its likely he's still alive and could be either cooperating with Eros or plotting his own revenge against Helio and the Belial family that helped destroy his kingdom and killed his family. We also know that Eros has been tracking Phel so he may be aware of whatever encounter Phel and Helio had in that village and the possibility of Helio comiting war crimes/murdering innocents which would turn public opinions against him as he's currently viewed as a hero. So if Eros manages to take down Duke Belial, Helio, and Phel, Medea will have no one to support her. She'll have no family support as Eros is aiming to take down the Dukedom, and no support from Helio or Phel if he also takes away their power. So if he takes her as his empress under these conditions she'll have no noble backing and would have no choice but to rely on him for support. The more I read the story, the more I do believe he's attracted to her but also aware of the danger she poses to him with her current power. Take for example how he was able to immediately recognise her based on nothing but her hair colour that night at the temple. So this shows he's very "aware" of her. He probably also liked that she was the only one to challenge him and see his potential. However, he's probably never considered the possibility of her ever being powerless until that night he visited Psyche in Medea's body because Medea always shows nothing but power in how she interacts with people. This has pontentially now given him the idea that he can have her at his side by taking away all her power and support and sparing her life.
Omg, your explanation/theories were very thorough and interesting to read :O I also see a possibility of Eros trying to take down all of Medea's supporters. Kind of like the story's relationship to a game of chess. Medea is the king on one side of the board, and Eros is the king on the other side. On Medea's side, we have the power of Solon, Helio, Pell, Psyche, her brother, and other minor characters like nobles who support Solon and the workers there. On Eros's side there's the corrupt temple with the corrupt priests and the Pope, his knights, all of his workers, and the public and their opinion. Like chess and like you theorized, Eros might be planning to destroy all of Medea's supporters and then "capture" the "king"/Medea to be his powerless empress.
Their advantage is Psyche (a double-edged sword: her powers are what Yaros most desires but also behind Yaros is the pope), if Medea cannot become Duchess Belial the easiest method to do so would be that her brother lent himself to be the new Duke Belial "in name only" and Medea would make the decisions. If nothing happens to Psyche's parents, it would be a good option for Psyche to marry Medea's brother "a fake marriage" to bring her to the Belial mansion. The King of Hennel, who knows what would happen to him, we have not even seen Yaros's reaction to that news or Medea's (only what Heli said), if he were dead, wouldn't Yaros be taking advantage to invade that country? (or he would make an agreement to exchange Heli, Medea's most faithful ally), I really don't know what would happen to that. And Phell, at least as long as he's a member of the church, the only thing they can do is damage his reputation, nothing more than that, I don't think Yaros dares to lock him up to torture or kill him because the pope who doesn't even like Phell lets him do what what do Phell want because pope need him
This is actually a good point. I even remember a chapter where Eros heard of the news about Phell losing an eye which is after meeting with Medea and then he said something about him flirting with his "girl" with a serious face. I think he's really obsess with the idea of being a God which mean having control over everything including one of the strongest and elusive in the story(medea) so having someone else talking to the last person that could challenge his power irritates him (phell) given that he initially doesnt like phell also. damn!! another week of waiting.
Eros is a narcissist. He is not in love with Medea. He is in the love with the idea of being the “ only one “ who can have her. He wants powers no one else can have ( be a god ) because any human being can be a prince. So, he can’t be truly unique with only a crown. Medea is someone who’s proven that she’s the strongest. She looked at him as just an opportunity. No man was able to get to her. No one saw her vulnerable. She’s a trophy to him. He wants what no one has proven able to have. Which is a great plot line because I think this whole story is about the balance between power and love and how much you should sacrifice for one and the other.
Unrelated topic but since I don't have cookies, I was reading the latest chapter, 56. The interaction between Pel and Medea is really interesting. I think now Pel is kinda seeing her as a friend more than an enemy with kind of everything he says. In the scene, where they are talking about her dad. He says something like " You don't know a person from just rumors". In a way, I think he was speaking about Medea too. He also seems to be genuinely worried about Medea when he sees her hand. He is also trying to understand her too, by when he tells her "Whenever I see you, you act like a person without feelings". I'm so glad Pel doesn't just see her as a murderer now but sort-of an ally.
Yeah, I kind of agree too. It also seems like the main reason he did that was because he wanted to find Medea's weakness. He deduced that Medea is weak to people who empathize with her and realize her hardships and that is why Medea called him a "fox". But, Pell also seems to look more at Medea herself than just the rumors surrounding her, and it seems like he wants to help her change and is a bit worried for her. I feel like Pell will learn more about the Solon siblings' backstory through Medea's older brother because he was curious about why Medea and Lord Solon's personalities/soul auras were starkingly different.
Anyway I think everyone can agree Eros sucks (he’s an interesting character though). So have some photos of Phell and let’s simp for him together. Honestly he’s my favourite character currently. How is he so perfect, this is illegal. How can somebody not love him. If anyone hurts him, I will personally hunt you down. I love him so much. Ngl I feel like Medea (heck Medea and Psyche have a lot too) and Phell have a lot of sexual tension (sometimes I see some panels of them, and I’m just like,’just fuck each other already.’ I’m gonna go get myself some holy water now to cleanse my mind. lmao. I’m sorry I’m trash for romance) Anyways imma go back to simping.
Ooh, yes. Absolutely. I feel like they have a lot of chemistry in their interactions and phell is someone who isn't afraid (and probably loves) to challenge Medea, head to head. The author has shown him to be very multi-faceted and I'm excited for more phell appearances in the future! Ngl, Eros in ch 61 totally made me uncomfortable. He is a well written antagonist for sure. Can't wait to see psyche and medea curb stomp this guy.
He's my favorite character too. I wonder what Eros was preparing for him in the upcoming banquet. Eros' intention for this banquet is to capture Psyche's savior from Eros' birthday banquet night, which he thinks it's Pell. So, at the banquet, will there be something that can confirm that Pell is the savior? like, fighting scene? I'd love to see more of Pell's fighting scene! As Eros is great with the political issue and public opinion, maybe Pell'll have both fighting scenes and encountering the people's opinion as there're many nobles and people from other countries in the banquet, which Medea might help him with it? I think after meeting with bro, as Pell may understand more of Medea's background, maybe he will come up with a new technique or idea to deal with Medea.( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) and from chapter 59, it seems like Medea's brother is the 'rook' Spoiler so now we have all the chess positions: Medea as Queen / Eros as King / Psyche as Pawn / Helio as Knight / Pell as Bishop / Medea's brother as Rook so I expect Medea's brother to have more scenes, more than just the witness for the trial arc. In the first book which contains 12 chapters, the cover is Medea and the boxset has the 'queen' chess and the color gradient is from purple to *nearly* yellow. so, the cover of the second book maybe Psyche? if they're going to play with the chess positions, a solo person on the cover, and 12 chapters per book, I think this is just right: 2nd book: ch: 13-24 / cover: Psyche / Pawn 3rd book: ch: 25-36 / cover: Eros / King 4th book: ch: 37-48 / cover: Helio / Knight [the reveal of Heli's trauma and his move on is between these chapters] 5th book: ch: 49-60 / cover: Pell / Bishop [Pell have many appearances between these chapters] 6th book: ch: 61-72 / cover: Medea's brother / Rook [as the trial arc is coming, and he is the key person for this arc] the 7,8,9 and so on maybe duo, trio, or more on the cover. *edit photo
Interesting. Since the rook is the second most valuable piece after the queen and which you need for castling, one of the most important defense strategies
Psyche is on her knees the whole time hahaha. Medea doesn't seem angry at all. They only chat and before leaving she throws tea on Psyche to fool the spies, I guess. It seems like Eros already has an spy on Medea. On her way home, she alone goes to a place and when she leaves the spy goes there to find out what Medea did. Next, we see Eros talking with his secretary and suddenly the place that Medea visited is on fire... maybe Eros order it? Medea can see the fire from her balcony. She sends a Raven to Eli and the chapter ends. Oh, damn. Poor little girl, I hope she survives.
This cosplayer dressed up as Medea. Check her out @dd_saida https://www.instagram.com/p/CIK4XRVDmVB/?igshid=126al7v6ky61i
Spoiler: Ch. 62 So, Medea and Psyche meet. Medea tells Psyche not to feel guilty and explains to her that she looked at the situation from Psyche's POV (she was trying to adjust to Medea's body, just found out about evil prince, etc). She tells whenever Pscyhe is in trouble, she should switch bodies with her again and that she will save Pscyhe during her dangerous situations. Psyche is happy and tells Medea that she will do everything she can to control her power more. To make the servants not suspicious, Medea pours tea on Psyche's head to look like a "bully" to her. A spy from Eros tails Medea entering an intelligence guild and pays the guild money to find out what the lady who just came in bought. Next, we see Eros and his attendant talking about Medea's movements (Medea went to information guild to find out who knows about the trial/reasons behind it). Eros is looking at the trial documents again and thinks that everything is looking to easy and that it is suspicious. Then, he thinks towards Medea "There is nothing to lose. This time can I help you to take care of the situation?" and orders for the information guild to be burnt down. Medea sees the fire burning in the distance and is shocked by how crazy Eros is. She sends a letter to Helio at the end.
Wait... Madea didn't suspect that Yaros is now keeping his eyes on her now? Her new acting might have brought some suspicions to Yaros so she should have been careful about eyes watching her. Especially since there are spies everywhere and Yaros can just pay them a little cash for them to do the work. Something seems off about Madea. As if... she wants Yaros to trail her down. Maybe she didn't really pay attention to the things going around her? Quick Q: How do Madea and Psyche switch bodies? I still don't get it.
Thanks. Medea was very sweet this chapter. She wasn't mad at all and she even conforted Psyche. Does Eros speaks of what Medea did in that place? Burning the place down is extreme even for Medea's taste lol. I wonder what would he think of Medea suddenly visiting Psyche. No, they didn't. Medea propose to switch bodies if Psyche is in troubles. I think that Medea is aware of being under watch but she must be into something, her behavior with Psyche is a proof that she is thinking ahead. I under the impression that she went to see Psyche to calm her down and prevent Psyche for doing a silly mistake like contacting Medea on her own or something like that. Though I thought that her message to Heli was going to be intercepted again by Eros' people but it wasn't the case, so she still has enough freedom to make her moves.