I think it's exactly because their love is only love at first sight without getting to know each other, their hatred towards each others thats been nurtured for 5 years overcome the love. Imho ML is very badly written character, for someone so smart, he is so mighty dumb. FL is pathetic but i kind of believe with how she act. I mean even if you love someone deeply and they treat you like shit why would you even hint that you hold affection for them like nah, you dont deserve it. And welp its been mentioned multiple times she's pridey, so multiple that unwillingness to show affection to her beloved husband who treated her like shit for 5 years by 100x. Also being critically ill kind of reduce your mental health capacity to think straight or logically.
Another 2 novels with the same synopsis as this Spoiler: NU spoiler link https://forum.novelupdates.com/threads/if-you-leave-without-a-word-말없이-떠나-버리면.138450/#post-6762524 https://forum.novelupdates.com/thre...efore-i-die-죽기-전에-버리겠습니다.139843/#post-6767381
Imo FL is a dumb as a block but ML is inhumane af. It's quite common for men in patriarchal societies to belittle their wives at home as someone with no real knowledge or experience in life. But this dude takes it to the extreme, he emotionally abuses his wife to feed his ego. Not knowing what love or companionship because lack of proper upbringing is such a sad excuse lol. Then all serial killers/rapists must also be excused for their crimes as well since 99% of the time they were cruelly abused as children. All humans are capable of having and expressing emotions, it's just them limiting themselves due to pride, shyness or some superiority/inferiority complex. Honestly I think ML must have fell for her at the start, which was sort of a crush or some puppy love. Then he made her in to a goal to achieve. Then a trophy to be kept. Lastly he just doesn't want to let go of his possession, simply reluctant. Tbh if FL wasn't ill nor proposed the divorce deal, I think he might even consider marrying the Princess. Of course he won't let FL go, she is his trophy after all. You know like those historical novels where Emperor demote Empress due to circumstances and put another woman there just to gain benefit, but he still won't let Empress go either because he thinks she belongs to him only... type of a scenario. He sounds quite like a normal egoistic eccentric man. He is also very inhumane in a sense, that can also be seen as normal considering his eccentric workaholic personality. Even so all in the end, In the end she will still end up with him because she is indeed dumb af as he ridicule her to be and a doormat with a trace of Stockholm syndrome. If she wasn't ill she will still be his doormat with no effort to change anything about her life because of her ridiculously low self esteem and idiotic stubborn personality to not speak out anything she feels.
I wonder if this is a trend these days? I feel like a ton of new stories that just came out are the “regretful male” archetype stories. I still read these novels since it’s like a guilty pleasure/junk food but I wish there was more creativity involved with the stories. As you said, you could switch out the synopsis for the stories you mentioned above and it would be almost the same.
I already suffered through enough bad dad Shitty brother and mother Mean husband with frail and weak wife. Is there an outline for this shit
Just one more rant, I don't get the people who say that FL suck or that she's prideful. Are we reading the same spoilers? She calls him darling, asks him to spend time with her, prepared dinner and wanted him to eat together but got rejected, asks him to stop giving her brother money, wants to celebrate her bday but got rejected, he locks her in her room. She tells him multiple times that she was really sick but, he just tells her to call a doctor, walks away and doesn't even remember that she was sick when she finally collapsed. What more do you want from her lol? If your RL husband was like ML would you still tell him that you loved him and stuff? What a bunch of simps lmao.
I comes here from time to time just to drop comments saying we should kill the ML!!! Let’s just kill that bastard !! I’m brainwashing you all here
I totally agree. Lets kill him. For f***s sake, he couldn't send her a doctor?! (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ He has an assistant, he could have at least asked him to do it in his stead since he's so 'forgetful' otherwise what's the point of having the guy around to help?! ლ(ಠ益ಠლ) For f***s sake, this is criminal negligence! He should be charged with Negligent homicide since the poor woman has an incurable illness with only had two years to live now!! *angry narwhal noises*
I don't think her calling him 'darling' and him calling her 'wife' is any form of endearment, they weren't that close to have pet calls. More like formality, just like how Korean calling their spouse 'YOBO' even if they hated each other. As for me when I call her so caught up in useless pride, I wasn't talking about love confession, ah how should I put it, one example is how she stubbornly holding in her pain and hide her trembling hand, keep her chin high and walk straight, she believed as noblewoman she need to be dignified all the time, that's why the servant didn't even know she is gravely sick, she told her husband she is sick but the thing is she has a weak body and fallen sick quite often so he dismissed it as her usual cold and told her to call the doctor. Another one is, how she never told him how she truly felt of how he treated her so far, how bad and unfair it is, not in the way she should cling, beg, yell or cry, I'm also not expecting some great comeback just be honest and straightforward (when her husband said 'How much longer are you going to ignore me until you are satisfied', the FL could very much say 'shouldn't that my line' or when her her husband asked her 'Why she let another noble woman mocked her when she is the marchioness', she could told him it was the result of his neglect) but it took her 5 years and dying to finally call her husband out for his shit, the ML didn't even know what he did wrong, he thinks he is doing everything for her, she is worry about her family, so he send them money, she uncomfortable being with him so he lives in separate house and blah blah. I'm not trying to justified the ML and blamed the FL and vice versa, I just tried to see from both POV, of course I'm not saying I'm in the right, people have different perspectives, that's why I love reading another people opinion, it makes reading the novel more fun. They both talk but not communicate, the FL told him to stop sending money to her family, the ML told her that little money is nothing for him, everyone in the Empire know he is the wealthiest man in the empire but the FL still treated him like he is gone bankrupt from just that little money, the FL always wore the most expensive dress when she is the duke daughter, but when they go to the boutique she choose the cheapest one out of consideration, but the ML took it as her looked down upon him, I really couldn't blame him, even the designer think that way and felt embarrassed.
Spoiler: From the TL “I’ve told you!” Chloe didn’t back down either. With her eyes closed, she shouted in a broken voice. “I’ve told you dozens of times that I was sick. But what did you say each time? That you’d send a doctor. Then you’d forget about it. No one had ever visited me in the north! I was always alone!” The translation though, says that HE was supposed to send her a doctor. And he didn't. Which implies - to me - she probably has no authority to actually call for one? Which with how the servants treat her makes sense. I mean for f***s sake, they won't even bring her hot water to bath in and I sincerely doubt that they bath in ice cold water. Because that's not something human beings in an icy climate do. Unless you believe that's them thinking "Dur evil lady from south likes to bath in cold water! because she stupid and mean!" Spoiler: From the TL “I don’t want to see my wife being disregarded.” “They weren’t wrong.” And this was Chloe’s immediate answer. She was sick of staying silent. In any case, she didn’t need to broach the subject of the divorce again. She spoke in a very sarcastic tone. “I am a noble, elegant Marchioness, and at the same time, I am a frigid woman who is not loved by my husband.” “Chloe.” “You always speak that way. But did I say anything wrong?” She did tho?? I mean I would have been far more crass and crude about it, but...I'm not a powerless woman raised in a strict, cold, environment who has been sold into an even colder loveless marriage with a man who hates her very existence. He ridicules and insults her very attempts to try and make their marriage something less than a cold war, but he should get all the credit for the things he does even as he's killing her soul. All things he does without telling her or talking to her like she's lower than the s**t he just stepped in, as he has done from their wedding night. The posts I see excusing him as a product of his upbringing seem to ignore that so is she. Her entire life is an example of emotional and mental abuse. She isn't a daughter, she a thing to sell. Her own father treats her like he's her pimp! Her engagement to the Prince was the best thing for her. From what little we've seen, he would have treated her well. He'd probably not respond to her telling him "I made you dinner" with a snide "You have too much time on your hands" And her dignity, her pride, seems all she has left that is hers and not her husband's. You know, like 'her' wealth? I mean its not like she has the love of...anyone. Nor her health. So....why not cling to that? Why should she give it up, to get down on her knees and grovel before a man who willfully sees the worst in her? She asked him to stop giving her brother money because its enabling his bad behavior but he is the one who chose to see it as it would bankrupt him. Her literal words in chapter two: “I’ve told you several times. You don’t have to give my family any more money. It’s my brother’s fault anyway, so let him find his own solution. Please?” He's the one who refused. Because it would make him look bad. And its not like she can ever tell her side, he tends to get mad and talks down to her in a spew of verbal abuse before storming off like a toddler having a tantrum. Its hard to communicate with someone who won't listen or deliberately twists your words. She has tried. Over and over again. From trying to initiate a physical relationship to trying to spend time with him. He is the one constantly rebuffing and ridiculing her and then silently complaining that she's ungrateful for the things he does. You might see the FL as a woman clinging to her useless pride for no good reason. Me? I see a victim of abuse from the cradle trying to have some form of agency over her life. What little life she has left anyway. Its a pity this isn't a rebirth story. I'd love to see her die, be reborn into her academy days and then run like hell away from that abusive husband of her and find someone who actually showers her with love and affection. (then again, if you want something done right.... *opens Word*)
The vibe of this novel is similar to To Make You Understand. However reading it still made me weep More spoiler pleaseeeee
By any chance, do you still remember what happened when they met again? Specifically when the FL came to know that ML was looking for her and finally found her.
ლ(ಠ益ಠლ) At this point, I can't tell if Eric will ever get his head out of his a** or poor Chloe will ever be able to grow enough of a back bone to just leave. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ I need spoilers! (no what I really need is to transport myself into this book and murder Eric and take Chloe to a therapist)
So, I just want to say that Chloe *HAS* told him why she wants a divorce. She’s told him multiple times. She wants a divorce because he doesn’t love her and she is exhausted and can’t continue. Eric just doesn’t care because he doesn’t think love should matter??? Idk. He is irredeemable to me. She asked him to get her a doctor so many times and he would just…forget. THIS MAN HAS SECRETARIES. HE HAS AN ENITRE STAFF. Literally how hard would it have been for him to just delegate that to his secretary. He runs a hugely successful business, so he should be used to managing tasks. He just didn’t think it was important. So his wife’s health got worse and worse and now she is going to die. And it is his fault. She told him she was sick over and over. Not only does he not love her…the man doesn’t even respect her.
I agree that the FL is frustrating. But, her main psychological problem before, regardless of the reasons for it (constraints due to being a noblewoman, inherent inferiority complex from being a female, abandonment issues stemming from literally being SOLD by her family, suffering from the physical and mental torment of a chronically worsening terminal illness, etc.), was her lack of communication, AKA Tortoise-shell-syndrome. However clumsily, she is trying to correct that. ML, despite all the reasons for his problems (growing up poor in an orphanage, losing his foot due to inadequate treatment and nutrition, being treated as a lowly commoner despite being an outstanding genius, probably having some low-level form of autism, etc.), is not willing to acknowledge, much less correct his problems. That's because his problem according to him, which he has already identified as weakness, has been solved. He has money and he can buy anything with it - nobility, a wife, the throne. However, his inferiority complex, which in reality is his first and worst psychological problem makes him to attach malice to FL's words ("is he a commoner?"); at the same time, he cannot understand why others (FL) would do the same to him, effectively prohibiting his ability to communicate with others. That's why, despite both characters having faced the inequity that is inherent in their world, he is a more difficult character to sympathize with, at least for me.