Can we normalize, or accept FLs who does fall in love because the script is romance coded, but when she wants…
The complaint isn't that she hasn't fallen by episode 13—it's that her emotional withdrawal is so absolute that it borders on ingratitude. She actively accepts his life-saving help, strategic protection, and vulnerable confessions, yet offers zero emotional acknowledgment in return. The ML's patience and free will are his virtues, but they do not make the FL's coldness virtuous in return. He chose to love her unconditionally—that makes him noble. She chose to accept everything he gives while giving nothing back—that makes her transactional, not empowered. She judges ML not by his specific, demonstrated actions, but by the general behavior of other historical princes. Yet, every single action he has taken so far proves he is an exception: he risks his life for her, exposes his vulnerabilities to only her, and explicitly tells her he will never take concubines (in many versions). By clinging to "all princes are the same," she is ignoring facts right in front of her. It is rationally safe, but it is also lazy emotional reasoning. She is punishing him for the crimes of other men. Her fear is understandable, but it is not unassailable. A truly rational person would adjust their thought process and mindset based on new finding but she refuses to. No one is asking her to "pin all her hope" on him overnight. But there is a massive middle ground between "I will trust him completely with everything" and "I will treat him like a stranger who happens to bleed for me." Instead, she remains frozen. Her refusal to take any emotional step forward is not pragmatism—it is emotional cowardice dressed in intellectual armor.
Well, yeah. She's been very honest about that. No backing. No powerful family. Short life. Enough power to save…
She never once told ML, "I am only marrying you because I think you are weak and easy to control." By omitting her true exploitative motives, she was absolutely leading him on, just silently. She let him believe their marriage was a normal political alliance, not a calculated plan to use his perceived weakness as a shield.Circumstances explain behavior, but they do not excuse it. Many characters in this drama have tragic backstories and face existential threats, yet they don't all treat people as disposable tools. Her family's danger makes her understandable, but it doesn't make her morally clean. You are confusing "justified" with "good" —she is the former, not the latter. She absolutely "led him on"—just not with romantic words. She led him on by pretending to be a harmless, conventional bride. If she had walked into that marriage saying, "I am only here to exploit your political weakness and will leave the moment you become inconvenient," that would be honest. But she didn't. Her entire engagement was built on a deception of intent. Discovery of his strength made her flee, proving her commitment was entirely conditional. That is the textbook definition of leading someone on for utility.when she discovered Xiao Huayong had more power than expected, she didn't think, "Great, now he can protect us better!" She thought, "I need to leave." That reaction reveals that her primary concern was never his capability—it was her own control over him. Her fear wasn't that he was dangerous; it was that he was no longer under her thumb. That is deeply self-serving, not pragmatically neutral.
just a thought ::::: Before the discovery, she was perfectly happy to marry him only because she thought she could manipulate him. She never once considered his feelings, his safety, or his humanity—he was simply a stepping stone for her family's survival. When she discovers he is strong, her first instinct is to flee, not because he is evil, but because he is no longer easily exploitable. It reveals a chillingly self-serving nature: her commitment was never to him, but only to the utility he provided.
After waiting 4+ yrs for subtitles, Today finally completed watching this drama. Some may find it boring, annoying, irritated by some characters and roles. Anyway, it's actually a good drama with full of Human Emotions (not only on romance) and Business Competition.
what the heck, i always thought this FL was a 2FL of Business Proposal until I checked her previous other dramas. lmao, she exactly look like thinner Version Of Business Proposal 2FL.😁😁😁
The ML's patience and free will are his virtues, but they do not make the FL's coldness virtuous in return. He chose to love her unconditionally—that makes him noble. She chose to accept everything he gives while giving nothing back—that makes her transactional, not empowered.
She judges ML not by his specific, demonstrated actions, but by the general behavior of other historical princes. Yet, every single action he has taken so far proves he is an exception: he risks his life for her, exposes his vulnerabilities to only her, and explicitly tells her he will never take concubines (in many versions).
By clinging to "all princes are the same," she is ignoring facts right in front of her. It is rationally safe, but it is also lazy emotional reasoning. She is punishing him for the crimes of other men. Her fear is understandable, but it is not unassailable. A truly rational person would adjust their thought process and mindset based on new finding but she refuses to.
No one is asking her to "pin all her hope" on him overnight. But there is a massive middle ground between "I will trust him completely with everything" and "I will treat him like a stranger who happens to bleed for me."
Instead, she remains frozen. Her refusal to take any emotional step forward is not pragmatism—it is emotional cowardice dressed in intellectual armor.
Before the discovery, she was perfectly happy to marry him only because she thought she could manipulate him. She never once considered his feelings, his safety, or his humanity—he was simply a stepping stone for her family's survival. When she discovers he is strong, her first instinct is to flee, not because he is evil, but because he is no longer easily exploitable. It reveals a chillingly self-serving nature: her commitment was never to him, but only to the utility he provided.