I don’t think RY can be categorized as good or bad based on his capability to love (or lack thereof). I mean, how can you love when you’ve never received it? JM also didn’t know but learned how to love because everyone around her gave her the affection so how can RY be blamed? He never had a motherly figure, his stepmother is constantly trying to harm him, his father disregards him in favor of his stepbrother and his stepbrother is fighting with him over his fiancee while his uncle shows a clear bias in his outward support of his stepbrother trying to snatch his fiancee. RY has no one besides his 1 female servant KL while XF and JM grew up with love and respect. RY is no saint, of course, his manipulation and gaslighting of JM is terrible and he is definitely undeserving of her after what he did but I don’t think what he feels for JM is fake. It’s just that he chose to have power and respect over his feelings for JM hence why he used her as a pawn to achieve his goals.
His tragic past does not justify his actions but it’s not as if his actions only stem from his tragic past. Even in the present, he isn’t treated well. Being blamed for things he didn’t do, being ignored, being disrespected, and looked down upon. He just wanted justice not only for the past but also to change the future as the heavenly emperor and empress were clearly not great people.
Overall, RY is a very complex character. He’s very human in the way he acts and reacts to things. He’s not just evil for the sake of being evil and he has a lot of good points to him. I think he’s just the result of his toxic environment so he can’t be classified as a bad guy. Besides, it’s not as if JM and XF didn’t do questionable things either. Why did they sleep together knowing RY’s feelings and the engagement was still up in the air? Why did XF have to fight RY for JM? RY had KL who loved him so he shouldn’t chase after JM but didn’t XF also have SH? Why did XF not stand up for RY knowing he was being mistreated?
He never had a motherly figure, his stepmother is constantly trying to harm him, his father disregards him in favor of his stepbrother and his stepbrother is fighting with him over his fiancee while his uncle shows a clear bias in his outward support of his stepbrother trying to snatch his fiancee. RY has no one besides his 1 female servant KL while XF and JM grew up with love and respect.
RY is no saint, of course, his manipulation and gaslighting of JM is terrible and he is definitely undeserving of her after what he did but I don’t think what he feels for JM is fake. It’s just that he chose to have power and respect over his feelings for JM hence why he used her as a pawn to achieve his goals.
His tragic past does not justify his actions but it’s not as if his actions only stem from his tragic past. Even in the present, he isn’t treated well. Being blamed for things he didn’t do, being ignored, being disrespected, and looked down upon. He just wanted justice not only for the past but also to change the future as the heavenly emperor and empress were clearly not great people.
Overall, RY is a very complex character. He’s very human in the way he acts and reacts to things. He’s not just evil for the sake of being evil and he has a lot of good points to him. I think he’s just the result of his toxic environment so he can’t be classified as a bad guy. Besides, it’s not as if JM and XF didn’t do questionable things either. Why did they sleep together knowing RY’s feelings and the engagement was still up in the air? Why did XF have to fight RY for JM? RY had KL who loved him so he shouldn’t chase after JM but didn’t XF also have SH? Why did XF not stand up for RY knowing he was being mistreated?