it was slowly building, then all of a sudden it hits you like a truck? it kinda caught me off guard lol. he was depressed and suicidal, he started getting more screentime and had an ok relationship with FL (felt a bit awkward on his end, like he was trying but still having seizures when he saw ogFL) then boom he's madly in love with FL and burning a gift from diana? maybe I was too focused on different elements of the story that I missed the progression but honestly I did not pick up the hints that his affection had reached that point? I swear there was a scene not that early before the reveal of him telling her to give him up. still, I will admit they were cute as a couple! I just needed to quickly adjust to the development and honestly, we spent so long fleshing out how hestia felt that his love for her paled in comparison. his love felt shallow when we look at hestia LOL

now, I know this is a common opinion shared by many if FMDF reader s, but hestia lowkey shouldve went back to her world.

we were at a point in the story towards the end, their relationship was established and I was rooting for them! sure, the romance kinda just jumped out at me, but that was just a little "oh, okay" moment for me, and I still loved them: but then, hestia's angst of being a transmigrator happened. it kinda built up in the chapters and she always shut it down, but after kael had confessed and they were happy, she began to wonder "why am I still here?" hestia never aimed for kael to reciprocate her feelings or have a relationship, her goal was to save his life and she had accomplished tha and she did so always seeing herself as an outsider. she knew that this was a reality with real people, but as she herself said this was not HER reality. yeah it was nice to save kael and be with him, but as time went by and she had accomplished her goal and her "prophecies" had run out, she no longer had purpose and said she had no real attachment to this world. she didnt want to live here, she never chose that, she only wanted to go back in time and save him (and that she did). she eventually stayed because all kael would do was cry in her room bc he thought she was trying to commit, but the way her emptiness was built up and shown really touched me and the other readers, so much so that we were all like hestia girl go home!! lol. I wouldnt have minded it due to her homesickness, and it felt like kael could never compete with her. her love for him wasnt that she wanted him at all costs, she just wanted his happiness, and I believe that had she gone home at that moment she really could have enjoyed peace. I possibly would have liked to see an alternative ending written where she goes home, and letting the readers pick out of the two their preference.

(a controversal opinion but if there ever were a diff ML I hope it would be helios bc I actually liked him and his chemistry and character development were mwahh! power couple fr. too bad hestia was disgusted when she found out he was swayed by her)

sooo unsatisfying! 😭 I know there are some controversial points in the novel and this is one of themmm. hestia spent the ENTIRE novel working her ahh off to bring down diana AND the temple. she set up a whole soap business so people wouldnt need to go to the temple as much for treatment and weaken the temples power so diana would lose all backing. she was so close to getting diana booted as the crown princess and had a whole plan with the nobles, but KAEL over here goes nooo uhm actually im gonna support her bc I just wanna be happy with you so idc if she goes down 🥺 let her keep her position and all bc im not sad anymore thanks to your love!! bit*h SHE SPENT MONEY AND ALL HER TIMEEE ON THIS AND YOU DO HER LIKE THISSS? hestia was like oh... okay do you still like her yk first love... kael was all no I love you but I cant be bothered w her anymore my depression? CURED so who needs pfft revenge! diana did end up losing her position later on because there was pressure for an imperial heir and diana didnt want babies? she escaped all consequence and hello what about the noble ladies you promised to represent when you were gonna take down diana? you rallied all this support and on the day you just do nothing and they were like awww okay theres always next time! girl be so fr how did they not have your head on a skewerrr you planned this? they were vicious in their hatred for her to so where did this generosity come frommm?

Physical intimacy was late-stage, it was raunchy but as far as detailing goes, it was not as much as you'd expect from a 'smut' tag novel. S*x scenes didn't happen more than 4 times, becoming vaguer over time, the rest were all off-screen moments.

Her plans would fall through, or not be well thought out, she'd occasionally get carried away by her emotions when getting heated in an argument with her nemesis the saintess, or be full of schadenfreude in the og couple's misery.
Selfish, petty, and vengeful to her enemies; but devoted, hardworking, caring and considerate to loved ones.

I have no idea what to think of the sins the saintess Diana (ogFL) was condemning the ML (og2ndML) for; was it an unavoidable situation there because her life was threatened by the princess Letona (villainess in OG story) or more a carefully planned out mu*der? The whole country seems to know of it and nobody really cares for some reason. The only thing that's clear to me is that the way, both friend and crush, pushed Kaelus (og2ndML/ML) away after all he had done and dedicated to them, was his tipping point.
They have been wielding him like a tool for their means, to begin with, and were never ever sorry for using him until then or condemning him for 'overstepping' his lines executing duties of the crown prince or when he'd go off to comfort Diana etc. Felt like they had drawn a line WAY TOO LATE.
About MC's involvement in the first uninfluenced storyline:
How and where did she get all the money to buy a title? Woke up in a body of a commoner who just won the lottery? (*≧▽≦) ﾉｼ))

Also, more than unconditionally adoring the 2nd ML and feeling angry for him by taking his death personally, I believe when the church turned away from her when she was in need of succor was partially the reason why she was vengeful against them, Diana being a direct representative of the church, holding firmly hypocritically in her idealistic naive beliefs, would be the best striking dummy for her pent-up anger, including for having to hurt her bias on top.

It's hard to believe she was saddened to the extreme by the death of a fictional character, even if she had lived through the story on the sidelines, to the point of losing the will to live.

I feel like her ending was already a graceful one. She still had someone who stood by her side til the very end and she never experienced the hardships of life but merely had her interpersonal relationships crumble away (as it would have happened in the original anyway). She's naive but most importantly far too ignorant and patronizing. She'd treat others like they're all blind to the 'truth' and never compromises on anything she set her mind on.
Crown princess or not, her marriage would've failed mainly because of how inflexible she is. (Which it did, even w/o MC's involvement.)
Besides that, on top, she's been extremely indecisive. So far, she had people do the dirty work and make decisions for her, she just had to be a sweet little angel, giving waves and smiles. But living as a crown princess, she acted more like a saintess than before, demanding the unwavering support of her spouse to her cause and giving nothing back in return. Til the end, she refused to move on with life and blamed her choices on others. At least the ogML made some progress and was sincere in his apologies, still a c*cky b*stard though, that one.
About Helios:
Uncorregiable c*cky b*astard at first, but later improves himself by reflecting on his and his wife's actions.

He definitely had his share of faults for spoiling Diana by unconditionally shielding her regardless of the context and circumstances.

Then again Diana isn't the type who can take criticism, so it's 50/50 understandable why he coddled her that far; he tried to please her too hard at some point without even realizing it.

When he confronts her later on about their faults, she wouldn't have any of it and goes full victim Karen mode. By simply questioning her actions and seeing fault in her was the breaking point in their marriage.

I think it was said she was raised at the temple/church and been subtly infused with the belief that she can do no wrong, she's a saint, and whatever she says and does is the right thing. To be fair, the men who were enamored with her, did the same.

Diana is too childish to be a crown princess, she refused to learn from others and had offended too many of them to have the opportunity to redeem herself. So yes, Helios needed a new crown princess, someone who can pull their own weight.