their love wasn't about the fated pair shit. It made their relationship became less genuine? Maybe because I don't really enjoy fated pair/mate trope. ML actually started to change his opinion about MC but then the pheromone smell thing is just... disappointing to me. BUT!!! At least it's not noncon or dubcon. They would 100℅ work much better without the fated thing. I think it's a little bit unnecessary but it definitely adds character depth for ML as a half beastman.

Here we have an MC who is faced with a traumatic past and severe lack of self-esteem as a result of it.

He thought after being given a second chance in life being reincarnated as a beautiful prince he could have a fresh start.

However, reality was he was a cruel sadistic spoiled rotten prince whom everyone hated and despised. Even after he resolved to change himself things weren’t that simple. Even after it was revealed that the OG prince was drugged and manipulated to act that way since he was young there were still ways to go before he could gain everyone’s complete forgiveness. It was only after he got engaged to the ML people really acknowledged his change because well everyone loves a national hero and anything related to him.

The characters weren’t two dimensional duds either. They had an actual proper personality with very complex feelings. The crown prince really got to me and I could somewhat understand and sympathize with they way he turned out.

The King is seriously one s*upid a**hole. No amount of words is enough to describe how much of a complete screwup he is.

The Queen I feel bad for her somewhat. I think she had depression and anxiety as a result of her survival’s guilt over the death of her lover who also happened to be the previous Queen.

To be truthful throughout the entire story the one I felt that was pitiful was the consort, the MC, and the ML.

MC and ML for very obvious reasons and the Consort really I’m impressed he kept up with this bullsh*t all this time.

First he was made pregnant by some random dude who was still dragging on his previous love. Then he learns that the man was a King. Then he also learns that the King only slept with him because he looked similar to the previous Queen.

At first the MC’s mom wasn’t against the King taking a consort and didn’t mind his status as a commoner but what made her snap was how the King conveniently found a look-a-like replacement and blatantly brought him to the palace when they were both still hurting over the death of their loved one. The reason she was so hard on him was because she couldn’t stand a random man come waltzing in to take over her late lover’s place. But here’s the thing the consort had no idea and he was completely innocent. Yet he had the shitty luck to run into this bloody dog trauma and love triangle that frankly he was f*cking tired of constantly being dragged into. Personally I think he only stayed in the royal family because of his kids and that’s it.

As for the romance well I give it a 3. I don’t think the fated mates part was really necessary and made the MC and ML’ love feel less genuine. The romance was a bit lacking and it felt a bit rushed. It was a huge contrast to the interesting world building and character building that made me give this story a 4 overall.

Trigger warning: s*xual assault. It happens in a couple chapters in the middle of the novel and it's not super drawn out or anything. But definitely slightly triggering.