Again, I'm biasing from what I saw from the spoilerish fanarts but ML is actually super duper in love w/ the FL. He actually loves & knew her before their marriage & them getting married is something he wanted. (Which is probably where the Love Interest Falls In Love First & Possessive Characters tags come from lol) Later, the FL will join the ML's army (not sure for that part but she'll spend lot of time/get to know some members of his army) & apparently, she can also use magic. Again, small reminder that I have NOT read the korean raws so some infos might be slightly wrong!

The end of the first arc devastated me however I also think it was something that needed to happen. But also... poor Riftan : (

Maxi is pretty straight forward, she's been ab*sed and treated as incapable until she truly came to believe herself to be useless. Then her father had her marry a man whom he (the father) looked down upon but needed as a connection. She didn't get a chance to know him, he's a physically overwhelming guy with a rough way of speaking, she also thinks he's being forced by his own circumstances to marry her, because why else would any one marry her? So she's scared of disappointing him even more, and that he'll treat her worse than her father if she doesn't stay out of sight and mind. They got married and then he went off to fight for several years on the king's orders, leaving her to the mistreatment of her family.

Riftan feels as if he stands out in high society, he's a lord, but he understands nothing of etiquette, fashions, parties, the nicer things in life are a mystery and for the most part seem useless to him. He gained status and fame through violence and war. He is and sees himself as a soldier first, and it seems he went to fight dragons from a very young age. And for the most part he's good with that, he knows who he is, and he's satisfied with it. But somehow he landed this lovely and delicate aristocrat's daughter who he believes has been pampered and treasured all her life. He thinks she's marrying lower than she deserves, and that she dislikes him for that. When he returns from battle he thinks she refused to live at his castle because it wasn't good enough for her. It frustrates him, but now that he's back she's just going to have to live with it, he thinks he can make it up to her because he's got the money to maintain her life style now.

Admittedly Maxi is scared of him at first. Her father has convinced her that Riftan will be angry that he's got her for a wife. But while he's clearly on edge around her she notices that he never actually does anything violent toward her even though he's an intimidating guy, and he does whatever he says he'll do, she sees a possibility of hope and she tries to open up to him. But when she realises he expects her to be a sophisticated noble girl she hides the truth because she's scared of losing this better life.

It takes Riftan a day or two to realise that Maxi isn't so much disgusted by him and forcing herself to be in his presence because she had to marry him, but because she's extremely shy. She doesn't avoid his gaze because he's revolting, she's not stuttering because she hates him so much and once he realises all this, his annoyance drops and his attitude softens somewhat. He's still a rough kind of guy, but he misunderstands her words less from then on. And he never looks down on her even once he realises her stutter is her natural way of speaking, and not something brought on by too much negative emotion. I love him for that alone.

It's so rare to have both main characters be so flawed, but it's great!

I heard Max (MC) going to become alot stronger after some chapter ahead, like she gots some magic on her. I can't wait for that to happen to our beloved Max ? I can't wait for them to be free from Max's father. Having seen alot of their fanart too, ITS HELLA CUTE WHEN ALL THE KNIGHT ARE THINKING MAX IS A CUTIE LIVING BEING. And Max is totally a cutie when she is being drawn as a chipmunk. And somehow I want to see Riftan sulking reaction on the novel cause the fanart's version ARE SO HELLA CUTE.

So ML and MC get some satisfactory smutty time. After that, MC has to go to king for whatever reason I forgot.

ML stays at the mansion. And as first arc here we go; some barbarian group come to the dukedom (whatever place MC administers) they forcefully enter the dukedom. Ok but how? The barbarian leader, a son of some aristocrat had stolen the family treasure, which is a fire shooting magical stuff and burns the gates. But the interesting thing is whole castle does not have the troop unit to deal with 30 high level knight. And MC had beaten a dragon and therefore has a sh*t amount of money. So shouldn't he have some, you know, special forces or something to protect his darling after he leaves as per king's order? But no, he doesn't. Sooo...

Call me over dramatic and whatever but, excuse me, MC, do you need some help, I mean, for providing some common sense or adequate foresight? Like hello, you killed the dragon, you got the treasures in your castle, you left the castle, so there should be some precautions taken am I wrong?

Maxi starts off as meek, socially-challenged, and a general ball of anxiety. She's been conditioned to be weak and fearful of male authority due to an abusive father.

Riftan starts off as the epitome of toxic masculinity, craving affection without communication and a wife who magically understands him.

Their relationship isn't equal; Riftan is controlling while Maxi, subject to a life time of ab*se from her father, knows no better than to wordlessly accept it. But it doesn't stay this way. Maxi wants to change, and she continuously pushes herself to be stronger. Riftan, on the other hand, must come to terms with his past trauma, insecurities, and severe abandonment complex. Both their perspectives are nuanced and complicated by their past. The novel shares our awareness of the deep flaws of its characters, and slowly explores how they grow beyond that. Without spoiling anything, I can still safely say the novel main focus of the novel is on how the two constantly re-define their relationship through difficult trials given by both their circumstances and each other.

What's interesting is that the novel doesn't just roll with Riftan's possessiveness as a symptom of its genre. Rather, the novel criticizes it through Maxi's perspective and explores his behavior through a few dozen side chapters in his perspective. In time, we'll see Maxi's journey of rising above their original relationship and desiring to be treated as an equal.