ลิขิตรักบัลลังก์ต่างโลก

Reading Here This is a story of Sabina first being forced to be a concubine against feir will and then being forced to be a queen against feir will. Fe tries feir best to retain a sense of identity and self-respect in the face of feir lack of freedom, being willing to stand up to people who would do fem harm. The very reason the king made fem the queen was because of this independent streak--fe felt like fe could trust fem. As Sabina stays in the palace longer, fe starts to adopt the goals of the king as feir own goals and fe starts to see feir relationship as being more than thrust upon fem. I'm sure the author intended it to be heartwarming, but I couldn't help but see it as tragic. Fe's in constant fear for feir life and, subconsciously, fe knows that if fe fell in love with anybody else, then that person would be killed by the king who wants fem all to femself. Fe expresses a desire to not be physical with the king and feir compliance to not rape fem is supposed to be seen as generous, though it's more about fem wanting to conquer fem and have fem beg for sex than out of any sense of love or respect. And fe still forces Sabina to kiss fem all the time and pulls feir body around like a rag doll, reminding fem that fe could have feir way with fem if fe wanted to. And these are all expressions of feir love. Which of course, like all relationships with abusive elements, brings to mind Haddaway's lyrics: "What is love? Baby, don't hurt me." Of course that's trying to apply normal standards to the story and I shouldn't be doing that. No, it's a fantasy, and at times people just want to fantasize about being conquered by a devoted suitor or about conquering somebody with your manliness. And in that sense it was generally enjoyable, if a bit over the top and never relatable. For the last dozen chapters or so, the story just meandered with no sense of direction. If that's any indication of the continuation's quality (which there is a continuation), then I have the lowest of expectations for it.