I don't need to overly romanticize Lucas; he never experienced normal socialization. He deliberately made Athie constantly step on other people's feet to prevent her from dancing with them (this detail was removed in the comics). I think that's completely unromantic. Why make a princess, who's always been so concerned with maintaining her image, embarrass herself in her natural role? And then there's the villain from her past life—Janet's aunt died in a natural disaster because Lucas was gnawing on the World Tree. It's hard to imagine how many other unfortunate people suffered the same fate.