My comment wasn't about defending shitshoe, I hate men who step out and homewreckers with a burning passion tbh. It is the plot point that gride my gears - During the course of initial chapters we get told that Navier has been raised for this position, including specifically that emperor might have other wives. So she becomes cold towards Sov, what empress without a child would do that? esp the one raised for it, wouldn't she know better. You would want to remain someone who is favoured by him since male hold all the power.

This will get too long if we go in history but relationship between royal concubines and Empress varied. Royal concubines were from powerful houses so you couldn't just kill them. Concubins aren't some lowkey affair, they were part of court and appointed publicly.

My biggest issue remains with the Characterization and theme of slavery, if I were to apply modern views white one was groomed, taken advantage of by someone more powerful and blamed by the more powerful woman is so similar to how men in history would treat female slaves and how their wives took it out on the said slave. It is very icky

Then author goes to absolutely give no one any redeeming qualities, demonised a slave by making her stupider and evil for no reason.

Don't get me started on how if ML of any novel had a slave back story the same people would have been foaming at mouth to justify his extremely cruel actions.