#how to win my husband over

[thegradus2]

I would kill to follow bg gossip girl on youtube

[grinsgrimmy]

hi! i love your content so much :’) can i request a drabble?

Manhwa: How to Get My Husband on My Side (or How to Win My Husband Over)

Character: Iske Van Omerta x Reader

Prompt: Reader giving Iske a handmade bracelet.

Any information: make the bracelet pink :’) and end it with the duchy’s reaction seeing Iske with a pink bracelet on his wrist hehe

thank you so so much for writing! i can’t wait for more of your content! happy writing! 🩶

Ｇ Ｉ Ｆ Ｔ .

ㅤᯓᡣ𐭩 𝖨𝖲𝖪𝖤 𝖵𝖠𝖭 𝖮𝖬𝖤𝖱𝖳𝖠 𝗑 𝖠𝖥𝖠𝖡!𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋

HOW TO GET MY HUSBAND ON MY SIDE

๋࣭⭑ֶֶֶָָָ֢֢֢𖹭 drabble . (1036 words)

sum. you made a bracelet for iske. he can't help but like the gift way too much than he should

note : thank you for the request and kind words, anonie! i literally screeched in my dorm when i read your request bc it's so cute. i unfortunately went over word limit again...

drabble request slots have reopened !

ㅤ⪩⪨ m.list

iske would do anything to make you happy.

even if it meant falling for your silly whims that you pulled from god knows where.

he owlishly blinked as your fingers worked around his wrist, attaching something to it with a giddish smile on your lips. whatever it was, he barely protested against it when his eyes fell upon that smile that made his knees weak.

he was in his own world as he stared blankly at your lips. you were so close, so close that he could feel the warmth radiating off of you. it was enough to keep him rooted in place, admiring your facial features as you busy yourself with attaching something to his wrist.

“done!” you announced proudly, stepping back to admire your work. only then did iske glance down at his wrist to see a delicate bracelet.

a pink bracelet.

the bracelet wildly contrasts with his dark, rugged attire. speechless, he was left blinking at the bracelet he deemed incredibly fragile.

one wrong move by him and it would probably break.

“odd choice of colour,” he piped up, his tone a little incredulously, but held no protest against it. you tried to stifle your laughter at his reaction.

he gave a deadpan to you, who was clearly trying not to laugh. iske ignored the mischievous glint in your eyes, “you made it yourself?” he asked, not daring to move the bracelet. you nodded excessively, “mhm! it took me a while to make it.”

you lowered your sleeve to show him a matching pink bracelet on your wrist. “now we're matching!” you teased, your eyes twinkling with glee, “if i look at it, then it'll remind me of you, and when you look at it, it'll remind you of me!”

cute.

iske immediately thought as he stared at your beaming face.

a little red tinged the tip of his ears.

he hummed, “my wife's talent exceeds me once again.” he murmured to himself with affection. a reminder of you— his clever, whimsical wife who brought colour to his otherwise gray world.

you huff proudly, laughing to yourself. you failed to witness the way iske's gaze softened at your words. he moved his wrist around, admiring the simple charm of the bracelet.

a small smile of amusement and fondness graced his lips. "i'll cherish it,” he vowed, his voice low and sincere. he slowly raised his wrist to his lips and kissed the pink bracelet.

you felt your heart skip a beat, flustered as the realisation hit you. his kiss on the bracelet held the same meaning as if he had kissed you directly. you began to stammer, searching for words, which depended on Iske's amusement.

he leaned down to press a gentle kiss onto the top of your head. “thank you, my wife,” he then whispered into your ear softly. the sudden closeness caught you off guard, and you let out a surprise squeak, which earned yet another dry chuckle of amusement from iske.

iske adjusted the sleeve of his fit. he blinked, watching the sleeve obscure the delicate bracelet, hiding it.

feeling an unexpected pang of dissatisfaction at seeing it obscured, iske folded his sleeve, letting the bracelet sit visibly against his skin.

a small smile touched his lips as he admired the bright band that stood out alongside his usual stoic appearance.

the rest of the day went on. the people of the duchy found themselves utterly baffled. iske strode through the halls, displaying the pink bracelet around his wrist with his sleeve folded up to his elbow.

he ignored the whispers that followed him whenever he went. this was their notorious stoic lord, after all— one who rarely showed warmth—

and yet there he was, proudly showcasing the delicate, handmade bracelet in the bright shade of pink.

you were at the knights' training grounds with iske's sister, ellenia.

everyone immediately knew it was given by his wife.

you tried your best to fight the urge to flee out of embarrassment as iske came down the field with the bright bracelet still on his wrist, as if showing it off.

the knights all surrounded iske, they could barely contain their laughter and teasing grins as they all fawned at the sight of him with a bright pink bracelet.

iske's annoyance began to rise. “something wrong with it?” he asked, his voice flat yet holding a clear tone of warning. the knights had grown bold as always.

they all stifled at his clear signs of warning and saluted at him, “nothing wrong at all!” they all chimed simultaneously, hurriedly going back to training.

“wife,” he walked to you and raised his wrist to you. he looked at you expectantly, “take it. i don't want to ruin it when i train.”

iske did not want to take it off himself since he was worried his strength would have broken it.

it was too fragile in his eyes.

iske did not want to destroy a gift made by you.

you reached out immediately, fingers brushing against the soft threads of the bracelet as you slowly slid it off his wrist.

when you slipped the bracelet off and gently placed it in your palm. daringly, you took a deep breath and leaned in to plant a kiss on iske's forehead.

he turned his head towards you and nodded, taking your hand to place a gentle kiss on it before returning to the middle of the field to bark orders at the knights.

you could hear the knights whistle at the sight, which earned a harsh glare from iske— forcing them to be quiet almost immediately.

you could not help but notice ellenia, who was standing beside you— had a slight sulk that you could have missed if you were not that observant.

her stoic demeanor did not quite mask the hint of envy in her eyes as she watched the exchange. you brain immediately clicked at why she was sulking.

with an amused smile on your lips, you chime teasingly, “so what colour does ellen like?” chiming with a teasing grin.

ellenia huffed, looking away with her ears tinged red. “anything from you,” she said curtly with a tiny frown that resembled a pout.

“okay~” you say happily, which made her huff again, this time with satisfaction.

this was home.

and you wouldn’t trade it for anything.

・❥・want a hc / oneshot? please consider commissioning in ko-fi !

[dyinggirldied]

[vorpalmuchness]

a web weave for Ruby Van Omerta

Incendies// Craig Santos Perez// Mitski, Francis Forever// Clementine Von Radics// Carrie Fisher, Princess Diarist// Lorde, Supercut// Lana Del Rey, Cinnamon Girl// Bilbo, Fellowship of the Ring// Sue Zhao// Hooyo Isn't Home, Warsan Shire// Ethel Cain, Sunbleached Files// Ocean Vuong// @wandalives

[robin-evry]

Ruby/yuu from how to get my husband on my side

Sure thing, I'm sorry if it's short because due to my lack of knowledge of the manhwa as well as the character, I based it from research of the characters personality so sorry if it's not accurate...

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐅 𝐑𝐔𝐁𝐘!𝐘𝐔𝐔 𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐖𝐒𝐓 🌼🌻

Rudbeckia de Borgia (루드베키아 데 보르히하, Rudeubekia de Boreuhiha) is the protagonist of How to Win My husband Over. She is the adoptive daughter of Pope de Borgia and the adoptive younger sister of Cezar de Borgia and Enzo de Borgia. Her biological mother, Carmen, was the Pope's second mistress. Rudbeckia is the wife of Iske van Omerta, the daughter-in-law of the Duke and Duchess Omerta, and the sister-in-law of Ellenia van Omerta.

Ruby!Yuu is soft-spoken and keeps a poised exterior, with their every word carefully chosen. They're polite to a fault, making even rude comments sound charming. However, they hide a deep loneliness and a yearning for connection beneath their composed surface.

While they appear delicate, Ruby!Yuu has an unwavering inner strength, born from the hardships they’ve endured. They rarely express anger openly, but when pushed too far, they reveal a surprisingly sharp tongue and a fierce loyalty to their friends.

Ruby!Yuu possessed a warm heart and often tends to the hurt and broken with gentle care. They have a knack for finding people in need of help, and sometimes, without words, they simply stay by someone’s side to offer comfort.

They're sense of justice and compassion is unwavering. They stand up for the downtrodden, even if it means risking their own safety. Despite their gentle nature, they can be fierce when it comes to protecting the people they care about.

Ruby!Yuu finds comfort in tending to plants and flowers, often visiting the botanical gardens or Ramshackle's garden in their free time. They see beauty in resilience, admiring flowers that bloom despite adversity, reflecting their own journey. They keep a personal journal full of resources and information on flowers It works as well as a diary.

Their wardrobe reflects a classic elegance with muted colors, lace, and embroidered details, looking both noble and understated. They prefer clothes that don’t attract too much attention but still carry a quiet grace.

Jade and ruby!yuu have an interesting relationship, both of them have a love for plants and are willing to listen to the other info dump about their passion, jade yapped about mushrooms meanwhile ruby!yuu yaps about flowers. It's a win-win situation

Have tea parties with riddle where they have formal conversation as well discussing topics latest towards the world as well in school. Riddle like rub!yuu kind a gentle demeanor in contrast the Adeuce and grim behavior

While Vil may view Ruby!Yuu with a sense of rivalry due to their grace, Ruby!Yuu admires him without resentment. They exchange subtle compliments, with Vil secretly appreciating their humility, and Ruby!Yuu respects his commitment to perfection. They also may share some fashion advice to the other party

Ruby!Yuu’s magic centers around defense, with spells that create shimmering, flower-like shields. These barriers are as beautiful as they are strong, made of translucent layers resembling petals that protect themselves and their friends with a delicate but unbreakable power.

Once Crowley ask ruby!yuu to accompany him to RSA to meet the headmaster there and during that time many princes or students have approached with the intention of getting to know them. This of course causes Crowley into a frenzy and quickly ends the meeting due to how many of the students are making ruby!yuu uncomfortable.

Crowley has become like a father figure towards them, even tho he may be a scum or an asshole, but he does grow to care for ruby!yuu like his own child

[vaizerka]

[jooroy-blog]

You know I find very funny that one of the reasons the nobles consider ruby unworthy of izek is because she's so evil and dangerous

Meanwhile izek:

I mean... I'm not saying he's evil but... for a guy who didn't care if his new wife poisoned his sister bff and wanted to cover the crime if she did... you know..

[inked-night]

In the alternate universe of Dead by Daylight, Shen Jiu and Cale are known to be the survivors who, unwittingly, act in a sacrificial manner, completely oblivious to their companions' concern for their own safety. Despite their reckless tendencies, they feel deeply offended when other team members suggest distraction tactics or personal sacrifice, especially if they find themselves in compromising situations during the game.

"Have they lost their minds?" Cale asked, his voice laden with disbelief and his eyes exuding serious disapproval towards their companions.

"What makes them think that risking their lives in such a way is a good idea?" Shen Jiu added, standing next to the redhead, raising an eyebrow in a questioning gesture. He crossed his arms over his chest, adopting the stance of a disappointed teacher in front of a group of mischievous students. "You can't just throw yourselves into action without thinking of the consequences"

Illyana, Penelope, and Rudbeckia were left blinking, astonished at the hypocrisy of the men before them.

'But you are the first to throw yourselves into danger without thinking twice!' Penelope had to bite her tongue to not say out loud what was screaming in her mind, maintaining an expression of regret while internally struggling with the urge to shake them into reason.

'Don't you remember that just two games ago you died in the most absurd way possible, trying to give us time to escape?' Illyana nodded in apparent agreement with the reprimand they were receiving, although inside she was torn between disbelief and the desire to hit them with the bat she had found to give them a 'gentle' reminder of their own recklessness.

'You're supposed to be the brightest strategists on the team! Where has this shared foolishness come from?' Rudbeckia, for her part, couldn't contain a groan of frustration, imagining herself tying both men with a rope and dragging them across the map until they managed to repair the generators and escape from the killer, thus avoiding the multiple heart attacks they caused her every time one of them threw themselves in front of the killer when the opportunity arose.

[violet-eien]

Crying for how Ellen worries about Ruby. Now Ruby has someone by her side who understands her situation.

[shxrry-blossom]

A drawing of Ruby and Shuri made by the artist of How to get my husband on my side. It's beautiful to see my two beautiful girls together 😭💖

[refleurence]

i can even become your accomplice, because we are husband and wife.

[roseapov]

Protect

Izek & Ellen x GN!Reader

Tw: obsession, yandere, possessiveness, implied blackmailing, implied killing

Povtober 2023, Day 15 [Masterlist]

They always acted weird towards you.

As a younger sister of Freya Van Furiana, you had to tag along with her, during her many visits to the Omerta Duchy. As your parents wanted her to seduce the future Duke.

As she was a close friend of Ellenia Van Omerta, you tagging along with her, made you two acquainted. The same goes for the future Duke, Izek Van Omerta, the one your sister had to seduce.

Your mother was always very insistent on sending you along with your sister to their household. Yours not so keen eyes never saw the way she tended to tremble, when you didn't want to go there, throwing a fit.

Perhaps sensing something wrong?

These two kids immediately took an interest in you, being very friendly and kind.

You felt overwhelmed with their affections and attention, as they were anything but that to everyone else. You tried to avoid them to the best of your abilities.

What you never knew was the fact that when you were avoiding them, they were lashing out of your older sister. What did you told her?! What made her avoid us? Answer us Freya!

Basically your every discomfort is Freya's fault in their eyes, that quickly became her biggest fear. She spends the most time with you, it doesn't matter that she is your sister, she's taking you away from them.

And they can't have that.

They both are aware of the cruel nature of the world, yet you are so pure and untainted by it. They want to- no.

They need to protect you from the sorrows and pain, that will await you, if they leave you alone. If someone were to taint you-

Especially fond of this mindset is Izek. He is your knight after all, sworn to protect you till his dying breath.

Ellen tries her best to distract you from the rude nobles kids, having grand tea parties with her in the garden and with Freya.

The feeling of unsettling around them never disappeared.

Even when you all got older and yet, you decided that it was only a part of your imagination. Children really does have a huge imagination, don't they?

Your whole life they were nothing but kind to you, they would never hurt you.

All the moments when you were throwing fits about coming to them leaving you extremely embarrassed, they loved it, wanting to make up for them, for all this time spent together.

It is good to be unaware, right? It's in your best interest to make it last that way. They will protect you from the world, whatever it takes.

[grinsgrimmy]

Hello i loved ur iske fic hehe, i was wondering if maybe you could do an enzo one? Yknow ruby’s adopted brother? He lacks fics and i love him sm

Maybe can you do where shes the childhood friend of ruby, shes known to be kind and talented in magic and is considered to be very pretty hehe and she likes him but is very shy to confess so he takes the initiative <33i want him to pin for her so bad the loser bf x hot gf is taking over my brain

Thats all hope u have a great day hehe

Ｌ Ｏ Ｖ Ｅ Ｍ Ｅ Ｂ Ａ Ｃ Ｋ ?

ㅤᯓᡣ𐭩 𝖤𝖭𝖹𝖮 𝖣𝖤 𝖡𝖮𝖱𝖦𝖨𝖠 𝗑 𝖠𝖥𝖠𝖡!𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋

HOW TO GET MY HUSBAND ON MY SIDE

๋࣭⭑ֶֶֶָָָ֢֢֢𖹭 oneshot . (1440 words)

sum. you wanted to confess to enzo, but you chickened out

note : thank you for the request, anonie! i was 100% hesitating on taking this request bc i do not think i can do enzo justice since i am not really familiar with his character. i still am not confident on writing him even after rereading the manhwa so im using early chapters (1-3) as my sole knowledge regarding him. alsooo im sorry for not 100% using your prompt/plot but i literally blanked out on how to write with that prompt

IT WENT OVER 1400 WORDS ANYWAYS WHAT THE H

request drabble have reopened !!

ㅤ⪩⪨ m.list

he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me.

you plucked the last delicate petal from the daisy you had been toying with the past few minutes. sitting on the serene grass, it was a quiet afternoon. suppose to be peaceful and calming, but not for you.

he loves me not.

staring at the plucked flower, you let out a wistful sigh.

you gently tore the entire flower apart, as if you were trying to rip away the small, fleeting hope that had been growing in your chest.

you stared at the last petal that was left drifting on the grass. with another weak sigh, you let your fingers drop to your lap with a heavy heart.

it did not matter.

he would never see you the way you wished him to.

enzo.

the name echoed in your mind constantly. the man you had quietly admired for years, the same man who occupied every corner of your thoughts.

he was always out of reach for you.

he is not just anyone. he is a borgia, and he is your childhood friend's second older brother. ruby's brother.

but that was not the problem with your meddling emotions.

you grew up with the borgia family. he probably saw you as solely ruby's friend. or perhaps he saw you as no different than the rest of the familiar faces that filled the borgia household.

regardless, after ruby was sent off to the north to marry iske van omerta, you did not really have a reason to constantly visit the borgia household after that.

but you kept returning, time and again, to see enzo.

thinking about it, you felt akin to a lovesick teenager. there were no excuses or pressing need for you to be at the household, you simply wish to be close to him.

even catching a glimpse of enzo when he was training, sitting in silence as you watch from afar, would be enough for your entire day. in your mind, if you kept being present enough despite ruby's absence, he would begin to realise that you wanted to be with him.

and perhaps he would finally look at you the way you wanted him to. as someone more than ruby's friend.

that day never came.

it had been a month since ruby's absence, you had been awkwardly strolling along the halls and gardens of the borgia family as if you were one of them.

sincerely, you wished not to be even associated with them. the eldest brother of the borgia family gives you the creeps, as does the two hags that ran the family, mostly pope de borgia.

but you did not want to leave borgia entirely since enzo was there. he is a borgia too. as creepy as the family is, you remained close contact with them because you genuinely care for ruby and fell in love with her brother.

thankfully they had not once thrown you out.

not yet, at least.

the borgia family are seen as saints, hence, you believed the pope could not rudely kick you out of their premises.

you glanced down at the daisy petals scattered around you, the weight of your emotions pressing harder within your mind. your chest tightened.

should you even confess to enzo?

you came to the borgia household today to confess, but chickened out and ended up sitting in their gardens.

a rustling sound interrupted your train of thought. you looked up, startled. for a brief, breathless moment, your heart skipped a beat when your eyes fell onto enzo, who was approaching you.

he looked as if he had just returned from training; his gaze was fixed on you. he scratched the back of his head, roughly calling you out, “the servants told me you came.”

you gave him a blank look before slowly getting flustered. “ah, yes, around an hour ago,” you answered him with a timid expression. he stared at you with an unreadable expression.

enzo huffed, clearly not satisfied with your response, "so why weren't you at the training grounds?" his words carried a slight edge—not anger, but just annoyance tinged with something else. you could not quite place what it was.

you gave a meek and reassuring smile to mask your nervousness.

you bit your lip, scrambling for an excuse, “i, uh, didn't want to interrupt. you were busy, after all...” you trailed off, unsure of how to exactly finish your words.

enzo's annoyed gaze did not soften. he crossed his arms over his chest, looking unimpressed. “interrupt?” he repeated, considering your words carefully.

“are you an idiot? you were always there anyway. why do you suddenly feel like you are interrupting?” enzo interrogated you, his eyes narrowed with suspicion, but it felt like he knew more than he let on.

“i didn't,” you stammered. “i didn't want to be a bother so suddenly.”

enzo sighed dramatically out of annoyance, clearly he was not buying it. you could see his lips twitched, as if holding back exasperation. “ugh, whatever. i can't deal with this.”

you were going to ask about what he meant, but he suddenly grabbed your wrist. before you could even react, he was pulling you towards him, then pinned you down against the soft grass in one swift motion.

you gasped, your heart leaping in your chest. you were left stammering, struggling beneath him as you tried to push him away by his chest. but of course you could not since he was stronger than you.

“you really don't get it, do you?” he muttered, his face had almost a sulking pout with his cheeks staining pink. “i'm tired of waiting for you to figure it out,” he grumbled, his hands that were pinning your wrists were trembling.

you gulped, "w, waiting for me to figure what out?" you could not even meet his eyes properly since he was on top of you—

on top of you.

“figure out how to confess to me, you idiot!” enzo snapped, his voice getting louder and sharper, but his cheeks were getting redder and redder. “you've been looking at me like a damn puppy for weeks, and i'm supposed to just keep pretending like i don't know?!”

there was a pause, a heavy silence stretching between you two.

enzo clenched his jaw, trying to mask the embarrassment creeping over him, but his cheeks betrayed him. it turned into a deeper shade of red.

he could not tell if he was more frustrated by the situation or by the mutual feelings he had been acknowledging yet ignoring for so long.

he let out a sigh, “i was waiting for you to confess.” he blurted out, his voice cracking just enough to show his real emotions.

he freed one of his hands from gripping your wrists to cover his deep red cheeks, “look, i didn't— i didn't want to be the one to make the first move, alright?” his muttered, his voice trying to be composed as he looked away from you, “it would have been very cute of you if you did, but—”

his eyes darted to yours, meeting your flustered yet relieved eyes, which made him snap out of embarrassment. “too bad you didn't because you're too dumb to figure that out!” he exclaimed, too flustered to comprehend anything at that moment.

your eyes met his again, but something shifted in you. the awkwardness was still prominent, but there was a part of you that was relieved.

he had been waiting?

your eyes lingered on his for too long, and you could not help but give a shaky smile before bursting into laughter. you manage to get one of your hands free from his to place it at the back of his head to pull him down into a kiss.

you could hear his breath caught in his throat for a moment. there was a flicker of hesitation, but it melted away entirely.

it was a messy kiss. inexperience, even sloppy, but both of you did not mind as you both had been holding back for far too long. your hand tightened in his hair, pulling his head deeper.

when you finally pulled back, breathless and slightly dazed, you gave him a wobbly but relieved smile, “i like you, a lot.” your voice was unsteady but held so much sincerity.

you then gave him a bright smile that made his breath hitch because of how pretty you were with that smile. “i confessed first,” you said proudly with a nervous smile.

the words hung in the air between you two. enzo blinked with slightly parted lips, still in a daze from the kiss. he let out a soft grumble, looking away from you, “you... stupid—”

he went back down for a second kiss.

・❥・want a hc / oneshot? please consider commissioning in ko-fi !!

[dyinggirldied]

The inspirations and their characters

[huwana-arts]

This is my favorite art in 2024. Rudbeckia "Ruby" de Borgia from the manhwa "How to Win my Husband Over" 💛🧡

If anyone sees this and is interested in a commission, mine is open (•̀ᴗ•́)و

Check out my vgen account for more info:

vgen.co/huwana_arts

[pruneunfair]

"My feelings on" part 5. How to get my husband on my side and how it properly tackles abuse, eating disorders, and relationships.

Another super popular manhwa that I can understand why it's so beloved. The Borgias were actual people in history that inspired characters like the protagonist Ruby, and the title itself already feels different since the world of OI is all about being a perfect badass woman, funnily enough, HTGMHOMS does this better than most.

Rudbeckia/Ruby starts off with the behavior of the og fls that a lot of OI make fun of. She is surrounded by what appears to be loving family members and is already being prepped to be married of to Izek, she looks excited and ready to do whatever her family wants until her inner monolog reveals how she really feels about them especially her older brother Cezar. She hates almost all of them and her real reason for being excited for marriage is so she can get away from her abusive household and avoid death which shouldn't be hard since the transmigrator doesn't plan on poisoning her sister in law like og Ruby did. She's a master of hiding her feelings already which is attributed to her past life in a similarly abusive adoptive household.

Right off bat, Ruby is shown to be strong in the mental sense. Not only is she walking on eggshells she also suffers from an ED (likely bulimia), there a quite a few scenes where she's throwing up, refusing to eat a lot, or in later chapters, eating a lot more out of stress. Her family too is whole new level of psychological horror. They aren't cartoonist evil, for example Pope Borgia is usually kind to his daughter and treats her with respect until he feels like she's defying him, all of a sudden that kind caring nature is gone, then he becomes threatening, or her older brother Cezar who has been abusing her for years both physically and sexually, he keeps her in place through fear, intimidation, and attacking her on occasion which is only enhanced after he kills Rubys bird and feeds it to his turtle which gives Ruby a phobia of turtles. It's actually heartbreaking with how eerily realistic it is when these types of people are easily placed like normal family members in certain scenes, because that's often how abusive family members blend in, almost no one knows what they are really like and if you looked at a first glance without context, you'd think "Ah yes, that's just a brother next to his siblings." They're never truly gone, they just know how to hide their true colors so well.

This is why Ruby is so much stronger than a lot of people give her credit for, she's dealing with all of this at the same time and her only hope of respite is being as far as possible from her home country. It's easy to jump to the conclusion that Ruby is just a weak stereotypical protagonist everytime you see her pretend to fawn over Izeks presence but if you read further, you'd know that Ruby doesn't like it any better but she thinks she's doing what's right to avoid Izeks Wrath since she's the only one who knows what he is the one who kills the og Ruby in the novel.

Speaking of which, while Izek isn't my favorite ML ever, I still was shocked to find that I liked the typical cold nobleman persona on him. Unlike a lot of ML's Izek is allowed to be flawed and his negative traits and moments aren't brushed aside, they cause some issues like Ruby going out of her way to appear dainty and sweet so Izek won't kill her. He acknowledges how he has hurt her and grows from it and doesn't push her boundaries. It's possible for the cold Duke archetype to work but a lot of the time, the whole war hero past gets thrown to the side for baseless fan service or they're just unapologetically abusive. Izek however is in the in between. His cold and dangerous persona stays consistent but that doesn't make him one note and he gets to have geninue moments of care for those in his life rendering Izek to still be likeable.

Ive noticed that the narrative also makes sense instead of twisting itself for a stupid chance at a fan service plot. An example is Ellen and Freya.

An unfortunate sideffects from the fandom was on and off hatred of Ellen for considering what Freya had to say, taking her side or not even choosing a side at all. The readers know that Freya tried to get Ruby killed by tricking her into going into a monster infested forest or when she tried to frame Ruby for poisoning her, but does Ellen know that? Realistically she's not going to immediately turn her back on Freya since they were childhood friends along eith Izek but that doesn't mean she screams at Ruby either. Ellen does care about Ruby but she knew Freya longer than she knew Ruby. From her perspective, it' makes sense that Freya would be innocent.

But perhaps the best part about Ellen that makes her my favorite character is how she notices the little details on others. She's the first to find out that Ruby has an eating disorder and it's not out of nowhere either, Ellen and Izeks late mother also suffered from a eating disorder that Ellen witnessed more than once so it gives an explanation on how she can tell what Ruby is going through.

Side characters are treated just as well as the main cast too. From the other guards to the friendly monsters to minor antagonist and even the children are all given attention to be their own beings, it doesn't have to be a lot since most of what I mentioned are minor characters but then you got characters like Ivan who has a life outside of just being by Izeks side.

Out of all the side characters I gotta say the monsters are my favorites. It makes me wish there was a side story where Ruby successfully runs away forever and lives as a little witch with monster companions.

Of course like all media, HTGMHOMS has its flaws but I think I'll chill on this one since the flaws aren't large enough to ruin it and I want to stay positive on something I like for once.

Conclusion: This is a story that does such an amazing job with its commentary. Instead of just saying "Cezar abused Ruby in the past! Feel bad for her now!" For example, we are given actual flashbacks to respect the show don't tell rule. Other characters besides Ruby suffer from their own traumas and they get their own arcs on their hardships and how they recover from it, it handles eating disorders and trauma responses in a respectful way that has an actual effect on the plot. Most of all, it does all of this with the type of protagonist that has been deemed as "weak" before in the manhwa community. Ruby isn't a boss girl who is always successful and smart. She makes reckless decisions, she cries, she isn't always able to one-up her enemies like Freya. She's a human woman stuck in a world that's not her own but she still rises to the task at hand even with all her blunders. Ironically making her more feminist then many of the female leads before her.