If Leon had just let MC go, it would have corroded his newly found authority even more. And it’s not like he ever expected to be in the position of king. He was nowhere near ready and even going through the battle with Sister was fueled by rage and grief. Then his close friend, his love, goes and does something that is so wholly terrible, he was not ready nor equipped to deal with it. Everyone was demanding blood. Demanding justice. Especially from the church. And MC isn’t offering any explanation of why they did what they did (granted no one knows that they can’t, but that is not a factor in perception). He had everyone after him to punish the murderer. Remember you know you are innocent. No one else knows that. They can assume it based on past actions, but they don’t know.
But Leon also didn’t abuse my MC because there was nothing to forgive. She knew he was doing what he had to do. What his responsibilities to his people demanded of him. She could not explain things, and it isn’t his fault for that. This was just the way it was going to be. There was nothing to forgive. 
Which shows that he simply didn’t trust us that simple, he didn’t even think for a moment that we were forced to do such an action. My problem with him is not the punishment, but rather that he never showed all the trust he said he had in us. Responsibility or not, he really believed that we were a monster, so where was the supposed trust that he had in us?. I can accept the punishment but that he didn’t trust us at the first sign of trouble? I can’t trust someone like that anymore, illya trusted us and she was closer to the saint, why not Leon?
You’re free to interpret it that way. And you’re free to feel the way you do. There isn’t really a wrong way to think or feel about the situation.
It’s just not the way I see it tho. It’s not just a matter of trust. He doesn’t have the luxury of blindly doing what he wants or what he feels. This is a man thrust into position of king, feeling the weight of responsibility, people demanding blood and justice, dealing with grief, the only answer MC gives him is “trust me” at best. He doesn’t want to believe it, at least it didn’t seem that way to me, he wanted any excuse he could cling to against everything else. Not everyone is able to blindly trust.
Feel free to hate him. But it’s not an absolute truth and there are different ways to view it and they are equally valid. My MC will happily return to him and be relieved he knows the truth and understands why she did what had to be done.
As I said, I can’t trust a person like that anymore, obviously I know that we couldn’t avoid the punishment, it was his responsibility as king, you say that he was looking for an excuse not to punish us but I really don’t see how you interpreted that, when we told him that we are innocent he does not believe in us. I can see your point of view but for me the definition of trust is what illya demonstrated, not leon and for me it was a matter of trust, he could have said that he believed in us but his hands were forced when we told him we were innocent, but you’re right, everyone interprets the scene in their own way and if trust for you is something so easy to break, it’s your decision, trust for me is something very important.
It’s just my point of view but I respect yours even if I don’t agree with it.
Ordinary people like you and I have broken up over More mundane things, so that being said, I totally understand those who wish to stick with Leon.
I just want to point out, this is not really respecting my view if you simultaneously make backhanded commentary about my value of trust. I made no commentary on your personal values. But if you really want to have an argument about it as your passive aggressive comment suggests, let dissect this. How about the feelings of betrayal Leon would have felt in that moment. MC’s actions put him in a terrible place and they made no attempts to warn him before making actions. Even a “Im about to do something and it’s going to seem bad, but you need to trust me”. No it was said after the fact. The betrayal was from MC first. Then acting like the hurt party “how dare you put me in prison for murdering the person people view as most holy” and “how dare you question me, it’s a betrayal and no Im not going to offer any explanation as to why”. Or are we going to sit on the line of “MC can do no wrong and anything and everything is justified”. Also ignoring the MC never told Leon the truth of who they were until Sister murdered his brother and couldn’t hide anymore. Hiding their identity on purpose. MC made the first moves in eroding trust, but everyone seems to ignore that rather than taking responsibility for it. Leon took the lies and decided to accept it. Only to be put in that crap position. But I guess people are perfectly content to make a villain of Leon for making a hard decision. Regardless of whether it was the right decision or not, he made what he felt was the best decision with the information he had at the time. Because he has a duty beyond his personal feelings. And him throwing away his duty to rely purely on feelings would have been irresponsible for a ruler. Sometimes a ruler has to make a hard decision and people are just mad that they were on the opposite end of match in this instance.
There is a marked difference between a prince hiding his identity to keep from being used against his brother, kidnapping, assassination, blackmail, etc. And being a fugitive on the run from a psychopathic Sister who has enslaved a country to her whims. MC was on the run. MCs secret came up and bit them all in the rear and resulted in the death of his brother.
Let’s not mince words here. This is the equivalent of the Pope here. Their most holy. Murdered. And when asked for a reason, any reason, the MC acts either “trust me” or has the gaul to be indignant about being questioned. In addition this is also assuming that the MC only killed the Saintess and not all the guards in addition to. Lots of murder and death.
I also don’t think he did think the MC was a monster. Different play throughs and views, so maybe he did for you, I wouldn’t know I would have a hard time playing the bad guy role. I saw it as he was horrified by the actions (rightly so). Leon, in my play through was torn apart emotionally. Angry and frustrated. Hurt. He wanted MC to give him any reason so he could find a way to fix it because he was in a terrible position. He wanted MC to tell him why, to counteract everything Ante is saying to him. In the end there was nothing he could do but follow through. Which isn’t unusual if you would think about it from a court perspective. Even if they weren’t all screaming for blood because their most holy person has been murdered. Someone obviously murders someone and then refuses to defend themselves, or maybe is even unrepentant and arrogant with the “how dare you question me” attitude. End result, guilty verdict. That is how a justice system works, does it not? And seriously, I’d think anyone who killed someone, possible multiple people, and had the audacity to be indignant about being put in jail over it a monster, regardless of my personal feelings before the incident. Then again I’m jaded, a lot of people are nice until you find out they really are not.
I wish I could award this comment like on reddit😮💨 Also regarding this:
I remember my first time reading I thought this would be a really big conflict. Random person befriends the guy who becomes king after their “sister” murders the previous king. Like I was really sitting there thinking “oh this looks so bad for us, we’re connected to the terrorist wreaking havoc upon the kingdom and just happen to be besties/lovers with the new guy in charge, I bet this is why we die”.
If I were a normal citizen watching all that go down I feel like I’d definitely be wondering if there’s something shady going on, and that person then going on to murder the AMR equivalent of the pope?! After we just barely survived through a whole war? Nah. Conspiracy theories up the wazoo, I might even throw a tomato at the barbequing. Imagine Leon then delaying the roast too🧐
Leon also hid his identity from the beginning so I don’t see how that point is relevant or when he voluntarily revealed that he was the prince? You also say that not everyone is capable of blind trust but the MC fought a war that had nothing to do with for him even though it would bring permanent damage to his magic circuit and not to mention all the adventures where he saved people and everything. After all that, you say that he didn’t even get the benefit of the doubt after thanks to him they were able to win the war? Again, the responsibility of the king has nothing to do with what he felt, as I said before he had to give the punishment but he really believed that the mc was a monster after everything he did, he didn’t even wonder what happened for someone who has been your friend for so long and saved you who knows how many times to “betray” you by killing a saint who was in the custody of the enemy for years but you say it just makes sense that he killed the saint and no one thought that this deserved an investigation, they simply went for the easiest solution to get out of the problem and this was to vent his anger on the MC, all the actions he did in the past do not count for anything at the end of the day, so that his friend does not even think that there is something more behind the actions. You keep saying it’s the king’s responsibility and it’s true when I said otherwise? But that doesn’t justify that he really thought the MC was a monster without hesitation.
With this type of logic we can say that the mc did not reveal his identity for fear that his sister would find him and even if he revealed his identity before it would not have changed anything since the sister went to attack Param not the mc at that moment, besides you are giving justifications for why Leon did not reveal his identity but you condemn the mc for doing the same for self-defense? I don’t understand your logic
You keep repeating the same thing about responsibility and justice when I said that punishment is not the problem but trust, I don’t know how many times I have to repeat the same thing but it seems that you are just arguing for the sake of arguing. It is one thing to have to execute the mc for his duty and another to do it because he really believes he is guilty without giving him the benefit of the doubt, Leon also killed multiple people in a war does that make him a monster too? If Leon trusted even a little in the mc, he would have had a moment of doubt or something when we told him we were innocent but you keep talking about justice and duty. I’m sorry but this makes me think that you don’t know what it’s like to trust someone who is supposed to be your friend/lover.
Yeah but these guys are manipulative people who do it for a purpose, you still haven’t given me a reason why any sane person would think that the mc killed the saint out of malice when they could do it much sooner and without paying any kind of consequences and again we are not talking about a random person, we are talking about someone who is supposed to be important to you, if you are so quick to judge someone without doing your own investigations that is lack of trust to me.
This is literally what the discussion is about, Leon didn’t believe one bit in the mc, I don’t know why you keep talking about the king’s responsibility and justice and other things.
How does saying I’m innocent put me in the role of the bad guy? I don’t understand
If the mc refuses to give a direct answer in a world where magic exists, it is common sense that there is something that prevents him from doing so but you continue to give arguments as if it were a world where mind control does not exist when they have proof of it
Wait, he straight up won’t believe you didn’t have anything to do with it? No matter what?
I always thought there was a route I missed where he would kill you only because of the pressures but he believed you to be innocent. Why even have the external pressures of Leon genuinely believed you guilty of murdering the high priestess? Leon’s brain is beyond my comprehension, I suppose.
Nope, Leon believes the MC is guilty right up to the end. It’s just a matter of whether you kiss his ass and say you forgive him for murdering you or tell him you won’t forgive him and get punched in the face for it.
I seriously want that son of a bitch to suffer in ways I haven’t even imagined yet.
Leon need to calm and think more. The problem is he doesnt think much. Both saine and elya know something wrong. But no for leon he just want trouble end quick eventho that ‘trouble’ is the savior of his own crown and kingdom. He is not evil but he is dumb, but dumb king is evil because they bring ruin and evil to the innocence. one of those evil might the vengeful hero betrayed by people and friend whom he risked his life to saved. His brother is a much wiser king
While my canonical MC sympathized with Leon, I might try doing an anti-Param run since it seems like the much more canonically supported option for people. (I’m sorry but pro Param doesn’t really make sense, using it as my playthrough made it very difficult to take the story seriously. At least if my MC got mad about everything, then Leon could take that as a kind of admission of guilt, but my MC was like… excessively noble, polite, well meaning, and dedicated throughout the entire game then Leon just assumes my MC betrayed him for what reason? They even refused the escape attempt to prevent anyone from getting into trouble, but none of that matters because the MC needed to die with Leon thinking you are guilty for the dramatic reveal dun dun dun*.)
Response to @Leonard_Gondola :
Pro-Peace and Pro-Param are not necessarily the same. The MC could gain a resentment for Param, and specifically for Leon for being a massive idiot who didn’t believe them (even as lovers) without wanting death on the entire nation. Specifically, the MC could be anti Leon, and anti the institution that allowed someone as brick headed as Leon to take power. Perhaps they are an institutionalist, who also doesn’t like Tahlia but recognizes that there is little benefit in stirring a fuss. They know she reads their mind, but they also know she knows that they will not act foolishly on those acts.
If possible I will try to make peace between Arcadia and Param, even if the hero defended Param but Param condemned their hero without hesitation I don’t want to see them burn.
Why would he believe the mage had nothing to do with it? That’s a lie. What is worse, it’s a stupid lie. The mage is caught red handed, metaphorically and quite possibly literally.
The mage is 100% guilty.
What the mage has is extenuating circumstances, not innocence.
Not that the mage says as much when talking to Leon, no the mage lies to his face.
Either plays the mustache swirling villain, a lie, or claiming innocence, another lie.
I guess the curse of the collar prevents even as much honesty as “Yeah, I did it, I regret doing it, but I had a good reason. I just can’t tell you what that good reason is.”
Or at least I hope so, because otherwise the mage is just pretty darn stupid there.
Yeah, the collar prevents talking about it or stuff near it. “I can’t say why” is close enough to be blocked.
The way I see it, Leon/Saine/Ilya didn’t ask the Mage about their background and the Mage didn’t ask about theirs in return. Honestly, both scenarios sound equally unbelievable.
Leon explaining that he and Saine are undercover runaway princes of Param to avoid a bloody conflict for the throne and forming a crime fighting team with the Saintess in training? Yeah, sure. Just as likely as those three crossing paths with the Mage who is also an undercover runaway trying to avoid a bloodthirsty sibling’s pursuit after she brainwashed the entire royal court.
I guess since it wasn’t a problem to any of them, I was more willing to write off the hidden identity thing. Unless Leon brings it up specifically as one of the things Ante and other people used to turn him against the Mage, I think it’s a lie/betrayal that can be overlooked.
Edit: I also just remembered that the Mage could have told Julian the truth when he questioned them on their background and accepted the criticisms/increased supervision that probably would have occurred as a result. But that probably would have also gotten the Mage killed once Sister attacked.
This argument in our world makes sense but the world where the mage lives has magic, is someone who is mind controlled innocent or guilty? who knows we don’t have magic in our world to compare. Did they know if the mage was controlled? no because they didn’t take the time to investigate anything, so to say that the mage is 100% guilty under that circumstance depends on each person’s perspective.
And what would the mage have been if they had just let things play out and not interfered?
The fact that Param–including Ilya, Saine, and Leon–basically sainted the mage as a martyr after they were burned alive says more than anything. They recognize that the mage wasn’t “guilty” of anything and did, in fact, save them all. And, in return, they tortured the mage to death.
There was no way for the mage to tell the truth. Period. But Leon didn’t even bother trying to discover why they mage had apparently turned on them all. Never considered some type of magical effect, despite working with Ilya and the mage for so long.
My mage, time and again, did everything within her power to save as many people as possible, to her own detriment. That isn’t even considered by Leon, only by Ilya and Saine. Any feelings or connections Leon had to the mage were immediately severed by him, with no remorse and no consideration to the past or anything of the good the mage had done in the past. Then, he murdered the mage outright in one of the most heinous ways possible.
While some MCs can forgive this and move on, many can’t. Because it was Leon’s actions and lack of logic that caused the mage to suffer the way they did. That’s how Leon treats someone who helps him and his people. There’s no loyalty at all.
Want to add that there wasn’t any sort of trial, any attempt to question WHY the war hero, who was very possibly the main reason why Param stands at all, who risked their life every day for several years suddenly went complete 180 and killed the holy figure at rather strange circumstances. Only lynching and horrible, painful death to the delight of the bloodthirsty crowd and horror of Ilya and Sayne.
And it wasn’t even that hard to find truth - Ilya alone did it in just a few months.
Said it before, super sayin’ it again: the judicial system in param is broken. Any person not blinded by rage would notice a few things that call the situation into question:
- Mage’s target (the saintess) had less value to param than the princes of the kingdom; if they wanted to destabilize param, they would’ve killed leon and saine years ago.
- Mage had devoted years of their life to the defense of param, even tearing their body apart by using their phantasma during the war. They had no reason to even harm param
- Mage had literally no motivation to kill the saintess, not only did she save their life at the outbreak of the war, but they were the one to kill Miriel, who kidnapped the saintess in the first place and was responsible for the whole f###in’ war. They didn’t even interact enough to say that Mage just thought she was an a##hole or anything
- Mind control is literally a thing in this universe and the reason Miriel was able to start the war.
- Even if this was an assassination attempt of Mage’s own free will for some reason, Mage’s plan sucked. Any sane person would sneak in and kill her without raising any alarms, perhaps using a poison of some sort to leave no evidence of a killer. Meanwhile Mage’s “actual plan” was to announce their presence there, neutralize the guards (possibly non-lethally), slaughter an entire room of guards using their phantasma (which everyone knows leaves them extremely physically drained), and just stab her with a knife without even so much as an exit strategy.
You can’t really tell me only two people had any doubts about the situation, and a single person was able to put it together in just a few months. That’s just ridiculous, and makes me think that they could’ve probably figured it out in weeks had they devoted more resources to decrypting the writings of one of the most dangerous mages in Param’s recent history (that kinda seems like it should’ve been a priority)
It makes the story more dramatic though, and I live for it!