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Controversial opinion now that my other Blind Prince post is making the rounds, I actually like Charles Lin. Or rather, he doesn't infuriate me through his attitude and personality, in fact, I like his role in the story. It is part of what sold me on Sebastian/Elaine. Explanation time!

Despite Elaine's hopes in the first chapter, the Blind Prince's summary (and title) spoil the surprise, Charles Lin is not the one for her. Starting from here, remained to be seen how he would fail. Since he was about to propose and the curse was hanging in the air like a Damocles sword the set up was rather obvious. It's the details that matter.

Elaine, having fled the party at the cries of the imprisoned Rook, seeks solace with Charles and forgets her earlier turmoil, swept away by love, the magic of this proposal: everything she never dared to dream of. But reality is never far behind. Charles acts according to what we, and more importantly, he knows. Hunting is the family business, and a Rook is a powerful (cf. rare, precious) gift that his sister was delighted to receive. Only the best for his fiancée! Especially since one just showed up!

Tellingly, during the proposal itself, when he imagines his and Elaine's future married bliss, not once is she wearing the gloves. The ones she wears everyday in his presence. That makes him at best forgetful and at worst a bit of a cad. Unless he unconsciously identified and sorted the gloves as something related to property and forced upon Elaine by her mother. Still, canonically he doesn't appear to notice, the gloves or her discomfort at removing them.

For me the point of non-return is when he points the gun at her. Elaine notices but for her it's within expectations. The curse is bad, it ensures a bad reaction, Charles is afraid, that tracks. But he loves her, the proof is right there on her finger! He will listen to her once he calms down, he might even tolerate the curse! Accept her in spite of it. Then he pushes her beyond the veil. Puts a serious dent in her love struck state. It's not like she harmed by it, but symbolically, and in the minds of all who lives there, it's a one-way trip. Bit hard to be a relationship then.

My point is that the gun is a threat of lethal violence. It would be hard to come back from that, even in a work where Charles is the male lead and not a placeholder for our favorite prince. Being fair to Charles, just a few days earlier he saw Lily being... vanished (?) by the Warden while forced to be a bystander, and swore to himself he'd take action next time. Thus the decisive but impulsive act of throwing Elaine beyond the veil. Made perfect sense in his head, since he suspected her of being the Warden's spy/accomplice. Dramatic irony at its best, this is Atticus in a nutshell.

Charles and Elaine's love was their first love, a young love. When Elaine voices doubts about Charles' proposal it's because she is insecure. The curse still hangs over her after all, he doesn't know. Charles chooses to reassure her by saying: "we have never argued." That screams untested infatuation. And indeed, they splinter at the first hurdle. Bit of a trial by fire but the results are incontestable and Kadena knows it.

None of that so far is a defence of his behaviour. But narratively Charles shoulders the very important role of providing a template of what not to do. He's basically constantly put in contrast with Sebastian, to reinforce the latter position as the correct choice. That's why he's not void of any qualities, his drive to protect his sister (even if stiffing/infantalising her) is noble, and he's taking it seriously. Given Elaine's abandonment of her engagement ring, I suspect he will mature on that soon. As prerequisite to his reunion with Elaine. Potentially it'd even happen just as Seb does something to drive a wedge between himself and Elaine, so Charles is a serious "threat" (cf. rival) to their love.

Another thing I like about Charles, (this time not mere tolerance or lack of animosity but outright appreciation) is how the narrative gives space to his self-justifications. He's condemned by Isabella, to a lesser degree by Moira, even if she doesn't voice it, but he still doesn't abandon it. Isa tells us why, he has to, otherwise it means he hurt someone he loved. A good person wouldn't do that. Most people like to consider themselves good. Ergo, cognitive dissonance that he solves through making Elaine the culprit and him the wronged party. It happens a lot but in fiction it's not often represented, and so clearly too. I love that.

Last but not least, as someone on the aromantic spectrum, I loved that the mere fact of Charles' existence meant Elaine starts to view Seb as a friend first because she is engaged. And likewise, Seb vocally expresses his support by promising she'll see him again, and inquiring about what kind of person Charles is, to learn about Elaine. Gave them the space to not only be romantic interests, which strengthen their dynamic greatly.

#the blind prince #charles lin

Your Highness, did you not go to greet the Empress? How are you here now? REBIRTH (2026)

Ep106 the Blind Prince

Kasper

Oh Kasper

#the blind prince #webtoon #charles lin #kasper #he looks like solitary confinement sucked out his soul #oh sweet angry baby no #what has the warden done to you

I think this is supposed to be sexy but that mask looks like it came straight from one of those airplane catalogues.

This drama is crossing over into "so bad it's good" territory, like a truly trashy mini.

PS I should be mocking this narrative for giving us another "instalove with a random but why" set up but I would just like to point out that at one point, the wind machine was so strong, I wondered if they hired a helicopter to fly right overhead.

PPS

#cdrama #rebirth #lin borui #charles lin

I stopped reading The Blind Prince for a few months because life was lifeing and come back to them recruiting Atticus, planning to steal a stone arm, and the humans STAYING throughly manipulated by that stupid Warden.

This is fine.

Also, HOT TAKE: Is it just me who…genuinely doesn’t understand why most of the fandom has it out for Charles? Isn’t he a victim of circumstance? Of course it’s going to take a lot more for him to break out of his prejudice, he was a lot more raised in it than Isabella ever was.

“But Isabella rectified her mindset easily! Charles just lacks critical thinking skills and the ability to change.l

I don’t think so. Isabella wasn’t being encouraged to think in the way that she originally did about Rooks as much as Charles was. In the most recent episodes, she even emphasizes how she wasn’t allowed on hunts and is now grateful for that. But Charles was never provided that privilege because “a man must hunt and kill and be strong enough to protect” and all that other bs.

Just…I wish that The Blind Prince fandom would cut him some slack. And they’ll probably burn me at the stake having this take, but it’s what I think.

#the blind prince #the blind prince webtoon #elaine clarke #sebastian tbp #charles lin