Suji Kim
Ok..To be fair to Riftan, she isnt clear and has nothing to do with her stutter. She has the beginning and middle conversation in her head and vocalizing the end out loud. He get the tail end. She's making statements/assumption to questions he never asked and based on what her father told her. Riftan know exactly the type of man her father and he assumes that she is like all women of royal families, spoiled,self-absorbed, elitists,entitled. Neither are mind readers, they are like two dancers on the floor, where they are expected to dance with each other, but the problem is that they have never dance before so they keep stepping on each others toes. while trying to *figure it out*. It's can be painful to watch!
This chapter shows both of their insecurities. Riftan was poor and he fears that the woman he loves won't be satisfied with him. Even if he worked hard to gain gold, he's still not a noble and it's probably a big issue for his pride. On the other hand Maxi has grown up being told to be useless and stupid and whatever that idiot of a sperm donor did to her... She simply can't understand why he would want to be with her because she believes that she isn't worthy They have a lot to work with, both of them honestly, but we're still at the beginning!