She may not have been actively seeking to deal bodily harm, but she certainly wasn't against it if it furthered her goal, as she had Reshtoku beat up and/or rough up soldiers in order to gather information about the wedding. It was only when that wasn't working as well as she hoped that she adopted a gentler approach.
And once again, if her aim were truly just the prince and Aurora, then why bother going for the wedding? Why not do it beforehand? She could've taken the ring, wrecked the cathedral, and much more all before the wedding. Not only would she had taken something that belonged to her sister, but it would've left a lasting impact. Of course, this simply goes back to last chapter's discussion about the nature of her revenge and whether it achieved anything or not.
And once again, this chapter clearly showed us that Karina's revenge achieved nothing, and that she has no idea what she's doing or what she wants at this point. And if her revenge being empty was the intentional point, then it once again goes back to she could've just stayed in the damn mountains, because she certainly didn't do herself any favors.
As for her life and burdens. Sure, her upbringing as well as circumstances had brought her to that point, but let's not pretend that she didn't also play a part in it. Karina had knew early on that the Prince wasn't interested in her, and that he wanted her sister instead. However despite knowing that, Karina had made no move or attempt to better her situation.
Instead she opted to live in luxury and partake in the royal family's lavishing expenses (a fact that she herself had admitted). And if you're wondering what could Karina possibly do to better her situation; the simplest would've simply been getting the Crown Prince on her side, and that wouldn't have been difficult if Karina played her cards right.
She already knew that he wanted her sister, and we see just how easy it is to both manipulate him and stroke his ego. Karina could've simply gave him the idea that she supports his feelings for her sister and that she could help him with it in return for rewards. Heck she wouldn't even need to mention the rewards, as she could simply handle that portion discreetly herself.
So all in all, I can certainly agree that Karina's situation is tragic. However at the same time, I can't say that I feel sorry for her as we're literally witnessing her play a part in ensuring her own tragic end. From beginning to end, she had a hand in setting up her own demise. At this point, the only way it won't come to pass, is if Reshtoku doesn't play out the original story and/or her sister Aurora (plus Eve) come a save Karina. If the latter ends up happening, it would really make Karina look even more like a fool since it would imply she didn't even try to understand her sister and that the whole vendetta that she held against Aurora was not only pointless but also misplaced.
I think we're largely in agreement, except for differing interpretations on the core of Karina's character and what the aim of her story really is.
Your last line is the operative point. Karina's anger at Aurora
is entirely misplaced. She believes that Aurora has orchestrated everything bad that's happened to her, by way of manipulating everyone around them with her actions and demeanor and seeming frailty to garner sympathy, and favor, over Karina.
You point out that Orlando wanted Aurora first, but Karina was sent in her stead due to the younger sister's failing health. That right there is a rejection of Karina from the outset--she was "the spare". And that was off the back of her parents constantly prioritizing Aurora for years before that--and Karina watched Aurora get love, and affection, and gifts that were
intended for Karina, and grew to despise her.
To say nothing of all of that being Karina's projection onto Aurora. Even now, we're not given anything concrete when it comes to the inner workings of the younger sister's mind, or her motivations--except that she's stepped in multiple times to stave off Orlando's intentions to murder Karina,
and she has done things that, on the surface, appear to be acts of good faith if you look at them from a perspective other than Karina's distorted lens.
(The "beautifying" of the northern castle and the returning on the stuffed animal from their childhood--could easily have been a peace offering from Aurora, but Karina's twisted view of her sister born of the years she's believed herself a victim of her younger sister's machinations made it seem sinister and violating.)
Everything about Karina's situation is born of her perceiving things one way, and those not necessarily being the case. We see her narration in the first chapter--she believed she was behaving as a proper queen-to-be, only for Orlando to denounce their engagement out of the blue (from her perspective), and she believed that Aurora had come at last to take even her future away from her, after everything else through the years.
She was doing what she thought was expected of her, because things had
always been expected of her, and she didn't see the signs of people badmouthing her behind her back until it was all ripped out from under her.
And no - I don't agree that Karina would have been better served attacking Aurora and Orlando in some private space. She wanted to showboat, to be flashy and loud. Crashing the wedding itself did that
precisely, because she wanted to at long last take something away from Aurora, in a way that could be seen by everyone.
Karina is convinced that Aurora is the source of her woes, and a public display of wrecking the wedding ceremony was Karina's way of getting back at her sister and ensuring it couldn't be swept under the rug or lied about/misconstrued.
To wit - this is a story of perspectives and differing representations of reality and how those things affect the lives of the people within it.
We have Karina seeing Aurora one way, that might not be true.
We have Karina's name smeared and erased by the Crown, with everyone believing her a villain--and when Eve speaks to her disguised mother, we learn that the "official narrative" isn't accurate.
We have Eve herself, a storyteller and chronicler, trying to uncover the truth of Karina--and seeing parallels in a fairy tale, worried about a tragic ending and racing to prevent it.
We have Aurora hiding away her thoughts and feelings from everyone, now in pursuit of her sister alongside Eve to nebulous ends. She's heard this fairy tale from Eve, but the conclusion is unclear, and her motives and aims toward Karina mirror that.
Everyone has a preconceived notion of what's actually been going on and what is going to happen--but none of them have the full, or correct, picture, and from that the central conflict is derived.
