To all the folks complaining about her acting exactly as she did in the past before the time skip, please remember that it’s much easier said than done to fight against the abuse of an adult. Fighting back against her abusive adoptive brothers was comparatively easier because she actually did have a decent support system—that is, her adoptive parents. While her parents’ methods of dealing with the problem could be questionable, they didn’t tend to work against her. Besides that, she was dealing with children. Incredibly malicious and vindictive children, yes, but she was perfectly equipped to fight against them—never mind that she was living in a child’s body, she had the mind of an adult, plus she was well aware of their characters, quirks and habits and all. Handling them would have been a challenge, sure, but not impossible. She was fighting enemies her own size. On top of that, her courage to face them came from a place of frustration, as well as the resolve to change the past, which included saving her adoptive parents.
Obviously, that didn’t happen. In fact, it’s arguably worse: not only did her parents die, Cabel got caught up in the accident, too. Her resolve is naturally going to be cracked from the shock of it. Her biggest support system is gone. Look at the situation: she’s the adopted girl, who has internalised the view that she’s an outsider, and so rationalised that consequently, her problems matter less than that of the actual family. And who’s she up against now? An adult. The power structure’s changed. It doesn’t matter if she’s got the mind of an adult, she’s in a child’s body, and she doesn’t have much freedom to fight against an authoritative figure because the abusive adult isn’t going to consider her as seriously as an abusive sibling might. She doesn’t have power: she’s a kid, who was adopted, and as far as the adult knows, definitely not of very reputable origins, plus she’s a girl if anybody cares about gender here. On top of that, this abusive adult is actually helping Erich. Erich responded to nobody’s attempts to help him except this adult, so who’s to say what he’d do if his biggest support suddenly disappeared because of a person he hates?
Why can’t she ask Eugene for help? Well, how can she ask Eugene for help? Eugene’s swamped with all the work since their parents died, he’s the new head of the house with siblings too young and immature to rely upon, and he’s more stressed than anybody ever should be. So how can she, the outsider child, in a situation where everybody’s mourning, come out and say ‘the new guardian’s abusing me’ when he’s already got so much on his plate and probably struggled just to find someone to help take care of them? If Eugene heard, would he support her? Of course he would. But the protagonist still doesn’t understand that. She has a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Eugene will look out for her because when she has become so accustomed to his role as the accomplice of her abusers for a lifetime, that shift in attitude doesn’t fit in with that mentality. Don’t tell me that it should be obvious. Having someone who formerly abused you suddenly treat you well, no matter how reasonably previous events have explained it to be very not-so-sudden, is not going to be obvious. It tends to get your guard up for something worse.
I don’t know about this being terrible writing, but since the author’s gone and put this arc in anyway, I’m glad that they recognise the challenge in actually speaking up against child abuse. I don’t like that Hari has to stay quiet for the good of the family again either, but I’d be much more annoyed if the author played off talking about child abuse as if it’s an everyday complaint. Deciding not to let yourself be abused anymore is hard enough, and stopping the abuse is even harder. “Help” is a word that’s tough to say when you’re surrounded by people you think would never want to help.
This was just my take on why she decided to stay quiet. I think I had more points to add to explain why she’s being like this, and I’m sure somebody’s going to have better and more valid arguments against or for my own, but luckily for anybody reading this, I’ve forgotten them all, so I’ll spare you guys of an even longer essay. Congrats if you make it to the end of this lol and thanks as always to the group translating!
Obviously, that didn’t happen. In fact, it’s arguably worse: not only did her parents die, Cabel got caught up in the accident, too. Her resolve is naturally going to be cracked from the shock of it. Her biggest support system is gone. Look at the situation: she’s the adopted girl, who has internalised the view that she’s an outsider, and so rationalised that consequently, her problems matter less than that of the actual family. And who’s she up against now? An adult. The power structure’s changed. It doesn’t matter if she’s got the mind of an adult, she’s in a child’s body, and she doesn’t have much freedom to fight against an authoritative figure because the abusive adult isn’t going to consider her as seriously as an abusive sibling might. She doesn’t have power: she’s a kid, who was adopted, and as far as the adult knows, definitely not of very reputable origins, plus she’s a girl if anybody cares about gender here. On top of that, this abusive adult is actually helping Erich. Erich responded to nobody’s attempts to help him except this adult, so who’s to say what he’d do if his biggest support suddenly disappeared because of a person he hates?
Why can’t she ask Eugene for help? Well, how can she ask Eugene for help? Eugene’s swamped with all the work since their parents died, he’s the new head of the house with siblings too young and immature to rely upon, and he’s more stressed than anybody ever should be. So how can she, the outsider child, in a situation where everybody’s mourning, come out and say ‘the new guardian’s abusing me’ when he’s already got so much on his plate and probably struggled just to find someone to help take care of them? If Eugene heard, would he support her? Of course he would. But the protagonist still doesn’t understand that. She has a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Eugene will look out for her because when she has become so accustomed to his role as the accomplice of her abusers for a lifetime, that shift in attitude doesn’t fit in with that mentality. Don’t tell me that it should be obvious. Having someone who formerly abused you suddenly treat you well, no matter how reasonably previous events have explained it to be very not-so-sudden, is not going to be obvious. It tends to get your guard up for something worse.
I don’t know about this being terrible writing, but since the author’s gone and put this arc in anyway, I’m glad that they recognise the challenge in actually speaking up against child abuse. I don’t like that Hari has to stay quiet for the good of the family again either, but I’d be much more annoyed if the author played off talking about child abuse as if it’s an everyday complaint. Deciding not to let yourself be abused anymore is hard enough, and stopping the abuse is even harder. “Help” is a word that’s tough to say when you’re surrounded by people you think would never want to help.
This was just my take on why she decided to stay quiet. I think I had more points to add to explain why she’s being like this, and I’m sure somebody’s going to have better and more valid arguments against or for my own, but luckily for anybody reading this, I’ve forgotten them all, so I’ll spare you guys of an even longer essay. Congrats if you make it to the end of this lol and thanks as always to the group translating!
