I know that this won't be the case, but honestly I'd love it if, when the time comes and Ruby starts to suffer the effects of Lloyd's absence, at least part of her suffering comes from a place of emotional attachment. Like, I know it's just gonna be some shit like her much-touted alchemy skills being entirely dependent on the extremely high level of quality that Lloyd's ingredients have, and that just like all the other stories like this she's gonna make commitments that she can no longer keep now that he's gone, but something about the way this story was set up makes me really want to her to also feel pain at the notion that a man who she, at some level deep inside her, cared about is now gone from her life for good.
I think it's something about how the premise had them as lovers on top of just being childhood friends, combined with how much she took his presence for granted (her reaction to his declaration that he's leaving indicated that this was not the first time he made moves to separate from her) at the beginning of the story. All of that combines in a really specific way that makes me want her to feel his absence on an emotional level more than I've ever wanted to see before in this type of story.
I don't necessarily want them to get back together in the end or anything like that, mind you. That ship has long since sailed. But I'd love it if she at least felt regret or remorse over losing him beyond just "oh fuck now my business is failing and my life is in ruins"
Like, the first chapter had that one flashback scene that seemed to imply that their relationship had something to it beyond just "let's work to be the best in our field", and I'd really like to see that reflected as a sense of loss on her end.
EDIT: Forgot to mention this, but thanks a bunch for the translation. I've been dying to see this story continue, so I'm super excited to get an update.
