Shouldn't really be a romance tag, agreed, but I do love me some psychological thrillers like this. Sometimes you just want to read something with a nasty ML where his actions aren't swept under the rug, or the MC falls in love just because he smiled at her once. This makes a lot more sense and is a better read for a "guilty pleasure" versus things like the emperor's companion, mostly because the author is honest about what a shitbag the ML is and how terrible the relationship would be.
Also super glad that the story is going super slow paced with the "romance" aspect, and the ML only really cares/is interested because she interests him, not because he finds her attractive.