@theShear As I said before, she can simply -tell- the prince to give her someone else. And it really doesn't matter that Elizabeth was the only friendly one, that doesn't change that she is -aware- of what she's doing and not doing anything about it. Her actions there are still wrong, it just makes the other's jerks too.
@primrosea If I remember correctly it has been -months- in story. Culture shock is over. And the problem is not that she isn't fully independent, the problem is that she is not trying to be independent, and she is intentionally taking advantage of this. As she reasons out in her own thought bubble that she knows what she's doing but will still do it, because she cares only about herself.
@Dragontrainer comic specifically says that there would be times and days where she doesn't see her parents because htey both work. She was not totally dependent. She isn't a baby, she should have enough social independence to speak up for herself at least, and that is where her fault is that she is not speaking up, and that she is consciously doing something bad out of her own self interest. No one is saying she needs to fix everything by herself, but she is making zero effort.
The rest of what you say is mostly true but relies on assumptions, but also you're dodging the problem. The problem is not that Aria isn't independent. The problem is that she is being 'clingy' with other people's fiances. It'd be one thing if the prince was manipulating her. But she has made -zero- effort to increase the distance even a little. Like I mentioned, she can ask the prince to back off a little, and ask for someone else who isn't engaged to look after her. 100% chance the prince has butlers or maids that can do that. And she doesn't need to know the world's etiquette to know that when someone straight up tells you you're causing problems, that you're causing problems. She in her own thoughts specifically reasoned that these people were telling her not to be close to people's fiances. She didn't think it was jealousy telling her to stay away from their crushes, she -knows- they're engaged and that socially it's a problem if she's close. Yes it's scary, but just because she's scared doesn't mean her actions aren't bad actions.
@shinsenryuu that's what I mean though. I think he is trying to -avoid- feeling more guilt by not coming face to face with Sei, that's why i think he didn't have them meet, cause he wouldn't be able to dodge guilt then. (And I agree it didn't seem like he felt guilt at all till this chapter)
@domo404 his expression when Aria started crying was for sure guilt. He could be faking it yes, but honestly we don't have enough information about what the prince has been doing on a personal level to be sure about anything. It's hard to even evaluate if he's a jerk, or just legit stupid. But also pretty sure he's not grooming her in the way you think either. He's also not keeping people away. She goes to normal classes, and interacts with other people as well. The prince just steps in when he thinks people are harassing her. (Well actually we don't even know if he's stepped in multiple times we just have this one time to go off.)
I was hoping it was close to what I read somewhere before.
