I like how Ji-Woon is true to himself. He's the only one in the Palace who is honest with his feelings and doesn't hide anything. He confessed his feelings even if he knows that he's a man and a Prince because it doesn't matter for him. I loved the fact he used yeonmo word. Now, that the Prince rejected him and talked about marriage, he has no reason to stay at the Palace, after all, he always ran away from the Palace politics because of his father. It made sense that he gave his resignation.

I think the most interessant thing compared to other dramas with this trope, it's the time that Hwi lived with her new identity, 10 years. She became this person who needs to be the perfect Crown Prince, it's her only purpose and she focused on that only. The line between Dam-Y and Hwi is blurred now. Meeting Ji-Woon made change that. He changed her as Crown Prince too, she went against her grand-father for example. So the marriage puts her back on track to be the perfect Crown Prince.

I didn't feel sad for Hyun. He had so many chances to tell her that he knows her secret,to be her confident and to confess. But he didn't, not to protect her secret, but because he was afraid to be rejected. I'm happy he doesn't show any sign of jealousy and acts the same with Hwi and Ji-Woon. I hope he will stay their loyal friend. If someone can help her to leave, it's him.

I wonder about Ga-On's plan. Since he became the Crown Prince's bodyguard, he had many opportunities to kill him if it was his plan. So why did he try during the hunt and not after? Only to get closer? But for what purpose? To protect the Crown Prince? To get revenge? His story kinda made me miss Kwak Dong-Yeon in Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, he was so good in this role.

Even though I am a bit invested in Damyi and Jiwoon confronting who they are to each other, I can’t but rejoice in the subversive yet utterly unperturbed acceptance by Jiwoon of his perceived same sex attraction. I know that the heteronormative reality is the underlying current but there is something joyful and deeply humane about accepting that love can find its way into our lives in a different packaging (to put it inartfully) and that it should not be regretted or be an occasion for shame or guilt.

I enjoyed seeing Ji-woon smitten. Such a reversal of all the tropes, but most of all I loved his pink hanbok, so pretty in pink. The drama came alive for me these last two episodes because of Ji-woon's passion and pain, when he explains first thing in the morning that he is a mess, and most of all, his honesty at the end. I'm expecting/hoping, on the basis of the reviews for the next episode, that Dam-yi is going to get a measure of freedom, even though it will take a disaster to get there.

The Prince is so interesting because PEB said she is playing her as gender less, so presumably the Prince generally doesn't think about herself as a woman except in certain moments. This explains why they are going forward with a marriage that they can't consummate. I don't understand their thinking, what is the plan for an hour. They have to find another person to the know the secret. The best bet is her cousin, but she doesn't know that he knows. So what are they going to do. As for JW, even if she was a princess a lot of his actions are inappropriate. What exactly is it that he wants the Prince to do? I think they are cute together, but then what? The Prince is the only one of the two that seems to understand that. It is a strange dynamic. I also keep forgetting this is 20 episodes, ha, I keep muttering there are only 6 episodes left, when there are 10.

"..with only those sad eyes." Oof, she got me twice. First as they watched the market vendors scatter in the sudden squall and she looked on with envy and infinite sadness. Then on the parapet as she watched him walk away. PEB is so good she makes her co-actors shine.

"Yeonmohabnida."

Girl, when I tell ya I flailed, I freaking FLAILED.

I keep wondering what the end game is in this. How long can she pretend to be the prince and how will she "consummate" the wedding.

Unlike what others think, imo Jiwoon's character is a breathe of fresh air in the drama.
Him being not much questioning his sexuality is
I think natural to his character, like after observing him in a couple of episodes i knew that being in love with a man is never gonna be much of a problem to him and props to the writer for building his character that way. The main question he had was how come he loves the crown prince because of the social status and i agree with him too and i believe he would have kept his feelings to himself all his life but that kiss from hwi made his resolution to confess stronger and i dont find his confession immature at all given that he first confirmed that the CP also has feelings for him.
I have read many comments that much of jiwoon's actions are inappropriate towards the CP but i think after 10 episodes people should have understood that this drama is not gonna follow the traditional saeguk route given that it is a fiction with no relation to any real life characters, a fusion saeguk where they can bend the saeguk rules and moreover that it is a romance saeguk.
I came across a korean article where these "impossible things" that are shown in the drama are explained beautifully. For example jiwoon asking a hug from the crown prince would have been impossible and inappropriate in that period of times but the fact that this impossible thing is made possible in this story gives it a poignant touch and makes the viewers understand the human emotions better and feel connected to the characters.

I generally love sageuks and gender benders (Coffee Prince, Mr. Queen); however, this is just not working for me. Seems all I'm watching is Royal Tutor showing puppy eyes. Feeling the whole gay thing is being forced on audience. Drama seems slow...thinking of dropping if doesn't pick up soon (I just forced myself to finish ep. 3).

This straight-up could've been a BL manhwa. Honestly, it's painful to watch Ji-woon not know and make a fool of himself, but I appreciate his quick acceptance of his bisexuality and the absense of gay panic.

If So-yeon becomes the crown princess, at least they can commission Ji-woon's help to produce an heir since So-yeon likes him. Still, why answer when she didn't want to be chosen?

We know that Ji-woon is a big womanizer

We do?

Ji Woon's confession scene was SO good. His lines, her sad expressions. Gah!

I was disappointed that Hyun was there though. It was such a private, special moment that I didn't want anyone else to witness it. He already figured out the deep connection between the two beforehand and that they were each other's first loves. He's hiding his own heartbreak so I didn't want to see him crushed even more. I doubt he can continue to bury his feelings. Keeping it all bottled up isn't healthy.

I'm glad we got to see a bit more into the king this week. It does seem like he cares for Dam Yi and may know that she is really his daughter.

Jiwoon just keeps making me swoon. PEB is a revelation. How did I not watch any of her dramas before this? Those eyes kill me every time. Is Jiwoon a womanizer? I thought the gisaengs loved him because of his natural skin care remedies just like the court ladies.

Park Eun Bin is EVERYTHING.

Her eyes manage to express longing, sadness and affection so well it makes my heart break into a billion pieces.

The way she looked at Jiwoon before she kissed him. Her face when she opened the
letter with the flowers. She BREAKS me. Every single time. My heart weeps for our crown prince(ss) and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I just need this show to end with her happy. That is all I need. She deserves the world.

I'm still watching this show but somehow FF A LOT in the last 2 episodes. Ji-woon is such a cute puppy but I don't find myself invested in their love line. What I really want to know now is how the royal family deal with the crisis once Hwi's real identity is revealed. I know this show is advertised as romance-focused, but compared to Hwi's life and death matter, Ji-woon's love seems too insignificant. I was mainly attracted by the tragic struggle of the late Crown Princess, so I stay just to see the end of this story. Both the King and the Grand Queen seem to genuinely love Hwi despite their own agendas, so it'll be interesting to see their choices. The teaser seems to hint that the King will know that Hwi's a girl next week. Can't wait for that!

This drama has pulled me into the intrigue of court politics like almost no other sageuk has ever done. As much as I love the cute romance and the angsty romance, I seriously want more time with all the other characters and I want to see where the political drama is going and how they're all going to deal with it.

Rowoon is much better than I thought he'd be in this. I actually believed his confession as Jiwoon. Color me flabbergasted. I do like the slow pretty scenes and I really like how PEB is playing this prince. This is probably the first show where I believe she could be a "he" and boys could fall for her as a "him." I think the side characters are interesting too. I don't think the court politics are bringing the show down, which I typically find the politics slow and frustrating. And I realize that this isn't really a sageuk, but fusion if anything, but I like that. I'm very much a sageuk-like kind of gal. I think I'm in it until the end. I can't figure out how they're going to let the prince live happily ever after. Well, I can, it's not rocket science, or even immunology (lol).

These past two episodes have been a little slow for me. I fast-forwarded and skipped around toward the end of Episode 10. I'm watching it purely for Ji-Woon and Hwi and the cinematography. The colors are so pretty, dreamy, and romantic.

Hyungnim tracing the court-maid is worried about the wrong thing. His 2+2=4 shouldn't be about Damyi's identity as the crown prince, but about the realization that Damyi's first love is none other than Ji-Woon. I don't think he's fully accepted what that means, because denial, just like his reluctance to confess, is his preferred choice of self-preservation.
Ji-woon did a Joseon-style coming out, and I love how there was ZERO gay-panic around it. I like how he's SO unbothered about the semantics of body-parts; a true doctor, eh? :P Though, him imagining the CP dressed as a woman dancer was to paint the romance in hetero-normative colors (and avoid censorship)... but if this is one step closer to representation we get, (that we almost did but didn't, in Mr. Queen), then I'm happy.

I kinda want the CP to invite Ji-woon for regular threesomes post wedding, and maybe even get Ga-On to produce the next royal heir, if he's willing. What an epic 'fuck-off' to the royal family, that has wronged not just Ga-On, but Dam-yi as well. Back to reality... I'm loving the weekly dose of BL AND GL that I get from this one show alone! xD

So far, reverse-harem has conflicts. Hyungnim's biggest conflict is harboring feelings for an imposter, cross-dressing woman who might as well be his cousin, Ji-woon's biggest conflict is that he's crushing on the Nation's Crown Prince (& maybe also that the Prince is a man) and Ga-On's conflict is that he's sposed to hate the CP and maybe also take revenge? Fun.