Maybe it's cliche with gender bender but there is a good BELIEVABLE reason behind it.
Usually I thought, it's so stupid: why would one hide his/her identity for some stupid reasons? Just admit it and be done with it. It's always... "I can't tell because he will hate me for lying to him because I'm actually a girl."
But in here, it's different. There is a significant reason why both shouldn't reveal their identities before. For the heroine, she was forced or she would be sentenced to death. There was no other options for her. And for him, he had his own reasons.
Both characters cannot reveal their identities because there's a reason behind it. I like how the author doesn't go around prolonging unnecessary misunderstanding because of their past secret identities. Instead, they sort of know, preventing the cliche misunderstanding: I-hate-you-because-you-lie-to-me kind of thing or the "oh-no-she's-actually-a-girl-so-what-should-I-do" kind of situation. That was done in soooo many gender bender movies, manga/manhwa/manhua, book, etc. So thank God, this one doesn't dwell that long in that soap opera situation.
I love the main characters. He was devoted to her before he knew she was actually well... a girl. His affection was purely because he felt they were similar and that she was alone in the palace. It started with friendship rather than a quick romance. He actually respects her (yes, that is important and sadly missing from many shoujo works). He is sweet to her. Sometimes can be pushy but never turning into a rapist mode. She was not the weak oh-save-me type of woman. She's strong and has a dignity fits for a king (which I majorly adore!!). She maybe a b-tch sometimes but it is understandable because she needed to toughen herself up to be a king. She's smart and although her decision/action can be controversial, she thought about it first rather than some ditzy dumb bimbo action.
Putting this in a historical context and I'm in love. He's a bishie and she's a smart bishoujo. I'm adoring this so much!!
I'm just hoping that some of the characters won't betray one another just because of being blinded by love. Please.... It's so cliche.
This is what I've been waiting for. To be honest, I read Model but was confused and didn't bother to try to read this until one night when I was looking for light reading before bed. Wrong! I was hooked and couldn't sleep until I finished them all. Too bad, I still want more. But the good thing, I have plenty to read. It'll kill me if there's only like 5 releases.