I actually exchanged with N_taii by PM this weekend, and he took the time to explain many things in detail. Thanks to that, a lot of points that seemed confusing finally make sense. Some answers will only come in future updates, of course, but I finally understand the logic he is building.
Below is what he clarified, point by point, in relation to the topics you mentioned.
According to N_taii, the amulet Rose gives the Duke is
the device used to gather emotional energy and feed the Peacekeeper towers.
The Duke
pretends to give her a real amulet, telling her she can throw it away and “end everything,” but the one he gives her is
fake.
The goal is not trust — it is
pure manipulation:
- He wants Rose to believe she has a choice
- He wants her to believe he has no personal interest
- He keeps the real amulet so she never actually has freedom
Rose continues not because she “wants” the Duke, but because she thinks she must protect her kingdom — and because she is emotionally overwhelmed and corrupted. The Duke’s lie simply reinforces that she never had real agency in the first place.
N_taii also confirmed the amulet
only works with the Duke, not with Rose or Leto, which creates an additional duty-versus-love dilemma for her.
I honestly don’t understand the amount of hostility Cyanna gets here. Maybe there’s a specific detail some people interpret differently, but based on what I discussed with
N_taii, her situation makes perfect sense.
From what he explained:
- Cyanna is someone who is physically strong but mentally very vulnerable, constantly doubting herself.
- Ulrod exploited that weakness. He acts like a “lifeline” to her, even though he’s actually the center of the storm.
- When she is with him, all her doubts and pain get replaced by pleasure, which becomes something she seeks out more and more.
- This creates a twisted emotional dependence — not love — formed through manipulation and a kind of brainwashing, as he put it.
About the Rose situation, N_taii confirmed that Cyanna
did think about telling Leto after catching Rose with the Duke. She wanted to act on it, but she held back for two reasons:
- She loves Leto, and deliberately hurting him — even with the truth — is something she cannot bring herself to do.
- She knows Rose isn’t doing this “for fun,” but because she believes it’s the only way to protect her kingdom and the people she loves. That puts Cyanna in an extremely uncomfortable position.
As for rivalry, yes — Cyanna sees Rose as someone she
cannot surpass, which creates her internal conflict. Staying silent wasn’t about siding with Rose; it was about not destroying Leto emotionally at that moment.
Personally, Cyanna is still one of my favorite characters. I don’t see her as “unsympathetic” at all — just deeply conflicted and manipulated. And if things escalate and Ulrod ever tries to kill Leto, I would honestly love to see Cyanna turn against him and finally break free from his influence.
Regarding Haylen, I want to clarify something based on what
N_taii told me in PM.
He actually mentioned that
“some pieces of the puzzle are still missing” concerning her behavior, and that her situation will make more sense as the story progresses.
From what he explained:
• Haylen’s attachment to Jazon doesn’t begin as attraction. She protects him because he is an orphan like Leto, and both of Jazon’s parents died. She sees him as someone fragile who needs guidance, not as a romantic partner.
• Jazon also has his own inherited fortune and social influence, which allows him to manipulate events around the church. Haylen isn’t aware of the full extent of his actions, especially at the beginning.
• Over time, Haylen slowly shifts toward wanting to
start a new family, have her own children, and build a life that gives her stability. According to N_taii, this naturally creates emotional distance between her and Leto — not because she rejects him, but because her priorities start changing on their own.
So when he says that “some pieces of the puzzle are missing,” he means that her arc is
not fully revealed yet and her motivations aren’t random or illogical. They’re simply incomplete from the player’s current perspective.
She is not defending Jazon “for no reason” or acting like a “bitch in heat”, She is lonely, overwhelmed, emotionally exhausted, and extremely vulnerable to someone who appears to need her help.
It doesn’t absolve her of everything, but it does give context to why she behaves the way she does.
About Lily, I think people overlook several important layers in her situation. Based on what N_taii explained to me, her story is not about arrogance or refusing help just to be stubborn. Her entire arc revolves around pressure, money, and the need to keep her dignity intact while chasing goals that constantly slip out of reach. Nezar blocks her opportunities one after another until relying on him starts to feel like the only option she has, and that is how she gets trapped in his influence.
N_taii also confirmed that she does confess her feelings to Leto, not to start a relationship, but because she needs to acknowledge them honestly. Leto is caught off guard and fails to give her an answer in time, so she leaves when the girls call her. That small scene is meant to create doubt on Leto’s side and push him to question whether what he feels for her is simply friendship or something deeper. Lily then convinces herself that her feelings are impossible to realize and slowly shifts toward using sex for practical goals instead of emotional ones.
Now I want to clarify that what follows is my personal interpretation, based on what I have observed in the game. Lily clearly does not want to return home or end up like her mother, who lives in total dependence on the man Lily calls “her master.” In the latest update she even admits that Leto and Cyanna have succeeded in life and are now high in the social hierarchy, and that Rose is even higher. From her perspective she will never reach their level. Lily wants to be seen as capable and independent, not as someone who constantly needs others to rescue her.
In my view, Lily wants Leto to recognize her as someone strong who can stand on her own. She does not want to fall into a relationship dynamic where she depends on him the same way her mother depended on that man. That is also one of the reasons why she originally ran away from home. Leto helped her at a moment when she truly needed it, but she refuses to become someone he has to save again and again.
So while Lily makes mistakes, I would not say she has no excuse. She is dealing with insecurity, survival pressure, and a deep fear of repeating her mother’s life. These factors shape her choices far more than simple pride or stubbornness.
As for the side characters you listed, I actually haven’t discussed them with N_taii yet, so I don’t have enough concrete information to judge their motivations or future roles. Right now, I only see what the story shows on the surface, and that’s far too limited for me to say anything definitive about whether they feel guilt, whether they were fully aware of what they were helping with, or what their true intentions are supposed to be.
If you have specific questions about any of them, feel free to ask. I can bring those points to N_taii the next time he has a moment to answer me, since he has been very open to clarifying things when I relay questions from the community.