Anyways, good update! I'm starting to see what this cycle stuff is about and... I'm starting to think that the Red Emperor drank a bit too much of the pale horse kool-aid.
First, the way the pale horse speaks about breaking the chains, breaking the cycle etc. is pretty much the same as what the red emperor is saying. So either the Red Emperor is a "reflection" or he got scared by the prophecy that the elven oracle told the first human emperor and decided to support or worship the moon/reflection lady. Because she wants the same thing, breaking the cycle of life which leads to a world-level-exctinction event.
Elin is a reflection therefore she is willingly or unwillingly doing the moon/reflection lady's bidding. If you make her pregnant, the child will be like a female version of sauron, lmao. No, even scarier, since she can literally mess with time, interfering with visions that are shown in the past (present for the mc).
From what has been explained about the cycles, well, that's life for you. Kingdoms and empires rise and fall all the time throughout history. So I personally don't mind the cycle. Actually, I'm more on the side of mirta to keep the cycle.
I'm not too fond of the idea that mirta is like a puppeteer and the strings are fate but if the alternative is extinction, is there really a choice? =P
What I don't understand is, how is it possible that the daughter between the mc and elin is more powerful than a goddess? That's something I can't comprehend. Gods and godesses are supposed to be all powerful and so on, so you would think that a godess wouldn't be overpowered by a mere mortal, mage or not. And I doubt 2 mortals can birth a god/goddess.
And why is the red emperor even competing with mirta? The red emperor was also just a human and mirta is a goddess. So is it really the red emperor speaking or is it "the nameless god" that takes the appearance of the red emperor for convenience?
So if the goddess of the elves, mirta, wants to keep the world alive by letting the cycle of life continue
the moon/reflection lady wants to destroy the cycle and the world
the catlady wants the opposite of what the moon/reflection lady wants.
where does the nameless god stand? Does it want to break the cycle or maintain status quo?
I also don't understand fate in this story. Most of the stories I've read that had the concept of fate in it; fate was inevitable. No matter how much a character struggles, they will eventually fulfill their fate. In some cases, the ones who actively are trying to prevent their fate, are the ones who unknowingly fulfill it because of their resistance. So why is fate such a fragile thing in this story? I mean, one wrong choice and it's the end of the world. Also the cycle of life itself, is so fragile. You just have to kill 3 specific persons to end the world... that also contributes to my confusion about the status of mirta as a goddess. Her actions show more of a caretaker role than a queen of the universe kind of role. To be fair, i'm not complaining, just trying to understand the story.
I also feel sorry for Aurora. She is raised to be a political tool; learned all the weddingvows of every culture on the continent and when the mc asked she paused in her answer so what she actually said was a lie. She has low self-esteem and is very timid. She is being painted as an emotional vampire that literally sucks the happiness out of you by the visions of the blood. The future daughter will (prolly) try to steal daddy away from her mother because she is no longer "useful". (the visions of the blood when it's about the cold blood)
Ouch, can't you give this girl a freaking break? xD
That reminds me of another question; what are the conditions to have "cold" and "hot" blood? Isis apparently has hotter blood then the mc and aurora has cold blood. Is it the strength of the bloodline? Is it magical potential? Has it something to do with fate?
Sorry guys for the wall of text =P