Yes, I had about the same impression of her after the first chapter, and the fact that she is a mandatory MC's girlfriend hasn't added to her likability either in my book. Well, I've bitched enough about this earlier in the thread
And my first reaction was also to immediately dump her with all her quirks and bullshits, especially since there are so many beautiful girls around, absolutely stunning Fiona, witty, gentle and fragile Elea, a decent cast of side girls. Damn, even the big-eared creature looks awesome too, right? Who wouldn't want to tame a hot elven woman?
It takes an effort to accept Kaya, you have to constantly remember where she comes from. After all, since her childhood she was raised as a knight of the order, one can only imagine how much of that knightly-nobelty nonsense of all sorts her semi mental-crippled mentors hammered into her head. It might seem like she's maintaining her delusion about what's really important just to annoy the MC. To hell with all these oaths, secrets, moronic rituals, she has to be honest with her soulmate, right? But this is the world in which she has lived since childhood, and she knows no other. She has been taught all her life to serve the Order, to obey and respect the leadership, to believe in their codes and rules, and to always put the interests of the order ahead of her own, even sacrificing herself if necessary.
The MC's dad with the order's council is a rare peace of work I must say. The fucking architects of human souls, my ass. If anyone is to blame for why Kaija acts like this in the beginning, it's them, bunch of old bastards. In fact, the whole life of the girl passes under the supervision of these fanatics. They tell her what to believe, who to serve, where to fight, who to sleep with. Very nice. I don't know if Herbert's “Dune” was one of the inspirations for the author, but these Templars are very similar to the Bene Gesserit in their methods and morals. There is definitely some resemblance between them. No wonder Kaija's ass burned up so brightly when the MC questioned The Order's moral principles and methods in the recent chapter.
In my opinion, the character turned out to be very deep, interesting and believable. At first it seems that she does not care at all about their relationship, but this is clearly her aegis of restraint, developed over a lifetime. With whom should she discuss emotions and feelings, who was supposed to teach her how to express them, if all she did in her life was training in the slaughtering of the supernatural creatures and serving the Order without days off? And yet, she loves the MC, and if he decides to give her a second chance and takes a few steps towards her, she will happily seize this opportunity and sincerely try to make amends for her mistakes and build a relationship with him again.
So, I don't hate her anymore and I'm very interested in seeing her story. There's only one thing about her that bothers me. I can't shake the feeling that her face is a composite of several male and female portraits. Even though I've seen her in the shower, I'm still afraid that she's hiding something under her skirt.
