I actually like Donau better (having read a good chunk of the novel the emperor sucks more there than in the manhwa) but I don't think this is a bad result for him.
I REFUSE TO BELIEVE DONAU IS GAME OVER. I'm gonna stay on this sinking ship until the very end. Captain goes down with the ship (ಠ⌣ಠ)
Real talk, Donau/Paul seems way more viable than Emperor/Paul when we look at status. Although now we have to throw breaking off the engagement into the mix, I guess that evens the scale a little.
Lucious' face at the end is someone who is totally not ready but forced to have a meeting about his-secret-lady-crush and we will see his patience being tested in the next chp
As much as I like every chapter, I understand Pauliana's struggle. She is never recognized as who she is, a woman. People starts rationalized Pauliana as a man (hence the source of the knights' fight). It's so sad. Her action is understandable and she seems to never believe she would get married in the future. It's sad (