Review: BETRAYAL OF DIGNITY’s finale closes out on a twisted romance

Spoilers: This review contains spoilers for KIMPA‘s Betrayal of Dignity.

Betrayal of Dignity tells an unconventional love story centered on Duke Damien Thisse, an obsessive and possessive man who stops at nothing to ascend the throne. He devises a scheme to use Chloe Verdier, the disabled eldest daughter of the Verdier family, to secure the gold mines and make himself appear unassuming, allowing him to plot without drawing the royal family’s scrutiny. Despite her efforts to resist, Chloe falls in love with Damien—and seemingly, he with her. But when she uncovers the strings he pulled and the ruthless actions he took to bring them to this point, her world shatters around her.

I reread Betrayal of Dignity to prepare for the finale, which concluded on February 26. It had been so long that I forgot just how deranged Damien was. Comparing him in the first arc to his final arc, the transformation is startling.

Damien is a scoundrel who takes almost sadistic pleasure in watching everything fall into place—or fall apart. On one hand, I sort of appreciate how unapologetically awful he is, but I’d tell every woman to run in the opposite direction. He never wavers from his convictions. Despite all the suffering he put Chloe through, even when she begged him for an apology, he refused. Instead of owning up to his actions, he justified them by saying he did it all out of love. But if he truly loved her, surely it wouldn’t have killed him to just say, “I’m sorry.”

Is there a redemption arc? No, not really. When Damien discovers Chloe’s ruse, he vows to make her face the consequences of her actions. But when he finally finds her, something shifts. Before, any affection he showed her felt like a double-edged sword—was it genuine, or just another ploy to lull her into a false sense of security? Losing Chloe, however, forces him to confront his feelings. For the first time, his love seems real. Now, he’s completely obsessed with her, willing to do anything to keep her by his side.

That’s why Chloe is the perfect match for him. She’s the only one who truly understands the inner workings of his mind. She once said that understanding someone doesn’t come from interrogation but from staying by their side and observing them. That’s what made her fake death arc so satisfying—she knew exactly how Damien would react and where he would go once he figured out what she had done.

From the very beginning, Chloe made it clear that neither her disability nor her gender would be a weakness to Damien. She proved she could play chess with him—and even beat him, at least for a time. She remained steadfast in her convictions and her love for him, determined to find him in the final arc.

But Chloe was also confusing and frustrating. She fell for Damien way too quickly. He was emotionally abusive, degrading her to her face the first time they met. A character as strong as her should have been much harder to win over. She constantly wavered between hatred and love, despite having far more reasons to hate him—especially after uncovering his schemes. But I think she was swayed by his single-minded devotion (or obsession), flattered whenever he showed her even the smallest kindness, and drawn to how he exposed her true self—though often in manipulative ways. From that point on, she kept falling for him, and that was a little disappointing.

The Betrayal of Dignity finale had solid pacing, and I appreciated how the final chapter served as a satisfying wrap-up, neatly tying up loose ends. Many stories build tension with a cliffhanger in the penultimate chapter, only to rush into a “happily ever after” in the last moments. But Chapter 81 took a different approach, focusing entirely on the happy ending. It also gave closure to the minor characters, revealing what happened to Alice, Gilles, and Chloe’s father. The finale even brought us full circle, revisiting one of Chloe and Damien’s first meetings, and ended on a sweet final panel.

If you’re looking for a full redemption arc, you won’t find much of one here. But if you enjoy a slightly steamy romance with a moderate touch of angst and complex characters, Betrayal of Dignity delivers.

Read all 81 episodes of Betrayal of Dignity on Manta now.