Content Warning: This section mentions graphic violence, execution, intimate partner violence, and abuse.

Rune and Gideon are defined by the limited perceptions that others assign to them, or that they assign to each other. It is these limited perceptions that prevent them from seeing the others’ true potential as their lives become more intertwined throughout the novel. Unable to see past their pigeon-holed view of the other, Gideon and Rune vastly underestimate their opponent’s intelligence and cunning.

Gideon is extremely guilty of this practice. When he first met Rune years ago, he judged her immediately based on her clothing. Because she was wearing an expensive dress to a gathering filled with poor families, Gideon assumed she was ignorant and considered herself better than him. This limited perception he creates of her based on a brief first impression prompts Gideon to treat her unkindly. What could have been the start of a friendship or something more soured, and Rune began to hate him in return.

In the present day, Gideon falls easily for Rune’s ruse as a shallow, vapid socialite. Many other suitors think the same of Rune, and she capitalizes on this. Gideon accepts her at face value, never bothering to look deeper than surface level.