I went in hoping for more, given who was in it, but it didn't take long to figure out what I was getting myself into. The initial scenes created a really negative feeling right from the beginning. The first third felt incredibly slow and predictable, detailing the main characters’ histories—starting with their parents and covering everything from their births through their school years. Those younger versions of the characters were honestly the worst part; they were impossible to connect with, both as people and in terms of the performances. Things didn't improve when we met the adult counterparts either. The romantic elements and love triangle were pretty awful, full of excessive self-importance, sentimental reasons for things, and a lot of complaining. It feels like a crazy idea, but what if they had changed course starting around episode 39? Maybe add another twenty episodes, cut the romance entirely, and make the female lead an empress who then goes on to conquer other countries.

Source on TMDB