Going back and reading it for myself, your theory makes sense. Especially when really looking into Aidens personality and how he treated each victim (at least what we know so far) they’re all women who had very different taste in men.
And the whole deal Aiden makes with her in the beginning “I’ll give you a week to fall in love with me” could also have something to do with it. I’ve read other manhwas where characters fall in quickly and sometimes we don’t really bat an eye because it’s fiction and has no relevance to the story. Perhaps that’s how long the manipulations takes to get to victim.
We don’t really know what will happen to FL when the week is done and she doesn’t fall in love with Aiden. It’s possible whatever deity is possessing Aiden wouldn’t let her go so easily and will try something, not sure what to make her not leave.
To add to your theory, I think Aiden has to love the other person as well. Because right now, since he believes it’s impossible for anyone to truly love him, he can’t bring himself to love them either. So I think it’s about getting Aiden to acknowledge his own feelings and for his partner to acknowledge the real him and love “him”.
Yes, I think you're right. To expand on this I think not only does he have to love his partner but he needs to be his true self with them. Right now he's been whatever they wanted or needed but I feel he needs to learn who he is and grow from the child that desperately needed to be loved into an adult capable of truly loving someone.
This is an interesting perspective I didn't take into account the time limit clearly it's important to the curse. I don't think the FL will be allowed to leave even if she succeeds, she's seen too much. It's possible he might use his mind control to erase her memories. Also now that you mention the time limit in terms of the days to fall in love I'm wondering why Aiden only gets a new victim every 5 years. I'm wondering if there's a specific reason for that
Wait… I don’t think it’s every 5 years, because Rachael died and then he got Belle… unless the pattern got broken by her…
Rachel seems to break the pattern. Butler Philip doesn't remember Rachel but he remembers the other victims. Aiden also seems to go for victims at are in the margins of society, who struggle somehow to fit in. Rachel is one of the popular girls. The other victims and FL all have dark hair, Rachel seems out of place. Her death is definitely tied to the Forrest estate somehow hence why she revealed the Aiden's former room.
Ahh I see
This is just my theory on Aiden's curse. (This is going to be long)
Let's go over what we currently know:
First: let's go back to the chapter where we saw Aiden's childhood. He was the beloved heir until his step-mom got pregnant and they had original Philip. Some time later Aiden makes a deal with some entity and the price of that deal is that everyone who loves Aiden will die. When Aiden makes the deal he says "it doesn't matter anyway there's no one who loves me in this house".
Second: when we see the first victim (that we know of) her memories show Aiden had a completely different personality when he was with Isabella, the house (and I assume the entire estate like land and everything) was different as well. She died 10 years ago and butler Philip said the estate has belonged to the family generations, how could the house change so much in 10 years.
Third: she died as soon as she confessed her feelings and the entity behind the curse replied something along the lines that she shouldn't have loved Aiden first.
Fourth: the house is filled with spirits that butler Philip says even Aiden doesn't know all of them. The lake is also filled with spirits. So whatever has been happening at the Forrest estate has been going on for a long time.
Fifth: When we see Aiden's childhood the step mom could not have her own children and loved Aiden as her own. When we see her pregnant she looks tired and has a resentful or sorrowful look when she sees Aiden. Her death is also delayed unlike the rest of Aiden's family and she knows it's a curse. As far as we know she's the only one of the family that returns as a ghoul. She's not just a normal ghost everyone else more of less looks human but she looks like a nightmare and can cause actual harm to Aiden.
So here's my theory:
There is an entity as the Forrest estate that has been granting various wishes at a price. I believe the entity offers you what you wish for most of all in return for something else. I believe Aiden's step-mom wished for a child. Before her death when she sees Aiden's she's says "you made a deal with that thing" so she knows the entity. I think she's cursed as a ghoul not just because of her resentment about original Phillip's death but also it might be the cost of whatever her wish was.
Aiden after being sidelined for his little brother wanted most of all to be loved hence the deal he made revolves around him finding someone to love him. The voice Isabella hears and the red eyes version of Aiden is the entity/curse manifesting. Aiden tried to find women he can love and who can love him to break the curse his main method is to manipulate their minds to show the women what they want to see and to be what they want hence why the estate in the first victim's memories is different. Aiden uses his mental manipulation powers to make the estate look different.
Aiden makes these women fall in love with him but it fails because it's not him they fall in love with but whomever he portrays himself to be. I think there's two parts to the curse, the first is that the woman must love Aiden for who he really is and the second is that Aiden needs to fall in love first and confess his love first. Until this happens Aiden will be immortal. So how I think it will play out is that if you fall in love with Aiden first then you die but if Aiden falls in love then he can finally die.