woahh thank you so much for playing and leaving such a detailed review!! I really appreciate it!!
Spoilers below
I'm glad you found the mechanics interesting! I wanted to have different elements of the backstory divided between the different paths so players can go back and look for more lore in subsequent playthroughs if they are interested. I think I could have made more endings to encourage replays, but other than time constraint reasons, I felt that they won't be different enough to be worth it, so I stuck to just four endings with some small variations in dialogue.
I think the toxic aspect of Mikael and Cyrus's relationship mostly comes from the power imbalance of them being master and servant. Mikael is intended to be pretty obnoxious and arrogant but he is in love with Cyrus, so he holds back for Cyrus's sake. In a way, the bad end (+ his outburst at Henri) reveals his "true colours" when he is pushed to the extreme. But I didn't want to make him a total scumbag or even I won't want Cyrus to end up with him HAHA
I'm really glad you found him likeable though! The scenes of Mikael seeming more vulnerable are also kind of a reflection of the guilt Cyrus feels when trying to kill him.
And yesss, out of all the art I made for this game, the little bats are my favourite HAHA