Honestly. i really liked the things you listed, thats why that cliche romance plot bothered me enough to comment on it.
I have no issue with romance, i just dislike the one this novel presents for the reasons i already listed, a couple of examples of romance i like are:
Tennis Ace, the romance takes a long time to blossom, but it feels completely earned and organic.
Echo,, even though the romance kind of fails to blossom into something concrete due to character flaws and extenuating circumstances, the romance that it contains feels real and fleshed out,
Minotaur Hotel, the romance takes a long time to actually go somewhere due to the extreme power imbalance and trauma one of the characters has gone through, but it works.
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One of the ways i think the VN could have handled this better is by making the romance take a lot longer, as in, maybe we see hints of interest in the characters for the first hours, and then they get closer due to their experiences in exploring the lands and protecting the people. The way it is done in the VN just feels sudden and unearned, there is no reason for the MC to be in "love" with a wolf he just met and got arguably kidnapped by.
There is also no need to make it a mind numbingly slow romance that takes 40 years to go anywhere, im okay with relatively fast infatuation, i just dont think it was done well here due to the way the MC seems to gush over Loken in such an intense way.