It's tough to rate a drama such as The Crowned Clown — the plot is not all that clear in its first act, and the whole show is largely carried by the FANTASTIC acting by Yeo Jingoo. I've seen many of his dramas, so I know he has the chops, but he completely blew this dual role out of the water demonstrating the mot restrained ambivalence and the most shattering despair.
The romance was more accessory, but not in a bad way at all. This drama's female characters have plenty of capability, but the writing is honest in how restrained their literal abilities were.
Towards the second act, the plot becomes pretty much unbearably uninteresting, but then the shining part of the whole thing comes into play: Haksan and his compelling relationship evolution with Hasun.
While Yeo Jingoo gave a stellar acting performance, Kim Sangkyung's impressive performance combined with his character's written development made Haksan the most charming, charismatic, and memorable man on screen by far. Seeing his complexity morph over the course of the drama was an absolute pleasure.
And the most romantic component of the entire drama was unironically the ruler-subject relationship that came to be. Haksan and Hasun's relationship is one forged both by honest trust and integrity-abiding opposition. Through this highly romantic (romantic in a literal sense) relationship , Hasun becomes a true king worthy of his people, and Haksan is able to find his way back to his original political ideals. It's a beautiful relationship that coexists with Hasun's intimacy with other characters, and is perfectly punctuated by the shot of the two men bowing to each other. I mean, this level of romantic ideal hasn't really been highlighted in modern dramas, but it really means so much that Hasun's people truly considered themselves to be his subjects.

The final episodes of the drama were very tightly written and wrapped up, so again, this drama's strongest point is in its ending, and the true hero of it all was Haksan for me. He absolutely stole the show!