I’m still confused. Who is this empress? Is it the ML’s wife? Or is she an empress in another country? Why did the fl became bad? Is it just because she’s following her father’s order? Why is she still bad when she became an adult? Is she still being controlled by her father? And I can’t understand the sequence. Did she run away in the original story(novel) or the current story?
You know, her father might have had influence on her, but it was her CHOICE. Just like some of the evil characters in other novels, many of them don't have a reason for their bad deeds.
The plot seems confusing and is all over the place, and judging from the comments, the FL is not a very nice person and caused a lot of misery even if her intentions are 'good-ish'. I don't really like that kind of FL.
Honestly,In the past before her memory loss.None of her intentions were goodish,she was selfish and very greedy and made ML do bad things such as kill people who disobey his orders(which are her orders)but after she made herself lose her memory,she started thinking about doing 'good things' but again for herself because she was trying to get ML off her back and run away with her her wealth,not goving a fck about the mess she leaves behind and stuff.It is until ML confronts her about her being the tyrant not him and she realizes that she was the bad person not ML that she finally stops being that selfish.Though I don't understand how romance between FL and ML happened,because there was none,maybe until the end but was rushed,like sure,ML was clearly showing interest.But her?all she thinks about is setting him up with other girls and playing cupid and gaining money,even when she accidentaly heard him saying that he likes her,her reaction is bland and still pushed him towards OGFL.
Spoiler: Answers Who is the Empress? > The empress is the dead emperor's wife, the ones mentioned I'm pretty sure were his legal wife (dowager Empress) mother to ML dead half brother, also the main villain and the ML's (Cardan, Emperor) birth mother (who is probably a concubine second wife something like that) Why did the FL become bad? > Her personality is shaped by her upbringing. She was an illegitimate child and to prove herself followed her father's orders which were bad deeds to take down Cecila (idk if that's how her name is spelt) daughter of a baron or nobleman or merchant not sure which one Her bad deeds were to become the duke, which was secured by kidnapping and threatening the Emperor (ML Cardan) with his birth mother (Eleanor who poisoned herself after killing the ML's half brother (included in another spoiler)) FL less 'regrets' but feels bad for her actions She is 'still bad' as an adult because she wants to be in power, I don't think its from being controlled by her father present time. Did she run away? > Yes it lasted very short. In summary she attempted to flee the country taking all her valued possessions through ship, which was burnt down by the ML Cardan and she was imprisoned but it was not made public she did. Ends up being allowed to walk free by the ML but there's some unresolved conflict.
She wanted to forget all the bad things she did ,her sins,and so she drank something,poison or similiar,I dont remember.
Ahh, shoot, reposting because I messed up my reply. I'm new to this! Spoiler: How Erina Lost Her Memories One night she stayed by the ML's mother's bedside (she's in a coma) and prayed and prayed for time to turn back so she could do it all over again. Contrary to what everyone thought, even when she was "evil" she does have a conscience, she does feel guilt and remorse, and she does hate the person her messed-up father turned her into when she tried to save her mother's life. After her mother killed herself, her mother-figure tried to kill herself and ended up in a coma, and her former fiance blamed and hated her without hearing her out, she spiraled pretty badly. She'd gone too far. She'd done too much. The god granted her wish in the form of amnesia -- albeit temporary. Her "transmigrator" and novel memories are an amalgam of her past life, her current life, and her current life's shrewd predictions of the future. She regains her memories after a near-death-by-poison crisis at the end of the story. The same deity keeps her from dying later on when she tries to kill herself using her life candle, and even the high priest admitted that They must have forgiven her for all that she did. Spoiler: Erina's Repentence The bit in the side stories where she starts swindling corrupt nobles to embezzle money to pay back others for all the wrongs she's done, and Cardan realizes and tolerantly lets her get away with it, is precious. I don't know if it's only in the novel and not in the manhwa, but she went down the dark path because her father refused to buy her dying mother's medicine unless she did. Erina was a bastard whose only value was being engaged to the worthless second prince and, when the second prince was sent off to war to die, she ceased being useful to him.
bless u for the spoilers & in depth clarification,, i was thinking there must be something else going on with the fl / more to the story bc how did everyone just forgive her like that if she was str8 evil lol. but makes sense now, & more arguably redeemable
Spoiler: About the Contract Between Erina and Cardan The whole first part of the novel revolves around how Erina had imprisoned Eleanor in a hidden location and kept Cardan from seeing her, even to the point of a contract being formed between them to keep them apart. Everything points to Erina being evil. But, it comes out later that, after Eleanor tried to kill herself and ended up in a coma, Erina was not only the only person who could treat her effectively, but the only semi-antidote to the poison (there was no true antidote) that Eleanor took was a difficult-to-grow and impossible-to-move plant that grew solely on the Baloa estate. So, while Cardan was out hunting and hadn't heard that his mother collapsed, she made off with Eleanor's comatose body to her estate. (What follows wasn't written in the novel, but is my conjecture.) So, how could Erina get the hateful, mistrusting Cardan (who bought into the rumors and never gave Erina a chance to explain what happened while he was at war) that she was the only one who could save Eleanor? She couldn't. She'd already tried to get him to listen to her and failed. So, she had to play the "evil" card, even if it gutted her to do so. To all outward appearances, she was even MORE of a villainess for blackmailing the emperor with his mother's life, but it was an action that she truly only took to save Eleanor from dying. Seriously, the author of this novel was really good.
This spoiler & your conjecture are both amazing — thank you so much!! A question (if you don't mind me asking ): you wrote that "it comes out later" that the FL's actions regarding the ML's mother were really an attempt to save the mom. Does it come out through a conversation between the ML & the FL, (where he finally listens to her)? Or is it revealed another way—like in a FL inner-thoughts moment? If it's the general writing/FL inner thoughts moment, does the ML ever find out her true intentions? Sorry for bombarding you about this plot point! My random thoughts: I'm super curious about this particular part of the story, because I've read all the spoilers in the forum and it sounds like everyone forgives the FL in the end. But it hasn't been mentioned exactly how she resolved things with the ML—it seems like he slowly recognizes she's acting more like her younger self and he falls for again. But I can't imagine he'd just forgive her without finally understanding her choices involving his mom. Because kidnapping a mother would be a huge hurdle to overcome in any relationship lol. Thanks again for the awesome explanation!
Spoiler: How Erina's Motivations are Conveyed to Us At the end of the story she has a near-death encounter with poison and, while unconscious, she remembers everything. Part of this is shared in a series of dream-like flashbacks. It isn't a huge slog, just a few pertinent scenes that puts a lot into perspective. I -really- hope they don't shorten this section in the manhwa!!! I actually hope they lengthen it a bit, it's good stuff. Spoiler: How Cardan Forgives Erina Cardan forgiving her is the longest slow-burn ever. It's very gradual and it takes him a long time (almost the whole length of the novel) not only to allow himself to hope that the old Erina still exists, but to open himself up enough to trust and love her again. There's a lot of inner dialog on his struggle with this that made it feel real. It isn't explicitly stated that she shares her past motivations with him once she regains her memories but it's definitive that he's open to hearing it by then and that they'll have a lifetime together to talk about it. It's REALLY near to the end of the story. There's another party involved right at the end that can shed light on some of the events, too, that I've been specifically avoiding talking about because there are spoilers and then there are spoilers.
It’s hard to simply say a character good/evil or whether I like him/her or not, but I really like the plot twists here. Good drama!
I came coz I'm confused. I read the spoilers but still I hope someone can answer. So Mc being a customer service employee, with all that modern technology, outfit, etc. Was non existent? How'd she imagined that?? Or was it her past life? and now is her 2nd life( reborn)?
Thank you so much for the spoiler as well as your thoughts! (It's very well written) I have a question: Why did Eleanor try to kill herself?
The "novel" she read was in actuality a combination of her past life (CS agent), current life, and her savvy guesses about what the future holds. Simply put, she's a reincarnator suffering from temporary amnesia, not a possessor. So, she did have a past life, but her mind made up the novel by trying to piece everything together in a way that made sense after she lost her memories This is just my thought, but perhaps the nameless divine being that gave her amnesia in the first place had a hand in weaving the bits and pieces together so she could try to repair her life. I have to hide this one under a spoiler tag because it's a big one you don't find out until late in the story. You find out what happened through flashbacks. Spoiler: Why did Eleanor (male lead's mom) try to kill herself? Eleanor is a concubine who was the first to successfully give birth to a child, who was male. The emperor genuinely loved her. The empress, who was a political marriage, (much) later also gives birth to a male child. She HATES Eleanor. She is ruthless and they are constantly at odds. Spoiler: Eleanor, in effort to protect her child from the Empress, tries to kill the Empress and fails. She places poisonous herbs in the empress's bedroom fireplace, intending to poison her over time and never dreaming that such a terrible person could actually love her child enough to tuck him into bed with her every night. The young child of the empress, being more vulnerable, is poisoned and dies instead. Eleanor is devastated by the consequences of her actions. She just wanted to protect her son. Erina realizes what happened from the symptoms and confronts Eleanor about it, telling her to tell her son, Cardan, because he won't listen to anything Erina says. But Eleanor can't bring herself to, so she takes the same poison instead the second Erina's back is turned. The palace doctor treats her as best he can but, when Erina realizes later how Eleanor poisoned herself, she hints what happened to the doctor so he can figure it out it for himself. That's when a discussion over a remedy is had, and Erina "kidnaps" Eleanor to treat her over the long term.