This is the first time I equally like two heroines on the same level. Medea for her ruthless schemes, Psyche for her growing boldness and determination despite being innocent and naive. When everyone just plots and schemes, Psyche's goodness is refreshing to read, and I can't wait to see how she'll take things into her own hands becoming Medea. Medea's plans to bring down the crown prince makes up the crux of the story, though if she, by some sickening sickening twist, ends up with him, I will LOSE it.
Ship wise, I see it makes up bulk of the topics here. Well, I have no preferences, in fact, I rather think the series can do without it, though I'm kinda looking for the trail the author may be leaving. On the one hand, Helio's devotion to Medea could be said to be the loyalty of a 'servant' or someone who he feels indebted to forever. For now, I don't see them as lovers; their bond reminds me of Larva and Miyu from Vampire Miyu heh. In fact, the flow, should the author take it, actually leads more to Helio and Psyche, because here comes this warm and good heroine, who may or may not starts to get into his skin (I mean even Medea's dad said there weren't any rumors until Psyche came into Medea's body). That said, there's still barely anything there until one of them changes the status quo.
On the other hand, if Medea can show that she thinks of Helio more as a lover or partner, then I'm up for it as well. It puts both of them on equal grounds. For now, I see him as someone Medea 'raised', someone who understands her but has yet to breach her heart, and that she hasn't shown anything romantic at all to Helio. Quite the opposite to be honest.
As for Psyche, I haven't got a single clue where she stands romantically but she seems to fit well with redhead (aesthetically speaking). I don't mind if she has a thing with Helio as well, that's an interesting concept. Either way, this may be the very few stories where I have zero interest in romance and more for the plot, and the two awesome heroines who will eventually join forces together for real.
Psyche is so obviously still in love with the crown prince, yes she tries so hard to move on but she still can't, chapter 33 will talk about psyche with the prince again (i'm guessing she will finally move on from the prince in chapter 33, but i don't know yet since the chapter is still locked on naver)
This is just a copy pasta but;
Helios has vowed to protect Madea for the rest of his life. Helios is not some shallow character that’s going to easily fall in love with someone, especially the person who made Madea’s life hell. Every single thing he’s done in the manwha has been for Madea and MADEA ONLY. He doesn’t give a damn about Psyche. He literally was going to kill Psyche, the only reason why he hasn’t snapped is because she is in Madea’s body. I’m sure once their bodies are switched permanently, he’s going to care less about what happens to Psyche. She could drop dead and he wouldn’t bat an eye. Or maybe they’ll be friends closer to the level of an acquaintance. Also, I’d like to note that Helios nearly killed himself when he thought Madea was dead. He would not kill himself for Psyche.
Not only THAT but if the author makes Helios falls in love with Psyche that would betray all the plot points the author has made so far. Since the story progression has been great so far, I don’t think it’ll come to that. There is no need to make Helio fall in love with Psyche since it’s unnecessary to the story and practically adds little to no sense the plot. (Imagine that. It would make no sense at all for him to fall in love with Psyche and would add confusion to the story, it would make majority of readers angry, and is just a useless add overall.)
Note(s): In the cover Helios is holding a sunflower, sunflowers stand for adoration and loyalty. Adoration and loyalty for MADEA. And MADEA ONLY.
Anyways, Helios is obviously very in love with Medea. It stands out more in chapter 9 and 16 especially.
I believe that the author can build a way for Medea to start garnering feelings for Helios, but not anytime soon. That has to be like 20+ chapters from now. Or even more. I really don’t see any romance happening at all right now. Helios is going to fall in love with Psyche because of his extreme loyalty and the adoration he holds for Madea. He may think of Psyche as a friend, but not anymore than that.
Well, I’m only convinced it’ll has some grounds to it if Medea reciprocates even to SOME extent (most of the time, heroines do show this even unconsciously) but so far I don’t see this has happened. Helio’s feelings aside, currently, it’s extremely one sided for me, unbalanced even, so if this changes in the future, then I’d be more happy to accept the ship sailing. Otherwise, I do see them all actually not having romance (which works just as well).
With all that said, I’m happy with whatever outcome.
Gosh I hope she DOES move on, she deserves so much better than that ungrateful uncultured trash of a swine. Someone who appreciates her, heck, I’ll take even another typical icecold blockhead prince to sweep her off her feet if it meant forgetting trash forever.
I SEE SEX SCENES /hyperventilates and throws money at chapter/
Ning Shu is one of my favorite MCs, and I follow the novel regularly when I can. She is the type of MC that respects the wishes of the original host, and ensures she leaves the world intact for the soul to come back. You can say its the opposite of Cheatjng Men Must Die, but MC is no less brave or kickass, just that she does it in a different way. She's very rational, level headed and ensures her revenge plans don't wreck the storyline world for original host.
Well, with that said, I'm basing my opinion on the novel (I've read 1000+ chapters so far) haven't read the manga yet and novel is one of my favorites. If manga isn't done well, I would understand why. Most Chinese manhwa are mediocre. (Edit: they skipped FIVE arcs, the second which marks Ning Shu as a worthy transmigrated heroine. Plus, manga didn't flow well, I'd say read novel instead.)
And Ning Shu doesn't have an ML. It's one of the series' charms: she can focus on her task without any Chinese cold blooded CEO yandere getting in her way lol.
Three things:
1) Prologue in the manhwa can be considered incorrect. Prince actually didn't do 90% of the things shown. Can be either considered narrative bias in Tia's eyes or manhwa creator didn't really follow the story novel well enough. Prince died in first life grieving for Tia.
2) Jieun returning in this timeline this time? People shouldn't worry. Prince Ruve had only eyes on Tia, and no one but Tia, the whole time. They will confront the wounds of their first lives (though prince of first life is treated as a separate person by both of them)Treat Jieun as the antagonist of first half of this arc, then Duke Zena in second half for story purposes.
3) enjoy the story.
You are way to biased...
. He let the execution happen, so it is on him. The fact that he didn't smile change nothing, as well has his regrets. Like Tia said "What good does it make to someone who is already dead?". He was abusive (slapped her often for nothing) and didn't care enough to try to understand her. The poison did not take his rationality away, it just made him have fit of rage occasionally. And yes, the "lick my shoes" part was not, but the real version is just as bad with rape by coertion)
I said 90% of the things that happened in the PROLOGUE didn't happen, I didn't say he didn't do anything at all. This all the while under the influence of the drug and the poisoning of his mind against Tia, which is something that never happened in the second timeline because she became a knight, thus, stirring the future away to a new outcome and allowed Ruve to know her as she truly is.
Asked her to lick her feet? Never happened.
Comforted Jeun while smiling at her execution? Never happened. Not only did it not happen, it failed to describe the emotions he felt when he saw Tia's face before the axe fell, that even though he was powerless, he was still about to STOP the execution right there until he changed his mind, after Jieun stopped him. This you can blame him for. He died regretting this.
Looking fully manipulative and in control while telling her her dad died? Didn't happen. He spat that out whatever came to mind, thinking she lowered herself to sell her body to him after sleeping with him, which made him feel stirring emotions. Let's not forget that her dad is ALIVE the whole time, and he didn't understand why he, as well as other nobles, didn't plead for her innocence. Instead, her father preferred the execution to happen based on her honor.
There are many more. What the prologue DID get right was Tia's confusion on why he was panicked and cared for her more than she thought. This was a glimpse of the inner storm turmoil of feelings Ruve had for her: he thinks she was nothing more than a mechanical doll, a pawn used by her faction to undermine his influence, but he had real feelings for her, which he never knew until her death.
The whole prologue was based on TIA's narrative, and of course the novelist would've expounded on Ruve's side as well. What the manhwa should have done, is to be neutral in its story of the past. The two perspectives are completely conflicting, and unfortunately, took Tia's side on this one.
* The prince spent more time agonizing over his relationship with Tia then Jieun, it was nowhere as one sided as the prologue had shown. In fact, he already began to lower his opinion of Jieun even before the execution happened. It was the relationship between Tia and Ruve that the faction wanted to tear apart completely, and in first timeline, succeeded.
Tia is not that an unreliable narrator. A lot of the actions presented were actually done or worse in the novel (they switched the shoes part for exemple because the actual scene was to sickening to be drawn), so saying "90% did not happen" is overdoing it. For the relashionship part, he did hate Tia and he said it himself. He didn't want to see even one or her hair. He also hated her at the beggining of the second timeline. He never loved her in the first timeline because he didn't knew who she really was. It was all regret for what he had done and the realisation that he tortured someone who cared from for no reason at all.
It was a prologue that was biased from the very start, it skewed the narrative enough to cause readers’ hatred of the prince and painted a rather incorrect picture of the whole thing. Tia was an unreliable narrator in the sense that we are viewing the prologue through HER eyes, with the mistaken understanding that the prince completely abhorred her and smiled at her execution. He never did.
Nobody said he fell in love with her in the first timeline. But his entire story speaks of his actions that were influenced or stirred by his feelings for Tia, that he suppressed for obvious reasons, and all this takes a backseat to the brainwashing and Jieun, who he thought was his symbol of love in his life.
Throughout the whole story, you could tell he was at peace AS HE DIES thinking of Tia. The only thing he thought of was his childhood memories with Tia, and even when he took his last breath, he never stopped thinking of Tia, and imagined himself reunited with her. So anyone who’s read the prologue as it stands has an incomplete understanding of how things really went, and hence, all this hate for Ruve. That’s that then.
They explained everything based off of the novel with webtoons/manhwa/manga adaptations they don't go into depth like novels so the original comment wasn't wrong. They broke down every single thing that happened in the prologue that was wrong. On top of that there was many factor for the prince to hate Tia and all of it wasn't his fault he was just vulnerable enough to to be used as a pawn
No offense but I'm noticing these things about majority of Chinese manhua targeting at ladies:
1) Stiff, amateurish artwork.
2) Poor structure of storyline and story FLOW
3) Yet another slag ML (either he's a rich CEO playboy or a rich Cold CEO)
4) Pathetic MC. She acts and talks like she'll sway wherever the wind blows. Give me Su Luxia anytime.
5) Out of place chibis
I will give this a pass.
It’s always been like thatmost plots are the same lol. Even if there are different authors, the arts look the same as well.
Agreed. I prefer chinese novels whereas for comics, korean manhwa and japanese manga are better
true. sometimes it would start off good but then around the middle you don’t know wth is going on until you lose interest. dialogues are also cheesy and borderline rapey. the only chinese manhwa i love is chang ge xing (chouka kou) by xia da, which, unfortunately, is n indefinite hiatus because the publisher scammed her and she could’t get the copyright to her works back
I hope that readers will come to appreciate this title for what it is: a transmigrated heroine working her way and triumphantly overcoming the traps of the inner harem. (I wrote a post about the Emperor and his concubines here: http://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/5895738/ )
It is a somewhat realistic portrayal of how it is in the ancient times. You won't find an overpowered MC slapping everyone's faces and stomping on the Emperor before running off with the second ML. Instead, you'll find a story about a modern woman forging alliances with other concubines, keeping useful relationships close to her, protecting herself and weaving her way through many traps, using her wits to stay above her rivals. There will be face slapping, but done with wit. You will eventually learn more about the official concubine selections, and other customs that even the Emperor could not abolish... yet. What I'm reading here, is not about a slut Emperor spreading his seeds, but an Emperor who is genuinely in love with His Empress, despite being tied down by the political factions and his responsibility towards many many things. So I would like to ask readers to give this a chance, to not compare this to other villainess works here. They have different focuses.
You can watch Yanxi Palace or Ruyi's Love in the Palace to brush up on your knowledge of the Emperor and his harem. Doing so would change your mindset now that you understand why people do things the way they do here. The MC here is already miles and MILES ahead compared to them, simply in the basis of having the Emperor be completely utterly honest with her, and him being genuinely in love with her.
My issue with this isn't so much that the emperor has a harem, but that he's so weak and simple minded. Yes you have to have these other women and even spend time with them even if you don't want to, but he can still back the empress more solidly. Instead he gets decevied by the concubines and the MC has to scheme and plot and manipulate to remind him of his feelings to get him to side with her. If he was really someone she could rely on for trust and support, she could have just told him about the Imperial Concubine scheme and how/why she wanted to have the other concubine's child given to her. Instead the MC had to show him a painting of them together and stir up his feelings to get him not to hand over the child. I understand there are limits to what he can do to these concubines, but he could still be unified with the MC within the parameters of these restrictions.
What's more annoying than the emperor though is the MC. The fact that she, a modern woman, is falling in love with this weak willed man who has multiple women and even children with these woman and especially SO QUICKLY makes no sense to me. It makes it hard to forgive the emperor on the excuse that the situation is realistic when the idea that this 20th century women could accept this harem relationship enough to love the ML is so unrealistic.
I don't know of any manga or drama's that do this better but I think some novels that do are: Dreamer In The Spring Boudoir, The Feast, The Delicate Prince and His Shrewd Peasant Consort. In all of these, the ML has a harem but it's done so much better. The Feast, I think, is particularly great because the ML & transmigrating MC actually have a conversation about this issue. Even though she has some feelings for him (after a year of being his 'wife') she tells him that she can't love him because she can't accept sharing him with multiple woman. He responds that he can't get rid of his other wives and concubines because (a) politics and (b) he made a commitment to them and has to honor that. That was such a fair response; both of them had stances that made sense for people coming from two different eras.
In contrast, the MC being all 'its okay for me to love him cuz he's nice!' just feels so air headed that I can't take her seriously. It's not even like she inherited the former body owner's memory and so is maybe overlapping those with her own feelings. Nope. She just thinks he's hot and nice to her so she's gonna be in love :
Thoughtful reply (although Dreamer in the Soring Boudoir's case, the marquis had more flexibility and freedom in terms of how he dealt with his own concubines). I have my own qualms about the character of the MC and the Emperor, but leaving all that aside, it was really the sheer amount of 'the Emperor is a CHEATER, he has a harem, she should run off with the second male lead and etc' comments that I just had to post, that it's not as simple as that.
Much has not been explored about the Emperor here, but from what we've seen, we can deduce that 1) he loves the Empress 2) he wants to protect her with his own strength 3) he can't do anything against the established customs (you'll see this in the upcoming chapters 4) other characters are aware he remains naive in a sense and 5) both Emperor and Original Empress have been outwitted by the harem before. But honestly, I will take this, over a scheming, selfish Emperor who threw away His Empress for 3000 women. That's why I'm more forgiving to him, because he's shown to at least love His Empress, leaving his flaws aside. I suppose it comes down to your preferences.
'Even though she has some feelings for him (after a year of being his 'wife') she tells him that she can't love him because she can't accept sharing him with multiple woman. He responds that he can't get rid of his other wives and concubines because (a) politics and (b) he made a commitment to them and has to honor that. That was such a fair response; both of them had stances that made sense for people coming from two different eras.'
I forgot to add that I loved this part as well, and I wish this manhwa could've a conversation of something just as similar. It explains to the readers why the harem is here to stay (unless they abolish the harem, but I haven't seen any that's done in a believable way.)
By the end the Marquis had more freedom, but in the beginning I'd argue he was just as restricted as the emperor. He was just more clever, cunning, and intelligent than the emperor here. He was scheming and even manipulating the concubines against each other to keep any of them from having a child and no one (including the women themselves and even the reader) figured it out.
I completely agree with you that the emperor is better "in comparison to", but even if he's better than, falling in love with him so quick just seems so stupid for a modern woman to do. So ultimately my problem is really more with the MC than with him. I don't like the emperor, but his flaws are believable so I can except. The MC, not so much.
Yes, this! Regardless how you feel about a harem, you had to respect the ML for not just tossing these women in the trash once his "true love" showed up. It's such a good exchange because you empathize with both sides and the morals fueling them.
Half of me wants a The Feast webtoon, but the other half of me fears them doing so and botching it by losing the nuance and gray areas with the female characters who aren't or oppose the FL. (see: I don't want to be Empress!)
I would say, rather than being restricted, the Marquis simply had -no reason- to abolish his own harem in the beginning. For reasons like what you said, they serve as his tools and he made use of them just fine. It wasn't until the Marquis genuinely fell in love in both scenarios - if I recall right, he 1) dismissed everyone and had a happy ending with the Heroine in novel and 2) he dismissed his harem after falling in love with transmigrated heroine and settled all the issues at the end. In both scenarios, he had every power to, just that earlier on, there was no reason to. Anyway, I liked the novel despite its criticisms though, happy to see another reader here.
The rest of my replies got cut off! Oh well, mangago doesn't like a smiley face and I just pretty much echoed your sentiments lol.
Earlier on, he had to keep the harem because of the struggle between the princes. All of them had some kind of political backing that he had to keep in check. One of the women was planted in his harem by a prince-- the white lotus one, who pretending to be sick; that's why even when she schemed things and he and the grandma knew she did it, they couldn't punish her until Sangyu schemed her back. And even Wanwan (Wen wan?) was being backed by a prince (a different one than the white lotus). Most of his concubines and wives, including Sangyu, had a connection to one of the princes struggling for the throne. That's also why even when he started to like Sangyu he kept claiming he didn't and that his true love was WenWan -- Sangyu's cousin was one of the princes vying for the throne and if it looked like he was too close to her then that could be taken as supporting that prince. But he also couldn't get rid of any of the woman because that would also be a political statement of backing or rejecting. It's also why he didn't let any of his women have children and had so many, he had to balance them so that it couldn't be taken as backing any particular prince.
By the end of the story it doesn't matter, because the new emperor is a child and the ML is basically the ruler behind the throne. He didn't exactly disband the harem though...the story contrived itself so that all his concubines either died or committed crimes bad enough to get them punished. He still has one concubine by the end of the story he just doesn't visit her. Also his heir is the son of a concubine.
I loved Spring Boudoir okay. Not nearly as much as The Feast, but I really appreciated that Sangyu always put herself first and was so pragmatic about everything, including her relationship with the ML.
Exactly! İ only read half of your comment but completely agree! How the hell modern woman like her falled him who has many wives and children while doesn't even how good personality
You are:
Team Ruve - thumbs up
Team 'anyone but Ruve pls' - thumbs down
I wanted to hit both.. ah, im conflicted
i am gonna drop this if she ends up with Ruve.(╯°Д °)╯╧╧
i don't care how much he cares and loves her now. he was a fricking ass in her privious life and ruined her mentally and physically. (╬￣皿￣)凸 he didn't pay for it then thats why he has to pay for it in this lifetime.
not with death or anything but with the reality of her choosing someone else over him!!! ┑(￣Д ￣)┍
Period. My thoughts exactly.
Who do you want Heli to be with?
Thumbs up - Medea
Thumbs down - Psyche
I am just so proud of Psyche and her development this chapter. She's come a long way from her sheltered life in the basement, and became a bold, determined woman who is able to consider the circumstances around her and use it to her advantage. It still amazes me that she is the total polar opposite of Medea, and yet the two can still have a stable bond that they're able to understand each other (to an extent). The Psyche of old would never take things to her own hands like this. She's shown more balls than majority of useless shoujo heroines.
I like that the Prince could see through Medea's intentions in an instant; she's never claimed to be a goody two shoes, she's beautiful and twisted and would stop at nothing to claim upper hand over the situation at hand. At the same time, I just can't help but wonder if she needs SOME form of goodness in her life, something or someONE so utterly different from her that'll be able to give a more hopeful influence to her perspective. Maybe that's why I'm quite lukewarm to Medea/Helio for now - they're just too similar in every regard.
Im happy psyche isnt one of those “nice” characters who are dumb and blame their actions and inability to act rationally on them being stupid. Im loving her character change and how she overcomes these problems shes facing
It's just so frustrating when nobody else sees it this way!!