Spoiler The Abandoned Empress

I recognize your name but I bump you into RL, ping me to give you a couple of beers. You deserve a mountain of cupcakes, too.

 

Ok, let's speak about what's happening in the Korean chapters right now (for those who only read the English chapters on tappytoon, it will happen much later for you).

Spoiler: The princesses

The princesses were pushed on Ruve by the aristocracy faction (led by Duke Jenna). They want a queen who is on their side (as Tia is supposed to become the empress and belongs to the imperial faction). But Ruve already said to his father that he won't marry any of them (because he's already in love with Tia, and doesn't want any other wife). He is actually working hard to gather information on the princesses (like how they are spendthrift and so on) to avoid having to marry one of them. This week in chapter 94 we've learnt that Beatrice, the princess of Lisa, is pregnant with the child of her knight. This could lead to a war with the kingdom of Lisa if Ruve takes offense that a pregnant woman was sent to be his queen. But as we can see Ruve is not angry at all because this eliminates one of his problem. Btw, he won't tell this to anyone as to not endanger the two lovers - some fans thought Ruve would use this knowledge to blackmail them or use it to dismiss the princess - well, he doesnt. He just warns Beatrice that her secret will one day be known and to prepare herself. Quite the gentleman.

Two weeks ago in chapter 92, we could see princess of Lua/Rua (the blonde one dressed in exotic oriental outfits) when she was mocking Princess of Ite (the mean one who wanted Tia's shoes, with heavy make-up, green eyes and purplish hair) for coveting what was not hers (Ruve). Princess of Ite says to Princess of Lua : "You think I don't know that you're the one who have seen him (Ruve) in secret the most ?"
For a moment we are afraid Princess of Lua is going after Ruve, and that she is playing a game with Tia - being nice in front of her but going after the prince in secret. But in fact Ruve and her are working on a treaty and a military alliance that would unite the two nations without marriage.

Once the treaty is signed, Ruve publicly declines all the princesses and reveals the new alliance with the country of Lua. The nobles cannot say anything against that. There are no more talk about the queen position, and Ruve is safe for now.

Let me spoil you a bit more : Carsein's brother is madly in love with Princess of Lua, and he falls on his knees in front of everybody as she leaves and proposes to her. She doesn't accept his proposal right away, as she wants to date him first. But later they will marry, and have a son. And she will be Tia's first genuine female friend.

 

Eodez, I think I love you

 

Yeaaah cupcaaaakes!!
You know me RL ? Maybe you recognize my name from discord? I'm using the same.

Very, very true. AE is a story exciting for its political plots and twists above all. It is an isekai series known for its coherency and psychological richness. The love stories are an added bonus. Tbh, I'm not one to ship anybody with anyone. I'll just start rooting for a couple once I'm 100% sure they'll end up together (I'm not brave enough to end up with a broken heart when the second lead ends up alone or rejected). And to me, it was pretty obvious that AE was about Tia's getting her rightful position as empress (it was in the title), so marry Ruve somehow at one point... So that implied changing Ruve. I won't lie, I wasn't too happy Ruve was the ML.

Spoiler: Tia didn't change Ruve, she saved him

But the beauty of it is that Tia didn't CHANGE Ruve, it's that she SAVED him. While turning back time to save herself and her father, she ended up saving the man she loved too, and her kingdom, while also avenging the murder of her mother. That was a very emotionnal moment in the novel when you realise that 1st timeline Ruve wasn't really Ruve but a poisoned mad man, and that this time Tia was there to see Ruve faint and discover he was being slowly poisoned. Suddenly we could really trust this 2nd timeline Ruve to be a real Prince Charming. We could already see that the two Ruves were strangely miles away, but still, the potential in Ruve to become cruel and mean like in 1st timeline was still there and it was unsetting... until we discover the poison he was fed to become a tyran and a mad man, and that it wasn't part of his nature and character at all to be cruel, violent and manipulative ! Omg such a good reeead !!

Spoiler: 1st timeline Ruve's POV

Ps : I've also read 1st timeline Ruve's POV and death, and it was quite heartbearking to see how his mind and sense of reality were completely broken by the poison. He was not able to discern what was real from what wasn't, who were friends and who were foes, and his paranoia was fed by Tia's emotionless attitude. We can see how he desperately loved Tia, and each time he clunged to the tiny smiles or emotions she showed to try to regain his sanity, only to be drowned in despair, anger and madness when she pulled her social mask back on again. He hated and despised himself so much that he thought Tia could never love him and that she was disgusted to be touched by him because of his commoner blood. He thought he was soiling her when he was touching her.

He didn't kill Keirean after Jieun's attack, he just said this to Tia because he thought she was leaving him because he couldn't give her chidlren anymore after she was declared barren - so he had become useless to her. He really wanted their child to be the next emperor because he truly believed she was the only one who could raise the future emperor. He knew Jieun was unfit to be the mother of the crown prince, and he was feeling guilty to think this because he was supposed to love Jieun, as she was the only one who was warm to him and saying she loved him. He was disgusted with himseld to be drawn to a woman who was so cold to him and only saw him as a political tool and a breeder, when he had a woman who loved him. (Ruve is definitely a one-woman man, it utterly broke him and his sense of honour and self-respect to have two wives.)

When Tia comes to plead for her father's life, Ruve loses it because she comes with just a pin in her hair. She doesn't wear the tiara she's always wearing and that only royals should wear. It shows that she is his queen and his wife, and she has removed it. He thinks he has completely lost her and that enrages him. [2nd timeline Ruve sends Tia a beautiful music box with a silver haired girl wearing a saphire and diamond tiara for her coming of age, after she publicly rejected him and their engagement. It is his way to say he still hope she will one day be his empress. So the tiara is an important symbole in the novel.]

When he falls from a cliff after being wounded and surrounded by soldiers he sees the moon (the moon is the symbole of the empress) and for him it's Tia who comes to him. He dies only thinking of Tia and all the things he could never tell her and ask her. He just hope she's happy where she is.

I know that some people sill won't be convinced (and that's fair) but tbh, just like with Jieun, I've found even this Ruve very pitiful and his story broke my heart. Even more as I knew whom he could have been had he not been misled, poisoned and betrayed since childhood.

 

I am so sorry to the Ruve in 1st life for hating him without knowing anything......and seriously...this changed my point of view for the novel.......and thank you for opening my eyes

 

Aaawww I'm so glad ! Thank you !
Don't worry, I think it was the author's will. She really wanted us to hate Ruve at the beginning, just to mind blow us at the end with her twists. It was very effective on me too. ^^

Just stick with the manhwa until the end, you won't believe how unbelievably SWEET and ROMANTIC the story gets. It's out of this world, you won't regret it.

 

Spoiler: Empress and Queen

In the second timeline, Ruve is already madly in love with Tia by the time Jieun comes to their world. He even says to Tia "There is already one woman in my heart, so there is absolutely no place for Jieun or any other woman". Jieun came a year earlier and emperor Mirkan is still alive. Mirkan definitely shows that he only considers Tia as the possible future empress. But there's no need for that because Ruve is completely besotted with Tia and will not consider any other woman for his empress although Tia keeps on rejecting him. (He grovels and suffers A LOT, I tell ya.) Tia starts to warm up to his courtship (and his passionate kisses) but she's poisoned and declared infertile. Duke Jenna also says she is not of pure blood. That only draws Ruve to Tia even more (because he also has commoner blood). As Tia carries on refusing their marriage, Ruve says he doesn't need any heir if he can have her. He vows he will only have her for his lover and his wife. Of course, this is outrageous and Tia cannot accepts such a sacrifice that endangers Ruve and the empire. She pushes Ruve away. But Ruve never gives up. And Tia learns that she is not infertile, and after she's nearly killed and Ruve cries and shouts that he doesn't wnat to live without her (there is a glimpse of this scene in the manhwa when Tia visits Vita when she is a child and his given a new name), when she makes up she runs to him and it's the beginning of their happily ever after (with looots of sweet romantic moments).

When Jieun comes, she tries to seduce Ruve to make him fall in love with her then abandon him, like he did to her. But Ruve gives her the cold shoulder (he has absolutely zero interest), and Jieun soon realises that this Ruve is a completely different person. He is not the man she used to know at all. So her revenge on him is pointless.

Tia will be Ruve's only woman and his beloved empress. She will rule alongside with him, although it had only be seen only once before. She will be remembered for being intelligent, wise and fair. And history will remember Ruve not so much for his politics but for his great love for his empress and for being the father of Adrian, the greatest emperor of all time.

No affairs. Ruve actually swore a binding oath (a bit like the Monique oath) on his life (so that means he dies if he breaks it) to love and cherish Tia and only her for the rest of his life. He swore it in the garden, under a starry sky and all, it was very romantic and sweet. ^^

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Thank you very much for giving detailed spoilers that so many people want, Eodez! <33

This goes to no one in particular, it's just my opinion based on some of what I've read on this thread.
I think it's fine to have negative opinions (so what if they're vicious?) or positive opinions about any fictional story/creative work. This type of story is a roller coaster of emotions for readers and both those who love it or hate it are extremely emotional when they express their opinions. It's natural for people to vent their feelings, especially in a thread like this. The problem arises when readers start insulting each other, talking down to others and virtue signaling instead of keeping the rants/discussions about the story. People are not sheep, they can think for themselves and have an opinion about the characters, the plot, the morals and everything else about the story, whether they've fully read it or not, whether we like it or not. If you read something you don't like, move on.

 

Thank you.....for cheering me up.... ......

 

You're welcome !

Spoiler: 1st timeline Ruve's POV 2

By the way, I forgot three details. We know that Keirean wasn't killed by Ruve in 1st timeline because he's present at Tia's trial. And Ruve is shocked to see that Keirean is not defending Tia. He was planning to use Keirean's defense to save Tia, supporting his defense against the nobles' faction. But with Keirean staying silent, Ruve is trapped and cannot get Tia a lighter sentence.

Tia wounds Ruve in a fit of rage, and it's obvious she doesn't understand how she could have done this. Knowing Tia, it's also hard to believe she could do that, even to her worst ennemy. It's because she was also poisoned with the same poison Ruve had been fed. I mentionned that fact when she got angry at Jieun, but in the manhwa you can clearly see that on the morning of the stabbing she was completely unable to sleep the night before, so the poisoning is getting worse. Her stabbing Ruve was actually also Duke Jenna's will and doing in a way. Both her and Ruve were not in their right minds and not the masters of their destinies anymore.

Last detail, on the day of the execution, this is not portrayed in the manhwa, but Ruve was moved by Tia's tears when she looked at him. Ruve briefly regained his sanity and wanted to stop the execution. He was lifting his arm to stop the executionner when Jieun hung on his shoulder and arm, preventing him from doing so. And the axe fell and Tia died.

 

Well then I have question to Keirean, why didn't he save his daughter? And Jieun want revenge to Rue but she helped drive Rue insane? Or she didn't know about this?

 

Spoiler: Keirean's silence

It seems highly suspicious to me as well... I don't have an answer at the moment. But I haven't finished all the side stories yet, and I hope the answer will be in one of them.

Spoiler: Is Jieun guilty of poisoning Ruve?

No, Jieun doesn't know about the poisoning, and she has no hand in Tia's or Ruve's poisoning. She is condemned to die only because she's Duke Jenna's relative, not because she did anything bad. She only wanted revenge on Ruve and Tia like you could want revenge on an ex-lover or the woman who took your lover from you. She's not a murderer at all. Her feelings are quite within the range of what is normal, and let's not forget that she also has PTSD as she was brutally murdered only few minutes before she appears in the imperial gardens, and she also was separated from her newborn duaghter as soon as she gave birth to her. She's not a bad person. At least in my view.

 

This is my speculation. Maybe it's because of the Monique's oath? Because Tia's execution was the emperor's order, I think Keirean could not defend her daughter. Even if he wanted to, with how much Tia seemed to be unloved by Ruve, there's no guarantee Ruve would pardon Tia even if Keirean risk his life by violating his oath. He might chose to get revenge for Tia by himself, that's why he chose to keep his life and not to defend Tia at that time.

If that's true, then that would be very sad. I weep for Keirean in 1st timeline. I can't imagine how he feels when he attended Tia's execution. He's unable to protect his wife whom he loves dearly, and then he also could not protect their own daughter.

 

This is very coherent. And heartbreaking.

 

Then what he feels and what happened when the execution did not stop?

 

Thanks for the spoilers.

I figured she'll end up with the emperor. I'm not bothered by it because 1st Ruvae and 2nd Ruvae are totally different characters.

I'm just wondering how far she got to being heir of her house?

 

Was it intentional or Jieun just have a really crappy timing?????

 

Um i love you

 

It's not said. 1st timeline Ruve is having lots of memories at the same time as he dies, so Ruve remembers the execution and he switches directly to the memory of Lord Verita and Lors Ras resigning and him remaining alone, surrounded by the Duke's faction.

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She did become the heir of her family. And one of her children (except for the crown prince) will be the Marquis of Monique after her and inherit all the properties and the title.

REALLY crappy timing.
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I usually hate to post spoiler unrelated posts in spoiler threads, but I really need to highlight what you just said.
For me, it confirms what I always disliked when reading certain people's whining and hateful posts, judging the character choices and ranting about how they are "dropping the novel" because of some spoilers, when they haven't even read it!
They have absolutely no right to judge a book by its spoiler or based on something without ever having read it beforehand, especially considering how easy it is to gloss over the finer details (and in which the beauty lies) and honestly, it is a (hypocritical) insult to book/novel/ story lovers, who actually take the time.