What happened with mc's father? He just married her off for the title of duke/duchess, without caring about the man's character or that he has a childhood friend he lives with and takes care of. The childhood friend, Stella, seemed pretty mean and hostile to mc in the manga. And it seemed like her parents took control of Hubert' s mansion and stole from him? Does she do nothing wrong/get no retribution? Also, I'm kinda angry he ended up falling from someone else after divorcing mc. He deserved to regret his behaviour and pine for her his whole life.
I finally came up with the perfect explanation for Stella. She's a "nice" girl. Think, he considers them just good friends but she's maneuvering him into a romantic relationship. She won't outright ask for one but she takes on all the accoutrement : sleeping in the Duchess's suite, basically ruling the servants like the lady of the house, etc. She hates and resents any competition that comes along, as I remember it her remarks to MC are about how dare she marry 'her' man. She doesn't even touch on the rumors. And she emotionally manipulates everyone so she doesn't get called on her BS. Always bringing up that she "supported" Hubert when his parents died (she was nice to him. Not to downplay emotional support, but its not really like she did anything major). And I'm sure she has some actual medical issues, but she's never shown at death's door or having any kind of health crisis. Nor has anyone mentioned anything major in the next 8 years of the marriage. And the argument was always that 'poor sickly' Stella can't survive if she's not pampered as the pseudo Duchess, but as soon as she finally gives up on Hubert then suddenly she's perfectly good to move out and live on her own. I also think Stella's parents are basically whoring her out. MC's life was ruined because some dude attacked her at a party. Anyone with any sense could tell she's a victim and there wasn't time for anything to actually happen, but the tide of public opinion still immediately went "what a slut". Stella is a mistress, minus the actually sleeping with the guy. Not that anyone will ever believe otherwise. And in return her mom gets to be the manor hostess, they get monetary help far above what their station warrants, etc. If they were really worried about their daughter they should have drawn some lines to protect her reputation. And it seems to me that when MC meets Stella's mom/Mrs. Northram her major concern is loosing the position of hostess and the gravy train stopping.
Yesss.. So many cliche, usually Chinese manga/novel, with that plot, the abusive ML, regret what he has done after 100 chapter, and the FL accept his love, I mean  Love how wise she is, not to interfere with the drama thing with stella, hubert, and the maids or butler, she focus to make the land better and she got her real prince charming who appeciate her
I don't understand why these kind of authors adore the abusive, toxic relationship and mental health issues troops. It's not romantic at all and it's disgusting to read how in the end MC will always end up with the abusive guy. Meanwhile, the second male leads are always nice and kind, yet the choose to be with sickening abusive first lead. Where's the logic there????
Yesss... Totally can relate with you, it's like the FL is using blinder.. Come on, there's someone better beside you It's like all the FL suffers from stockholm syndrome
Technically, Pearl could have divorced him after 3 years. The agreement after she snatched his land was that the Duke would either train/be educated in management from her father (*she had to call in a big favor from him as her father has something of a Midas Touch reputation when it comes to business, finance, land management, and turning a profit. This was part of the reason why he 'sold' Pearl into marriage to the Duke) or Hubert would essentially live on a stipend provided by Pearl in a role reversal type situation (instead of the husband controlling the purse strings, it is the wife). Obviously Hubert takes the opportunity to learn from her father when she wrangles the ducal lands back into order and generates profits (*this is Pearl's father's karmic punishment because during that training period he basically rants at Pearl in their communiques about 'The Fool'). During those three years, Hubert is slowly buying back his lands from Pearl. She was planning to hand him the rest at the end of the 3 years as partially a reward and partially a divorce present. Where it all goes sideways is right about the 3 year mark Hubert pays Pearl a visit at the country seat. It is a super awkward meeting as essentially Hubert is the invading outsider to everyone in residence there (almost reverse of Pearl's entry into the ducal city residence). Long story short, Hubert basically invests in an undeveloped land and as a guarantee he leverages the ducal lands and wealth against. He can do this because while Pearl essentially owns the land (small, fine print), Hubert's name is still on the official title in Large Print. If this super risky and extremely expensive investment goes pear-shaped, both could lose Pearl's dowry, her investment returns on the ducal lands, and the lands themselves leaving Hubert with only a title and Pearl with only her untouched inherited properties. Pearl has to pull some major strings to make this investment work otherwise her efforts would overall be useless. She also had to work her ass off to make this venture prosperous on top of managing the ducal lands. Hubert dimly recognizes that he may have jumped the gun, but doesn't completely comprehend the magnitude of this decision. He's rather blase about it all actually. When Pearl protests, he basically shrugs and says they could move onto her inheritance property and live there. This is the final straw that broke the camel's back. This is the final point of no return and adds extra motivation to Pearl's already solidified divorce decision. Until that breaking point, Pearl and Hubert had been rebuilding a tentative, amicable working relationship. His one move in ambitious investing destroyed any respect, trust, let alone a possible future he might have been able to build with her. At this point she's tired. By the end of 7 years she exhausted and burnt out. She's running on fumes and so done with her marriage farce. She had been practically going it alone for all that time. So even if she had wanted to build something with Hubert she had nothing left to give. Of course she's filthy rich as a result of her success but it sucked the life out of her. So when Hubert asks for a real marriage, well that chance was gone years ago.
After reading all the spoilers.... My god... Opal may be one of my favourite MC.... Thanks god she actually doesn’t marry that douche bag!!! My god, what an ungrateful brat. And I’m happy Claude actually loved her also and that they could marry at the end. Sorry not sorry for the duke
For those who haven't read mtl: Spoiler: Arc Breakdowns Arc 1: Pearl's ruination by her near rapist Psuedo-marriage to the man-child Duke Pearl starts fighting back Revitalizing the Duchy after 17 years of neglect (almost no contact with the man-child for about 3 years) Man-child Duke returns and pulls a doozy, effectively negating all of Pearl's efforts 4 years timeskip: the investment is a success and Pearl finally gets her divorce. Childhood friend returns and successfully gets the girl on his third proposal (he had already asked for her twice and had been denied) Length: 29 chapters Arc 2: Post Succession War kingdom arc Engaged couple travel to childhood friend's home country Have an audience with a king who likes to play mind games and super manipulative Ball where Pearl meets and is insulted (using the old rumors from her debutante days) by two "friends" of her Fiance. Of course Pearl is now older, wiser, more mature and kicks their juvenile behinds figuratively with Claude practically severs ties with them after. Wedding! Returning to the other kingdom, discovering the duped, pregnant, former maid Arresting/Trial/Denouncing of the culprit/sexual predator (avenging Pearl/women he's taken advantage of) Apparently Claude was a beast/workaholic because he was gathering evidence against this guy and assisting Pearl on top of his official duties Does a tour of husband's lands like a good lady and face prejudice and difficulties Is kidnapped by Confederate forces and is stuffed in an attic again. Apparently her kidnappers are trying to leverage the old rumors and ruin her new life rep as an attack against Claude. Possibly ruining her marriage. Of course Pearl isn't waiting around to be saved and begins to plot and execute her escape. Claude pulls some superhuman tactics and rounds up the rebels in one fell swoop Then the heads of state put the ring leaders and masterminds on trial All is cleared and the newlyweds can finally, finally get on with life Tying up loose ends Epilogue Length: 61 (+ epilogue) Honestly, the faux 7 year marriage and all of Pearl's difficulties is just injecting adamantium into her spine for events in Arc 2. Like a beginner's tutorial on life. Because of the BS before, she was able to practically navigate through her hardship and political landmines very well. She's tough and definitely made of Teflon by the time arc 2 rolls around.
Hubert is triggering me and I am getting flashbacks of my family situation... He reminds me of my dad, in many ways. A man child who is living in his own fantasy and is not aware of those around him. Anyway, I’m glad the FL is a strong character. I def love her.
I read the latest chapter of the manga the chapter 10 and that was one heck satisfying chapter. At first i didn't like the manga cuz i don't like the mistreats of Dumb hubert and the idiot servant that didn't even serve her properly. But the chapter 10 is too good! I love the MC now she is strong
don't worry she ends up with Claude. also that douche of a duke. after all he's done to her how could he propose to her? he should be ashamed of himself..
Omg I laughed so much with the wolverine reference hahahahahaha. I’ve seen your posts and contributions in a lot of the spoiler threads. They are always one of my favourites. All so neat and with a lot of info. Thanks for sharing with us!!!
I really hate Stella and I am not satisfied with how her story turned out. She was so sarcastic and rude to Opal but a total angel infront of everyone else. Even though Opal was Huberts wife Stella still showed possessiveness over him and acted as the duchess. Her behaviour shows that she was practically begging to be a mistress. And even when Opal helped Stella by providing her a very good doctor she was still so bitchy to her. I wanted her to pay for her actions. But nothing really happened. Neither Hubert nor Opal smacked some sense into her. Hubert ending was okay. I still dont like him but he did show some character development by standing up for Opal in the society and being grateful and all. Glad he doesn't get married. No woman deserves to fall in that pit.
Other than throw shade at Pearl, Stella really didn't do anything. And i suppose that is the point. She was already long established in the household and had everyone wrapped around her finger for years. Then comes this stranger lady (Pearl) with a bad rep and massive dowry who is legally Hubert's wife by title and name, thus popping that little fantasy bubble they've all been living in for years and injecting reality into the situation. It's a bad situation all around for Pearl. Hubert just treated her like a temporary financial bandaid for his massive debts. Stella is like a yapping chihuahua, all yippy and nippy but no real bite. She didn't even need to scheme against Pearl to turn the household against her. They did that of their own accord. And that's not including Hubert's side of the mess. Stella ends up living as the "poor relation" like she should have been all along. We just don't get the closure of seeing her react to her drastic change in circumstances. From Psuedo-lady of the house to ward of the duke.