OK, here is a summary of the content released thus far in English, up to chapter 72 in the manhwa: Spoiler: Les spoilers pour chats et chiens, part 1 FL: Our heroine, Asterin OG!FL: Original heroine, can't remember her name offhand OF!V: The original villainess ML: Portnan, who I believe is the ML - dragon cat KB: Kitty Boy (can't remember his name, but he's the black and white cat), also the king of the beastmen? AH: The a-hole former ML in the original work. He's a marquis. AF: A-hole follower - I think he's also a marquis. Our FL reincarnates into the body of a villainess (OF!V) in a book she read. She is a little disgusted with how OF!V lived, as she tried desperately to emulate the OG!FL, who would wear simple clothes, was initially impoverished, and so on. OF!V also chased after AH, the original male lead of the novel despite him making it clear that he wasn't interested. FL reviews her life and realizes that she has it pretty great as a duke's daughter, as she has all the wealth she could want and as long as she plays her cards right, will be taken care of for all her life. Her goal is to fly under the radar, live how she wants, and to not go against anyone - this includes any rivalry for who will take over for her father, the duke. Oh, and FL LOVES animals, particularly cats. FL's first goals are relatively simple: she wants to replace her wardrobe since it's full of things that she doesn't like and are worn out, as she was trying to emulate OG!FL. First and foremost, she also wants to purchase some beastmen, as they can transform into animals. She specifically wants to purchase the beastman that would have been bought by one of AH's followers for OG!FL. Part of the original novel was that the beastman purchased for her would have been the king of beastmen. OG!FL would discard the beastman in favor of AH (I think there was a love triangle?), who would in turn get so angry that he'd try to cause the end of the world. FL knows this would interfere with her plans for an easy life, so she decides to get him instead. Beastmen are sold like slaves and treated as lower despite them being intelligent and able to transform into human form if they're powerful enough, which does give FL pause. She's not entirely happy about this, but knows that there isn't much she can realistically really do about this. So when she's at the beast market FL is appalled at their treatment. She asks for a beastman resembling the one from the book, but is provided with two potential cats. AF comes and tries to purchase the beastmen and it appears that he knows exactly which one should be purchased. She gets AF's promise that he will only pick out a beastman from what she leaves behind. He agrees... and she buys out the entire market. FL takes her two kitties home, who are ML and KB. Once at home, FL discovers that ML and KB can transform into human men. Unbeknownst to her, ML is actually a dragon who has been cursed and had his power restrained. He is distrustful of her and doesn't tell her, plus tells KB to keep details about him a secret. He gets impressed, however, by her actions - particularly when she goes to refresh her wardrobe, as she buys out an entire shop. In so doing, she actually saves the tailor from bankrupcy. These actions also get back to her father via the butler. He decides that this is a sign of her maturing and that she's ready to have some responsibility, namely a coming of age ceremony where she holds on to the family seal and has full access to the family resources. If she passes, she will be seen as a potential heir and will continue to have more access to the family resources than she already has. Of course FL sees this as too much responsibility and figures that she will just deliberately screw up. Ensue hilarity, as her actions end up being wildly successful. FL decides to purchase a failing gem shop. ML assumes that she's being gracious and performing noblesse oblige, so he enchants people to come and shop at the store to ensure it succeeds. FL is approached by three people looking for an investment, two of whom have well laid out plans, one of whom is a dandy claiming to run an orphanage. She chooses the dandy, assuming that he is running a scam because of his appearance and his reluctance to give any concrete plans or proof the orphanage exists. Not only does this exist, but the other two people were actually scammers AH and AF sent to screw up her ceremony. This all continues to make her look better and better. A bit about ML: the FL's family received a blessing via a dragon, which is why they're so successful. I believe that this dragon is the ML. In the past he saw a lot of the worst of people, which is why he's looking for a way to undo his curse. To free himself he needs to access the World Tree via a gem, so he figures that he can tag along with FL while he looks. After all, she's wealthy and allows him freedom of movement, so he can use her as a resource and then take off once he's free. A bit about FL's treatment of KB and beastmen: FL is aware that they're people (in the sense they can transform), but while KB is in beast form she pretty much treats him like a treasured animal companion. He doesn't seem to be bothered by this and spends almost all of his time in animal form, but I'm wondering if this will turn into an issue in the future. KB gets along well with ML, who spends most of his time in human form. Another note about beastmen: as far as has been shown, they seem to be more animal at times than man, moreso than your typical beastman in fantasy stories. The gist I'm getting is that they seem to be more or less OK with being treated like animals in terms of playing and cuddling goes, but they don't like that they're treated like stupid garbage. If you've ever played the game Helix Waltz, they seem to be fairly similar to their beastmen in many ways. There are organizations focused on liberating and treating beastmen better, but they're seen as weirdos by others. FL's guard is a diehard member of one of these organizations and even made a donation in her name to one of said organizations. A bit about FL's dad: her family had kind of a distant, hands off approach so while in the book he was depicted as cold and didn't care about OG!V, in reality he really did care about his children. He's a bit sad that he doesn't really know her and also that he doesn't know how to approach her. He's fully aware that his parenting style sucks, but doesn't know how to resolve anything at this point. FL isn't aware of any of this, so she just figures that she's going to stay out of his way. This in turn means that he thinks she hates him. I swear, sometimes the communication breakdown in books makes me want to call the novel(s) "We don't communicate well, do we?: The Novel". Spoiler: Second part of spoilers I'm breaking this up since I don't want it to be too long. This also seemed to be where the series started shifting away from the purely goofy parts into something more serious. FL inevitably meets up with the OG!FL, as she was invited out to tea. She tried to decline but was advised that she should meet, if only to apologize for past behaviors. At the meeting it's revealed to the reader that OG!FL is actually a beastman, something that was never revealed in the novel. She's specifically a dog beastman, which might explain why she didn't stick with KB in the book because all cat and dog fighting trope. OG!FL mentions that she's heard about FL buying out the beastmarket and improving their quality of life, which greatly impresses her. Apparently FL is also going to build a town for beastmen to live in free and happy. And of course, with the ulterior motive that she can go and wallow in cuteness to her heart's content. OG!FL now thinks that FL may be the master she's always been looking for, as she has always wanted a place to belong and someone to love her for who she is (not romantically, AFAIK). She surreptitiously asks FL what her opinions are on big dogs, since the public holds the opinion that they're incredibly stupid and not preferable. FL is aghast and says that big dogs are the best, which now convinces OG!FL that FL is her destined master. So in other words, she absolutely loves FL now. They part on good terms and FL decides that she's not going to meet with OG!FL anymore, as she doesn't want to interfere with the novel or the potential of living a good life. This is not what happens, of course. In any case, OG!FL meets up with AH and AF to tell them that she doesn't want to hang out with them anymore. They challenge her decision by saying that she needs them to gather mana so she can stay in human form. OG!FL says that she has enough and that she's found her true master: FL. This angers AH and AF, who obviously have some larger, nastier plan in motion. OG!FL goes to stay with the queen, who sees and treats her like her own daughter, as she greatly resembles her late daughter. FL is now trying to build the beastman town and also decides to take a vacation, during which time she oversees construction of the town near her vacation villa. The villa is owned by her family and fairly in the country, so it makes an ideal spot for the beastmen to live without bothering anyone while also allowing her a place to live where she could go to town and cuddle cuties. While on vacay OG!FL comes in her beast form: a golden retriever. FL is overjoyed and the two play to their heart's content, after which OG!FL is sent off on her own as FL assumes that someone is taking care of the dog and doesn't want to steal anyone's beloved pet. OG!FL comes back almost every day to play, however. FL also begins to plan what shops will be in the town and decides to open a milk tea shop. Milk tea is seen as an awful drink and is unpopular to the point of ridicule, so people are surprised when she picks this. Of course FL sees it as a great way to get a drink she likes and also fail her ceremony. I think we can all see how that's going to end. During all of this the ML continues to search for a shard of the World Tree. He does eventually find one while FL is having tea with OG!FL, but ends up not being able to use it to free himself. He is then told by the person who was carrying the shard that he (messenger) was sent by the Tree with a message that is essentially this: once the ML falls in love with someone and gives himself over to her fully, he will be freed. Of course to be freed he will have to get rid of the negativity he holds within him. Over the course of time he realizes that he must be falling in love with FL, as she's beginning to show telltale signs that a dragon loves her. One such sign is the ability to understand various languages, which FL displays while she's on vacation. Long story short on that front, FL believes that one of the orphans is being used for nefarious purposes by a group... only to discover that he's actually part of a magical study group. She looks at one of the spells/recipes and is able to translate it despite only a very select few actually knowing the language, as it's ancient and no longer in use. FL is eventually told that her vacation is up and that she must go to a dinner the queen is hosting. FL is apprehensive but goes to the party, where she is seated in front of AH, who is of course still plotting something nasty. She's also seated next to a blonde guy whose identity slips my mind entirely. She doesn't really like him. He tries to take this opportunity to humiliate her by throwing in her face that he doesn't want her. She in turn responds that she's sorry she failed to catch his attention. It's not meant to be sarcastic, but it comes across as such and instead humiliates him. The queen comes out with OG!FL, who is of course overjoyed to see FL. FL tries to avoid eye contact and fails. AH then decides to take the opportunity to bring up that someone is opening a shop for a "strange beverage". That's where the latest chapter ends, but it's almost certain that he's trying to bring up FL and her milk tea so he can humiliate her, unaware that this is pretty much what she wants. I think he's also unlikely to get the response he wants since OG!FL worships the ground FL walks on and the queen in turn worships OG!FL's ground she walks on.
No problem! I love going through the spoiler threads to find out what's going on, so I always feel that I should return the favor! I honestly really love the direction that this story has gone with as far as the OG!FL goes. Spoiler I love villainous OG!FL characters with a passion, but ones like this are great as well. I particularly love it since OG!FL seems to be very self-assured and assertive rather than a shrinking violet that needs to be protected. I like heroines like Maria from MNLAAV/Bakarina as well, but it's still nice to have one who gets along with the FL and can push people around on her own. Plus admittedly I kind of like OG!FL as a love interest just as much as I like the idea of the ML being end game. Personally I think that it may end up with FL marrying ML, but keeping OG!FL and KB as very close friends. It'd also be hilarious if KB and OG!FL ended up together, as their pairing was disastrous in the original novel.
The thing with the "true master" thing, especially since there are freedom movements, seems kinda... skeevy to me... i mean, they're animals, but also people? Does mc ever figure out the female protagonist was the golden retriever she played with?