The Duchess's Contract Marriage

CornerxofxDreams Mar 5, 2023

3

This plot, is sooo ridiculous and unrealistic.  **** SPOILER ****FL Parents get killed, she doesnt dare take revenge. Thats okay. She holds the housetitle and gives it all to her sister to life in a monastry as a nun (why?!). So she basically runs away, full speed and her sister is left alone managing everything in a really dangerous environment. Then, BAM few years later, sister comes visiting FL. She states "im gonna revenge the murder of our parents". Both happily run off on a quest to conquer the kingdom/empire and kill the bad king in the capital. Ah, i missed to tell you, she pledged her first born child (AS A NUN IN A MONESTRY!) to god for the goodwill in this campaign of revenge. So, apparently she is a master archer, cuz nuns can do whatever they want, all day long. And shes going to greatly help her sister in every goal they set so far. FLs sister even DEMANDS it and FL just complys with EVERTHING, even far beyond the revenge plot. No, this is definitely NOT a healthy relationship between sisters! Sister wants a Empire. FL fights hard to make her sister an empress. Sister wants a dragon hide. FL fights hard to bring down a dragon. etc.  Lets take a break here, i have a few questions so far: - Why is FL running away, non caring about whats going to happen with her "dear" sister, to becom a freaking NUN ? - Why becoming a nun in first case? Why not running away to another country if you cant be bothered to run the house? - Why does the FL care so little for her sister (aka letting her become the head of the house and running away etc.) but does everything to help her afterwards? There is NOOOOO bonding between them, i swear this whole plot is so lazy- Why does the sister want an empire? Or the dragon hide? Is this some kind of joke? It totally comes out of the blue?And why, seriously, why is it okay to appoint the FL (as her sister, the now empress) to reign in the dangours north filled with monsters and criminals? In a NORMAL & HEALTHY family/sisterhood, the empress would keep her sister (FL) close and be thankful for all the bone hard work Fls done so far. She doesnt even care about the rumors surrounding the FL. Hello? Youre the empress? Whats your job, if your not caring for family at all? This is just overdramatized, cardboard, wannabe strong FL with ZERO romance for pity poor later introduced ML. **** SPOILER END ****Artstyle is nothing outstanding, but pretty decent. This hole piece is more a parody/comedy. (missing Tag?!?!)Cant recommend this piece of sh*t at all. Whats up author-nim? This makes me mad, cuz it SHOULD NOT BE THIS BAD. How is this possible?

upsidepenguin Feb 23, 2022

8.5

Role reversal ayy. FL is the strong one protecting ML. I especially like Calena, FL's sister. Calena is a calculating person who plays 4D chess -- perfect for an emperor. Calena may seem like a sus sister, but from spoilers it is assured that she really loves her sister, Rubiana (the FL).  Calena and Rubiana have quite a playful relationship and have a relatively healthy sisterly relationship. I love the beginning that showed us the sisters' journey and dynamics. Strong women supporting each other <3 The politics is interesting and I liked to see Calena being so big brain. The politics is quite easy to follow and understand. ML is a reincarnator who knows he needs Rubiana's protection, based on past memories he had in the past 7 lives. To be honest, I don't really like weak characters who just kind of irritate me. They cry a lot and garner much sympathy, and I just get emotionally drained after reading them (note: this is my feelings towards weepy CHARACTERS. If I meet an in-real-life HUMAN, of course I'll try my best to sympathize and comfort them. If you're afraid people might hate you because you are often anxious, sad, etc., I want to tell you that they won't hate you. Most will really care about you. You, your experience, your feelings are valid. You are an important person.) ML is a person who can stand up for himself, who does take action and finds his way out of the worst situations, so I'm happy to say I like his character. ML and FL have passable chemistry -- about similarish to an above-average romance cliche where the love interest falls for the MC at first because of a sense of protectiveness and because they looked at MC's sleeping face and was like "Wow so beautiful I am swayed. Oh no MC is crying. They must have really suffered. Oh noess my heart" and then boom, affection and protectiveness levels raise :/ and yes there are slight misunderstandings like "omg does he like another woman because he only set the contract for 3 years and he also met a woman he's close with". Consensual relationship,  yes. Dynamic is a bit unbalanced with the obvious protector and person dependent on protector dynamic. But it looks like it's going to be a loving relationship so okay, passable, pretty cute, swoon, etc etc. One thing I don't like is the second ML situation. While the misunderstandings really does make sense given their circumstances, it hurts my heart a bit to see the second ML so distraught. And I kind of like second ML because I tend to prefer comrade-romances. Also the one thing that I don't like about Calena is that she is the interference between second ML and Rubiana's romantic relationship (not as the jealous person or whatever cliche stuff. It's because of an uncommon reason.) Her reasoning is somewhat understandable, but I get a bit irritated reading it. The art is very good. I love the solid and vibrant colours. Everyone looks stunning. Overall, I would rec if you want a fairly interesting plot, strong female characters and an interesting cast with personality, and if you can stomach a bit of irritating but unpreventable circumstances.

llynden Jul 2, 2023

4

The role reversal was nice but I found myself only readinf because the ml is hot. The story was not great, overall a bit hard to follow.