The Duchess of the Attic

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Duchess Opal, after having suffered an event considered a disaster for an unmarried woman, was married off to Duke Hubert, in exchange of the huge fortune of her dowry.

The new life of Duchess Opal consisted of solitary imprisonment in a dusty attic. The house after her marriage was full of hostility towards her. And the Duke, making use of all her fortune, lived comfortably with his real lover in the same house.

Opal gained a reputation of a loose woman after being attacked one night, and she was treated like an hindrance. However, the Duchess doesn’t like losing, so it won’t end like this!

I will outwit those who make my life miserable…!

Associated Names
One entry per line
Yane Urabeya no Koushaku Fujin
屋根裏部屋の公爵夫人
阁楼里的公爵夫人
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Adopting and Raising the Male Lead and the Villain (1)
Fake Cinderella (1)
Herscherik (Reincarnated Prince Series) (1)
Lady Villainess Philia D’la Love’s Mistakes (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. deep dark abyss
  2. JP Villainess novels with manga adaption
  3. The Stories I Read
  4. Suggested novels: Royalty/Nobility
  5. Liked Female Protagonist (JN)

Latest Release

Date Group Release
03/27/21 djurasico c26
03/27/21 djurasico c25
02/20/21 djurasico c24
12/19/20 djurasico c23
12/19/20 djurasico c22
12/19/20 djurasico c21
12/19/20 djurasico c20
10/15/20 djurasico c19
10/15/20 djurasico c18
10/15/20 djurasico c17
10/15/20 djurasico c16
10/15/20 djurasico c15
10/15/20 djurasico c14
10/15/20 djurasico c13
10/15/20 djurasico c12
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5 Reviews sorted by


Kimchi759
Kimchi759
November 2, 2019
Status: c3
Somehow, the manga adaptation is easier to read. I would only rec this novel is you find...

1. chauvinistic double standards amusing,

2. sl*t-shaming righteous/justifiable,

3. human worth based on female “purity” bearable,

& 4. abuse a source of entertaining drama.

To help make your decision, here are a quick selection of quotes that summarize the, uh, spirit of this work:

Spoiler

1. “But... but... I would have been assaulted if I didn’t make any noise.” “If you could protect your public’s reputation, you could find a better marriage partner, whether you’re a virg*n or not. But now it’s spreading surprisingly fast that you’ve been defiled.” -Father.

(IE better to be assaulted than shout for help & lose your worth as a noblewoman.)

2. “Well, Opal. What will you do after studying so much? Isn't the territory’s management a man's job?” -Potential male lead.

3. “A noble maiden, shouldn’t open her mouth until the master speaks first. It’s also my fault that I couldn’t educate you properly. Opal, you seem to have become a very wild woman.” -Father.

4. “I heard one of his maids saying that I’m not clean, so he won’t touch me.“

5. “McCloud seems to have mistress, surrounded in mystery. But, you’ll be his wife, so don’t care about it. One or two mistresses are no big deal.” -Father.

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There’s victim-blaming & sl*t-shaming galore. There’s restrictive gender roles. There’s sh***y parenting. There’s the reduction of a woman to her v**ginity. The devaluation as a human being based on a woman’s rumored “purity”.

I mean, I’m sure it’s great if you suffer from a malignant case of misogyny, internalized or otherwise. Or if you just enjoy torturing yourself with dramatized sexism justified by the norms of a fantasy society.

To each their own, I guess...? I’mma stick with the manga. At least the pictures are pretty over there.
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Keisotsuna
Keisotsuna rated it
December 25, 2019
Status: c3
I guess it's an okay..? I can't really judge the translation quality because I MTLed the novel and honestly, most manga adapted Japanese novels aren't very high in quality. Just my opinion, I highly recommend you focus on the manga because its more enjoyable.

SPOILER ALERT!!

Anyway, so about the story— it basically narrates how the MC, Opal, who was talented in managing territories despite being a women in feudal times, was unwillingly married to a Duke who married her for her money (dowry). Because of a scandal where she was labelled... more>> a promiscuous woman, she was unable to find marriage suitors in high society, thus resulting in the marriage with the Duke. The marriage however, was far from her ideal one. Everyone in the Duke's household dislikes her and believes that she is a sl*t due to the malicious rumors. Furthermore, the people of the mansion supports Stella, the sickly childhood friend of the Duke, and discriminated against her. Opal initially ignores the bad treatment until she discovered a potential fraud in the Duke's account.

(Whoops, am I spoiling too much? Sorry 'bout that. ✌)
Spoiler

She ended up cleaning the mess behind the fraud and even tricked the Duke to giving her all his properties (because he was s*upid enough not to read the contract before signing it). She did all of these in order to gain the right to manage the territory, which had been ignored by the Duke for years, and help it grow.

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There were some time skips and we see an improvement in the relationship with Opal and the Duke, but the story mostly focuses on their business and investment ventures, which is a bit boring (for me) since there wasn't much plot development.

Lastly, in the end,

Spoiler

after seven (or was that eight?) years, Opal eventually divorced the Duke, rejecting his proposal for an official marriage. She ended up reuniting with her childhood friend, Claude, who had earned himself a reputable identity and title since the last years that he disappeared. Claude proposed to Opal and she agreed.

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There wasn't any great plot development and even the romance isn't very touched upon. Though I might add, I really like Opal's character. She is independent, intelligent and decisive. She would make a great female lead but unfortunately, the plot is a bit lackluster. I would've love if it was longer and had more substantial plot. I also sincerely hope that the manga adaptation will be done beautifully because I do believe that this work will make a better read as a manga. Please do read it if you have the chance. ? <<less
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Elite272
Elite272
April 1, 2020
Status: --
It was a decent read.. but I would have liked it more if it was longer... it had so many things left to explore

Spoiler

anyway thank god the husband is not the male lead... yes the male lead is the childhood friend.... the husband did understand his mistake and wanted to get together with her but the FL refused (for which I liked her even more... he didn't deserve a single bit of her... she is not the type to be delusional either)

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Caffae
Caffae rated it
June 28, 2021
Status: c26
This story started out incredibly annoying but the plot improved greatly afterwards definitely one of the most unique stories I’ve ever read and I’m super happy with how it all turned out.

... more>>
Spoiler

actually I think that everyone got what they deserved and yet it still all ended up well. It is rare to see a revenge story that doesn’t go to far.

also I like that she didn’t wallow for her husbands heart but instead just outplayed him. I really appreciate the view that just because you have been forced to marry someone who hates you doesn’t mean you have to give up who you are to pacify and seduce that idiot. Marriage isn’t forever and people shouldn’t settle when being persecuted.

also the ending is pretty sweet

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I suggest reading the web toon then doing back to read the novel around chapter 19 <<less
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dawn3004
dawn3004 rated it
February 25, 2024
Status: c26
I read the manga and wanted to read more of the story so I hunted for the lite novel. I know this is not the translators fault, because the story has to be written this way, but it's very difficult to read. It's almost like a bullet point list of things that happen, as if like an outline for the manga. I had to give it a lower rating because of this.

Onto the plot:

I enjoy revenge stories where the character works to basically prove the haters wrong so maybe I'm... more>> biased but I enjoyed the story line. I felt that Opal was a well crafted character in a society that actively is fighting against her. But I had some issues with the story which cause me to rate it lower.

Spoiler:

Spoiler

I appreciate that the husband is not the male lead. He was hard to read about through the whole thing. A complete and utter shoe coated in dog poop. I do not like stories about women who have to convince their spouse to be decent and treat them as a human being. So that was why I had to rate it a bit lower. But my main reason for the low rating was the translation.

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