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A Stepmother’s Marchen
Type
Web Novel (KR)
Genre
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Rating(4.3 / 5.0, 147 votes)
5    73% (107 votes)
4    5% (7 votes)
3    7% (11 votes)
2    6% (9 votes)
1    9% (13 votes)
Language
Support Book (#ad)
Author(s)
One entry per line
Artist(s)
One entry per line
Year
Example: 2012
2018
Status in COO
Status in Country of Origin. One entry per line
174 Chapters (Completed):
- Main Story: 134 Chapters
- Side Story (Part 1): 5 Chapters
- Side Story (Part 2): 4 Chapters
- Side Story (Part 3): 5 Chapters
- Side Story (Part 4): 7 Chapters
- Side Story (Part 5): 9 Chapters
- Side Story (Part 6): 10 Chapters
Licensed
Yes
Completely Translated
No
Original Publisher
One entry per line
English Publisher
One entry per line
Release Frequency
Every 32.5 Day(s)
Activity Stats
[Graph]
Weekly Rank: #13882
Monthly Rank: #3329
All Time Rank: #5309
Reading List
[Graph]
On 3530 Reading Lists
Monthly Rank: #26045
All Time Rank: #2592

Description

Links are NOT allowed. Format your description nicely so people can easily read them. Please use proper spacing and paragraphs.

The iron widow, the spider widow, male hunter, the witch of Neuwanstein castle, the embarrassment of noble ladies…….

These were all the words used to describe the Marchioness, Shuri Van Neuwanstein. Despite receiving such criticism from the world, she raised her ‘children’, who were unrelated to her by blood and were old enough to be called her siblings. And finally, on the day of the first son Jeremy’s wedding, she felt that all her hard work had tied all the loose ends together.

But she had been terribly mistaken. After hearing the message requesting her to not attend the wedding, she got caught up in an accident and died while leaving the castle.

When she opened her eyes, she woke up on the day of her husband’s funeral, seven years ago. I refuse to suffer any more. I won’t live as I had in the past a second time!

Associated Names
One entry per line
A Stepmother's Fairy Tale
A Stepmother's Marchen
The Fantasie of a Stepmother
어떤 계모님의 메르헨
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
The Tyrant’s Guardian is an Evil Witch (1)
My Niece Is Not A Villainess (1)
I’m a Mother-in-Law, but I Dislike Conflict with My Daughter-in-Law (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. mc who unlocked both braincells
  2. COMPLETE NOVELS
  3. Mother- in laws/ Moms/ Stepmothers
  4. Who runs the world? Exactly, women.
  5. Romance (historical/straight)

Latest Release

Date Group Release
03/15/25 MatroneScan v1c2
03/11/25 MatroneScan v1c1
Review
17 Reviews


Mio2102
Mio2102
Feb 18, 2021
Status: --
I personally love this except for the fact if Johanan I just hate it that he is portrayed as a good person when in reality he was just a selfish dad who wanted the good of his children by using a 16 yr old against all life's hardships letting her suffer his childrens wrath while making it her responsibility to make sure his children grow up naturally like heck!!

Else I love the plot the characters
30 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
lady-kyo
lady-kyo
Dec 02, 2020
Status: --
This work was very well written, the author managed to create a very realistic atmosphere of the nobility, unlike many other works of this genre, MC cannot do everything just because he is from an influential family without worrying about other people's options. I think it's amazing how the author dealt with the part of how the gossip of society can influence our lives and how MC, even though it worries about it, never let what other people think interfere with her children's upbringing. The evolution of MC is extremely... more>> realistic, about how the mistakes of her first life are caused by unexpectedness, since she was only 16 years old and how she was more capable in the second life because of the experiences she had. Nothing magically improves only because the MC has gone back in time, or everything is easily obeyed by the power of protagonism, the scenes are built with extreme realism, a reflection of noble society in Europe.

I believe that the main theme of this work is about how our parents influence us, and this influence is good and bad, how we develop a character and traumas by mistakes that our parents do not realize they have committed, since they themselves have difficult childhoods with severe parents. That said, Shuli is the best mother in the series, which says a lot, when she is just a 16-year-old teenager (23 years old if you count on regression), and yet, 23 years old is too young to be responsible for 4 children. <<less
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7starkiller99
7starkiller9
Mar 24, 2022
Status: Completed
Novel Absolutely Not Recommended to Read

I can sum up this whole novel in one dreary bloated sentence:

Useless mentally deficient perfect Mary Sue heavenly all-caring gentle pushover loser girl is reborn to the past after facing near death, and then works like a s*ave for a family that hates her simply because she's so perfect, selfless, kind, and s*upid. (Basically a better title would be: The brainless heroine chooses to be ab*sed by her heartless family and ultimately is satisfied!)

People that rate it five stars enjoy watching the moronic MC... more>> suffer, which is pretty fun through to midway point. Ironically, MC is actually a horrible disgusting person for not ever honestly talking to anyone. There are at least 10 times in the novel where the MC could defuse conflict or ensure a better living condition for herself and those she cares about by ACTIVELY communicating any of her thoughts. She knows things would be better if she did so. She does not.

Misunderstandings in the novel? Not really. The children genuinely wanted to kill MC early on. MC is of course fine with this because she's so perfect and kind.

Honestly haven't quite seen a novel like this before, where the MC deserves every bit of suffering coming her way because she's the one endorsing her pain. This is a very harsh statement to make, but it's one reiterated throughout the whole novel. There's no behind the scenes trickery or even evil mental brainwashing. Nope! MC even knows that her situation is bad but chooses directly not to do so. Her entire reason for being upset at the start is not the countless troubles she had while acting as the heir to the wealth or managing the situation but just pouting that she didn't make it to a wedding in society. She's that shallow and forgiving. It's actually baffling since the MC likes to complain yet does nothing to avoid any of the troubles. She won't talk to others, won't use any of the countless riches she has available to improve anything, can't think of any plans, and basically just wants to relive her life again. It's impossible to understand how the MC could live two lifetimes and still not do anything right (except when plot armor actives and she's a perfect accountant, genius mother, and practically a human saint).

Author blatantly lies in the narration when they have MC say that she thinks her luck is bad. She enjoys every second of her miserable life =_=. This is a work of art in how bad it is.

-900Hextillion/10 A really horrible story with a really horrible MC and even more horrible scum family.

P.S. Worst story in quite a while, yet not depraved with constant s*xual assault or racism. No, this is more of a case of gentle MC being lazy and accepting a lifetime of pain. Very much hate it. It's shocking how many perfect 5 star review's this novel has gotten. The fact that the top review is for the manwha is baffling too. Guess people approve of this kind of story.

Sigh, novelupdates keeps reminding me I can't vote zero ;~; <<less
14 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
Sutad Aatma
Sutad Aatma
Jul 14, 2021
Status: --
Nothing I say can cover what the other reviewers have not said. Only one thing.

A lot of reviewers are cribbing about the age gap between Shuli and Jonathan. Might I add, considering the time era, this might have been uncommon but it is not weird. At least it is not like one of those weird CN novels that have a couple with 15 years of age difference in modern era and everyone pretending it is fine. Their relationship was platonic and he groomed her to be his proxy after his... more>> death because he knew that his own relatives are unreliable and he cannot marry a woman of his age because he cannot give her love and she could be greedy for his wealth, robbing his own children of inheritance. <<less
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l0513
l0513
Apr 21, 2021
Status: --
Im giving this story a solid 4. Four because tho its heartwarming it is also so heartbreaking.

I think her husband chose her because she looks like the dead empress. Some sort of revenge or play there for their circle (emperor, current empress and her husband’s circle).

Nonetheless, this story is excellently written. The story is good and it is somehow realistic except for the coming back part.

... more>> *spoiler* read the rest at your own risk.

All in all. Its good. If you want the type of story that will make you so sad. If you’re a masochist like me. Then this is your cup of tea. So many misunderstandings, so many screwed up parenting which resulted to screwed up children who fought their own way in life. And their only light? Our main lead who died feeling lonely. Which they all regret. Sad but realistic. As they said, you’ll only know importance once you lose it. <<less
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Asphyxia778
Asphyxia778
Oct 04, 2021
Status: c35
I've read the manhwa version and I absolutely adore it. Now I've started reading the novel version too.

As with most of the readers I'm really uncomfortable with how Johan used Shuli as a shield for his children when she was a child herself. Other than that I really like this because the characters actually act like humans and don't have perfect behaviour all the time.

Even Shuli after her rebirth doesn't have a protagonist halo because she makes mistakes and has her own worries. She also doesn't perfectly remember everything so... more>> she can only react according to the situation. She isn't a perfect MC. It's just that she has the maturity and calmness that helps her solve issues. Now that she's not struggling like in her previous life she finally starts to notice others and things she missed in her previous life.

The children too have personality. They are bratty, annoy each other and perform pranks. Which is actual behaviour of children. This is a joy for me because I'm tired of seeing super Robot like perfect children in novels.

Basically I highly recommend this novel. If possible the manhwa too because the artwork is gorgeous and the settings are highly accurate. (The world building is very accurate. The European esque vibe is used appropriately.)

Go read this! <<less
5 Likes · Like Permalink | Report
sophieeee
sophieeee
Mar 17, 2023
Status: --
This novel does show a lot about mental health and how it was pretty normal back in the day for young girls to get married off to old men at such a young age, which is why many people didn't like this novel but honestly seeing her overcome her tragic past and being able see her kids actual feelings towards her finding a man she truly loves was truly satisfying. (The only one who was an ass imo was Elias)
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Bolovis
Bolovis
May 13, 2022
Status: c63
This is good. Really good.

So good that I've gone read the spoilers after getting to the last TLed chapter.

So, the story is about a stepmother who is 2 years older than the eldest stepson (7 or so from the youngest) and the (obvious) problems that this entails. But there is a little twist.

She was their stepmother for 9 years and finally got to "see" the oldest inherit the title and have her work done. To that end, she put on a mask of the worst possible woman in society, a... more>> widow only focused on herself, that was controlling the marquisate she was married to after her husband died. She did so to protect the kids, the only way she could do so, being the focus of the attacks while she could defend those children and provide for them. But, in the end, this caused the relationship between them to get worse. What culminates in her being disinvited from the wedding by the groom, her own oldest stepson. Desolated she decides that it is finally time to retire and leave the marquisate for good on the morning of the wedding after all her work, protecting the child until adulthood, was finished and she can finally leave it to her stepson and quietly retire herself to not sully even more the family name.

And she wake up 7 years prior to those events, on the day of her husband's funeral. And with this new chance, she will try to at least not have a relationship that bad with the children.

So this is the basic setup for the MC. Add to that some interesting points, for example, the power dynamics of the empire, where the church controls part of the state as a heavy power that basically crowed the emperor, the aristocrats that maintain a parallel power as a status quo for the church. The ugliness of the high society that views her as a vain, weak, and s*upid little girl that now heads one of the most important pillars of the empire, the Neuwanstein family. Add to that some bastards that antagonize her (with an interesting description of some bad manipulators, by the way, that to me seems very well made). And you get the pleasure of seeing her get on top of all that, which is satisfactory, to say the least. That so still showing how hard she has it, and how human the character is in this sh*t situation.

The family dynamic will get you pissed off. This (f*cking) entitled and s*upid child deserved some slaps, one more so. But then you remember what sh*t situation they are in too, how they are anxious and scared after being put alone with a child, like then, someone that they barely know. The hard times where they develop together and learn with each other are totally different from the distant and sh*t situation of the first timeline.

TL, DR: it is good. A story of development and understanding, even with the bumps along the road. Would you not call this a family tale?

I will not spoil more, as so you must read to appreciate it. He injects a good dose of comedy to take some of the heaviness of it all. Just be ready to see some f*cked up dudes. Sh*t ungrateful bastards (not really but you will say that, I know it). Bad parenting. Worse husbandry. And much more. All of which give this novel a dense and interesting depth that is up to my tastes. What is funny is the fact that even with an overused gimmick, the time travel death MC that will fix it all, it did not get stale to me. I hope you like (be you reading the manwha where I started or the novel here).

Spoiler

As a spoiler, I would say that the original timeline parts are high up in my tastes. The brats dealing with the heaviness of what happened is my cup of tea (even knowing that they kind of do not deserve it), I like this type of thing. I wish it would have some more of that, showing how hard her death is on (basically) everyone and took the empire upside down. A death that, by the way, was such a f*cked up way to die and sad as f*ck, damn those sadistic writers.

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YourSisSugarBoy
YourSisSugar
May 30, 2021
Status: c36
s*upid story. MC was mistreated in her early life by these devil puffs, but after going back in time, she just tried her best to earn their love. Mc's s*upidity gets on my nerves. If I were, I would leave those punks without suffering.
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SomethingUser
SomethingUse
Mar 18, 2021
Status: Completed
I love this novel and the manhwa and sometimes I feel like this is one of the best novels ever that have a female protagonist as most Female MC novels are romance but I picked this up and read and couldn't stop because it was amazing and I know a lot of people will hate the character of Johann but the stuff that actually goes into the main character and other characters is phenomonal so if you are looking for a great novel and wanted to see what other people... more>> thought about this then you should read this you not gonna regret it <<less
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Allister
Allister
Apr 01, 2025
Status: Completed
I feel like the low reviewers are being ridiculous and it makes me wonder if we read the same thing. She isn't a mary sue, if she was, none of what happened would have in the first place. As for her actions and suffering, I wonder how a kid thrust into a situation like that and fundamentally groomed to keep a promise for something she had no vote on could have done differently without a wake up call (ie, her brutal mu*der). Moreover, she didn't deserve any of what happened... more>> or what was done to her. The people around her were utterly disgusting, that includes the other kids. The lack of any sense of empathy on reviewers baffles me, I have asperger and even I can understand (logically) how and why things developed the way they did. Also, it wasn't portrayed like johannes was a good person, it's actually the opposite. MC thinks so but there's a reason for that, which we learn later. That's the only thing that annoyed me a bit, but I can understand why the others prefered to keep her in the dark about it... it was unnecessary pain.

RANT IS OVER, now the real review:

In terms of story, it was beautifully written. The emotions and descriptions (on facial expressions especially) were so raw, so very vivid. Basically all gets explained if you read EVERYTHING (the reason for her coming back is mentioned in passing on the last of the side stories, unlike what others said). There wasn't a chance for me to get tired of binging it. The side stories while the main story ran were very useful to add information on her past life actions and motivations. The ones after gave it a mostly cute closure that after so much pain was very needed.

In terms of characters, seeing mc's growth and managing to get what she needed was very rewarding. The other kids lives changed so much compared to the other life that they're basically someone else. So I agree with other reviewers that there's a big focus here on what nurture does to a person's development. Which honestly I don't entirely disagree with. We do have a core, but most of what makes us us is made by environment.

As for romance, ML was clear to me early on and the relationship was well built. The way passion is portrayed here though... some characters are so f*cked up. The sad thing is that it's very realistic.

The translation I read was in spanish, and very well done. Thus, I can't really talk much about what the other reviewers read.

TLDR: Very well written work. Big focus on the effect of nurture on people's development, and emotional growth. Pretty realistic portrayal of how noble society actually worked. The romance aspect is there and it's well built without being disruptive to the narrative's real focus. <<less
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poogy
poogy
Apr 21, 2022
Status: c63
I love it. What an amazing story.

The manhwa is a little ahead of this translation but the story so far has been amazing. I've reread the manhwa like 5 times I'm really obsessed. And this translation is really good! Thank you translators for your hard work.

Shuli is a really complex character I think. Not a Mary Sue by any means. Shuli is really focused and head strong I think.

It's very wholesome to see how the family develops and how they now include Shuli as their true family. They are all... more>> very complex, nothing is quite so simple in their relationships but the love is definitely there. They hold lots of loyalty to each other and it's very sweet to see.

This story isn't so methodological in the second life as it is in other stories. She is definitely guided by her previous experiences but it's more by her wisdom. I think it makes it more refreshing and more genuine. Her life now is significantly different to her previous life and it just makes you look forward to what is coming next.

It's not too much of an angsty read, nor too lighthearted. It delves into politics in a really interesting way and all the antagonists are really interesting.

I love the male lead. I love the entire family. All the relationships between them are amazing.

Looking forward to future chapters. Perhaps my top 3 reads. <<less
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3.crying.3
3.crying.3
Dec 20, 2021
Status: c75
A stepmother's märchen is the best!

As someone who likes angsty, dark and sad manhwa's/novel's with unexpected twist's, I loved it.

I love the emotional roller-coaster of manhwa it is, where you could be laughing your a** off in one chapter and bawling your eyes out in the next. I love the twists and turns it takes and how it goes from being so light hearted and comforting to dark and thrilling.

What I love about our MC/FL is that she is strong when she needs to be strong but is very fragile,... more>> she does everything to the best of her abilities even when she isn't complemented about it (sadly people fail to remember she is still a young, she never got the chance to grow up properly and is still healing, that's why I wish she lives happily!!). Has multiple side plots (romance, comedy) but is mainly focused on the family drama aspect that surrounds it
Spoiler

especially as we get to see more into Shuli's past.

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I would definitely recommend!! <<less
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IlikeBread
IlikeBread
Feb 29, 2024
Status: c71
This story is a trully beautiful one and one of my absolute favourites! Shuri, the female lead, is a tragic character done so sooooo well. She suffered a lot (and I mean a lot!) in the story. She had to become the head of the Neuschwanstein family only at 16 because of her late husband's, marquess Neuschwanstein, will where he stated that she will stay in that position until his eldest child from his first marriage, Jeremy, will be of age and married.

In the first timeline she was completely alone... more>> in her situation as she didn't get along with the Neuschwanstein children and most of the noble society didn't like her. BUT the story follows her 2nd life (after her death at the hands of some bandits) after she regresses to 7 years ago to the moment when she was attending her late husband's funeral. Then the story focuses on Shuri and her relationship with the Neuschwanstein kids and since she's more mature and understanding towards them than in her 1st life (because back then she was trully just a 16 years old child who had to take care of only few years younger children) they start to get along and be more understanding towards each other.

This is an amazing story with and ABOUT complex relationships. I adore the bond that Shuri forms with the people around her through out the story. I beg you guys to read it, you definitely won't regret it!!! (This novel also has a manhwa adaption made by the artist Orka under the same name. There are few things different from the novel but nothing too big except one character (with whom I personally prefer the route Orka takes with his character) but I can't really say if there are going to be any more changes since it's still ongoing. The art is absolutely gorgeous though!!!) <<less
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AlienMysha
AlienMysha
Jan 18, 2023
Status: c96
Ok, 1st the plot was mostly nonsensical... like she is only a 16 years old kid but everyone, literally every one of them, expects her to do things that even an adult of 30s can't do properly and blames her for every lil mistakes but when the crown prince who is of the same age as her makes a mistake, everyone disperse it as a child's mistake... ok lets say, it's ok... but what about Johannes? he literally ab*sed a kid who is only 14 or 15 years old... I... more>> knew it from the start that the way an old man bought and married a 14 years old kid, it was obvious he wasn’t a good person that the FL thinks of him... he is abusive and obsessive... he literally married the FL out of his own greed for the late queen.. and I’m guessing he didn’t sleep with the FL not cuz she was young or a good person or his promise to his late wife but because he didn’t want others to think bad of him and oppose him with this.. he wanted to wait for the FL to grow a lil more but died early than expected.. also when he was dying, never once did he care or want to see his own kids, even the youngest one.. his only concern was that FL might marry another man after he is gone so he gave all the damn resposibillities to a 16 years old FL and making her promise that she will look after the kids, so that she won’t have time to enjoy the luxury of falling in love and go to another man.. this man is literally a psycho.. because this is the FL’s point of view we didn’t know up until now that he is bad cuz FL thinks really highly of him.. I mean FL is literally a marionette that johannes created by torturing her with sophistication and false hope that he is actually helping her... and let's not say other things.. I think the most normal persion in this whole drama was Noah.. because he is the male lead I read it thus far but lost my interest now. <<less
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LilithFromEarth
LilithFromEa
Dec 12, 2021
Status: c30
I can say that this story is excellent, it's fresh and all the characters have personality. The rebirth and the flashbacks make you understand every move that the FL made, but that doesn't make her omnipotent. The fear, past trauma still there, but she tried her best to fight against it and make a peaceful place to the people that really love her even in her past life. If you like the story where the protagonist is badass and take revenge it's not your story. She will fight, but in... more>> her own way and will open her heart to the people that she thought hate her.
Spoiler

The only thing strange is the relationship with her husband, but I understand that in that time it was legal to marry young girls, and they didn't have any type of intimacy and just a contract, but even it sound weird. Just thinking that her parents will marry her to any other sugar daddy, it's just gross.

[collapse]
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Renn44
Renn44
Nov 11, 2021
Status: c4
it's only 4 chapter, but I already sobbing and my heart hurts so mich for shuri

objectively speaking, I only ready 4 chapter but it's a so good read, I don't know for the later chapter.

but for these early chapter it has a great writing, and translation is good and the premise is good
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