Actually, I was the Real One

Description

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In order to receive love from her father, Keira tried her hardest to live the life of a perfect, submissive daughter. However one day, Cosette appears claiming to be his real daughter and Kiera is executed under the assumption that she is a fake.

In the last moments of her life, Cosette whispers to Kiera, “Truthfully, you were the real one.”
Kiera, recalling those words, returns to the past. Although revenge is important, what does it matter who is fake and who is real?
Now that I have been given a life again, I will live it freely for myself!

A cute female protagonist’s coming of age romance who has never made friends.

Associated Names
One entry per line
I Am The Real One
La vraie, c'est moi !
Sesungguhnya, Akulah yang Asli
ฉันนี่แหละที่เป็นตัวจริง
其实我才是真的
実は私が本物だった
真与假的精灵师少女
사실은 내가 진짜였다
사실은 내가 진짜였다
Related Series
N/A
Recommendations
Suddenly Became A Princess One Day (1)
I Was a Substitute (1)
Recommendation Lists
  1. Sibling rivalry
  2. BG favourite novels i read
  3. Historical romance fantasy novels
  4. Role Model FL (KR)
  5. KR Novels with Manhwa (FL Version)

Latest Release

Date Group Release
08/19/22 Novel Endeavors c153
08/17/22 Novel Endeavors c60
08/15/22 Novel Endeavors c152
08/04/22 Novel Endeavors c151
08/01/22 Novel Endeavors c150
08/01/22 Novel Endeavors c149
07/29/22 Novel Endeavors c148
07/25/22 Novel Endeavors c147
07/25/22 Novel Endeavors c146
07/22/22 Novel Endeavors c145
07/18/22 Novel Endeavors c144
07/18/22 Novel Endeavors c143
07/16/22 Novel Endeavors c142
07/15/22 Novel Endeavors c141
07/15/22 Novel Endeavors c140
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Review
20 Reviews


HentMas
HentMas
Mar 23, 2021
Status: v1c36
No reviews huh?, well, I think I've read enough to give my honest thoughts.

The novel is quite interesting in its own regard, even if it's such a cliché that you kind of might think it's got nothing going for it, it starts heart wrenching and disgustingly painful with a tone that will haunt you for the rest of the novel, if anything the author managed to make this part particularly impactful managing to get everyone that has read it (as far as I have seen) compelled to love the MC... more>> and wish her the best.

But it just doesn't end with that, every plot point and connection to her growth is showcased with a thrilling atmosphere, as more and more things get revealed, more and more you want her to be happy.

It's a nice balance where the Author has managed to make such an outstanding character really relatable and understandable, outside of all the dread and hatefulness that he managed to fill you with towards the antagonists, he's also surrounded her with compelling characters that help to heal that feeling, and you can enthusiastically curse at the meddling villains.

Instead of "misconceptions" or "misunderstandings", this is full blown a straight to the heart drama that begins to get fluffy and tear-jerking sweet after the first couple of chapters.

The villain is horrible, the MC is lovable, what else do you need? Just go and read it, it's worth it, I promise. <<less
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Attackonfeelings
Attackonfeel
Jun 02, 2021
Status: v2c52
Our FL is very cute and is going through a lot of character growth after being wrongfully m*rdered.

... more>>
Spoiler

In regards to her family, her father can rot in hell. I honestly wish him a slow and painful death. Yes he may have been born into the mentality that told him he couldn’t show affection or feel affection for his children but it’s not a justification that makes what he did to his daughter okay. He k*lled her!!! He watched them cut her head off as she pleaded and begged for her life and any tiny bit of love her father might have for her. ALL those years he spent with his daughter suddenly meant nothing? Yeah he had a reason for being so stone cold, but it’s NOT A JUSTIFICATION. And for that reason I say we throw away this man. (Just because I think the father isn’t redeemable doesn’t mean I hate the story btw!)

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I think this story emphasizes what psychologists and therapists say about parents and children’s relationships. Parents can argue till their blue in the face, BUT the cold hard truth is that your child will always love you MORE than you love them. Children will do anything for their parents and especially for their approval till they grow mature enough to think for themselves. It’s unconditional love. A parent will do a lot for their child, I’m not denying that, but a child will mold themselves to fit their parents standards since the moment of birth. <<less
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znukhsoc
znukhsoc
Dec 23, 2022
Status: Completed
Warning: This is a cheap revenge novel and ABSOLUTELY not a romance one. There seems to be a love interest (Joseph) but he had less than 2% screentime, after a while, he wasn't mentioned at all, he was forgotten in the ending. It was mostly about annoying schemes. The author makes you assume that the friendly knights and the little brother will be a part of this story but no, they are NOT. Little brother is in and out when the plot needs to be of course but there is... more>> no heartwarming sibling relationship like expected.

The story changes themes multiple times like the author couldn't decide where to go with the plot.

Before Cosette, the author focused on the wrong parts. Instead of preparing for the arrival of Cosette and making her socialize with the knights or her brother, a random man was chosen. The story lost quite some time on that false love story. Didn't enjoy it even a bit. It was pointless and a waste of the reader's time.

I really thought the story would get worse when Cosette appeared but actually, it was quite satisfying. I loved the drama. However, supposedly the pure and inexperienced FL suddenly starts to win every fight with Cosette. Wow, the girl can scheme huh... I felt like she changed characters suddenly.
The part that made me give this 1 stars was after the big Cosette reveal.
Spoiler

Our big bad character Cosette is not human. All the confrontations become nothing just like that... Like, make Cosette a human who MADE A DEAL with A DEMON instead of a THE DEVIL herself. WHY would a demon suck up to a HUMAN DUKE? WHY? All the revenge part would be much more satisfying if she were a HUMAN. UGH.

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After that fact was explained the whole story went into the garbage. Plot points fill the story, characters lost importance, the story found a new meaningless direction...
Anyway, what's important is: I absolutely hated the father. Some comments mentioned redeeming himself but hell no. Even if he turned into the sweetest father ever, I wouldn't EVER AND NEVER forgive him.

The ending was so ABRUPT that it made me laugh.
That's it. This was a mess. Absolutely deserved that 1. <<less
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calypsoxin
calypsoxin
Aug 22, 2021
Status: v1c32
* Leaving it at 3 stars because it might be too early to give a definite review at Chapter 32, though I'm not sure I'll continue it with how it's going atm.

Started off as enjoyable, but the plot progresses too slowly and the MC's way too naive.

She isn't doing anything much about her situation (preparing for what'll happen when Cosette shows up), though that's understandable considering how she'll attract unwanted attention by looking into matters unrelated to her daily life out of nowhere and how she has no idea where... more>> to start.

However, majority of the content (as of Chapter 32) is about her "character development" – namely getting on better terms with the knights and maids, finding a hobby (reading romance novels), and realising she's been wasting her time on her father who'll never love her back.

Here's my problem with this. Her maid, despite knowing about the MC's (former) personality, somehow has the guts to recommend erot*c romance novels. And one of her knights, knowing fully well about her prior experience, or lack thereof, with socialising, he suggests bringing her to a casino for her first casual outing. The MC's reactions are full of child-like wonder and innocence, which I don't find befitting her character at all. Even if she's decided to change, you're telling me she went from a cold and lofty noble to a blushing and easily amazed by literally everything little girl overnight?

Her father irks me. He was fine to ignore her when she had been injured as a child, quickly cast her aside for a random stranger who just happens to resembles him, and not even bat an eyelid when she was sentenced to death in her previous life, but now that she's stopped trying to suck up to him, he's oh so baffled and surprised? Major red flag there and none of it is adding up. If he couldn't even find the effort to care when she was bedridden, how's a few days of being given the cold shoulder affecting him?

It might get better in the following chapters, or it may not. I don't know, and I'm not invested enough to continue. Maybe I'll come back to it and update my review when I run out of novels to binge, but as of now, I'm sticking with this. <<less
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Changingchangie
Changingchan
Apr 06, 2021
Status: c42
I dunno why there is a low raring in this novel. First of all, if you came here from the manhwa then the chapters haven't been there YET. But really, really thankful for the translator because I have been waiting for someone to translate the novel.

This is actually a nice read if you are looking for a story where you just wanna cry or just feel so down. The storyline is actually nice and if you like a novel where the MC was betrayed and was reborn, this can be... more>> your calling. But if you hate stories like that click off. <<less
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scaly
scaly
Aug 28, 2021
Status: c70
I'm sorry for misjudging this for so long thinking it was a revenge story QQ. I didn't even read the summary carefully, and I was convinced this was one of those revenge stories were the MC is both a machiavellian mastermind and the most misunderstood angel and everyone who previously hated her falls in love with her just because. And if I wasn't in the mood for some cliche story like that I would have overlooked this gem even longer.

It's not that kind of story at all. The fake daughter... more>> will probably get her comeuppance because the plot demands it - she is a threat to MC while alive. And they deserve whatever is coming, and it will be very satisfying I'm sure. But the story is not about that. The plot so far: our MC is a formerly studious and obedient young heir who never had a day of fun in her life T_T She's now making up for this oversight, with a lot of help from those around her. That's quite important. She wouldn't even know what fun looks like if she was alone.

The best part is... ok the best part is
Spoiler

Kiera not only goes to a casino but somehow takes her 13 yo brother with her

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But the second best part is, the MC is genuinely quite naive and acts like an actual teenage girl (which maybe she's not anymore according to actual age? but it makes sense anyway, since she missed out on most normal experiences) and... let's just thank god the poor cinnamon roll has some people on her side. She's not a super smart MC who always knows the right choice to make, the right thing to say and is 10 steps ahead of everyone. She is book smart and physically strong and I'm sure she will be OP in some ways, but she's socially inept and struggles quite a bit to make friends. (That's not to say she doesn't have agency in the story - she does, in fact so far she's solved all her issues herself in the end.)

tl;dr The MC is absolutely lovely, the people close to her are nice and there's no yandere ML in sight (actually not sure there's any ML to be seen so far) and the plot is hilarious (but be prepared to cry in the beginning). <<less
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Janadestiny
Janadestiny
Jul 04, 2021
Status: c58
At first I was taken back by the low rating this one got. But the premise seemed promised enough to me (and the summary didn't just spoil the whole story) so in a boring weekend, I picked it up. To my suprise, it was pretty good. Not the best story of this kind, but I enjoy reading it. It's closer to a 4 than a 5 in my standard, but since this story got such a low rating, I raised my rating a little bit.

The story is still in its... more>> early state, so I can't say much about it. But I like that the story didn't just focus on the romance aspect right away, but more about the MC journey to become more sociable and make friends on the process. The poor girl needs some friends. She's very shy and introverted but people misunderstood that as intimidating. I laughed and cried, because she reminded me of myself... somehow, when I was in my second grade. It got better now (it's been 10years since then), but I still found it pretty hard to make new friends immediately, so I sympathized her very much.

The plot is good. The characters are likeable (except for the father and the "daughter"). I love the knight team, they made me giggle a lot. The translator used MTL, but they have been learning Korean too, so the translation is smooth and good. The one thing I also like is that the MC had to struggle a lot in changing herself, not just reincarnated and do a 180 turn of personality, and she admitted she could not act cutely like the "daughter" Cosette too. <<less
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CyMo
CyMo
May 14, 2021
Status: --
I'm currently reading this story and I really find it interesting and sad at the same time Kiera tried whole of her first life to get the approval of her father only to be replaced by a fake and than was killed for the crime which the fake was going to commit. As it is a magician reversed time on someone's behave and that person decided to preserve Kiera memory so in her second life she decided that she wont live to win her father's approval but find a way... more>> to survive without the fake daughter of her father making people believe that Kiera is fake and get killed. She also decided that she will learn to enjoy her life more and perhaps fall in love with someone. This is what I have read so far <3 <<less
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shinnace
shinnace
May 30, 2022
Status: --
  1. I read this story both in novel and manhwa, and I can say that this is really good. At first five chapters, I felt humiliated and devastated for Keira, I mean how did she lived those painful years just to be executed to death by her own father.I can't imagine her trauma after facing such tragic fate, the betrayal of the person whom she loved and idolized.
  2. Then, when she's totally hopeless and helpless, she surrendered to the thoughts that she cannot won her father's love and attention. She helplessly accepted her death and did nothing to prevent it.
  3. Just when she surrendered all her hope, a new beginning was given to her. Someone turned back the hands of time to save her, or shall I say, to save her and the whole empire from devastation and calamity.
  4. Her father made the biggest mistake of his life by chosing the fake bit*h over his real daughter. Maybe after she died, the fake one made her way to destroy the whole empire by bringing calamity and destruction with the help of her fellow demons.
  5. But now, on their second chance in life, I love how her father changed his attitude. Though he cannot remember what happened in the past, I know he's supporting her every decisions. Though he did not fully showed his love and affection to her as her father this time, but step by step he's change for the better.I love his character development, and how he showed that he's totally regretted and sorry for what happened.
  6. I love how he chose Keira this time and how he acted as her father, . As a protective father.
  7. I hope for them to reconcile and be happy as a family. Its not too late to say sorry for everything that happened in the past.I hope Cossette will get the price of everything she done to Keira.I don't want someone to justify her deeds, she's too evil to be forgiven.
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Raestloz
Raestloz
Aug 19, 2022
Status: c152
This leaves me with mixed feelings

While the premise is generic, the contents of each arc is great. Counter to many shoujo stuff out there, this time around the "handsome princes" are actually not the main focus. Usually halfway through chapter 10 there's a monologue of how the girl is the best thing ever since sliced bread and anyone who disagrees will die in hellfire. As a matter of fact, aside from one time romance is basically nonexistent

The story is very, very, very engaging. I always want to know more, the... more>> chapters end exactly where they should and there's always something else coming up

The characters are likeable and this time around the maids are not overpowered geniuses with a network of spies of their own, which is super refreshing by the way

Character growth is... well... I'm not sure. I mean it's good but it also feels kinda... odd...?

The thing is, this novel is basically split in 2 overarching arcs:

    1. The happy go lucky arc where Keira finally did what the synopsis says: she stops worrying about the whole thing and finally do fun things
    1. The serious arc where she does 4D chess battle with Cosette to drive her away
You may have noticed that one of those is unlike the other. More specifically, it's counter to the whole premise of "she's finally having fun!". The second arc is actually very serious, with little to no comedy aside from catharsis of seeing Cosette losing her battles one by one. The great thing about this is we're not seeing something like "I'm 200 steps ahead of you" stuff. It's mostly just lucky coincidences and a bit of normal precautions bearing fruit

And believe you me, the catharsis feels so f*cking good

My only problem, is that it got so serious to the point of *turning dark*. It's good, but it's not what was promised. I mean, yeah Harry Potter got real dark at the end, but it's not like Harry Potter promised you "he stopped worrying about serious things and just wanna have fun", but this novel did


Translation quality is superb by the way. It's even better than some professional translations I've seen. No cringy "TL Note: keikaku means plan" stuff, and believe you me I'm not joking when I say there are plenty of stuff like that in many other translations <<less
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ryuskkk
ryuskkk
Feb 02, 2022
Status: --
Here my review about this novel.

The first thing im dissatisfied about is about MC's personality changes.

She changes her personality from cold/elegant noblewoman to a child-like child, I initially thought that she will plot her revenge perfectly and detailed like her past personality (i mentioned) but she refused to do so and is too relaxed regarding the matter that will come in 2 year.

  • i approved when the MC changed her personality I thought it was due puberty or shocked but shes straying from her past personality but I dont really care about that what im keen is about her love interest. (Its mentioned that in manhwa theres gonna be romance) its good overall.
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Bookster
Bookster
Dec 28, 2023
Status: c150
MC: Keira

This is a story about rebirth of MC and how she tries to prevent her death.

Overall it is a pretty good read with a nice plot with demons and stuff. As we approach towards the ending things start getting better.

... more>>
Spoiler

The reason behind Keira's rebirth is her father who turned back time with someone's help and chooses for the MC to be the one to the person to have memory of the previous life

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The background, plot and characters are all good.

I only don't like how the author decide to make MC's 'Character Growth'. Like you are supposed to be at least a little smarter after rebirth but the way MC acts is like she is a child who has no social skills. <<less
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sprihau
sprihau
Nov 29, 2022
Status: Completed
Pretty interesting story about a girl who manages to slowly improve herself. The novel is pretty logical for the most part, the reason why she was cold in last life, her plan to make sure her position is not questioned, her forgiveness and her character arc.

Probably one of the strangest thing is that there is no male lead and there is hardly any romance. No one comes to her rescue and she doesn't improve overnight. You can see how agonizingly embarrassing it is for her to request help.

Story about a... more>> brave girl coming into her own. <<less
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mikatachan
mikatachan
Jul 19, 2022
Status: c144
Holy... Just read it. I don't normally write reviews but I had to for this one. Story is well written and translation is amazing for the most part.

Really like what the author did with this trope and putting their own twists on things. Bubbly fantasy meets mu*der mystery meets Game of Thrones. Typical regressor goes back to make her life better, but the author is really good about tying things together. May seem slow at times, but once all the pieces are on the board... I can't stop reading!
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Evellyn
Evellyn
Sep 27, 2021
Status: v1c30
Actually it's a sweet story because :

The MC is strong, beautiful and the characters (beside the villains) are likeable

It's really interesting and you want to know what happens in her life, what romance will she do...

But I heard there wont be any romance before a looooooong time and actually my favorite type of story in my life now are story with a passionate love, reverse harem, badass or funny MC more than cute ones with a strong character, cute family life so... This story was just not made for me... more>> ; (

Anyway, if you life a sweet but sometimes sad story with no romance but a great character developpment, I recommend it to you <<less
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That_Yaoi_Weeb
That_Yaoi_We
Feb 04, 2024
Status: --
Heavy Spoilers! You have been warned!

The dad didn’t deserve any pity. Horrible person, I guess his redemption was better than Claude’s (Wmmap).

This story is a lot like Wmmap, but with ever so slight changes.

... more>> I personally think that she shouldn’t end up with anyone and the Male leads end up with each other as a funny plot twist.

The Og Cosette deserves so much better. I know that she’s currently all demon. But the plot would’ve been so good if they teamed up and got revenge on the Grandpa and gave the neglectful dad much needed Karma.

TL;DR this story wasted its true potential <<less
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Asphyxia778
Asphyxia778
Jul 24, 2023
Status: --
So I first read the manhwa and even though the story is full of cliches I like the fact that the MC gets to experience her youth and enjoy her own life.

It's true that she goes from cold elegant noblewoman to somewhat innocent child but it makes sense cause in her previous life she had to keep her facade on at all times to please her father and this time since she's stopped expecting for her father's love she has let go and is exploring herself and actually experiencing what... more>> life has to offer other than working herself to the bone for her father who won't even care for her.

I like that for the MC so I rate it 3 stars. <<less
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stephhiny
stephhiny
Jun 08, 2023
Status: Completed
The story in general is cliche as you can already guess, but keep reading and you’ll find it a bit unusual and full of surprises. I think it was well written and well translated. Good character development for the FL but I was hoping more for another characters too, like the father, the brother, and the knight.

Actually I wanted to rate it 4 instead of 5 because of the lack of romance in the story but well I just realized this novel doesn’t even have romance in the tag so... more>> I guess it was my mistake for having too much expectations for the romance in the story :’)

Other than that, I think the story is pretty good, overall I think it was a good read. Thank you so much for the author and the translation team for this novel~ I enjoyed it. I’d say I’ll recommend this novel IF you’re looking for a fantasy novel without expecting much romance in the story. <<less
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gone_girl
gone_girl
Feb 09, 2023
Status: side story 6
FL's character growth is amazing. Sopporting characters are interesting too. The story overall is very good. Her relationships with people around her and her dynamic with the knights is so good. She is strong and smart. The pace is not too slow nor fast. It's a good read.
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Bolovis
Bolovis
Nov 26, 2022
Status: side story 6
This novel is about a girl that time-traveled to the past after being killed for not being the real daughter of the duke. Basically, the real daughter has the elemental power that protects the human world from the demon realm. She was raised as one of the most important women on the continent, but one day a pretense real daughter appeared to usurp her place. As his father was a distant and cold one, she end up falling for the "real" daughter and ends up killed because people presumed her... more>> to be a fake elemental daughter that could bring forth the destruction of the continent. But then she sees herself in the past, sometime before the "real daughter" appearance. And there you have it.

I enjoyed this novel very much. Even when considering that this time-travel plot is usual in some novels, this does not take the fun from it necessarily. I guess it is nice to see her overcome the tribulations, even if she cheats knowing what will happen, it is fun for the MC to resolve the problems with the newfound experience, comparing it with the original timeline.

Even if I liked it, there are some problems. I would point 2:
Spoiler

The first problem is the somewhat lackluster resolution between the MC and her father. I kind of get it that there is practically no chance that he be pardoned, and he should not be. But at least a talk between them both would be nice to see. We have a strange scene where they kind of talk, but it is more like nothing changed or ever will. It would be nice to see him stepping down or something like that to at least try to be better, but we sadly got nothing of the sort. I liked that it was not clear if she saved her father or not in the end. I guess she did, and maybe not saying sh*t is her final revenge, but anyway was fun as an open end anyway.

The second problem is the demon's realm visit. Something in this part was kind of chaotic, or more like there was no cohesion. It makes sense and all, but it comes out (to me) as another story inserted in this one. There are some action scenes and gore in it previously, but that is not what I am talking about. I guess it is more like she is passively participating when previously she was the principal plotter of the schemes. But in the end, it was not used as a magical device to save her, and that was nice, I guess.

My last petty peeve is the lack of an ending for her. I would like to know if she returned to her travels if she decided to marry, something, even if not much about what happened to her after some more years after the ending would be nice.

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I would recommend reading this one. It is nice seeing the MC evolving and believing more in herself after who knows how many years of neglect and all the pain she had gone thru. I know that part of me has some problems with the time-travel, most in regards that it comes out as a cheat to finally achieve happiness after all knowing what will happen and your enemies can help you immensely in dealing with it perfectly. But I guess the character development and her revenge compensates for this somewhat stale vision I could have for this type of novel. Enjoy.

Spoiler

Sadly we have practically nothing regarding the fluffy fox after the temple plot. I would like it if the brother and sister that Cosette used would get some help, after all, they were innocent and were used by a literal demon girl. But that was ok. And maybe a bossy girl to marry Zeke would be nice too.

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