I just skimmed through a few reviews before rereading it again. Previously I stopped reading this after knowing the spoilers. Well, the FL ended up with the ML despite the "atrocities" he committed to her in the previous life. But....I wouldn't be giving this one a full 5-stars review right now if I hadn't at the very least gone through it.

Through the novels entire course we get to know why the ML chose to act the way he did in his previous life and how he ruined the FL's life by not only doubting her actions but also ruining her entire life by driving her to su*cide. Basically, he made her lose her child (by getting on with her step-sister), abandoned her, secluded her from the political affairs by keeping her locked up in her chambers, falsely accused her of poisoning and finally drove an innocent character to su*cide. I know these are all the negativities I listed here and.... you might just believe it's not worth giving a try.

But take this entire thing with a pinch of salt. Haven't you wondered why a political figure would uptake such actions against his female counterpart to drive her to commuting such a felony as 'su*cide' (It's a European setting and back in the day 'people/aristocrats' saw this action as a 'sin' which could bring an entire family's downfall). I believe he's an emperor and though he can kill/massacre his wives but that could increase political instability n unrest amongst other noble households (since from her insight of the past we can come to know that the previous empress held considerable amount of power in her hands even after her son's ascent to the throne). That already arises doubt whether he was some puppet emperor and was trying to grasp power within the inner courts. AND this should explain his previous conduct towards the empress. The empress was someone appointed by the previous one and at a tender age and.... she seemed to get along very well with her mother-in-law who held supreme power within the court. That must hv arose suspicions within the mind of the young emperor but that doesn't excuse him for his actions. Let's just suppose he wished to befriend his fiance back in the day. But after seeing the interactions b/w his mother n her he definitely wouldn't take this step since she (his mom) was his biggest contender for the throne n she must hv replaced most of the palace employees with her people which would hv led to his trust issues (since u don't know whether the other person is ur friend or foe n u might get backstabbed... not to mention u r being continuously monitored 24/7). This part is the end of the excuses I can come up with for the crown prince.

Now onto the next part of the story where all the curtains are raised n the veils of each character revealed aka we get to see the 'dirt' smeared on each character. First thing is the empress. It's revealed later on through the Crown prince's POV that she's a thorough manipulator who has made extensive plans to never let her son enjoy a power higher than her. Though her position is the highest in the empire, the power shall lie in the hands of the hands of the empress. Next thing is the step-sister. Well thesthe really does deserve the prefix 'step' since she's thoroughly jealous over the FL's legitimacy n power that she has within the household. She yearns for a glass castle n dream n 'schemes' every possible means to rise to power, taking away opportunities from the FL (or more-like FL sacrificing all of her opportunities). She tries to seduces him, using every possible way to bare him a heir yet actually the ML is very loyal to his queen. He doesn't fall for her schemes yet the FL seems like she had a very strong tendency to fall into these 'gameplay of life n death' within the walls of the castle. The FL... she had been driven to a corner by her own s*upidity... she couldn't see through the schemes of her sister n father, blindly trusted the empress with her marriage, blindly entrusted the crown prince with their night time n even believing the 'illusion' of her husband having an affair with her sister... for a queen she had minimum power to herself n made herself bound to resign to her fate. She was a 'flawed character but those flaws get corrected in her second chance at life. As a child though she wasn't aware of the politics of nobility but as she grew up to be an adult n the queen candidate she was bound to learn these. She used her previous knowledge to drive the count n her illegitimate daughter out of the estates, took off to a foreign land to avoid having any interactions with the crown prince n 'tried' to live a peaceful life there. But fate was bound to play it's game n she was forced to remarry the ML in her current lifetime too... Well there's a catch.. the ML had also gotten himself reincarnated n from hisPOV we could see how much he regretted her death n their lack of communication n how he had transcended to a tyrant while doing so n begged to return back to her once more. That was a really sad scene though he deserved that n more for being a jerk to her n not being the bigger person to make her understand the palace politics. Maybe if they cooperated things wouldn't hv turned as such. But maybe it was due to both characters wallowing in their worries in their previous lives that they failed to see each other for who they are... well anyways the FL who used to be gullible had turned to a stronger character... though still flawed she now knows she's 'his' equal half n has the right to stand up to him... if she wants to reject his advances he has the right to do so...n the ML seems to hv changed too... he is respectful to her n listens to her, acquiesces to her requests n even accomodates to her wishes... he tries to rectify his previous actions to the best of his abilities n I think that's a 'plus' improvement within him n great character growth. Despite it having a tragic progress it's a good novel...