Why's no one reviewing about this yet? It's still early to tell but the opening for me is something different from all the stepmother trope I've read.

The female lead, Cassia, is a compassionate friend to Diana, her only best friend, and also a strong woman. The friendship between these two is priceless but it's unfortunate that it ended with a suspicious death of Diana. If you'll read this novel, the characters feels human. No unecessary drama, it's all about moving on, surviving the grief of losing someone, parenting, and sacrificing... more>> almost half of your life to someone else's family.

I'm not gonna spoil anything for the future readers, so what would I like to say is, none of the characters are to blame of their situation, but none of them are not at fault too. When it comes to Axion (Diana's husband) and Cassia's contractual relationship, they really did what they thought best for the children but the sudden remarriage without proper explanation left a scar to the young boys. While the eldest son has a strong opinion, he especially showed hostility to their stepmother, and the other son has a timid personality but is grateful and more level headed.

To the potential male leads, Axion is out in the equation since during the 7 years of their marriage nothing happened. Their relationship is simply based on contract, they do not have a deep level of friendship, it's awkward and just plain courtesy for the sake of their beloved, Diana. But, I really hope Axion will stamp the divorce papers since it hasn't been announced yet that they're officially divorced. It seems like he is a bit hesistant to let her go because he felt guilty for not protecting her properly, so he want to repay her in some kind of way. Though Cassia is finally over with her life in Axion's family and I love it very much that this woman is determined to get her life back after sacrificing so much protecting Diana's kids.

The second man to appear is Irwin/Prince Adolf, a handsome runaway prince, he's puppy-like and a good boy. Has a fat crush on Cassia but haven't realized it yet. However, Michael (Diana's older brother) took away my heart. The only person who considered Cassia's feelings and the only man who was heartbroken for her situation. <<less

I have to commend her on her endurance, patience and love for her friend to do what she did. I like that she's realistic, decisive, strong (heart & mind) and adaptable to situations. She did her best but I think when it comes to Ken she could've faced and reprimanded him earlier. I hope she would not end up with the duke.. I want her to live and enjoy her life now without the heavy responsibilities. It's okay if Nick reach out to her but I hope she does not... more>> forget the treatment she received easily and go back with him (she didn't 👍). They're not the only ones who lost a loved one and had to move on to continue their lives.

The duke could have disciplined Ken. Talking to the kids one time which not much words were said was of no help really. He doesn't have contribution at all to the kids mental and emotional issues as the last remaining biological parent. Sigh, he's a failure to me. Could he not handle his own kid..

Ken hates Cassia, like everything and doesn't want her as a stepmother. Was he fine with a different stepmother? It's fine if you can't treat her as a mother but why didn't you treat her just as a person who did you no wrong. I can't relate to this guy and don't like his attitude. Acts like a self centered, narrow minded selfish prick.

Michael.. What can I say, they need to end up together! <<less

God the MC is such a whiny dramaqueen

Her friend dies suspiciously so she proposes to the friends husband that he politically marries her so no one "bad" takes over her friends spot as duchess

They dont tell the children of the friend this, so naturally theyre salty that their moms "best friend' instantly marries their father right after their moms death

MC is IMMENSELY salty over them not properly accepting her and whines CONSTANTLY about how hard it is to be a duchess and how she has no friends, like those are... more>> not by her own choice, she could easily leave all the duties of duchess to the husband, she could LOOK for friends, but chooses not to

Then after 7 years of salt building up in her veins after the duke family children did such AWFUL things like not like her replacing their mom without explanation, which leads to one of the children getting angry and then being banished from his own home (good job taking care of your friends children there lol) and the other gets really shut off and shy to to the world

So naturally what she does after the 7 years are over isnt something normal like saying "ok now the time is up, I want a divorce, no hard feelings we just dont love each other" instead she leaves a letter and flees like shes being pursued, naturally NO ONE in the family thinks that is normal and decide to find her, she is IMMENSELY salty about this and treats them like the plague whenever they show up for doing such awful things like the younger child wanting to appreciate what shes done for him, or the husband wanting to do such awful things like ask "why did you run away like a 4 year old" <<less

Though why are there so much negative reviews?

It you think she f*cked up her friend's family by remarrying, you are wrong though. They knew what she was doing, especially the parents, they knew she was doing it to make sure the children are safe and stable. Because if the imperial family starts poking their slimy fingers into the family for the sake of remarriage it's guarantied the kids will suffer. And they kept silent because they silently agreed, only their son, the former duchess' brother was willing to try to... more>> stop her.

And she whined? For every little thing? Look I'm not going to explain it here, all I will say is, she was in a very miserable situation without anyone by her side and she did her best. She managed the house perfectly took care of the kids perfectly, she did everything there is to do.

Considering the things she went through and how alone and alienated she was she is allowed to be at least sad. And she was gradually getting depressed too. And even the alimony after divorce she felt like that will chain her to the dukedom even longer so she chose to completely eliminate it by removing any connection what so ever from the dukedom.

She didn't do it for the money to begin with. So I completely understand her. She was not lacking monetary wise so I don't see the problem.

If people are comparing this to stories in which the MC grandly divorces and takes all the alimony, here she is much more emotionally entangled, money is the least of her problems.

As for not telling the kids about the actual reason for remarriage, dude how are you going to tell your 10 year old kids that your mother was mu*dered? And she later realized even though she chose remarriage in the heat of the moment that it was the worst choice she could make for the kids. I agree too. But I believe there was a lot going on there, and that she did her best. In fact the day she realized that, that's the day her reason to just walk away started to form.

I'm also just going to put it out there, I kinda hate her duchess friend. I don't like her. Too much oh I'm the center of the universe kinda person. And through out the story I could not find a single moment she sacrificed even a quarter of the effort our MC did for her. It was all about herself. And our MC has a low self esteem issue too.

So give it a try, it's good. Not that the plot does not have loop holes or I didn't meet situations that were frustrating. Every story have those. But it's worth you're time. Give it a try. <<less

So it's been said once but it needs said twice. If you want to read a story about a s*upid women who crys and complains about s*upid crap like a 4 year old but when the people who she forced herself onto are like why are you leaving all of a sudden then this for you.

The main character is a brat who starts a s*upid business in the middle of nowhere and I'll be blunt I have no clue why she started this because it's an awful idea. She screws... more>> around with a grieving family all because her friend got KO'd because she's a bad friend and well in general a bad person.

I'm whole heartily convinced the author wants you to agree she's a jerk and you shouldn't like her. The 2 male lead is literally described as a childish idiot and to put it bluntly he is.

Over all bad read not worth it the only time O felt anything from this was when her friend died but like... It's been 7 years get over it even her actual brother is just like... Meh <<less

1. 1. I fell in love with this story. The plots, how's the characters grows, and the feelings. I feel emotional while reading it. I love the FL!!! Love how strong she was during those selfless 7 years. Then how she grows, feel her emotions again...
   2. It is my first time writing a review in novelupdates, usually I'm the 'sider' type (silent reader). But I must review this story. Amazing.
   3. Thankyou for the story and good translation. Thanks for all the hard work you put. Waiting for the updates soon.

1. For anyone hesitating whether to give this story a try, I can only recommend it. The writing, the characters and the setting is formidable.
2. The female lead cassia, is mature, kind and envelopes the reader with a sense of calm. She married her best friend's, diana's husband after her friends suspicious death in order to protect Diana's family. And as soon as the children become adults she left everything to start her new life. I fail to give this story justice by reviewing it but just give it a try. It might not be for everyone but it has become one of my favourite stories.

I agree with the negative reviews. Cassia isn't a strong and selfless women. Also I don't know where the positive reviews are reading the story from, because the one I'm reading is stilted and poorly edited.