복수의 잔은 당신의 손에 [Bogsueui Jan'eun Dangsin'eui Son'e]

by SCAMPER, 스캠퍼

“당신의 손에 독배를 쥐여드리겠어요.”

돈과 맞바꾸어져 로테이어 왕국의 왕자비가 된 티엔의 왕녀, 유디트.

병약하고, 나이에 비해 덜 자랐으며, 우울하게 주눅 든 그녀는 괴롭기만 한 몇 년을 보낸다.
남편인 1왕자 프란츠는 계모의 끊임없는 괴롭힘으로 서서히 미쳐가고,
시동생과 부정한 짓을 저질렀다는 누명을 뒤집어쓴 유디트는 탑에 갇히게 된다.

절망한 채 처참하게 죽은 유디트는 열일곱 살, 프란츠 왕자와 만나기 전으로 돌아온다.
소국의 별 볼 일 없는 계집애가 아니라
왕태자비이자 미래 로테이어 왕후로서 복수할 것을 다짐하며.

“가엾고 존귀하신 프란츠 저하, 당신의 손에 독배를 쥐여드리겠어요. 보복할 수 없다면 차라리 그 독을 삼키세요.”

ebook

First published November 17, 2021

Reviews

[Megan Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a slow burn revenge tale. The first hurdle is that Judith went back in time only a handful of months. She doesn’t have much foresight and ability to plan for the future. In fact, she makes many similar decisions (ally selection, marriage acceptance, etc.) and it takes years to build up power and get any sort of comeuppance. The next unusual element to this novel is the strangely weak imperial family. The King would rather sleep than protect his country or son. The first prince is depressed, abused, and aloof. The Second Prince doesn’t want to showcase his abilities or work to gain authority. The Queen has been getting away with a lot but struggles against the nobles and loses all control when the king stops willingly taking drugs. These ideas are more grounded than the usual rebirther tale, but the slow pace and lackluster results can be frustrating. There is even a four year time skip where somehow almost nothing changes. The romance is here but similarly off kilter. Two traumatized people talk past one another and battle against much before they have energy to build something together.