I completed a story. The Abandoned Empress. It is a manhwa, written by Yuna.

Completing stories gives me a sense of peace and if one has to be specific then a dopamine-hit. That is good. (I still haven't completed many stories, not including those which I dropped. There are many novels and mangas that I haven't read even though I know I love them. Don't know why yet.) But, the sadness I feel when it is the end... hurts. (Perhaps this is why?)

This story has so much hate for the female lead (Aristia) who ends up loving her abuser, the male lead (Ruvelius) again after rebirth. Yes, this a story where the female lead (FL) reborns to her younger self. Of course the translation was great which also helped me read this and complete this (translation may sound like a silly reason to complete a story but ask those who are deep in this manga world and you will see how bad of a grammar one is willing to read and welcomes when you see a story on hiatus or with slow updates or abandoned or the like).

Anyways, this trope is common. The FL forgiving her abuser or the one who killed her in her past life. What made this one different is the depth of the story. I loved and loved her. She tries so hard to cope up with everything, inheriting her title, to continuously denying the empress title while keeping her head up without backing down at all while looking for ways not to be an empress instead of just whining and waiting for a prince on a white horse. (waiting is not a problem.. I just don't like how helpless a supposedly strong female lead becomes when the ML appears and that too when the author repeatedly mentions in the introduction, prequel, sequel, during advertising that the FL is strong. I mean... then show it!)

Moving ahead, the author does a great job at explaining her struggles, her emotional turmoil. How torn she was when the ML keeps on saying to be her empress and questions her why wouldn't she accept it? What was so bad in being the empress? Why did she discard their bond which was accepted and recognised in front of the empire and that too, so easily? Jokes on him 'cause she used to ask him the same thing. 

The author also explains the back stories of the antagonists. I liked how the author includes the ML too in the list of antagonists, even Duke Zena. However, the point remains that despite their feelings, their choices could not be forgiven. The author explains Jieun and her feelings. I like how each character is independent and not just there to hype up the female lead. If I were to explain, the characters were not simply antagonists but people with bad choices. They felt like real people who have good traits, bad traits and not simply classified as protagonist, supportive character, antagonist and the like.