Rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Poisoned to death by her own betrothed?! Eunha didn't wake up in a novel's story just to get killed off again as an unfortunate extra! To change her story she needs a cover: 6 months pretending to be the fake fiancée of the novel's male protagonist, Duke Noah Wynknight. But will this cold-hearted, angel-faced demon of a man really help her avoid another ill-fated ending?!"
The Reason Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion is a webtoon by Whale and Milcha.
This took me an embarrassingly long time to read. I don't like to push things off to the side, mainly because I tend to hyper-fixate on things and if I don't then I won't go back to it for a long time. That is exactly what happened when I was reading this. I got through the majority of it, didn't read it for a couple of days, and then didn't pick it up again for months. I did finally get back around to it though (thankfully remembering what happened).
I actually liked the story and found it really easy to make my way through it and pick it back up again after I took a break. I didn't end up enjoying myself as much as I did when I read Who Made Me a Princess, but this was a solid webtoon. Let's get into some details.
STORY
We follow our titular character, Raeliana, as she gets placed into the body of a character who is fated to die in the novel Beatrice. Wanting to change her fate, she makes a deal with Duke Noah Wynknight so that she might survive, and by doing so ends up on an unexpected path. There are a lot of elements to examine when it comes to this story, from the romance to the ups and downs of the story and the worldbuilding as well.
I found that the story moved a bit slowly and was possibly longer than it should have been, but still presented a satisfying read. It was also a frustrating read at times due to Raeliana's character and her tendency to get herself into ridiculous situations. The story also rushed through the epilogue chapters which I wasn't a fan of, wishing it slowed down for that section.
On the positive side though, this was still a solid story. World-building is always a weak point when it comes to romance manhwas, but then again it is not that crucial of an aspect considering the story. The romance and connection between the characters is what is important and, while it took a while to get there, it was rather nice to read about Raeliana and Noah as they grew closer and closer.
This kind of plot is rather suited for a series because of the way the reincarnation aspect was handled. Without going into spoilers, I actually would love to read a series based around it, and not to do so seems like a missed opportunity.
CHARACTERS
There were no bad characters but, at the same time, I wasn't the most invested in them. Raeliana and Noah, as the main characters, suited the story even though I would have liked more from them in terms of their connection. Don't get me wrong, I am pretty content with their dynamic because it wasn't toxic and there was plenty of communication, but it was missing some kind of spark.
I will say though that I liked that Raeliana was rather independent, she did her own thing without relying too much on Noah (even though Noah was more of the typical over-protective male lead). That being said, she did bother me at times because of her stubborn determination to pull away from Noah due to her situation. As a reader, it is frustrating because you know she is the main character so the time it takes for them to get together was longer than felt necessary.
As for the side characters, I wanted to see more of Adam and His Holiness. I was kind of sad that we didn't get any form of side stories following these characters because they ended up stealing the show. One thing I will praise the story for, no matter how much it annoyed me, was the villains. You know a villain is good when you have to grind your teeth every time they appear on the screen.