By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting

I don’t know about everyone else, but I hated the ending of The Abandoned Empress. I’ve been wanting to discuss it for a while now but was unable to bring myself to write about it until now because of the disappointment I felt after reading the ending. Spoilers ahead, by the way.

For those needing a reminder, and perhaps those not yet reading the story but considering it, The Abandoned Empress is a completed romance story available on TappyToon that follows the life of Aristia la Monique, the daughter of a prestigious knight’s family, House Monique. After a tragic first life where she suffered at the hands of her abusive, cold husband, was demoted to the position of a Queen while still having to do the Empress’s work because the chosen Empress was practically useless, and other pains, Aristia is given a chance to start anew when she awakens in the body of her 10-year-old self.

The god of the story, after seeing Aristia’s great suffering, gives her a second chance by resetting the timeline. She is given a middle name, “Pioneer,” something that is only gifted by the god of this world. By receiving the name, Aristia is given the freedom to choose a different path from the one the god had defined for her, allowing her to go against her fate of marrying the Emperor, dying at his hands, and so on.

Throughout her second life, Aristia makes significant changes that positively impact those around her. She forges friendships, trains in swordplay to potentially inherit her family name, and even changes the course of her romantic life by gaining two additional love interests. However, despite the numerous changes in her second life, the ending of the story put her in the same place she was before–at the Emperor’s side.

This my main issue with the ending. Particularly because Ruvellis Kamaludin Shana Castina–the Emperor, and her husband–fails to develop significantly in the story. While he supposedly changes in the second life due to Aristia’s influence, his poor behavior in the first life, including emotional and physical abuse towards Aristia and her father, is not sufficiently explained or justified. The creator(s) try to use effects from prolonged poisoning as an excuse, but that fails to address his one-sided vendetta against Aristia and her family by extension. Even more so when you consider that, in their first life, he was kind to his Empress and was recognized as a good leader: things that would likely not have been possible if his aggression toward Aristia was truly a result of poisoning. Moreover, Aristia’s love for him seems unconvincing and unfounded, especially given their history and the presence of far better options among her three potential love interests.

Outside of Ruvellis, there is Allendis de Verita, an administrative officer from her past life, and Carsein de Rass, a man who becomes a knight in her past life. In this new life, the two other love interests follow somewhat similar paths with Allendis de Verita taking on an administrative role but becoming obsessed with Aristia to the point of committing treason. Meanwhile, Carsein de Rass once more becomes the youngest knight in history.

Of the three options, I think everyone can agree that Carsein was the best option. He goes blind for his friend and always puts Aristia first. He is caring, honest, and upfront, unlike the other two options who are abusive (Ruvellis) or manipulative (Allendis).

Moreover, and this one is a big one for me, marrying him makes the most sense for her if she truly plans to inherit her family’s house.

Carsein is the second son of another prestigious knight’s family. As the second son, he is aware he won’t inherit a title and instead focuses on building up his own name. Because of his history of training as a fellow knight, he makes the most sense for her to pick as a partner since he would be able to enter under House Monique rather than Aristia entering House Rass. He and Aristia would have made a great knight family together and also enjoyed a loving relationship. We see that the men of House Rass are very affectionate and loving towards their partners–even if their love interests are not as in love with them, they do not falter in their care and concern. Carsein very much lives up to this at the end of the story when he accepts that Aristia has chosen Ruvellis.

The fact that she chose Ruvellis, that she chose to become Empress, that she chose to stick with her former fate as his partner really left me, as a reader, with much to be desired. Her second life was all about building herself up as the rightful heir of House Monique, and she was granted that opportunity by the god of their world and her father, who stood in opposition of the Imperial family’s expectations regarding her engagement. At the end, she is still the heir, but that is an empty title that will be secondary to her role and standing as the Empress. More likely, one of her children will become the actual heir to the house, and that felt like an insult. I mean, even choosing not to have a partner or love interest at the end would have been better because of how poorly developed Ruvellis was by the ending of the story.

Overall, The Abandoned Empress was a fascinating story and had a great cast of characters. However, the ending leaves much to be desired, particularly concerning the character development of the male lead and the resolution of Aristia’s romantic life.

If you have read it, did you feel the same? Or, did you think Ruvellis/Allendis was the right choice? Let me know, as I’d be interested in hearing why.

–

This post is a follow-up to a previous post, “Theory: The Abandoned Empress & Rejecting Fate” by the same writer, Peggy Sue Wood.

–

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying us a coffee, leaving a comment, and/or subscribing to us below!

Copyedited by: Katherine Cañeba | @kcserinlee