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Lyrica is an industrious 8-year-old girl who has consistently turned to her vibrant imagination as a means of escaping the grim realities of life in the slums with her neglectful mother. Following a premonition her mother experiences, foreseeing a catastrophic future, she awakens and formulates a plan to offer Lyrica a different path in life. However, not even Lyrica could have envisioned that this plan involved marrying the emperor! Now, possessing everything she had ever dreamed of, can Lyrica confront reality despite her vivid imagination?
Original Novel
Original Webtoon: KakaoPage, Daum
Official Translations: English, Thai, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, French
Reviewed @ch56
So when I was a couple of dozen chapters in I was already feeling like I was gonna rate this extremely highly. But I felt reluctant because... I've given multiple 9s or 10/10s in the past couple of weeks. And was worried that I was loosening my standards
But nope. The more I read this, the more sure I was.
This is amazing.
The first chapter hits soooo hard in the feels. It's heartbreaking what this child is going through and how she deludes herself to get through it. It's still hurting just to remember it, and what else she must've gone through in the first timeline.
But that might not be the first thing that hits you. The first might be.....Frankly, this might be the best art I've seen in a manhwa, ever. I know a lot of female lead manhwa get a lot of praise for their art. And rightly so, the art can be gorgeous and amazing or cute etc...this is so clearly a step higher than ANY other manhwa series. It's incredible.
So many panels look like paintings.
I'm reminded of how Rangrarii is generally accepted as possibly being the best art in all yuri/gl manhwa, only this is for all manhwa AND it has the writing to match.
You have a fair few series where the art is great, writing is so-so (like Not-Sew-Wicker Stepmother).
The writing in this is just perfect for the story it's telling. Props to the original author, Siya.
You've got extremely well-written family dynamics:
Formerly abusive mother who's trying to reform (and shake off bad habits) and abused (parentified, neglected, financial abuse..) daughter who's always loved her mother to an incredible degree but now must adjust to their new dynamic and doesn't know how. But they're so incredibly loving towards to each in this timeline.
Step-father and step-daughter as they gradually break down that 'step' wall.
'Contract' Husband and Wife, as they rely on each other, are passionately intimate, and have very frank communication with each other...But we only see some very well executed glimpses of it because:
Almost the entire story is told from the daughter's perspective. Cuts to the other family members, or the male lead, are very very very rare.
Which enables a whole different look at things. We know the mother is politicking like crazy and doing the regressor thing, but it's all in the background. We know there's power struggles, but we mostly learn of those things when the daughter does, or when we get a rare alt PoV. And often the daughter doesn't understand it anyway:
Because this is one of the best depictions of a child MC who is not precocious/uber intelligent that I've ever seen. Especially in a story with a fantasy/political backdrop. She thinks, speaks, behaves, loves and believes like a child without the story feeling simplified as a result.
I'm certain there's other things in this to praise but I've kind of just gushed what was immediately in my head and this is probably long enough as is that many may skip over it.
It's incredible. I'm tempted to go to the novel but...god that art, man! (I probably will read a bit anyway 😛)
Super cute story line. The details in the expressions😱 I'm going to print out all the art from the story and posted it on my walls and surround myself in beautiful people
The FMC is an adorable 8 year old. The mother is a mess, but she is really trying to be a good mom this time. The Emperor is a riot. Art is very good, even though I would appreciate 20% less brightness.
Cute, fun.
Look, it seems shadows simply do not exist in Josei/romance manhwas for some crazy, bizarre reason. Don't believe me? Go on and check yourself. See how many of them have actual depth and shadows drawn.
Gorgeous artwork is an understatement. I also judge whether the manhwa has beautifully drawn shoes or not. (Sue me, I'm a snob. For the past 35 years I'm used to excruciatingly detailed manga artwork by the likes of CLAMP and Mamoru Nagano, and I've followed Elegant Gothic Lolita fashion, artists and illustrators since the 90s.)
I've only read up to ch.30 for quality translations so I can't say much about the plot buuuut where's the lady crow-in-waiting for the princess? She's suddenly not around
This art is so stunning and the story is unique. I have never seen the story from this position. I really like it and the characters seem... A lot more than what they are.
Lilyca is wholesome, straightforward, practical, and cute so along with the very pretty art so far it’s a great read!
Makes me a bit uncomfortable how the mother still seems kind of MIA / isn’t helping her kid that much, but that aside the budding relationship between Lilyca and her dad is great!
very beautiful art and colouring. interesting story as well looking through a daughter POV for her mother's reincarnation. looking forward for future updates!