This is not only a review of Lucia but a breakdown of why this story that you can find through Novelupdates works so well. I'd give this story a 5 star review any day for being so well thought out.
Lucia is the story of a princess who suddenly gains the memory of an alternate future of her whole lifetime at the age of twelve. From that moment onwards, she dreams of having a better future than that tragedy she saw and does a contractual marriage with a Duke named Hugo in return for basically... not being sold off for political reasons.
The premise sounds like it has been done a hundred times before, but only this story is the most well-executed among its type. She doesn't gain these memories for no particular reason, her husband IS NOT madly in love with her from the get-go, and she has an endearing personality that doesn't come off as air-headed or naive.
The last part is what stands out in this story because despite its fairy tale vibes, there is a lot of realism added that makes it not just an erotic romance where the ML (Male Lead) is every woman's wet dream. Even though he kinda is...
The Duke she marries, Hugo, is an unapologetically bloodthirsty individual who kills people on a regular basis, and he does it without even blinking. The only reason Lucia even marries him was because she had little understanding of what marriage is like outside the abusive one she had in that alternate timeline and thought he looked cute.
There's no template main character vibes given from her as she is not from our reality and this is NOT an Isekai. She is an isolated princess who doesn't suddenly know everything because she lived gained future memories, but is flat-out what she is supposed to be: An former princess and abused Duchess who was sent back in time.
Her alternate timeline memories doesn't empower her but gives her a reality check, and although marrying a guy for his face and status sounds typical on paper, to the point even the Duke she marries thought she was shallow individual, it only added to the realism to the story as even a pure-hearted girl would desire things like a normal girl.
It's played as a joke at first, but the 'contractual marriage' actually becomes quite tragic once her husband gets to know her viewpoint and realised that he had taken what happened then too lightly.
As she does not know a marriage where she is given equal human rights, it becomes a reason why she sometimes acted 'dense' towards his feelings even though they were already sleeping together after marriage. It have a specific take on love...
My biggest praise for this story is that, even though it had the elements of an action story with the Duke being a superhuman badass, the story didn't stray from being a 'romance', choosing to be what it was intended to be without deviations.
One of the biggest pitfalls in these kind of stories set in an medieval world with princesses and nobility is adding cosmic retribution to people who do good actions or glorifying every good thing the main characters ever do. This was very refreshing.
Even though the FL (Female Lead) was a kind individual, the novel goes out of its way to show that the astuteness and wit she gained from seeing that alternate timeline is the reason she doesn't get taken advantage of by fellow noblewoman.
All the good things she embodies, strengths as well as weaknesses, are contrasted well with the Hugo., the ML. Even though she doesn't kill people, the weaknesses that come with her bubbly personality aren't taken for granted whatsoever.
It's to the point that if she wasn't changed after learning of her alternate timeline, she would have went through the same things as the version of her in that future (like falling for a conman of a knight who took her money and ran as well as being used by her long lost family members to pay off loans). I almost feel like this kind of novel was what I was waiting for, as it NEVER rewards ignorant kindness.
Even Lucia's personal doctor becomes a good example of that as her pure intentions are taken advantage of without her even knowing. That character seemingly a reflection of what Lucia would have been like without her new memories.
The Duke she married also doesn't get his just desserts at the end of the story, only going through his own Retribution Arc before being able to fight the bloodlust (and regular, animalistic lust) that was passed onto him by his special bloodline.
His character arc goes from a self-centred guy who is only superficially desirable to a man willing to beat down his own arrogance for the sake of his wife. It's a heartwarming transformation since he had always shown that it wasn't anything like those stories where abusers are suddenly changed just because he met the 'right woman'. He had good aspects hidden within his character the more Lucia got to know him, and she only brought them out.
It was the same with him, as the longer they spent together allowed him to gain a better understanding of Lucia and made her a lot grow into a woman who acted like a doll for her husband.
It was thanks to him that she could open up and express herself more over time. Thus, the story had a two-way/give-and-take relationship where he gave her confidence and she gave him understanding over the emotions he couldn't comprehend before. The other characters in the story being relevant enough to progress their relationship faster than if they were on their own.
It has a clear beginning, middle, and end that don't seem so disconnected with each other. The story also ends properly without dragging on for a hundred chapters of nothing happening (though there aren't any national level incidents each story arc and the worst thing that happened was a noblewoman going on a killing spree to mess up Lucia's reputation. No physical harm done to her).
They even have a daughter in the end of the novel's main story, and although they don't change the world to become a better place (which is an unrealistic expectation), they are able to change each other, which is more than enough for me.
There are a lot of authors that bite off more than they can chew, which this novel doesn't do. This allowed the story to shine most as the romance it is rather than some novel with cosmic righteousness.
The grey area is a nice place to be~
Anyway, this is novel you should check out. Be sure to ask for Analysis blogs and stay safe, my dudes!