I was actually rooting for the other love interest, but the author took a sudden liking for the other one...

I really enjoyed having a more-or-less realistic female character but I feel that the Gabriel in the beginning and the Gabriel in the end were different. What happened to the Gabriel who tackled nobles, stood up for horses and held her own? Sure, she might not have gotten far in a fair fight (she was an orphan girl who would've been a maid after all), but toward the end, it seemed like her favorite option was to run away. I think the Gabriel in the beginning would've found a way to fight against the invisible confinements set upon her by her "sponsors." She just seemed more spunky in the beginning and listless toward the end--except when she guarded herself with a fire stoker. Gotta love a girl who has wits enough to find a weapon!

I also hated how Euan's love which was a solid, constant factor in the story became something so trivial toward the end.

Still, some character developments were great. The art was pleasing (in a shoujo way), and the plot was all right. Nothing outstanding, but lots of politics and intrigue. It wasn't too dark and I really enjoyed it. Except the ending, of course, since I was rooting for the other one. :) I felt the ending was also rushed and inconclusive. The author didn't need to kill off certain characters and it was really aggravating, but like a previous reviewer mentioned, I suppose it does add to the realistic-touch of the story. And I felt that some deaths for other characters were necessary, but didn't happen. I just felt that certain deaths were... too abrupt and sudden. I felt that some characters didn't match their personalities at the end either (aside from the main character). Some people who were decrepit and disdainful with an obvious uncaring attitude suddenly become sympathetic with morals. Some characters who were friendly and amiable were hostile at the end. Some parts just didn't make sense at all. Like how a noble who spends his time sleeping with woman could fend off a professional hit man.

Which I'm still agonizing over since Euan had such awesome luck in avoiding and killing off a professional hit man hired by an insanely wealthy noble that he just had to wind up getting shot by random, less-professional hit men hired by some not-as-wealthy noble.... argh!

I do wish the author would have elaborated a bit more about Gabriel's past. I think background stories help to develop character and allow the readers to connect with them. It seems like it was more of a telling on Euan and Raymond's past than hers which, at times, made me feel detached from the main character. As though this isn't really HER story, but Euan's or Raymond's. Especially with the politics and intrigue more often revolving around them than Gabriel.

Overall, it was a mixed bag for me, but my enjoyment is what pushes the score to a 7. (Note that a 5 for me is average.) I read it all in almost one-sitting (had a few errands to run), and I DID enjoy that Gabriel was a heroine who did not shift fancies. Once she found her man, she stuck with him and wasn't swayed at all by anyone else. Gotta give props to that! Finally, a non-fickle female protagonist! I did hate how most of the females were rather... detestable. But I find this occurs a lot in korean stories (drama and books). Seems like 90% of the time, a woman will end up sly, sneaky, and in it for herself.

Overall, it was a quick read and I recommend it for those who aren't looking for another sappy shoujo.

Around the time Gabriel went to their villa though....that's when things got weird. All the guys liked her.....but...some of them liked her as a guy and some as a girl, I was so confused what was going on. Death and chase scenes were here and there, I don't really understand the motivation for a lot of the stuff going on at all. Also, I think towards the end, there was way too much focus on the story that I became way disconnected with the characters. Gabriel..no joke, I actually began seeing her as a guy because she didn't have personality and looked like any other guy in the manhwa. This manhwa is just so messy, and the story is really kind of up and down. I'm sorry, but the art is literally the only redeeming quality.

@La: I think Gabriel's past wasn't mentioned because it wasn't important to the story. Her past with the real Jeremy WAS important though, so the author showed that in the story. No matter what Gabriel's past was, it makes no difference in the outcome of the story. As for the duchess, she had to make a move already. Gabriel was going to escape to America. And I think from the scene between the duchess and the husband that all the blackmailing stuff she did actually paid off to piss her husband off, so she pretty much fulfilled what she wanted to do in the first place.

@Reika_StaR: I actually thought that Euan's death had more emotional impact because he avoided death on the train. It was a huge shocker to see him get killed just like that when had just narrowly avoided death just moments ago(also somewhat depressing).

In general though, I found Euan's death to be a bit fitting...this is a dark story. Nobody seems really, really happy. It makes sense that someone would eventually...die. It's depressing, yes, and I'm certain that Euan didn't want to die just yet. But at least he found peace somehow. And I'm glad that Angela finally grew up after she had kids. She allowed Ray to meet Gabriel again, which was great(and almost made up for the fact that Euan died).

On a side note, I found Joshua's character to be really useless. What was he there for, except for the plot obstacle when Gabriel tried to step in to keep Joshua from killing the horse? Pretty useless, since he doesn't really do anything except play the "I'm-super-in-love-with-Jeremy" role for the rest of the series. This is probably also true of Arron. I guess the friends characters were created just to create more problems for Gabriel?

I also found the subplot of Yvonne and Will to be kind of...weird. It explains why Angela's such a douche and why Yvonne was sleeping with Euan(?). But we never get to see what happens to that pairing(most likely, Yvonne didn't get to see Will and Will dies, but I like to imagine that they saw each other in his last moment and things were happy for a split second).