Okay hear me out, what if she did die in the original story but it wasn't the way that the story was written, what if it was a high priest that killed her, and in order to hide his crime by some weird power, he wrote the story in a way that made it seem like it was the emperor's fault and that he was the one that caused her death? Because he's trying to manipulate the story for some reason? What if, the real story was that she had died and was reborn in the real world and lived her life as you know, a regular person, where she gained herself worth and knowledge and became somebody who wasn't going to be pushed around anymore, then she is returned to wear her soul originated from? So now, she is back to the beginning but as I said, she doesn't have memories of her originally being there, just what she's read, and what she may have read in the story may have been manipulated by the priest and it might not be 100% authentic. For some reason they're stuck in some kind of time Loop or something. So Hear Me out, what if the emperor was also manipulated? Like this priest guy is not what he seems. What if this priest guy, now this is where it's going to get confusing but I'm just guessing here because I have not read the novel or anything like that. But what if this priest guy has been looking for this reincarnated soul, and he needs her because, he thinks that she belongs to him or something? He just doesn't know that she's the reincarnated soul but he's starting to get suspicious and he realizes that she could either give him power or dismantle his own world that he is manipulating? I know this is a long answer but I just get the feeling that this priest guy may be more than what he seems and that rubella is not just some ordinary soul. So the emperor in the story, hadn't done those things to the original empress, it was just written that way and he has no idea what had happened in the past life or something?
Your deductions make sense. I’ve definitely seen a soul go temporarily to another world just to return to its origin world. The high priest mentioned regression, so something keeps going wrong and the empress can’t be in the picture. I think based on his overall feel that he may be a god, powerful demon, maybe he really is making a major sacrifice to a dark deity, I’m just unsure why these puppet rulers are needed. I definitely didn’t see him being the main antagonist and the FL signing a contract with, she really has no power on her own. I do wonder how it’ll all work out.(Side note :I really want the the duke to be able to raise his son, what’s the orphanage like, on some level he must want to live with his dad even if people are cruel)
Ch. 8 was *chef’s kiss* love how she stood up for her people and was yet again attempting her “villainess divorce scheme.” ヾ(☆▽☆)
*spoiler*
Ch 14 explains POV of emperor and honestly even though the OGFL was written as frugal and sweet. She never stood up for the empress or challenged the emperor on her mistreatment, so like him she always has ulterior motives. However, it interest me this whole falling in love for the possible first time, he liked OGFL but I don’t know if he loved her. It seems he’s truly attracted to someone who doesn’t just do what he says and is just a good empress, but one that challenges and within reason does what she wants, throw a dash of strategy in. #－.－) still makes me sad about the OG Robella.