I don't hate her but there's just nothing special about her

What would you do if you were in her position?

Honestly, I think her first mistake was marrying the ML. I know that Hinael’s only focus at that point in time was not marrying her ex again however she should’ve put some more thought into just who exactly she was marrying she literally spent two seconds on it in the first chapter. If she truly wanted to remain away from the drama she should’ve either 1 took her maid and left (I feel like she probably would get away with it)or 2 married a noble far lower than the ML or her ex husband. She was less loved than her sisters so I’m sure if she’d hyped one of them up enough she’d have managed to manipulate one of the more favored ones into begging their father the king to marry her off to her ex husband.

But atp with the situation she’s stuck in now she really just needs to stay the hell out of it of whether that’s having a guard with her at all times or feigning sickness and secluding herself to everyone but the ML. People who are detached tend to be less of a target because they aren’t interested. Hinael has now become a weakness for ML and she won’t be able to make up for that on her own because frankly she isn’t smart enough to do that. So the best thing she can do is stay unobtrusive and focus what she was there to do. The futures already scuffed and everyone is an enemy so just make yourself not even worth the kill.

But if all that happened..we wouldn't have an interesting story to read hahahah

Fair enough, that doesn't mean we can't cringe over it though ╮(￣▽￣)╭

Exactly (≧∀≦)

I think you're forgetting that she's a princess still. Marrying a "low noble" would be deemed as unacceptable and bring the family to shame. And as the princess said early chapters, she had no choice but to marry the count in her previous life. He's a count but he holds power. And we saw how the count was obsessed with her, so I don't think she'd even get away with marrying someone who holds no power. I would say that she isn't the SMARTEST but she's not dumb. She literally explained why she wanted to go see the 3rd prince in the first place, to gather information. She's trying to make sure that when the ML succeeds the throne, he isnt ridiculed or holds little to no power due to the battle between him and the 3rd prince. She is currently a weakness because she has nothing. But shes literally TRYING. Better than most FLs that just sit around waiting for prince charming. It's rare to see FLs that actually try to become strong and try to change, most are just strong from the beginning and remain the same thorough. I hope in this story we can see actual character development and actual "weak to strong".
+ if you were in the FL's position, a few days before you're set to accept a proposal from somebody you know killed you and your unborn child in your past life and you can't do anything about it BUT there's a prince from another nation set to choose one of the five princesses (including you) as his bride and you know he becomes emperor of his kingdom
+ your entire family hates you, your mother was forced to be a concubine and holds no real power.

Would you not choose the prince from another nation?

I remember she's a princess perfectly well. Despite being a princess and all BUT her mother is a commoner therefore she isn't as favored as the other princesses. Meaning it'd make sense for her to marry down if only for her father to get rid of her. But yes if marrying down wasn't an option then marry up IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY! The ML was probably the second worst option after the Count. Solely for the fact that she knew he got caught up in a fight for the throne and a lot of people died from it on both sides. The ML is not infallible people he cared about died in his fight for the throne. Becoming a weakness on the ML's side now makes her a prime (and moreover easy) target -see chapter 29- because she's so weak. So yeah I do think that makes her kind of an idiot. I mean c'mon the Count and the ML could not possibly be the only strong men of marriageable age in her country. She really spent 2 seconds in the first chapter thinking about it before she decided on him. My point about the ML being a mistake is that in another country with no support or protection from people she knows (at the very least her mother who despite being a commoner is still a concubine who had enough power to apparently get her hands on the strongest aphrodisiac out there) makes her considerably weaker than she would've been if she'd just stayed home and found a duke or something. No matter how "powerful" the Count is status hierarchy still exists (case in point there's still a king and the Count still has to bow to him).

Now let's address her meeting with the third prince and her mistakes in order:
1. Knowing that the the Third Prince and her husband are going to engage in a fight for the throne and still going off somewhere alone with him.
2. GOING OFF SOMEWHERE ALONE WITH HIM he was literally so passive aggressive at her welcoming party and she knew he knocked of her shawl on purpose.
3. Going off somewhere alone with someone hostile without a guard. She just learned to ride a horse for christ's sake and even when she was riding she needed someone to hold the reigns for her and walk along. Even when he insisted she come alone why would she not make someone come with her it's not as if she was going to have some secret talk with him she went to watch him hunt.

It's nice and all that's she's "trying" to be of some help by gathering information but she simply can't do that at the level she's at right now. Especially when confronting the enemy point blank. She doesn't have to be the smartest chopstick in the drawer or a damsel waiting for Prince charming (which she kind of is if you think about how many times he's had to help her already is). But at the rate she's going she's causing more trouble than good so if her trying to be helpful is pulling shit like this then she's better off focusing on having her kid. I mean if she married him because she knows he's going to become emperor and will have the power to protect her why on gods green earth does she even need the info just sit back and avoid the drama if you really don't even need to be involved. The ML should still be able to win without her help.

Like I said I still think her first mistake was choosing the ML so if I had the opportunity I'd find someone else with a higher status within my own kingdom and ingratiate myself to them orrrr take Dea, maybe my mom, and leave. I feel like I have enough survival instincts irl to make it on my own (plus from the info I've seen in other manhwa running away actually isn't that hard plenty of FL's still somehow manage to make it work even when they're pregnant).

I don't have much faith in this story, I'm glad you do but fro my pov there have been red flags from the very beginning. I'm still reading because in the last month I've only found like 2 actually good manhwa worth keeping up with. So in the meantime I find fun by reading at mid and bad manhwa and pointing out my issues. Sorry for the essay though I really like debating in the comments.