the last duchess also didn't have such a desirable personality, though. she framed a maid for something she did wrong so that she wouldn't get in trouble and she lied about things to make people interested in her. she hasn't really displayed any positive traits and was also really 2 dimensional.
of course, i'm not saying the abuse was justified, but most of the people who didn't befriend her before all just wanted to distance themselves from her because she wasn't really a good person with any distinguishable personality trait.
OG Chloe wasn't a really good employer, and has a really poor personality. Changes of her surroundings come only when the current Chloe take charge, and that's to be expected.
yeah that's the thing that gets me the most tbh. the people in the story have this mentality of "if you don't prove your worth, you won't be treated like a human being" i mean just basic decency or empathy, no one really has it here
i kind of see a parallel in og chloe and reincarnated one from her past life. they were both trampled on and used as a pushover. i guess im most bothered by the fact that new Chloe is befriending the people who used to bully her or neglect her just like in her past life now that she has actually has a "personality" and that's just okay.
Nah don't worry. The one who truly mistreated her will pay their dues later. Chloe didn't just befriend anyone, she knows when to defend herself when someone is talking shit at her lol. She's amicable to the people who stays neutral(like the staffs working in the kitchen) and those who are polite(like Cale the butler) and those people whom she's amicable with slowly change their stance towards her from being respectful to something akin to adoration, and that's to be expected when she has shown her capabilities as both a businesswoman and a duchess.
I think it's just common that OG Chloe will be neglected by some staffs and from her husband, especially when she doesn't have desirable personality in the first place, and I didn't see any effort from OG Chloe trying to improve her standing amongst the staffs in the ducal house and improving relationship with her husband. In the end the only person that can improve her situation is her own self, which OG Chloe can't do.
ㅠㅠㅠ the reason i had this thought is because of the butler's perspective. he was also someone that saw OG chloe get trashed on and thought "because she's weak, she deserves it". although OG chloe also played victim and blamed the maid for her mistake, that was wrong too. but in this story where women aren't taught budgeting and then he hands the budget to her and expect her to be a genius at it.. and then people bully her when she does poorly instead of helping her gain knowledge, i kind of don't understand that logic. and then people like the butler who stayed silent when she was bullied are friends with chloe now bc they see the light and "she's changed".. puts a bitter taste in my mouth and kind of makes me question the moral of this story? sorry, i just really cant get on board with the whole "the weak must stay down, only the strong can prevail" mindset. survival of the fittest - i get it tho bc a lot of novels have this theme so im used to it and i read it, although i cant agree with it
I get what you mean. However Cale has such perspective due to him serving the ducal Vandenberg house, and the Vandenberg is a very proud family, and OG Chloe being poor at her job at managing the household made her lose standing with the rest of the staffs. I think every wives of high statuses are being taught basic finance at least, because they'll be the one to manage the household rather than the husbands. We didn't entirely see OG Chloe's memory so we can't say for sure if the head butler didn't provide any assistance to her, but in the later chapters OG Chloe react negatively when Cale offer assistance during their preparation for the winter season.
For me though, I see it more as a "person who is incapable of change will remain in that situation forever", although in OG Chloe's case it's very difficult for her to change, but I don't see any effort in her trying to improve herself either. I mean, if I were a mob character, I definitely don't have the desire to befriend OG Chloe lol, but I'd change my mind if Chloe changed for the better.
OG Chloe was really weak, no doubt she won't be able to survive in a high class society, that's just how nobilities are unfortunately.
im on ch 21 and don't get me wrong, i love revenge and proving the bad guys wrong. but when i think about the previous duchess, the one who was timid and had low self-esteem, and realize that all the people around her only started treating her nicely was bc she actually started speaking "normally", i start hating the friendships created. in the end, they're people who overlooked the abuse of the weak and aren't kind people at all. it all feels superficial. i hope its addressed?