A Stepmother's Märchen - Chapter 3

A Stepmother's Märchen - Chapter 3 | WebtoonLib

A Stepmother's Märchen - Chapter 4 - Part 1

A Stepmother's Märchen - Chapter 4 - Part 2

A Stepmother's Märchen - Chapter 4 - Part 3

Dialogue TranscriptA Stepmother's Märchen — Chapter 3101

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: I'M GOING TO HEIDELBERG!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: I DON'T PLAN ON COMING BACK SO PACK ACCORDINGLY.

[Gwen]: M-MY LADY?!

[Gwen]: THIS IS ALL SO SUDDEN...

FLABBERGASTED

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: I WANT TO KEEP IT A SECRET FROM THE CHILDREN, SO BE DISCREET.

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: TODAY IS THE DAY OF JEREMY'S WEDDING.

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: SINCE I AM HIS MOTHER, I SHOULD GIVE HIM A PRESENT.

[Gwen]: MY LADY...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: AND BESIDES,

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: THAT JERK...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: NO...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: ALL OF THEM.

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: IT'S SOMETHING THEY ALL WOULD'VE WANTED.

*WHSH*

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: TAKE CARE OF THE NEW LADY OF THE ESTATE WHEN SHE COMES! YOU KNOW THAT JEREMY IS LORD OF THE ESTATE NOW, RIGHT?!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: TRY NOT TO UPSET HIM!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: YOU KNOW HOW HE CAN GET!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: NOW, NOW... BE OFF!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: I'M NOT THE MAIN CHARACTER TODAY!

[Gwen]: BUT MY LADY!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: IF I HEAR THAT THE CEREMONY WAS LESS THAN PERFECT, YOU'LL REGRET IT!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: HAAA...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: ...THE MAIN CHARACTER.

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: HAS IT...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: EVER BEEN ME?

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: IN ORDER TO SURVIVE...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: BECAUSE OF THE WISHES OF OTHERS...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: BECAUSE OF THE DUTY I WAS GIVEN...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: THAT'S ALL I LIVED FOR.

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: WHY AM I THINKING SUCH DEPRESSING THOUGHTS?!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: I'M ABOUT TO EMBARK ON A NEW JOURNEY!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: FEELING THE WARMTH OF THE SUN AT THE VILLA IN HEIDELBERG! SITTING IN THE SHADE UNDER LEAVES OF GREEN!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: THE SPARKLING BLUE LAKE!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: NOW THAT I FINALLY HAVE THE TIME, MAYBE I'LL EVEN ALLOW MYSELF TO BE COURTED!

SHURI'S FUTURE BEAU, IN HER IMAGINATION

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: BUT THE THING I'M MOST HAPPY ABOUT IS...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: FINALLY STEPPING DOWN AS HEAD OF THE NEUSCHWANSTEIN FAMILY, AND LEAVING BEHIND THAT STIFLING PRESSURE!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: I CAN FINALLY SAY 'AU REVOIR' TO MY ADORABLE CHILDREN, WHO WERE LIKE TICKING TIME BOMBS!

...YES, THE ONLY THING THEY THOUGHT ABOUT WAS HOW TO CREATE MORE TROUBLE FOR ME...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: I'M FINALLY FREE!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: YES!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: I'M GOING TO LIVE AN AMAZING LIFE!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: HELLO TO MY NEW LIFE!

*SHFF*

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: RAIN...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: YES, I REMEMBER THIS...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: AS I WAS RIDING THE CARRIAGE TO THE HEIDELBERG VILLA,

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: RAIN STARTED TO POUR AS WE HEADED INTO THE FOREST.

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: I WAS TALKING TO THE COACHMAN AND KNIGHTS

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: ABOUT HOW THE RAIN...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: CAME OUT OF NOWHERE...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: SO WHY...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: AM I BACK IN MY BEDCHAMBERS AT THE NEUSCHWANSTEIN ESTATE?

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: ?!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: ACK!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: THE CARRIAGE!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: WE WERE ATTACKED BY BANDITS THAT CAME OUT OF NOWHERE!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: ...AND EVERY- ONE...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: ...HOW AM I HERE?

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: HOW DID I WAKE UP ALIVE IN MY OWN BED?!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: AND THIS MIRROR—IT BELONGED TO THE PREVIOUS MARCHIONESS... IT WAS THROWN OUT WHEN IT SHATTERED, SO HOW...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: ...THIS... THIS IS...?

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: I KNOW SOMETHING'S CHANGED, BUT I CAN'T SEEM TO PUT IT INTO WORDS!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: DOES MY FACE LOOK SOFTER?!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: IS IT ROUNDER AND MORE FULL...?!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: EVEN MY SKIN LOOKS A BIT MORE SOFT AND DEWY?

*SQUEEZE*

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

[Gwen]: YOU MUST GET READY QUICKLY, MY LADY.

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: GWEN?!

[Gwen]: THE FUNERAL WILL BE IN TWO HOURS.

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: F-F...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: FU... FUNERAL?! THE CHILDREN... HAS SOMETHING HAPPENED TO THE CHILDREN?!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: HAVE THOSE BANDITS COME ALL THE WAY TO THE ESTATE?!

[Gwen]: ?

[Gwen]: MY LADY...

[Gwen]: I KNOW THIS IS HARD FOR YOU...

[Gwen]: BUT YOU MUST ACCEPT REALITY.

[Gwen]: IT IS WHAT OUR RECENTLY DECEASED MASTER WOULD HAVE WANTED FOR YOU.

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: BY MASTER, DO YOU MEAN LORD NEUSCHWANSTEIN...?

[Gwen]: OF COURSE, MY LADY.

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: JOHANNES VON NEUSCHWANSTEIN...?

[Gwen]: YES, THAT'S CORRECT.

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: YOU MEAN, JOHAN, THE MAN WHO DIED OF PNEUMONIA AND LEFT ME A WIDOW AT AGE SIXTEEN?!

YES, THAT'S RIGHT.

[Gwen]: MY LADY?!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: GWEN'S RESPONSES!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: THE LAYOUT OF THIS ROOM!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: THE WAY THE TWO OF US LOOK YOUNGER!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: THIS IS SEVEN YEARS AGO! RIGHT BEFORE JOHAN'S FUNERAL!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: BUT THE VILLA! MY NEW LIFE?!

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: IF THIS IS JUST A DREAM,

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: I PRAY THAT I WAKE UP FROM IT RIGHT NOW!

[Gwen]: MY LADY, SHALL I SEND FOR A DOCTOR...?

SILENCE

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: THIS CAN'T BE...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: DEAR HEAVENS...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: THIS TRULY...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: D...

[Shuri von Neuschwanstein]: CANNOT BE!

Chapter Summary

On Jeremy's wedding day, the Lady secretly prepares to leave for Heidelberg, hidden from everyone, and rejoices that she will be free from her years-long duty. But in the forest, her carriage is attacked by bandits. She opens her eyes in her bedroom in Neuschwanstein. When her maid Gwen says the funeral is in two hours, she realizes she has returned to seven years earlier, to before Johan's funeral.

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Chapter Analysis

On Jeremy's wedding day, Shuli makes a choice that feels both heartbreaking and completely understandable. After years of pouring herself into a family that never accepted her, she quietly prepares to slip away to Heidelberg, asking that nothing be said to the children. It is not framed as revenge or abandonment, but as exhaustion. The lordship has already passed to Jeremy, a new lady is coming, and for the first time she allows herself to imagine freedom from duty. That small moment of relief makes what happens next hit even harder. The ambush in the rainy forest is sudden and brutal. One moment she is dreaming of a quiet life, the next her carriage is surrounded by bandits and everything goes dark. The shift in pacing and atmosphere is masterful, taking us from soft resignation to sharp terror in just a few panels. Then comes the twist that changes everything. She wakes up alive in her own bedroom at Neuschwanstein, staring at an old broken mirror she thought she would never see again. Her confusion is painfully relatable until Gwen's innocent reminder lands like a thunderclap. The funeral is in two hours. Not Jeremy's wedding, but Johannes's funeral seven years earlier. She has been given a second chance at the very beginning of her nightmare. The emotional weight here is enormous because we know how much those seven years cost her, and now she remembers all of it while everyone else remembers nothing. Character-wise, this is where Shuli transforms from tragic victim to someone with agency. The girl who once climbed those stairs in fear and endured as the Iron Widow now has knowledge, regret, and resolve. The art sells it beautifully, contrasting the cold rain and violence of the forest with the warm yet suffocating familiarity of her old room, letting her wide-eyed realization carry the entire chapter.