Shuri von Neuschwanstein

**Marchioness Shuri Von Neuschwanstein** is one of the main characters of The Fantasie of a Stepmother manhwa.

She is the second wife of Marquess Johannes von Neuschwanstein and the stepmother of his four children, Jeremy, Elias, Leon and Rachel. She is the current head of the Neuschwanstein Family.

She is formerly of the Ighöfer Family. She is the daughter of lower Viscount Ighöfer and Stella von Ighöfer and the younger sister of Lucas von Ighöfer.

## Appearance

Shuri is an attractive young woman in her early teens with a slender build and fair skin. She has bright, expressive green eyes and hair the color of cherry blossoms, falling far below her waist with bangs that frame her face. Befitting of her status as a noble from one of the most prominent families in the empire, she wears a variety of expensive and extravagant dresses, accessories and jewelry.

In the original timeline, Shuri wanted to look like a figure of authority and so she kept a stoic expression and favored darker dresses with mature styles in an effort to appear older and more sophisticated.

## History

Shuri was born to the Ighöfer Family in Bretten, who, although of noble blood, lived in poverty and were looked down on by other nobles. As a child, Shuri dreamt of opening a shop in the capital, but she was ridiculed by her mother who had later married her off to the Marquess of the Neuschwanstein family, Johannes von Neuschwanstein, making her his second wife and Marchioness of the estate at a young age.

## Synopsis

### Original Timeline

See Original Timeline

Ohera von Heinrich meets with Shuri at the estate to inform her that her fiancé Jeremy had said there was no need for her to attend their wedding. Shuri is taken aback and Ohera insists she tried to talk to him but was unsuccessful. Shuri argues that it is her duty as his mother to attend. Ohera looks at her coldly before recounting what Jeremy had told her to tell Shuri - *"Your motherly duty ends tomorrow. If you had the chance to rid yourself of that duty just one day earlier, wouldn't you take it?"* Shocked by the cold words of her stepson, Shuri goes quiet.

The next day she announces to the staff that she would be leaving for the Heidelberg villa and had no plans of returning to the estate. She is adamant about keeping it a secret from the children. She somberly expresses that, as it was the day of Jeremy's wedding and as his mother, she needed to give him a gift, implying that her leaving would be what he and the rest of the children would want. She starts to fantasize about the new journey she is about to embark on and realizes how free she is, now that she will finally be able to step down as head of the family and leave the pressure of her position behind. Looking down from her balcony and overlooking the estate, she happily welcomes her second life.

### Current Timeline

* Reset Arc
* Memorial Banquet Arc

In the middle of the night, Shuri awakens from her sleep and remembers the events right after she left the manor, her head starts to ache and brief flashes of memory appear in her mind - the carriage coming to a stop and bandits wrenching the carriage door open. A knock is heard and Gwen, the head maid, enters the room reminding her that she must get ready for the funeral. Thinking that one of the children may have been hurt, she demands to know how the bandits could have gotten to them. Gwen tries to calm her down and urges her to accept reality, as it was what the recently deceased Marquess would have wanted for her.
Dumbfounded, Shuri confirms that it was her late husband, Johannes who they were talking about. She collapses as everything is starting to come together and she realizes that these were the events she had already experienced seven years ago at the time of Johannes' passing. Shuri despairs over the loss of her new beginning and the possibility of reliving everything all over again.

At the funeral, she requests that the priest as well as the rest of the family allow her to say goodbye to her husband privately, and she is then left alone with Johannes' casket. She greets him first, before admitting that she cannot believe she is back in the past, still thinking it could all still be a dream. She tells him that his children grew up well and that he might not believe she really kept her promise. She cries, confessing she does not have the courage to do everything all over again. She then bids him goodbye, praying it would be the last time. Shuri runs into Jeremy and they are both frozen at first, before he notices her tears and hands her his handkerchief, saying it was inelegant to use her sleeve. After the funeral, she realizes that an opportunity to right her wrongs had fallen unto her lap and resolves do her best in her second life.

Johannes' siblings meet with Shuri at the estate. Mueller von Neuschwanstein states that they want to discuss the family's future, particularly the fact that they believe she is quite young to be taking on the responsibilities as head of the family. Shuri deduces that they want to control her like a puppet. She asks how they plan to help and Mueller suggests they split the management duties and Shuri decides she will consider it. At the end of the discussion, Lucrecia von Sebastian asks that she be allowed to stay in the estate a while longer to comfort her niece and nephews. Valentino von Neuschwanstein speaks up as well and volunteers to teach Elias how to wield a sword. She agrees to let them both stay.

That evening, as she is taking a walk in the garden, Shuri runs into Jeremy and the two discuss Lucrecia and Valentino's extended stay. He voices his doubts about his uncle's abilities. Shuri confesses that she is aware of Valentino's less than stellar reputation but shares with him how happy it made Lucrecia that he was willing to help and how excited she got thinking of Rachel's debut. Shuri reminds him of how fond the twins are of their aunt and that it would be good for them to be with her and regain a sense of normalcy. On the way back to the manor, Shuri is suddenly doused in cold water. The culprits are revealed to be the twins, with Rachel gleefully laughing before Jeremy sends them a glare.

Shuri catches a fever because of the twins' prank and slowly recovers after a week. She arrives during mealtime, in time to witness Rachel's tantrum over the food. With her continued screeching and complaining, Lucrecia sternly shouts out Rachel's name and stares her down menacingly, silencing her immediately. Lucrecia addresses Shuri and cheerily tells her not to worry about the children's care, because she was there to help. The next day, Shuri observes that the household routine has changed somehow and informs Gwen she intends to look into it.
Shuri enjoys her freedom in the snow-covered estate and runs into Elias. She greets him a good morning with a smile, and he becomes flustered and starts shouting before he is ultimately wacked on the head by Jeremy. They start bickering before Elias runs off, leaving Jeremy to wonder when he will stop acting like a child. He leaves to continue his training, but not before informing her that Lucrecia had been wondering where she had gone off to in the morning.

During post breakfast teatime, Lucrecia informs Shuri of Rachel's etiquette progress and excitedly gushes about the three of them attending balls during the social season. Taken aback by the implication, Shuri voices that she believes she is too young for a formal debut. Lucrecia protests and points out how beneficial it would be for Rachel to receive the approval of a renowned teacher and debut at an early age. Privately, Shuri agrees that Lucrecia is an influential figure in high society and that Rachel would benefit from her connections, but she firmly tells Lucrecia that she would be the one to decide when she is ready to debut.
It has been a few days since Lucrecia and Valentino have been staying at the estate, but Shuri continues to feel that something is amiss and wonders if she had made the wrong choice. With the last of the funeral payments settled, she is determined to use the memorial banquet as an opportunity to solidify her position as head of the family.

She is informed that Sir Alberon requests a meeting with her. Seeing as he made a direct request, instead of going through the head butler as is proper, Shuri concludes that there is a certain unrest within the household. Alberon confesses that he had thought that she had been purposely turning a blind eye towards the level of discipline Valentino had been subjecting Elias to. Alberon continues on to say he requested a meeting with Roberto to express his concerns, to which Roberto adamantly denies hearing anything from Alberon. Roberto goes on to confess he had thought Shuri had called a meeting inform them of her departure, causing Gwen to express her own confusion. With the miscommunication amongst the three heads of staff confirmed, Shuri is able to fully grasp the situation. She stops their arguing and instructs Roberto to summon all the staff.

Shuri searches throughout the estate for Elias and when she finds him with his older brother, she asks why he had not told her. Jeremy says Elias had convinced him that he would deal with it himself and that Shuri was the one person he did not want knowing about it. Concern washes over Shuri's face as she tries to convey to Elias how worried she was. He falls silent before breaking down in tears saying he knew she did not really want to be with them - that because they were weak, she would leave them just as their parents had done.

     His confession leaves both of them speechless, Shuri especially, as she could only recall how the children hated her in her first life. The two brothers start bickering and she realizes that she had only just begun truly seeing the children, having been too caught up in Johannes' death to even attempt to talk to them in the past. Shuri calls them over and assures them that she has never once thought of them as burdensome, so they needn't think about the opinions of others. She tells them firmly that she would not be leaving. With their worries put to rest, she asks if they are keeping anything else from her. Immediately, Elias tries to make a run for it only to end up admitting that he too was asked not to say anything.

She calls for a meeting with Lucrecia and Valentino, firmly announcing that they are never to set foot onto the Neuschwanstein estate again. The two are shocked and Lucrecia warily asks if they had offended her. Shuri calmly informs them that she had uncovered their plot to fabricate a story that she was forcing a young girl to debut for her benefit and that she had brought in a questionable swordsmanship instructor - she knew they would use it to question her ability to run the estate before ultimately removing her from her position and choosing an easily controlled successor. Shuri expresses her disappointment at their lack of conscience. Lucrecia violently slaps Shuri, shrieking about how she was the one with no conscience, swooping in from who knows where and stealing the riches that should have been theirs. Shuri returns the favor by punching Lucrecia, knocking her to the floor.

Lucrecia shouts that she would beat Shuri until she begged, only for Rachel to tackle her to the floor, demanding she leave her *'fake'* mother alone. Rachel is furiously throwing her fists upon her aunt before bursting into tears, causing Leon to start bawling and joining her in attacking Lucrecia. In the middle of the chaos, Jeremy arrives, and Lucrecia tries to appear as the victim and get him on their side. But he already knows of their offenses against his siblings and ignores their pleas. He tells them he is an obedient stepson, and if his mother did not want them at the estate, that was the end of it. Hearing him refer to her as his mother, a giddy feeling wells up inside her. With the children around her, she smiles as she tells Lucrecia and Valentino to leave the estate for good.
That evening, Gwen and Roberto report that everyone related to the incident had either left or was fired. Shuri places her trust in their ability to continue handling the estate even with the shortage of staff. Their meeting is chaotically interrupted by the children and their antics.

Shuri arrives at Babenberger Palace for a Parliament session and as she is walking through the corridor, she bumps into Cardinal Richelieu. Their eyes meet for a moment before he leaves without a word. Duke Nürnberger jolts her out of her daze and the two make their way to the meeting hall.

## Relationships

* Family
* Staff
* Nobility

## Quotes

* *"Do you think I want to be stuck in the house acting like your mother? Just leave me alone! I'm under no obligation to listen to what you have to say until you marry and become lord of this household!"* (To Jeremy, Episode 2)
* *"I never once thought you were weak and burdensome, so there's no need for us to care about anyone else's opinion but our own."* (To Jeremy and Elias, Episode 10)

## References

1. ↑ Manhwa: Season 1, Episode 14
2. ↑ Manhwa: Season 1, Episode 3
3. ↑ Manhwa: Season 1, Episode 4
4. ↑ Manhwa: Season 1, Episode 5
5. ↑ Manhwa: Season 1, Episode 6
6. ↑ Manhwa: Season 1, Episode 7
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Manhwa: Season 1, Episode 8
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Manhwa: Season 1, Episode 9
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Manhwa: Season 1, Episode 10
10. ↑ Manhwa: Season 1, Episode 11