The new isekai anime series “Why Raeliana Ended Up At The Duke’s Mansion” revolves around the life of Hanasaki Rinko, who finds herself transported into the reality of a novel, where she inhabits the life of Raeliana, the daughter of a wealthy baron. The only trouble is that Hanasaki knows Raeliana dies in the novel.
Spoilers Ahead
Episode 1: The Reason Why Raeliana Ended Up At The Duke’s Mansion
The episode begins with Hanasaki standing on the roof of a building, contemplating whether she will get into any of her desired universities for higher studies. A person hands Hanasaki a cell phone and shows her the letter from a prestigious university informing her of her enrollment. Hanasaki gets euphoric after learning she got into such a great university. She turns toward the ceiling to free her arms, celebrating this achievement, but receives a push from behind, making her topple over the ceiling. She falls from the rooftop and tries to get a glimpse of the person who pushed her over the edge but sees only a blur.
Her fall transports her to the world of a novel, and she finds herself inhabiting the role of Raeliana, a beautiful young girl who lives in her rich father’s mansion. She is bewildered by the change of realities and tries to figure out how it happened. She tries to remember the details of her previous reality but does not recall much. Unable to find a way back, she starts to act out her role as Raeliana. We are shown her parents and younger sister. Her father is a wealthy oil baron named John Mcmillan. After meeting her family at breakfast, she narrates her future as Raeliana. We come to know that her status in the novel is that of a supporting character, and she is meant to die in the near future to make way for the novel’s protagonist. Raeliana decides to cheat death and alter her fate.
In the novel, the cause of Raeliana’s death is found to be arsenic poisoning, given to her in her drinks by none other than her fiance, Lord Francis Brooks. After Raeliana’s death, he will go on to manipulate the Mcmillan family and get them to hand over the business to him. The protagonist of the story will then return from abroad and bust his evil plan. Hanasaki is well aware of this plot and meets Francis with caution. Her first way of altering her fate is to try to break up with Francis. She buys a book listing 50 ways to break up with someone. She tries most of them, but Francis is not deterred. He persists in courting Raeliana until one fine day; she rudely asks her to go away. Francis shows the first signs of frustration and asks the reason behind her rude behavior.
Raeliana answers that Francis wrongly read her feelings towards the arranged marriage and that she has no interest in marrying him. This revelation makes Francis even more resolute. He tells Raeliana the family will never break off the marriage as they need his title.
A frustrated Raeliana sits at a party and tries brainstorming to come up with new ideas and sever her connection with Francis. A young man, Duke Noah Wynknight, enters, and we are made aware of his status as the novel’s male protagonist. Noah is the King’s brother and wields a lot of power. Raeliana imagines how she could use his high status and immense power against Francis.
A subplot shows us the need for Francis to make sure he marries Raeliana, as it guarantees a change of power. A man named Jake Langston threatens Francis to keep an eye on Raeliana and marry her as soon as possible; otherwise, the consequences will surely be deadly. A worried Francis searches for Raeliana. She, on the other hand, follows Noah into the garden.
Raeliana approaches Noah while he is busy gazing at the moon. He catches Raeliana sneaking up on him. Raeliana gets smitten by his looks after seeing him up close. She overcomes her nervousness and gets back to executing her plan. Raeliana tries to strike a deal with Noah, trying to bait him with the secret about a certain “Royal Seal,” which has gone missing and is terribly important for the transfer of power. Being the King’s brother, Noah is definitely interested, but before he can say anything to this proposal, Francis interrupts them. Seeing this as her only opportunity to break ties with Francis, she embraces Noah, symbolizing their deep bond. Noah embraces her back, basically agreeing to her deal. Raeliana leaves, and Francis threatens Noah. Noah asks his spy to keep an eye on both and kill Francis if he threatens Raeliana.
Episode 1: Ending: How Does Raeliana Know About The Secret Of The Missing ‘Royal Seal’?
Raeliana is just the role Hanasaki is playing after transporting from Earth’s reality to that of a novel. Having read the novel in the original reality, she knows its ending, which the characters are unaware of. She uses this to manipulate them and avoid her deadly fate.