Can an Enemy Become Salvation? (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 1
“Young Lady… Miss Nel, Miss Ivenel.”
At the voice calling her name several times, the crimson eyes that had been gazing indifferently at the scenery rushing past the window turned toward the person seated across from her.
“Are you all right?”
A young-faced girl looked at Ivenel with eyes filled with concern.
Ivenel remained silent, her lips still tightly shut. Her expression was unreadable, giving no hint of what she might be thinking.
Seeing this, the maid Lia deliberately spoke in a cheerful tone, trying hard to lighten the mood.
“Don’t worry. No matter what anyone says, you are the esteemed noble daughter of House Istella of the Aodin Empire. Nothing bad will happen to you.”
At that moment, Ivenel’s tightly closed lips slowly parted. A slightly hoarse voice, as if she hadn’t spoken in a long time, slipped out.
“Do you really believe that, Lia?”
“Of course I do.”
At this confident reply, Ivenel simply turned her head back toward the window without another word. Then, as if the carriage had suddenly become stifling, she flung the window wide open.
Her platinum hair fluttered in the wind. Gazing at the landscape, now changed from when they first departed, she murmured softly,
“We should reach our destination soon.”
At the same time, she thought to herself something that would have startled Lia had she heard it.
“Then my time to die must be drawing near.”
For some reason, Ivenel stated her own death as a certainty.
Yet her eyes remained utterly indifferent—almost as if she had been waiting desperately for that very moment.
“I’m so tired.”
She leaned deeply into the carriage seat and closed her eyes, wishing more than anything to escape this world—whether dream or illusion—as quickly as possible.
As darkness came with her closed eyes, vivid scenes flashed through Ivenel’s mind as clearly as if they had happened just yesterday.
Every moment of her life as Ryu Arang, the sharpshooter, before awakening in this novel’s world.
“And then I opened my eyes in this absurd world.”
The first time she had opened her eyes in Ivenel’s body, bright sunlight had shone down on her just as it did now.
[This is the timeline separator]Arang’s eyes slowly opened, bathed in the bright morning sunlight. She weakly sat up in bed.
“Morning again?”
Turning her head absentmindedly toward the sunlight, Arang’s lingering drowsiness vanished instantly at the sight of the enormous terrace window filling her field of vision.
“What…?”
She hastily looked around and realized this wasn’t the room she’d fallen asleep in.
“Miss Ivenel, are you awake?”
Before she could grasp what was happening, the door opened and someone entered the room—a girl who looked about high school age, with short brown hair.
At the sight of that face, Arang’s lips moved involuntarily.
“Are you Aran?”
“Huh? What do you mean all of a sudden?”
Arang studied the approaching girl closely, and disappointment flickered briefly in her eyes. Though they shared a similar appearance and aura, this wasn’t the person she knew.
“Of course it couldn’t be. After all, right before my eyes, you…”
Gripping the sheets tightly with trembling hands, she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself.
“Young Lady?”
At the voice calling her, she finally opened her eyes and carefully examined the other person.
The first thing that caught her attention was the clothing—definitely something from medieval Western times, utterly incompatible with the 21st century.
“Who are you…?”
“Why are you suddenly asking my name? I’m Lia, your maid.”
“Lia?”
Though her ears heard clearly, the name didn’t register in Arang’s mind at all. Neither did the title “Young Lady,” nor the phrase “serving you,” nor the name “Lia.”
Moreover, the language coming out of her mouth was completely foreign—yet astonishingly, she spoke it without any sense of strangeness, as naturally as her native Korean.
“Am I still dreaming? But it feels far too vivid for a dream.”
The warm sunlight on her face clearly declared this was no dream.
Arang got out of bed to assess the situation. Fortunately, a full-length mirror stood in one corner of the room.
“Young Lady?”
Lia was puzzled by her unusual behavior. Meanwhile, Arang stood frozen before the mirror, utterly speechless at her own reflection.
Platinum hair cascading down to her waist, crimson eyes that instantly captivated attention,
skin so pale it seemed almost unnatural, hands smooth and unblemished, and a frail figure that looked as if it might collapse at any moment—everything about her seemed unreal.
“Who… is this person?”
Hesitantly, she reached out toward the mirror—and the beautiful woman inside mirrored her movement, their fingertips nearly touching.
That confirmed it: she had awakened in this woman’s body in an utterly impossible situation.
“Why have you been acting like this since earlier, Young Lady?”
‘Because I’m not your “Young Lady.”‘
Arang had been South Korea’s national shooting representative, who had just swept the gold medal in pistol shooting at the recent Olympics.
She had stumbled into shooting by chance as a child, and it had opened a whole new world for her. Neither the deafening gunshots nor the smell of gunpowder had ever bothered her.
From the very first moment she saw it, she’d instinctively known this was her path.
True to that certainty, her prodigious talent had shone brightly from the moment she began shooting seriously.
By age eighteen, she’d already been selected as a national representative, sweeping medals in competitions worldwide. At her first Olympics, her unwavering skill had stunned the world.
Even now, in a situation that should have sent her into panic, she remained remarkably calm—because shooting was as much a mental battle as a physical one.
Having practiced firing sixty consecutive shots, staying composed under any circumstance had become second nature.
Quickly processing everything in her mind, she realized she needed to learn the identity of this body and the nature of this place.
And the person best suited to provide that information seemed to be the girl standing right before her—Lia.
“Where am I?”
“Huh? Why, this is Duke Istella’s residence in the capital of the Aodin Empire.”
“Aodin Empire?”
Strangely, that name felt oddly familiar. She knew from her travels as an athlete that no such place existed on Earth.
Lia’s expression grew subtly worried at such an odd question. After a brief hesitation, she spoke carefully.
“Could it be… you’re acting this way because of yesterday’s incident?”
‘Yesterday’s incident?’
Arang had no idea what had happened yesterday, but she sensed instinctively that it was something crucial related to this body.
So she calmly nodded.
“Yes. I think the shock has muddled my memories. Could you please tell me again?”
Lia was bewildered—just yesterday, this girl had been sobbing uncontrollably, yet now she was asking so calmly. But given the magnitude of what had happened, she quickly accepted it without suspicion.
She also felt pity—how deeply shaken must she be to have lost her memories like this?
“The decision was made for you to go to the Caries Empire, as they requested.”
“Caries Empire?”
“You know, Young Lady—the two empires have had strained relations ever since that past incident.”
Arang obviously didn’t know—but strangely, the name “Caries” felt just as familiar as “Aodin.”
Still, she couldn’t let on that she knew nothing, so she kept her composure and nodded along.
“Right.”
“They claimed that if Caries wanted to show sincerity, they should at least send someone from a noble family of renown. And as you know, Aodin couldn’t afford to refuse.”
She tried to piece together the situation from this minimal information. Fortunately, Lia showed no signs of suspicion.
“So I was chosen to demonstrate that ‘sincerity’?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Why me, of all people?”
“As you know, House Istella is one of those noble families whose abilities have been passed down through generations. That’s why the eldest daughter of the Duke, Miss Ivenel…”
“Hold on.”
Arang cut her off there. Several puzzle pieces had clicked into place, and she finally understood the source of that strange sense of déjà vu she’d felt upon hearing “Aodin.”
“No wonder it sounded so familiar.”
‘It’s from that novel Aran once told me about.’
Aran had especially loved romance-fantasy novels and would occasionally share their plots.
‘Early in the story, Aodin sends a noble young lady from a ducal house, but the male lead—the Emperor of Caries—throws her to a monster as prey, and she dies horribly. Then he sends her corpse back to Aodin. Isn’t that just infuriating?’
‘Why kill an innocent person?’
‘In Caries, merely being from Aodin is crime enough.’
From Arang’s perspective, it made no sense—it seemed like taking out anger on the wrong target.
No matter what past grievances existed.
‘But then unexpectedly, a female lead appears in Caries who can handle monster cores…’
‘Stop right there. I wouldn’t understand even if you told me.’
‘You should develop interests beyond shooting. Even the books you read are all about guns.’
Since Arang’s interests had always revolved solely around shooting, she’d dismissed the story lightly at the time. But now, thanks to that, she understood exactly whose body she was in.
Ivenel Istella—the noble young lady who dies horribly at the hands of a monster in the novel’s opening.
Could it be that her longing to see Aran again had somehow brought her to this impossible place?
“Are you all right, Young Lady?”
Lia was worried—after all, the girl had fainted upon hearing she’d be sent to Caries. Just then, Arang, who had been lost in thought, asked a sharp question.
“But is that really all there is to it?”
“Huh?”
“The reason I’m being sent there. It feels like there’s something else.”
“Well…”
Seeing Lia struggle to continue, Arang chose not to press further and returned to the bed.
“I’d like to rest for a bit.”
“Oh! Of course. I’ll prepare everything perfectly for our journey to Caries. I’m coming with you too, so please don’t worry.”
After Lia left and she was alone, Arang turned to stare blankly at the blinding sunlight streaming in.
“So I’m going to die soon, then.”
There was only one reason she felt so indifferent despite knowing her role ended in death.
“After all, I’m still alone here, just like before.”
If she couldn’t see her younger sister Aran again, Arang didn’t care what happened.
“Maybe that’s actually a good thing.”
She wanted to believe, however faintly, that dying here might finally let her meet Aran again.
“I miss you so much already.”
Losing her only family member—this grief couldn’t possibly hurt more than being devoured by some monster. Of that, she was certain.
Having already lost everything, Arang—no, Ivenel—decided to simply let things unfold as they would. Even if it meant her own death.
When male lead is the homewrecker
“I know she doesn’t love him.”
I’ve read the novel below twice already. Girls, I’m highly recommending it to you!
The female lead? Not a good person.
The second male lead? Not a good person.
The male lead? Willingly plays the third party, breaking up the female and second male lead’s relationship despite all the warnings from his friends—so yeah, he’s definitely not a good person either.
Basically, nobody in this novel is simple-minded or without scheming.
The female lead starts off as the male lead’s secretary, but don’t worry—later on, she takes over the company while the male lead steps back to support her. He won’t steal her spotlight, overshadow her, or dull her shine.
I love novels where men are out here snatching wigs, tearing each other down, and going to war just to win the female lead’s affection. And this is exactly that kind of novel. Most of Hai Dai Ran’s works have this dynamic. You’ll see the male characters’ emotions being pushed to the absolute extreme.
There’s even a scene where the second male lead exposes the male lead online for being a homewrecker. The brotherhood immediately gangs up on him, dragging him through the mud. I find it compelling —it completely flips reality on its head, where usually, women are the ones fighting over a man and getting torn apart by the sisterhood.
For me, female leads in the novels I read should only struggle in their careers, not in love. But if the brainless romantics in the story are all men? I have zero complaints.
I’ve pretty much read all of Hai Dai Ran’s novels and even translated all of them—her works are just my thing. I’ll slowly upload everything here. One day, when my website is official, I hope I can invite her to join as one of the star authors.
Here’s the story synopsis:
One-line summary: She is his lifelong obsession, to the point where he was willing to be a third wheel, scorned by society, just to wedge his way into her relationship with her fiancé.
Cold-hearted and indifferent female lead + Scheming and subservient CEO male lead
Intro 1:
“I know she doesn’t love him.”
With blood trickling from his clenched fist, Rong Xiu gazed at the woman before him, his eyes clouded with anguish. Hidden in the wardrobe, he had witnessed Fan Xia – the woman he desperately loved – in an intimate embrace with her fiancé. Yet his heart still yearned for her, defying all reason.
Fan Xia, the elegant and composed assistant, carried something mysterious in her eyes whenever she looked at her fiancé, Wen Lan Sheng. Strange occurrences began to surface – secret meetings with the young Gu Jin Yi, an unexplained withdrawal of 5,000 yuan… Then suddenly, her fiancé’s sister, Wen Jing, violently attacked her.
In this matriarchal society, Rong Xiu had risen to become the chairman of a powerful healthcare conglomerate, breaking through gender prejudices. But for the first time, he willingly stepped into the shadows as the other man, disregarding his friends’ warnings to become her secret lover.
Because he had discovered the truth – Fan Xia wasn’t the pure angel everyone believed her to be. And perhaps, he was the only one capable of helping her execute her mysterious plan…
Intro 2:
Rong Xiu’s biggest regret in life was missing out on Fan Xia.
He secretly loved Fan Xia for 7 years.
Watched her go public with her boyfriend.
Watched her kiss her boyfriend at their wedding.
Until that man blissfully nestled in Fan Xia’s arms, obtaining everything he could only dream of.
The crazy jealousy stripped away his hidden secret love, layer by layer, burning like wildfire.
Fan Xia, how can I have you!
【Reading and Trigger Warning Guide】
1. Female dominant, male submissive, male pregnancy
2. Male lead schemes his way to the top, male competition
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Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
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a villain little sister compared to her past life!
she will fight the monster alone oh my gosh!shooww them
fighting,ah warrior,i like it,dont listen to those whispers