Diana Beatus, the youngest daughter of the Beatus Duke family, always considered herself utterly ordinary.
Why, you ask?
Because her eldest brother, firmly in place as the heir, left no room for succession disputes, her sister dominated the central social circles, sparing Diana from having to attend social events, and her younger brother had undertaken the family’s military duties, leaving no role for the plain youngest child.
Though overshadowed by her renowned siblings in the capital, Diana didn’t mind. In fact, she relished it. What a comfortable life it was!
With her siblings shouldering the burdens, Diana, unlike other noble daughters, enjoyed freedom from responsibilities and obligations.
Yet, those envious of her free-spirited life were quick to belittle her.
“Halfwit lady.”
Diana didn’t care what others said. She never really listened to anyone anyway.
Fulfilling only the bare minimum required by her family, she could enjoy a blissfully carefree life.
That was until she mysteriously fell ill.
When was it? Three years after a red moon appeared, she was afflicted daily, her energy draining away. She suffered from bloody coughs and struggled to breathe on feverish days.
That day, too, was one of her regular doctor visits.
“I say this every time, miss, but it’s truly baffling. We can’t identify the cause of your illness, nor can we find a cure.”
She was tired of hearing the same thing over and over. Lying in bed, she gazed at the ceiling with blurry eyes, wishing she could argue.
“Hey, doctor. Do you really not see this smoke escaping from my body?”
Every time her energy drained, a dark red vapor seemed to rise from her body and drift out of the mansion.
After the doctor left and without realizing it was her birthday, Diana was wracked with unbearable pain. Then, suddenly, a maid rushed in through the door.
“Oh, miss! It’s a disaster!”
It was an excruciating pain, like death’s approach. She was dying.
“The eldest miss! She’s been charged with treason! The prince has ordered an immediate execution!”
The maid’s voice faded away. Diana’s breath was running out. At the brink of death, she realized.
“An immediate execution by the prince?”
Oh, damn it.
This was the world of a novel.
Just as she realized she was reincarnated into a novel, Diana died, pathetically.
The novel was a dark romance about the prince and a saintess.
The saintess, surrounded by adoring men, and the prince striving to win her over. Meanwhile, Diana’s elder sister, cast as the villain, attempts to assassinate the prince who doesn’t love her and is executed for treason.
Her eldest brother, the main antagonist, meets a gruesome end, and the villainous family is completely annihilated.
So who was Diana Beatus?
The youngest child in a family of villains, an extra who disappears without significance, barely mentioned in a single line as a terminally ill character.
Ah, life.
“Faint sobs.”
“Soft crying.”
As she floated toward the sky, her consciousness plummeted back to the ground at the sound of weeping.
Gasping, she took a deep breath. The air felt strange in her lungs.
Her senses, previously engulfed in darkness, began to revive one by one.
“Ah!!”
Her body ached all over.
Was she in hell? Why was the pain not ending even after death?
Tears streamed down her face as she opened her eyes with difficulty.
It hurt so much. The excruciating pain she felt right before dying was starting all over again.
“Please don’t die!”
The pitiful wails suddenly turned into a scream.
“I’m already dead.” Before she could even ponder on this, something was grasped in her hand.
Diana exhaled a weary breath, clutching tightly onto the object in her hand.
It was a survival instinct. Buried under the objects someone handed her, Diana instinctively embraced them.
Surprisingly, the pain began to fade.
As the intense pain subsided, her grip strengthened.
“Don’t leave me and die, big sister!”
How much time had passed? As the pain vanished and Diana regained her composure, she slowly blinked her heavy eyes open.
‘Am I alive?’
“Sniffle. Sniffle.”
Diana, buried in everything except her face, followed the sound of sniffling and turned her head.
It was a young boy.
Chubby cheeks, adorable features. The boy, his eyes taking up half his face, brimmed with tears.
As their eyes met, the boy began to sob anew.
“Who are… cough”
“I’ll get you water!”
The boy, around five or six years old, with red eyes and gray curly hair, hurriedly ran off and returned with a cup of water.
As she sat up, Diana saw what had been covering her.
‘Eek. What’s this?’
The dolls covering her were sinister and eerie, as if they belonged in a horror movie.
On the giant bed lay a collection of these grotesque dolls.
A chilling aura filled the room. Diana involuntarily swallowed hard.
“Don’t worry. They’re just cursed dolls.”
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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