Seducing the Tyrant Instead of My Favorite (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 1
It’s a dream. Just a dream.
A horrifying nightmare—and a painfully clichéd one at that.
And yet, it was my absolute favorite iconic scene.
“Execute the tyrant Nikolai and the wicked woman Elizabeth!”
Claudia, the heroine of *The Silver Knightess*, cries out.
She has the sky-hued silver hair and piercingly transparent blue eyes described in the novel.
I’d reread that so-called “minor” heroine fantasy countless times—all because of Claudia.
My ultimate favorite: exceptionally beautiful and, of course, incredibly strong.
I admired her.
Whenever I read Claudia’s adventures, I could momentarily forget my own chaotic life.
What would it feel like to possess Claudia?
Even a supporting role would be fine, as long as I could be with her!
I held onto the absurd wish of possessing a book character.
I never imagined it would come true like this.
“I’m innocent! Nikolai ordered me to do everything!”
A chilling, metallic shriek bursts from my throat.
Elizabeth, the wicked woman who led the empire to ruin and heiress of a massive trading company—
That’s me.
“Aren’t you ashamed before all those who died because of you?”
Claudia stares at me with an expressionless face.
I reply like the villain I’m supposed to be.
“Who exactly did I kill?! Bring me a corpse if you’ve got one!”
“Just as I thought—you show not the slightest remorse.”
“Is this jealousy, Claudia? Because Douglas, whom you secretly loved, chose me? How is that my fault?”
Sapphire flames ignite in Claudia’s eyes.
But only briefly—soon, calm returns.
“I merely carry out the people’s will.”
Fitting for the strongest, most resolute knightess.
If only I weren’t kneeling on the scaffold, I’d praise her until my mouth ran dry.
“The crime of seducing countless men, including Marquis Nettleton. The crime of conspiring with the tyrant to ruin the state. The crime of squandering the imperial treasury and assassinating the empresses.”
Claudia recites Elizabeth’s list of atrocities.
She also enumerates the crimes of Nikolai, the villainous emperor.
“The crime of using imperial power to kidnap father and daughter. The crime of treating them as playthings. The crime of abandoning his imperial duties. The crime of disgracing the Hartman Empire’s honor through debauchery…”
Even without Douglas involved, Claudia would have executed the wicked woman and the tyrant to restore justice.
Elizabeth and Nikolai committed far too many sins.
But I am innocent.
I don’t want to die like this.
Against my will, the dream repeats.
“Everything is ready!”
Knights bind the tyrant and me to a pair of guillotines.
The crowd erupts in frenzy.
Finally, Claudia commands sternly,
“Carry out the execution!”
In an instant, the taut rope snaps, and the sharpened blade plunges into my neck.
[This is the timeline separator]“Aaah!”
I scream myself awake.
With trembling hands, I check my perfectly intact neck.
I still couldn’t believe it—
That I was alive, and that I’d possessed Elizabeth.
Kim Yena, a 22-year-old woman born and raised in South Korea, died while volunteering abroad.
She’d given her oxygen mask to a child, even as she herself was succumbing to a deadly infectious disease.
From the swamp of death, White Light asked,
“To the righteous deceased, a special privilege is granted. Will you go to heaven? Or to another world?”
I naturally assumed it was a dream.
“Please let me possess someone. Everyone gets to do it once, right? If possible, in a story I love.”
I replied with a wry smile.
That was a month ago.
“Possessing the villainess only to get a death ending—huh. Isn’t that just the most predictable cliché?”
I sighed so deeply it felt like the earth would cave in.
Even without the recurring nightmare, Elizabeth’s life was pure misery.
After all, I hadn’t even met the tyrant yet, nor had I killed anyone.
From firsthand experience, Elizabeth was this kind of woman:
1. A party animal who enjoyed all-night parties 365 days a year.
2. A luxury addict who’d leap out of bed at the mention of top-tier jewels or dresses.
3. A selfish woman consumed by insecurity over her commoner origins.
4. A severe case of extreme pretty-boy obsession.
Among these, number four was especially problematic.
How could the values of a Confucian girl from the “Land of Eastern Courtesy” change overnight?
“Two-timing isn’t enough—you need three, four lovers? Isn’t that excessive? Even if you’re a wealthy heiress, you’re still just a commoner.”
Elizabeth was beautiful.
Not just ordinarily beautiful—stunningly, soul-stealingly gorgeous.
Her intense scarlet hair looked as if it had been bleached and dyed four times, and her thick curls stayed bouncy without a curling iron—utterly unfamiliar to me.
Her mysterious black eyes, seemingly capable of drawing in the entire world, were both similar to and different from my past life’s.
Yet Elizabeth’s reign as queen bee of high society wasn’t due to looks alone.
Nor was it solely thanks to her billionaire parents doting on their only daughter.
Elizabeth possessed a special ability—one perfectly suited to the novel’s villainess.
“Marquis Nettleton has arrived.”
Nancy, the maid, announced in a timid voice,
Clearly afraid I’d snap at her.
“I’ll be right down. Please tell him to wait just a moment.”
My perfectly reasonable reply made Nancy’s eyes go wide.
“Miss! Are you unwell again? Has the fever returned?”
“I’ve told you countless times—I’m perfectly healthy.”
“But our Miss would never act like this! Ever since you came back from death, your mind must have gone strange!”
Nancy pressed her hand to my forehead in a fluster.
Though it annoyed me, I could feel her genuine concern.
What good was a mistress who treated servants like used tissues?
‘Elizabeth became a monster because of the original setting. Everyone kept praising her, spoiling her endlessly.’
The villainess Elizabeth’s character was that of a “bewitching femme fatale.”
She had the power to enchant people.
If she set her mind to it, she could seduce anyone.
With few exceptions, usually a single wink was enough.
If a kiss even involved sticky saliva? Game over.
The other person would become Elizabeth’s obedient slave—sit when told to sit, roll when told to roll.
I had no idea how she acquired this strange ability.
But it’s the setting—what can you do?
The problem was, from now on, I’d have to handle this power myself.
[This is the timeline separator]“Elizabeth. Might you reconsider our broken engagement?”
Douglas asked politely, yet cautiously.
His soft pink hair, like pink muhly grass, cast deep shadows over his handsome face.
Douglas Nettleton, Marquis and Elizabeth’s former fiancé, was Claudia’s long-time unrequited love.
‘If this were a romance novel, he’d easily become the male lead.’
Unfortunately, *The Silver Knightess* was a heroine fantasy.
Douglas, head of a fallen marquis house and an aspiring novelist, didn’t play a major role.
Claudia took revenge on Elizabeth for toying with Douglas, but near the end, she chose her sword over love.
‘Douglas is just a side character who gets dragged around by the villainess before finally realizing Claudia’s love. He’s not a bad man—he genuinely loved Elizabeth, whom he’d been engaged to because of his father’s debts. Elizabeth didn’t even use her charm on him.’
Shortly before I possessed her, Elizabeth broke off her engagement with the pure-hearted Douglas.
She’d fallen for a noblewoman’s scheme.
‘Want to become the true queen of high society? Then seduce His Majesty!’
What a childish provocation.
Sadly, Elizabeth wasn’t just childish—she was downright simple-minded.
‘Think I can’t do it? Better to be Empress than a mere marchioness!’
Because Elizabeth openly bragged about it, Douglas’s honor was ruined.
People even suggested expelling the House of Nettleton—one of the five great noble families—from the peerage.
‘For Claudia, who’d wished happiness upon her first love, this must have been a bolt from the blue. And since Elizabeth kept toying with Douglas even after the breakup, Claudia’s fury toward her must have reached its peak.’
Unconsciously, I touched my neck.
Being executed every night made me desperately want to live.
I just wanted one peaceful night’s sleep, free from the guillotine.
If I twisted the original plot, would this dreadful nightmare end?
How could I possibly defeat that strongest knightess?
For a month, I obsessively analyzed the original story.
I poured all my energy into understanding and adapting to this world.
As a result, I devised a few plans.
“Lord Douglas. Still can’t let go of me? Aren’t you tired of being mocked?”
I asked as sharply and unpleasantly as possible—the way the novel’s villainess would.
Yet Douglas’s gaze upon me was as sweet as a cake topped with fresh cream.
“I don’t care what others say.”
“We’re nothing to each other now. Absolutely nothing!”
“If not for Elizabeth and the Emster Trading Company, the House of Nettleton couldn’t have preserved even its lineage.”
“Too busy protecting that noble image of yours to remember any of my boyfriends—Nike, Jordan, Adi, Armer, Lance…”
I made up names on the spot; I couldn’t possibly have boyfriends in this world.
Douglas didn’t mind. In fact, he blamed himself.
“What fault could Elizabeth possibly have? It’s my failure for not keeping other men away.”
“You’re still as foolish and exasperating as ever. That’s exactly why I left you.”
I tried to stay calm, but Douglas’s eyes trembled like a sailboat caught in a storm.
‘To avoid the guillotine, I must first get Douglas out of the picture. Then, I’ll build a stepping-stone of love between Claudia and Douglas. If her unrequited love is fulfilled, maybe Claudia will change. From now on, my dream is to be a couple manager!’
By sheer luck, I’d been reborn as an ultra-beautiful heiress.
But I refused to die suffering nightly nightmares.
And I especially refused to be executed by my own favorite character.
“Your only sister Susan still can’t accept our broken engagement. Didn’t Elizabeth always dote on her?”
“Please tell Susan our bond is over, but our friendship remains unchanged.”
“Do you truly not understand that you’re the only one for me?”
“I don’t know. People’s hearts change as easily as flipping a palm.”
“Elizabeth…”
“What about the knightess, then? She could surely protect you—someone who’s never lifted anything heavier than a pen.”
Douglas’s expression darkened further.
Guilt pricked my heart like sharp needles.
Rejecting a suitor wasn’t easy.
Unfortunately, I was a forever-single homebody, and Douglas was far more handsome than I’d imagined.
‘Longevity beats pretty boys. Don’t get charmed by that wistful look! Don’t even glance at those long, slender fingers!’
Just as I barely calmed my racing heart, Douglas pulled a book from his leather satchel.
“Embarrassing as it is, please accept it. It’s my heart.”
‘A book? Isn’t his novelist debut supposed to happen much later?’
Even after their breakup, Elizabeth had used Douglas as an accessory to make herself shine.
Unlike in the original, I hadn’t met with Douglas.
I never expected that would fuel his creative drive.
Douglas had written a smash-hit romance novel, *The Empire’s Red Star*, far earlier than in the original.
What could this possibly mean?
“My editor says the booksellers’ response has been extremely enthusiastic.”
“What’s it about?”
“The story of a woman destined to be loved, and the man who watches over her.”
Douglas showed both shyness and pride.
Even after achieving his long-held dream, I remained the most important thing to him.
“If it displeases you, I’ll take it all back and burn it.”
All he wanted was a kind word and a gentle smile.
Suddenly, I envied Elizabeth.
‘When I died as Kim Yena, everything was regret. I’d been so busy with part-time jobs to cover tuition and living costs. Romance? First kiss? What kind of dog’s name is that? I only went overseas to volunteer because they covered flights and lodging—not out of some grand sense of justice.’
If I’d known I’d die young in a foreign land, I’d have lived differently.
Now that I was Elizabeth, I didn’t want to leave behind new regrets.
I had no time to waste.
I callously tossed away Douglas’s first painstakingly written work—his pure-hearted gift to Elizabeth—
Adding an expression of irritation and disbelief.
“Burn it or keep it—do as you like. Just don’t bother me again.”
[This is the timeline separator]I gulped down cold water.
My tongue still tingled from spewing harsh words.
But before I could even feel guilty toward Douglas, I had to rush into my second plan.
“No matter what I do, as long as the villain emperor keeps playing his part, Claudia will start a revolution. To escape the guillotine, I must change Nikolai’s character—seduce the tyrant into becoming a wise ruler!”
If the Casanova emperor becomes a benevolent sovereign who benefits the people, and the femme fatale villainess turns as demure as a proper noble wife—
Then Claudia’s justification for revolution vanishes.
It was an impossible task for a forever-single shut-in.
But for a bewitching femme fatale? It was doable.
I wouldn’t run from the original plot—I’d seduce the tyrant just like in the original.
Of course, the outcome would be the exact opposite!
“Well then, shall we go to the party?”
I firmly grasped a butterfly mask for the ball.
I still couldn’t guess where fate would roll next.
Nor did I know that this fate—sometimes absurd, occasionally playful, and mostly unpredictable—would bring into my life the one man who’d turn it all upside down.
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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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (96)
Oh my God, what kind of novel is this? Is the protagonist a depraved, degenerate, womanizing, filthy man?
Oh my God, thank goodness he wasn’t a womanizer, hahaha. But their first meeting was hilarious! The hero thought she looked like a hamster and her last name was Amster 😭💗🤭
Hahaha, poor Elizabeth! She was manipulated by that deceitful and fraudulent tyrant.
Inline Comments (3)
Claudia had disliked Nikolai for a very long time.
Hahaha, how disgusting! She’s been completely manipulated for their own interests. I think there’s a group trying to get rid of Elizabeth and the Emperor.
It was astonishing that such a small, delicate girl had developed a medicine eve
What kind of medicine is it? It’s making me more curious
Nikolai, dressed head to toe in black, glared at her with eyes as cold as ice.
Oh my God, the hero has arrived! Hahaha, thank God! Thank you, writer! 🥺🤭💗
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Miioo
What is this? I feel like the original heroine is a vile villain who only wanted revenge.