Seducing the Tyrant Instead of My Favorite (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 14
“It’s been quite a while since the previous tutor resigned. I was greatly relieved to hear a successor had arrived.”
So that’s what this was about.
I thought you were trying to pull something again.
“I never dreamed you’d be such a beauty.”
“That’s too kind of you.”
“Not at all! For a moment, I thought the goddess herself had descended….”
Simon flushed, embarrassed by his own words.
‘A handsome heir of a noble house, yet so naive. He must be very popular among the young noble ladies.’
Of course, it had nothing to do with me.
Compliments about my beauty left me unmoved.
Even being compared to a goddess felt cliché.
It wasn’t unpleasant, but after all, this wasn’t even my original face, nor something I’d earned through effort.
“If you’ve finished speaking, I’ll take my leave now.”
“Already?”
“I apologize for coming without notice. Please accept my apologies once more.”
She bowed gracefully, adding elegance to perfect etiquette.
Simon looked flustered.
“Miss Elizabeth, wait a moment!”
“What is it?”
“Have you perhaps noticed anything unusual about His Highness lately…?”
Simon trailed off, his face clouded with worry.
I was glad to know someone else besides me cared about Franz.
“So Lord Brendan knew as well?”
“Of course. What did you see, Miss Elizabeth?”
“He was pale, sweating coldly, and refused treatment.”
“This is serious. I must inform His Majesty at once.”
“Will you truly? It’s crucial to identify an illness quickly.”
“Leave it to me! Is not Crown Prince Franz the future of the empire!”
Simon thumped his firm chest muscles confidently.
Seeing his self-assured attitude, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders.
Even an indifferent father wouldn’t ignore the words of his swordmaster.
‘Simon seems quite a decent knight. Though knights as perfect as Claudia—regardless of gender—are rare indeed.’
A sharp pang shot through my chest.
My days as a devoted reader were over.
Gone were the times when merely thinking of my favorite character brought joy.
According to the original story, Claudia would start a revolution in half a year.
Yet here I was, not even contemplating how to prevent the uprising—merely worrying whether I could stay in the palace.
‘How can I win Franz over? I only have four days left.’
Of course, there was a very simple solution.
Just use my bewitching charm to seduce Franz—that would be enough.
[This is the timeline separator]As always, the Emperor’s desk was piled high with documents.
Nikolai, bored with his tedious duties, asked Kares,
“Why didn’t you report on Elizabeth’s schedule today?”
“Must I?”
“You’ve been doing it without being asked lately.”
“I don’t even understand why I gave such useless reports before.”
Kares genuinely looked puzzled.
For the past five days, he’d volunteered unsolicited information:
that Elizabeth was tirelessly working day and night to persuade Franz, and how unreasonably Nikolai had treated her.
“You acted like Elizabeth’s advocate—what made you change your attitude overnight?”
“There are far more important and urgent matters than Miss Elizabeth: tax collection, troop redeployment, emergency budgets, and so on.”
“You used to insist on calling her ‘Lady Elizabeth,’ even though she’s not Empress.”
“If Your Majesty wishes, I shall address her as ‘Lady Elizabeth’ again.”
“Never mind that. Does Elizabeth seem likely to succeed?”
“I’m pessimistic. His Highness Crown Prince Franz dislikes her—he’s even banned her from entering the Crown Prince’s palace.”
“She’s too blunt and straightforward. No wonder Pinch can’t stand her.”
Elizabeth differed from Franz’s mother, Laila, in every way.
Laila’s fiery crimson hair radiated vitality, while Elizabeth’s golden locks were as delicate as dandelion fluff.
Laila’s black eyes seemed to pierce the abyss, whereas Elizabeth’s blue eyes carried a faint sorrow even when she smiled.
Both were stunning beauties who captivated all who saw them, yet their emotional expressions were polar opposites.
“Go philander with other women.”
Elizabeth’s voice remained as cold as frost slipping beneath one’s collar.
Every time she spoke, Nikolai felt a deep, unacknowledged part of himself painfully exposed.
He was disappointed in his own quick temper and easily provoked anger.
She was a woman whose honesty defied all expectations.
In contrast, Laila had revealed her true feelings only once.
“The only man I’ve ever loved is you, Nicky.”
The night before she died.
It was her first and last confession.
Nikolai, who had been nursing her, couldn’t utter a single word in reply.
At twenty-two, the thought of being left alone after losing her felt like his head would burst.
“Would you like to hear about Crown Prince Franz’s recent condition?”
“I ordered you not to report on him.”
“He’s only ten years old. He has no governess, and the tutor position has been vacant for two months.”
“Pinch is a strong child. His independence is exceptional.”
In that regard, he takes after me.
Nikolai swallowed the words lingering on his tongue.
Franz wasn’t his biological son.
Franz knew that too.
His discomfort around Nikolai and his silence during their weekly dinners were ultimately due to this fact.
The baby who once trailed after his mother like a duckling had grown into a boy.
He shouldn’t be missed, nor mourned.
Nikolai had decided to keep his distance from Franz.
He believed that was what Franz wanted.
‘If I hear news of Pinch, I’ll only want to see him more. If I clumsily try to open his heart, things will only get worse.’
The baby who once giggled while dangling from his leg was gone.
Nikolai refused to accept this truth—and couldn’t stop interfering.
It was only natural that Franz avoided his false father.
“If Miss Elizabeth fails to persuade His Highness, will you expel her from the palace?”
“Of course not.”
“What do you intend to do, then?”
“I’d like to see her beg just once.”
“What?”
“I want her to kneel at my feet and plead desperately—just like any ordinary subject—‘Please look at me.’”
Elizabeth had shown such a side before Nikolai only once.
On the terrace the day they first met at the Camellia Party.
Realizing Nikolai wasn’t taken with her, she turned pale and dropped to her knees.
‘She trembled like a hamster. It was rather cute.’
Deep furrows, as if carved by a sculptor’s chisel, formed between Nikolai’s brows.
Cute? What on earth was he thinking?
He shook his head vigorously,
as if that could erase the word from his mind.
‘She’s just an arrogant, presumptuous woman. Cute? Ridiculous. Besides, she was already promised to another man.’
He glanced at the artifact carelessly lying on his desk.
Every time he thought of that Douglas fellow, his fists clenched.
“I shall marry Elizabeth right here and now!”
But even harder to bear was Elizabeth’s defense of him.
“Lord Douglas isn’t a trivial man. He was only trying to keep his promise to protect me with his life.”
Crack.
The fountain pen in Nikolai’s hand snapped in two.
Black ink ran down his hand, yet he kept turning over Elizabeth’s actions in his mind.
‘Daring to defend that man before me? If she loved him so much, why break off the engagement? Are they conspiring together?’
Nikolai had investigated everything about Elizabeth.
He confirmed she’d callously abandoned Douglas, and that Douglas had pursued her unilaterally.
Yet Nikolai’s mind was filled with images of the two lovers clinging together, whispering sweet nothings.
In his imagination, Douglas wasn’t some frivolous novelist—but a beast plotting revenge.
‘He must resent being excluded from the Five Great Noble Houses. Could he be using Elizabeth—with that innocent, guileless face of hers?’
Otherwise, how could he possibly dare to claim he’d marry the woman chosen by the Emperor?
The more he thought about it, the more infuriating Douglas seemed.
Elizabeth had requested an added clause: she wouldn’t involve those around her.
Nikolai, of course, wasn’t forbidden from amending the contract.
‘You did it to me—now I’ll do it to you.’
The moment Kares cleared away the broken pen fragments, Nikolai opened the artifact box.
Inside, an old copper monocle shimmered with an eerie light.
“Summon Marquis Nettleton. If he refuses, arrest him.”
[This is the timeline separator]Tomorrow would mark the end of the week Nikolai had given me.
Franz was still avoiding me.
I’d sworn to survive by any means necessary.
I wouldn’t shy away from staining my hands or living as a villainess.
Yet using my bewitching charm on Franz was impossible.
‘Wink and blow a hand-kiss at a ten-year-old boy? How could I bear to see Franz beg for my attention?! I won’t ruin a child’s life!’
I clutched my head with both hands.
Even if only in name, I was trying to become Franz’s tutor.
How could I play the teacher while resorting to wicked tricks?
It was hard to abandon the last shred of conscience in this once-virtuous girl.
Just as I stood paralyzed, the valet arrived.
“His Highness the Crown Prince has collapsed.”
“Collapsed? Is he badly hurt?”
“Fortunately, he regained consciousness quickly, but he refuses treatment.”
“Can’t you force him?”
“He’ll likely smash more furniture. He might even threaten the healers.”
“Lord Simon must have pleaded with His Majesty—only to be ignored again!”
How could anyone neglect a sick child like this?
Could such a man even be called a father—or a human being?
If only I knew what illness he had, I wouldn’t feel so helpless.
I gnawed my thumbnail fiercely, then dashed toward the main palace.
[This is the timeline separator]“You want me to steal an artifact from House of Nettleton?”
Kares frowned, looking incredulous.
“We must hurry right now!”
“Why should I, the Minister of Internal Affairs, commit theft?”
“It’s only borrowing it temporarily!”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that criminal conspiracy.”
“Kares, are you refusing my request?”
“This is awkward. I recall asking you to address me by name.”
His response was not just blunt—it was icy.
He hadn’t been like this the last time we met.
Previously, Kares cheerfully handled even trivial tasks without being asked.
Now, he was overly rational and cold.
‘Could my bewitching charm have an expiration date?!’
Goosebumps prickled my arms.
I’d only thought about seduction—never what came after.
The original story gave no detailed explanation of Elizabeth’s ability.
I hadn’t been particularly curious either.
After all, it was just a side villainess’s trait—I’d accepted it without question.
Looking back, though, some parts were suspicious.
‘In the original, Elizabeth must have used her charm on everyone, young or old. If everyone was charmed, how did bad rumors spread? Shouldn’t she have been surrounded only by admirers?’
Unless the charm wore off over time?
Then they, like Kares, would have felt confused and resentful—
forced against their will to fawn over Elizabeth.
‘So that’s why she attended parties every night—to re-seduce them before the charm faded!’
Original Elizabeth easily won others’ affection.
She never had to worry about the complexities of human relationships.
Few truly cared for her like Douglas or Susan.
Meanwhile, those who avoided her or gossiped behind her back probably kept increasing.
The more she used her charm, the emptier Elizabeth must have felt—and the more attention she craved.
I grasped at my fading clarity of mind.
Right now, the original plot didn’t matter.
“Just tell me where the artifact is, Kares. I’ll handle the rest myself!”
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (83)
Hahaha, Elizabeth doesn’t miss any opportunity to make money.
Hmm, I don’t think the emperor would act that way, but it’s good that she didn’t tell the truth either.
Hahaha, Emperor Casanova has completely fallen for my dear Elizabeth.
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! 🥺🤭💗
YOUR COMMENT
2. Inline comments are now available. Tap the end of any line in a chapter to share your thoughts instantly.
Log in to comment.
Miioo
What is this ability? It’s truly flawed and has serious side effects.