The Ghost Lady Of The Duke's Family (20 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 1
Aeli had something akin to a personal rule she’d set for herself in pursuit of a smooth, untroubled life.
First: Though she didn’t expect a fairy-tale, fated encounter, she still hoped to experience a romantic love at least once.
Second: Even if she couldn’t dream of a passionate, fiery love culminating in marriage, she would exchange rings with someone devoted to building a stable home.
And finally, third:
She would give birth to a sweet, lovable child and cherish them with all her might.
It was an utterly ordinary yet perfectly adequate plan for enjoying life comfortably.
She wouldn’t have to flit about society hunting for a husband and end up gossip fodder. Nor would she be dragged to endless parties, forced to fight with sharp-tongued rivals just to be treated like a decorative blossom—wasn’t that rather decent?
Without a doubt, for a noble lady born into duty, there could be no more ideal way to live.
‘I was clearly successful….’
Then why was all this happening?
Standing before the window of her own room—a place boasting insane amounts of sunlight—Aeli muttered to herself, holding up both hands to inspect them.
Her hands… were translucent?
Whatever this was, things had gone terribly wrong.
[This is the timeline separator]Aeli Mason, formerly the daughter of House Mason and now Duchess of Rattleleaf, was, by all accounts, a woman with nothing left to wish for.
Though their union began as an arrangement between noble houses, she had married the childhood friend who’d confessed to her with a love story straight out of a painting.
After a blissful, trouble-free newlywed life, a blessing had come her way.
Though if asked whether she loved her husband, Duke Rattleleaf—well, she didn’t.
She did like him as a friend, and since he wasn’t difficult to get along with, she’d thought he’d make a suitable spouse if she had to choose one.
It was a perfect life, deviating not a hair from the rules she’d always upheld.
…Not to mention he was exceptionally handsome, too.
‘Well, if I’m going to marry anyway, isn’t it better for my eyes to be happy? And it’d be nice to pass good looks down to our child.’
In any case, that was how it stood.
She’d successfully borne a stunningly beautiful child, inheriting 30% of her looks and 70% of her husband’s—and she was thoroughly satisfied.
From now on, she would happily watch her child grow alongside that handsome childhood friend who adored her.
That day, as always, Aeli fell into a peaceful sleep, dreaming of a tranquil life.
She was the picture of elegance: cradling her child in her arms and holding her husband’s hand tightly as she closed another perfect day.
-…….
Then why… am I wearing this outfit?
Aeli lowered her head, sitting on the plush bed in her honeymoon chamber.
Her eyes fell upon a delicate white dress, extravagantly adorned with lace and jewels—utterly dazzling in its opulence.
‘This is a burial shroud!’
Its design was so ostentatious, like something a peacockish duke would flaunt, that she hadn’t noticed at first. But now it was unmistakably a funeral garment.
The kind worn by the deceased.
‘I did feel a bit—okay, quite unwell—after childbirth, but I didn’t actually die, did I?’
Was someone implying she was so frail she might as well just hurry up and pass on already?
It sounded insane—but the very dress she wore was proof enough.
Quickly running through possible culprits who’d dress her like this, Aeli clicked her tongue in irritation.
Now that she thought about it, there had been several young noblewomen who’d gone to great lengths to win over her husband.
‘Could it be Marchioness Garcia, who used to start quarrels with me at every single party I attended?’
No, she was already married.
Hadn’t she eloped with some wandering knight from a neighboring kingdom and gotten caught?
The scandal had completely upended high society, and for a long while, every gossip magazine had done nothing but talk about it—Aeli remembered clearly.
‘What about Duchess Veron, who invited me to a tea party but gave me a different dress code than everyone else?’
She’d even sent the time wrong, so Aeli arrived late—and when she showed up, they claimed they’d thought she wasn’t coming, removed her chair for space, and made her wait in the blazing sun for over thirty minutes.
‘I fainted from heat exhaustion, and Lutis came to visit me in tears.’
She could still vividly see him abandoning his duties, rushing over, and eagerly offering her carp soup, insisting it was the best remedy for regaining strength.
Recalling that ordeal, Aeli quickly shook her head.
‘But then she came to me a few days later, knelt down, and begged for forgiveness.’
She’d truly struggled to calm the girl down as she sobbed and rubbed her hands together desperately.
Then there was Viscount Pinto, who’d deliberately herded a wild beast toward her during a hunting tournament under the guise of an “accident.”
Countess Carthagena, who’d hired a dark mage to cast a death curse on her—only to be caught and dragged off to a convent.
And Baron Marcus, who’d tried to slip poison into her champagne at the Crown Prince’s birthday gala—but accidentally drank it himself and died.
Sighing heavily, Aeli muttered to herself.
‘This is hopeless.’
Her husband’s mischief had always been of the endearing sort, so she’d never really held it against him.
But if she’d known things would come to this, she might have paid more attention.
Now, whenever those people saw her, they’d scream and flee—so much so that she could barely remember what some of them even looked like anymore.
Thus, at least among those she could recall, there wasn’t a single person bold enough to pull off something like this.
Then who on earth could it be?
Frowning anxiously, Aeli tapped her knee with her index finger and scanned the room.
Then froze.
-…Could that possibly be snow?
Eyes wide, Aeli hurried toward the window.
How could the garden be bare of spring blossoms and blanketed in snow?
‘Am I hallucinating?’
Just as she reached out to press her hand against the window for a closer look—
Whoosh—
‘Huh? Huh?’
She’d clearly checked that the window was closed, yet her leaning body suddenly lurched forward.
Panicked, Aeli barely managed to regain her balance and turned around.
The window remained firmly shut.
Huh…?
She looked down.
Half her body was sticking out through the wall.
That is, right through it.
-…….
Calmly, she straightened her upper body.
The window came back into view.
Her mouth fell open.
-…What is this?
She’d never heard of such magic before.
Bewildered, Aeli numbly reached out and placed her hand against the windowpane.
It slid through effortlessly. Completely.
Seeing her arm—right through the center of the window—sent chills down her spine.
The burial gown she wore, her arm, her head, her entire body passing through solid walls—
‘No matter how I look at it, this isn’t normal….’
Suddenly, Aeli realized that although she’d been awake for quite some time, no one had entered the room.
Even if Lutis had instructed everyone not to disturb her, someone should’ve made some noise by now—it was midday.
Yet the silence was unnervingly absolute.
‘It’s as if there’s no one around at all.’
Her child, who should’ve been sleeping beside her, was also nowhere to be seen—but since Lutis often rose early and took the baby out, she wasn’t alarmed.
He always let her sleep a bit longer before taking the child with him.
But even then, the house had never been utterly silent.
‘Well, that’s just how it is in houses raising newborns….’
No matter how careful one was, some commotion was inevitable.
Yet now, not even the sound of an ant crawling could be heard.
…Had they all hired magicians to play a prank on her?
Aeli blinked rapidly, then quickly shook her head. Lutis wasn’t the type for such antics.
‘I should go outside and figure out what’s going on. If needed, I’ll just find Lutis….’
Suppressing rising unease, Aeli took a step forward. She reached for the doorknob—but her hand passed right through it.
Whoosh—
‘…….’
Stepping out through the massive door,
Aeli tightly gripped the hem of her dress.
As she’d suspected,
‘There really is no one here.’
The corridor radiated an unnatural stillness—nothing like usual. Aeli hurried toward the stairs.
First, she’d go downstairs. She’d check Lutis’s study—if he wasn’t there, she’d look for the Head Butler or Head Maid….
“Oh, I hate this floor—it’s so creepy!”
“Well, what can we do? They pay us well for it.”
“But it’s so gloomy! It’s unpleasant. They should just ban anyone except cleaning staff from entering in the first place….”
Aeli halted halfway down the stairs. Two maids were climbing up, buckets and mops in hand.
‘Aren’t there separate servant passages? Why are they using the main stairs?’
Moreover, the guards stationed downstairs didn’t seem to care at all.
Appalled, Aeli stepped directly into their path.
The maid walked straight through her, then shivered and spoke.
“And remember what happened to that girl who accidentally broke a vase during cleaning last time? Her wrist got chopped off, and she was thrown out naked.”
“That was one of Madam’s most treasured possessions! They tried to hide it by sneaking it out through the servant passage—but got caught and punished extra harshly. Don’t you remember the passages have been sealed off ever since?”
“Ugh, I don’t know—but nobles really are terrifying…”
“…Watch your mouth. Say things like that and you’ll lose your head, not just your arm.”
Shuddering, the maid rubbed her arms and continued up the stairs.
-…….
Aeli needed a moment to process what she’d just overheard.
Someone had walked right through her—but even more shocking were their words, making her fingertips tremble.
‘“Madam’s most treasured”? “In her lifetime”?’
What did all that mean?
‘…Am I dead?’
Before she could think, her body moved on its own. Rushing back up the stairs, Aeli stood once more before the door she’d just exited and swallowed hard.
Her throat bobbed—or was that her stomach?
Carefully, she stepped inside again. Only now did the strangeness become apparent.
The bedding—though supposedly used just yesterday—carried no trace of human warmth.
The candlestick, faded far too quickly, showed faint signs of rust from long disuse.
And the baby crib, its guardrail chipped at one corner, radiated no lingering warmth.
‘Lutis went all the way to the dwarves to have that made….’
She could still see his shy smile as he insisted it had to be sturdy since the baby would use it.
Finally, Aeli turned her gaze to the small table beside the window.
Her legs went weak.
-…Hah.
Truly.
Her beloved vase was nowhere to be seen.
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
_____
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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Chapter Comments (2)
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As she recounted the memory, the boy had already fallen asleep—leaving Aeli alon
Whaatt? Did he see her or something? (･o･;) ㅤㅤㅤ
“…!”
HE. SAW. HER. He saw her! He must be in such shock.
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Okay, so he can see her. Does it have something to do with the petal (・o・)
It turns out he actually hears her voice, I’m surprised.