The Price is Everything of Yours (76 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 1
Fireworks boomed continuously from the uppermost floor of the Prisoner’s Tower.
Neris was the tower’s sole prisoner—forgotten by everyone, crammed into the filthy, dark corner of a solitary cell.
Just a short while ago, she had occupied the highest possible position in this nation, the Empire of Visto: Crown Princess and future Empress.
She was the eternal symbol of the alliance between the Imperial House and House Elantria—the oldest and most distinguished noble lineage on the continent.
She was the bearer of the mysterious Zian (Purple Eyes), said to have belonged to the ancient hero Elantria.
Though her husband, the Crown Prince, constantly reminded her that she was not born a true daughter of the ducal house but merely an adopted child from a lesser noble family—and treated her as filth buried beneath his throne—she had endured it all.
Because she believed that was what protecting her family required.
But then, about a year ago… House Elantria finally revealed its long-held ambition, declaring independence from the Empire and proclaiming itself a royal house.
And when the Visto Imperial House, having failed in its attempt to stop this, officially recognized the Elantrian Kingdom’s independence to settle past conflicts…
Her existence was treated as if it had never been.
The Crown Prince, who had been married to Neris for several years, instantly threw her into prison and announced his intention to marry her stepsister—the current Princess of Elantria, Valentine.
How had House Elantria responded to this?
The answer lay in the festive sounds of the parade now drifting in from outside. According to the guards’ conversation overheard a few days prior, the Elantrian delegation had arrived, bringing their “new bride.”
‘They’ve abandoned me.’
Neris muttered those words silently to herself—already for the thousandth time.
Twelve years ago, while still a student at the academy, she had lost her mother—a distant branch of House Elantria—and became a complete orphan. Her father, a low-ranking knight, had died long before, his face now forgotten.
It was House Elantria that adopted her, giving her a home and a family.
Though the Duke and Duchess—and Valentine—had never shown her kindness, Neris believed she owed them a debt of gratitude. So she did anything for the house.
Absolutely anything.
She stayed up all night mastering the etiquette of high society, sometimes played the villain by lying to the house’s enemies, and ultimately… married a man she didn’t love, silently enduring his abuse.
Even after marriage, she had brokered alliances and eliminated numerous adversaries on the house’s behalf.
Had she not done all this for the Imperial House as well?
While her husband, the Crown Prince, remained utterly infatuated with his mistress, it was Neris who had worked herself to the bone for years to ensure the comfort of the entire Imperial family.
Yet in return, both houses treated her as though she had never existed.
Her left foot, crippled from torture and now immobile, suddenly throbbed.
‘…What will become of me?’
A sliver of sunlight briefly pierced through a gap in the poorly sealed stone wall, letting in both wind and sound.
Neris’s unfocused eyes caught the light and burst forth with a radiance shimmering in thousands of colors at once.
This legendary trait—long believed exclusive to the Imperial bloodline but astonishingly discovered in Neris—had enabled her adoption into the ducal house and ultimately her rise to Crown Princess.
It was the Jeweled Eyes.
Yet since her imprisonment, those supposedly precious Jeweled Eyes had brought her no benefit at all. The Imperial House, convinced she had been a spy planted by the ducal family from the start, had taken out its fury in long and horrific torture upon her frail body.
But after leaving this prison…
After leaving? Neris scoffed at herself. Neris, do you really think you’ll ever leave?
The Imperial House’s message was unmistakable: they welcomed the delegation with celebration while keeping her—a fellow member of the same house—locked in a cell.
There was no connection between their alliance and her treatment.
‘Does Brother Nel even know about this…?’
The rest of her family might well have no interest in her. Though House Elantria had adopted her due to the symbolic value of her violet Jeweled Eyes, they had only pretended to be family in public. Valentine, in particular, seemed to despise her.
But one person was different.
Only one: Nelusion, heir to the ducal house and her stepbrother.
If Neris had any hope at all in this situation, it lay solely with Nelusion. He had always been kind and had recognized her worth—he would surely request her release from the Imperial House. Yes, he certainly would…
Neris stared blankly at the prison floor.
At that very moment, the iron door of her cell creaked open.
Instinctively startled, Neris raised her head. But the person entering with the torch-bearing knight was not an interrogator.
It was Valentine, haloed in dazzling radiance, stepping into the cell with a sly smirk.
Though only a year apart in age, the two sisters could not have looked more different.
Neris had elegant features, yet had spent her life watching others’ moods, worn down by political strife, and now—after enduring torture in prison—resembled a lifeless old woman.
In contrast, Valentine possessed the innocence and self-assurance that only someone universally adored could have.
“Valentine…”
Valentine’s face twisted in disdain at the sound of Neris’s hoarse, damaged voice. A cruel glint flickered across her lovely features.
Only then did Neris recognize Valentine’s attire—so brilliantly beautiful she hadn’t noticed before.
It was the Crown Princess’s ceremonial robe—woven with golden thread and adorned with jewels, a garment reserved solely for direct members of the Imperial family, which Neris herself had worn until recently.
Suppressing the despair welling up inside her, Neris forced her voice to remain calm.
“What are you doing here?”
Before answering, Valentine gave Neris a slow, sweeping look.
“I’ve come to see my elder sister’s end.”
Seemingly satisfied with the scene before her, Valentine’s face quickly softened into a blissful smile.
“Judging by your expression, you were expecting Brother Nel…? What a pity. He’s decided to stay by his new sister-in-law’s side.”
“New sister-in-law?”
To secure its independence from the Empire, House Elantria had forged alliances with countless powerful domestic and foreign figures.
Among them, the most influential was none other than the current Pope, Omnitus III, who had demanded the engagement between his illegitimate daughter Bridget and Nelusion as a condition.
Neris knew this well—because she herself had handled the matter personally, believing it was merely a strategic move to strengthen the house’s position.
Though she had initiated the plan herself, she had secretly despaired at the time. To her, Nelusion had whispered gently: “It’s all politics.” She had believed he saw through her hidden feelings, her secret affection.
She knew full well that nothing could ever happen between them—after all, she was already married. Yet his sweet words had comforted her deeply back then.
But now…
“Brother Nel… came here too?”
Reality struck Neris’s mind with merciless force.
If Nelusion had cared for her even a little,
how could he not have known that she’d been completely cut off from all contact since Elantria’s declaration of independence?
Seeing Neris unable to hide her turmoil any longer, Valentine covered her face with an ornate fan and giggled.
Then, with a brisk motion, she snapped the fan shut and lifted Neris’s chin with it, grinning.
“Snap out of it. For someone of your low birth, did you really think you were my true elder sister?”
Each word from Valentine choked the breath from Neris’s lungs.
Suddenly realizing something, Neris asked in a pale voice,
“Was this your plan all along? Mother’s? Father’s? Yours?”
“Why leave Brother out? It was he who first suggested adopting you and sending you to His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Valentine deliberately made her voice even crueler.
“You were quite useful. Clever enough for your lowly bloodline, with eyes that matched our house… Besides, we needed your cooperation at the right moment. But now your usefulness is over, so you must disappear—for a clean new beginning between our two nations.”
Tears Neris thought long dried streamed down her cheeks. Her violet Jeweled Eyes sparkled like crystal in the torchlight.
Valentine, a trueborn of House Elantria yet possessing sky-blue eyes, seemed infuriated by the sight.
“Don’t resent us too much. His Highness the Crown Prince could never be satisfied with a lowly adopted daughter like you. What power can mere eye color hold against true authority? For people like us, marriage is a transaction—and naturally, one must deal with one’s own daughter.”
All this time, who had worked tirelessly for the house?
She hadn’t even dared to hope for grand praise.
She had only wished, someday, to hear that she’d been of help.
That was all she’d wanted.
Neris’s head pounded so fiercely she could no longer speak. Valentine, apparently displeased even by her silence, roughly slapped Neris’s cheek with her fan.
“You’re such a fool. You never even properly consummated your marriage, did you? How pathetic you must have felt every time you saw ‘that shameless woman.’ But don’t worry—it ends in three days. Once I become Crown Princess, I’ll have that woman banished to the temple. Aren’t you grateful to me? You hated her too, didn’t you?”
The Crown Prince’s mistress, Megara, had unofficially played the role of Crown Princess in every setting except formal ceremonies for several years already. Though the same age as Neris, their lives were as different as heaven and earth.
Wealthy, beautiful, and effortlessly winning everyone’s favor, Megara had tormented Neris endlessly for years. So Valentine’s claim that Neris hated her was true.
‘You’ll end just as easily.’
Neris pleaded in her cracked, faint voice,
“I’m useless to you now. I worked hard for the family—you know that. I did everything you asked. Just… let me go…”
“Oh my? Does any master simply watch as their dog runs away?”
“What more do you want from me? It’s enough already…”
“No. Even a dog’s corpse can be useful.”
Valentine shrugged.
“Her Highness Princess Kaymil herself said it—everything must be made absolutely certain to the very end. The moment you think ‘it’ll be fine’ is when you reveal a weakness.”
A chill ran down Neris’s spine.
Princess Kaymil, the Crown Prince’s younger sister, had always shown special kindness to Neris—his neglected wife.
She had scolded her love-struck brother for tarnishing the Imperial dignity and praised Neris whenever she benefited the Imperial House.
Thanks to Kaymil, Neris had endured her desolate marriage. Even spurned by her husband, she had Kaymil—someone who acknowledged her efforts.
Yet now, Kaymil had told Valentine that even the corpse must be made certain.
‘How quickly everything changes.’
Everything she’d ever believed in collapsed. Unconsciously, Neris shook her head violently.
“No. I won’t die like this.”
“Seize her, Joseph.”
Valentine gave the order calmly. The torch-bearing knight grabbed Neris. She recognized him—he had grown up alongside Nelusion and been raised as his loyal retainer.
Neris stared straight into his eyes and commanded sternly,
“Let go! I am your master’s sister!”
The knight squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to look at her. Valentine smirked.
“Sister? Still spouting nonsense. Thanks to you, our house is now properly recognized as a royal house. For that, I’m grateful—so I’ll give you one last kindness.”
Her beautiful sky-blue eyes, filled with loathing, looked down at Neris. For a fleeting moment, Neris remembered the open sky she hadn’t seen in so long.
Nelusion had those same eyes—a striking young man with long silver hair and sky-blue eyes.
Once, merely gazing up at the clear sky had made her feel as if he were by her side.
But now, more than ever, that sky-blue filled her with revulsion.
“Do you really not suspect who removed your mother—that tiresome woman—from this world? It was Brother Nel himself.”
Strength drained from Neris’s body. She’d suspected as much ever since hearing that Nelusion had pushed for her adoption.
Everything felt hollow. Her entire life had been built on lies. If that was true, what was there left to gain by clinging to life?
“You should know better than anyone what this is.”
Valentine pulled out a small vial and poured its contents into Neris’s mouth, prying it open with the knight’s help.
“Be grateful for Her Highness the Princess’s mercy in granting you a painless death. Isn’t this far better than a messy end? You have so much to be thankful for, even in your final moments.”
Neris’s vision was already blurring—whether from the poison, her tears, or being flung to the ground, she couldn’t tell.
All she could do was listen to Valentine’s fading laughter as she plummeted into endless darkness,
until, far in the distance, a faint, slender light appeared.
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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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (6)
The male lead being so proud of his wife is honestly adorable, even when he gets jealous.
And the female lead is so elegant and beautiful—I can’t wait to see this scene illustratedHaha, did the ML really just say that to the FL? He’s so cute when he gets a little jealous.
Can’t wait for next chapterThe ML is so considerate of his wife. He treats her with so much care and gentleness, even when she doesn’t say a word—he just understands her. He’s honestly so perfect, I can’t 😭
I really hope the FL can overcome these painful feelings soon. I can’t bear to watch her suffer this much. 💔
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Deniz Ahmadi
This sounds so satisfying already, I’m ready for her revenge.