The Beautiful Beta Is a Fake Young Master

[Pre-release: The Villainous Cannon Fodder at the Noble Academy. Blurb at the very bottom~]

Shi Miao, a pampered, spoiled, and carefree beta young master for eighteen years, is told that he is the fake young master.

There was no script in which anyone had his best interests at heart. His biological mother had switched him with the real young master out of sheer loathing.

Shi Miao doesn't want to leave.

He can't bear to give up his luxurious life, and he doesn't want to live in poverty.

But on the night he learns the truth, he has a dream:

In the dream, he begs desperately too, pleading with his adoptive parents, his eldest brother who despises him, and his fiance, who has always treated him with indifference... He begs them to let him stay.

No one pays him any attention.

They watch him being bullied, then watch him fall into an artificial lake and drown.

No one saves him.

Because they all adore the real young master, who is excellent in both conduct and academics, sweet, and sensible.

They want him to disappear.

*

The next day, everything unfolds exactly as it did in his dream, down to every word everyone says.

This time, Shi Miao has learned his lesson.

He quietly follows his birth mother away.

He's afraid to die.

*

But life after leaving the Wen family is far from easy.

In a world that looks down on betas, a top alpha's pheromones are the best protection.

He has a beautiful face, and when the corners of his eyes lift, he looks like a proud, pampered cat. Now he turns his head, exposing the pale nape of his neck, his voice sweet and soft: “...Help me just this once, okay?”

As if he were offering someone a piece of candy.

He thinks he's using them.

He doesn't know that when those men accept his “candy,” their eyes are full of the desire to devour him whole.

*

His fiance corners him in the supply room, his canine teeth grinding against the soft flesh of Shi Miao's neck. His voice is terrifyingly hoarse: “Didn't you want pheromones? How about I give you all you can take?”

Shi Miao is worked up until the corners of his eyes turn red and his gaze grows unfocused.

The next moment, someone kicks the door open.

His usually indifferent elder brother stands at the front, with several alphas he's on very close terms with behind him.

Every one of them fixes their eyes on the fresh bite marks on his neck, dark possessiveness roiling in their gaze.

Shi Miao blinks, moisture still clinging to the corners of his eyes, then suddenly smiles:

“Don't rush. Next time... it'll be your turn.”

Reader's Guide and Content Warnings

1. The beloved bottom is delicate and beautiful, a weak bottom, and all the tops are virgins.

2. Lots of alpha-versus-alpha rivalry. All the tops are devoted to the bottom, and there is plenty of BDSM and noncon behavior.

3. A modern constitutional monarchy in a fictional world. This isn't the future and there's no sci-fi; it's an alternate modern setting, so don't compare it to real life.

4. Lots of author-created details. A melodramatic, sweet romance.

5. That's all for now. I'll add more if I think of anything. Hope you enjoy reading, darlings!

Pre-release starts here

One day, Yu Ran wakes up and discovers that he's living inside a novel combining a harem, kinks, alpha rivalry, and coercion. And he's only a cannon-fodder side character.

The story is absurdly melodramatic and vulgar: Shang Ke, the aloof and impoverished bottom protagonist, is specially admitted to Saint Via Noble Academy. His exceptional looks and proud personality make the academy's F4 go from loathing him to obsessing over him, until all four end up in his harem.

As the name suggests, the academy's F4 are all heirs to prominent families, with immense power and unfathomable backgrounds.

And Yu Ran is the villainous cannon fodder who likes one of the F4.

His sole purpose is to bully Shang Ke, drive the plot forward, then get his family ruined a dozen or so chapters later and make a miserable exit.

The book describes him as “beautiful, vicious, and full of wicked schemes.”

Yu Ran, who has been a well-behaved boy since childhood: ...?

Until he meets Shang Ke in person.

That face really is breathtaking, but with his tall, upright build and the aggression he can't hide in his cold eyes and brows, he hardly seems like the sort of person who needs four men to dote on him and cradle him in their hands.

Yu Ran can't help wondering: Can I really bully him?

He soon finds out the answer: He can't, but the plot can.

At their first meeting, his body suddenly moves against his will, and he flings a drink right into Shang Ke's face.

Coming to his senses, Yu Ran looks close to tears. “I swear it was an accident... Do you believe me?”

Shang Ke leisurely wipes his face and says coldly, “No.”

The second time, he's controlled into sneaking into the pool changing room to steal Shang Ke's clothes.

He has barely slipped out the door when his mind clears. Just as he's about to sneak the clothes back, he runs straight into a solid chest.

Clutching the clothes, Yu Ran protests in a small voice, “I swear I picked them up by mistake... Do you believe me?”

Shang Ke sneers. “No.”

To avoid ending up with his family ruined, Yu Ran starts carefully currying favor with Shang Ke, while also smiling pleasantly at the F4.

But the gazes those favored sons of heaven turn on him grow increasingly strange and suggestive.

They lift his chin with the end of a fountain pen, pressing a fingertip to his soft lips. “Good boy. Open up.”

Under the table, they brush the tips of their leather shoes against his ankle, tracing up his calf. When he tries to pull away, they coax him, “Baby, don't move.”

They leave a hot breath behind his ear, then bite the tender spot on his ear, the most sensitive part. “You're this obedient with everyone... Tell me, how should I punish you?”

Yu Ran: ...Has the plot completely gone off the rails?

Shang Ke grew up relying on his grandmother. He got into Saint Via Academy, where the halls are full of the rich and powerful, on a scholarship.

He doesn't care about the cold stares and exclusion from those favored sons of heaven.

That is, until he meets a little idiot.

His name is Yu Ran. He has a face that's impossible to look away from, and eyes as damp as a startled fawn's. Yet he keeps doing stupid things to get Shang Ke's attention.

At first, Shang Ke finds him a little annoying.

He grew up struggling at the bottom of society and has seen far too much false sincerity. He assumes this is just another bored rich kid's game.

But the little idiot's gaze is too pure.

Full of hurt and fear, with a hint of careful, tentative appeasement, he's like a little animal caught in the rain. He's clearly terrified, yet he insists on edging closer to Shang Ke.

Shang Ke realizes he can't ignore him.

Those favored sons of heaven look at Yu Ran more and more brazenly, and Shang Ke's patience wears thinner and thinner.

This little idiot can only belong to him.

Fine.

Since the little idiot likes him so much,

he'll just indulge him.

[Bonus Scene]:

Later, Shang Ke pins Yu Ran against the headboard. His burning breath tangles by Yu Ran's ear, and his fingers thread through Yu Ran's, gripping so tightly it feels as if he's trying to meld him into his very bones.

“Baby, I went in by accident.”

Yu Ran's eyes are red at the corners as he chokes out, “I don't believe you!”

Shang Ke chuckles softly, kissing away the tear at the corner of his eye. His voice is unbearably hoarse. “You don't believe me? Then let's try again.”

Theme: Even what's false can become true.