No One Told Me the Villain Was a Hopeless Romantic

(This is a pure-sweetness, no-angst, mutual-pursuit, feel-good, silly romance. Content warnings below.

Blurb:

My name is Jing He. I've served the imperial court under my master since I was a child.

I'm eighteen, but... I've been secretly in love with the Grand Elder of the Demonic Cult for ages.

To get close to him, I changed my name and appearance, hid my martial arts skills, and did my best to seem delicate and kindhearted. I even opened a tavern at the foot of the mountain where the Demonic Cult was based and befriended its disciples, all so that one day I could become the Grand Elder's woman!

But then I accidentally heard that the Grand Elder admired strength and was only interested in people stronger than himself.

In other words, I'd been pretending to be the wrong sort of person all this time.

The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. So, under cover of night, I opened up my long-sealed gear, put on a mask, drew my dagger, sneaked into the Demonic Cult, stormed into the bath, and kidnapped him while he was soaking in the tub...

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The heroine's true self: overwhelmingly strong, unrivaled in the world, and a righteous heroine of the jianghu, Jiang Jinghe

Secret identity: a weak and helpless little tavernkeeper who cries on cue and inspires everyone's protective instincts

The hero in public: obsessive mad dog, moody and unpredictable, ruthless and cruel Grand Elder

With her: shameless, unserious, afraid of getting beaten, and instantly willing to back down

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#Easy to tame, hard to soothe

#The villain has been plotting to win me over, so why not take the bait?

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Important content warnings. Please read:

[Mostly first-person narration, with shifts to third-person perspective]

Pure sweetness, no angst, one-on-one happy ending. Mutual pining comes true.

Opposites attract. They're both each other's biggest fans and admire each other.

Extreme [admiration of strength]. If you can't relate, read at your own risk.

The heroine is stronger. The hero is a powerful figure in the jianghu, but the weakest in his family.

The heroine is a free-spirited jianghu heroine, with no expectations of feminine virtue.

The hero is noble and earnest, with a single-minded devotion to romance. He's good at using his looks to win her over.

Set in a fictional wuxia jianghu. Please don't scrutinize the worldbuilding. The term "hawk and hound" originally has a positive meaning in this story, but the heroine also uses it self-deprecatingly to mean lackey.

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The following contains spoilers. Screenshots are included as a record for anyone spreading rumors. Ordinary readers don't need to read this:

1. The hero is an obsessive villain. At first, he acts according to stereotypical male logic. A normal man who has grown up keeping himself pure couldn't possibly know how to fall in love on his own, and besides, he's a mad dog. He only learns to behave after the heroine tames him. He's a mad dog and a villain. That's been made very clear.

2. The hero is love-brained and has no ambition. He doesn't scheme for power. No matter how capable he is, all he wants is to be the heroine's dog. This is a romance. To Shen Duo, the most important thing in the world is serving Jing He. That's his characterization. You can offer writing advice, but please understand the character better than I do first.

3. Apart from opposing moral blackmail, rivalry between women, and romances where the leads refuse to communicate, none of the other views in this story have anything to do with me. Don't read too much into them. I personally don't mean anything by them.

4. Readers of the official version are welcome to discuss the plot. If you've read pirated copies and want to say things like "the hero beat the heroine to death" or "the heroine kissed her male best friend," please don't come here to make a joke of yourself.

Theme: Be sincere