After Mistaking the Villain for the Protagonist, I Romanced the Wrong Person

My neighboring serialized novel, How Could I Not Like You [Marriage], is starting! You can find it by scrolling down to the Yuri section in my profile. Its blurb is below.

Blurb for this novel:

Jiang Ruan transmigrates into a low-magic cultivation world and is bound to a System.

The System tells her that if she can help the protagonist enter the Jingyue Sect, protect the protagonist from being bullied by others, and offer protection and positive guidance along the path of growth until the protagonist succeeds in cultivation, then Jiang Ruan can return to her own world.

Jiang Ruan agrees without hesitation.

After she wakes up, Jiang Ruan has become one of the Jingyue Sect's twelve junior elders. She has the right to take disciples and is about to form her own Golden Core. The sect's selection is just around the corner, and the protagonist is about to join the Jingyue Sect.

Jiang Ruan rubs her hands together, ready to take the protagonist as her disciple and keep her close, protecting her with all her might and never letting her suffer the slightest harm. She vows to shelter the sect's delicate young bud from every storm.

System: "All right, Host. Now we just need to identify the protagonist!"

Jiang Ruan: "..."

Jiang Ruan: "???!!!"

The System used up its power helping Jiang Ruan transmigrate, and, due to a lack of energy, lost the world's information. In other words, it has no idea who the protagonist is :)

System: "But don't worry, Host. The most beautiful, strongest, and most tragic one must be the protagonist!"

Jiang Ruan originally thought she would never be able to complete her mission, until she met Nan Qingyun.

The girl's beauty is astonishing. Her brows seem to hold the coldness of frost, her eyes look as if they were painted with ink, and her skin is even clearer than the white jade hanging at Jiang Ruan's waist.

When Jiang Ruan meets her, Nan Qingyun is surrounded by a group of people picking on and bullying her, all because she has half a demonic cultivator's bloodline. Though she is gifted and exceptionally talented, she faces discrimination everywhere.

Jiang Ruan steps in to save her.

When she sees Nan Qingyun's gaze fall upon her, Jiang Ruan's heart settles. This is it. This must be the protagonist!

Jiang Ruan takes Nan Qingyun as her last direct disciple, keeps her by her side to nurture her, and cherishes her without reservation. She never lets Nan Qingyun suffer the slightest injustice, caring for her as tenderly as a precious jade in her palm.

Gradually, Nan Qingyun lets go of all her coldness and wariness.

Only in front of Jiang Ruan does she let down her guard and smile. Only for Jiang Ruan does her heart soften, and only Jiang Ruan's closeness can stir her heart.

Little by little, her smiles turn into love, and her softness turns into desire. Half of Nan Qingyun's demonic heart holds itself in check for Jiang Ruan alone.

Later.

System: "Congratulations, Host! I have good news. I got the information back!"

System: "I also have bad news. The person you saved is the antagonist, not the protagonist. Surprised? Shocked?"

Jiang Ruan: "... [Expletive] [Expletive]"

Lu Ning has always had a recurring dream.

Sometimes in her dreams, she becomes another person, cherished wholeheartedly by a master named Jiang Ruan, as if she were Jiang Ruan's entire world. At other times, she dreams of a different scene: the disciple Jiang Ruan took in back then was actually her, not someone else. In the dream, she takes that person's place and becomes the most important person to Jiang Ruan.

When she wakes, the delusion comes to an end.

So Lu Ning devotes herself even more earnestly to cultivation. If she climbs high enough and becomes strong enough, might she be able to... meet the person from her dreams? Might she become worthy of sitting across from her and talking?

After learning she chose the wrong person, Jiang Ruan begins trying to make things right.

But the protagonist, Lu Ning, is already another elder's disciple, and it wouldn't be right to ask for her, so Jiang Ruan can only show her care in other ways.

Yet it seems a new complication has arisen.

When Nan Qingyun notices her master's gaze falling on someone else, she tries not to care. After all, her master still cares about her most.

But as Jiang Ruan's attention is gradually drawn away, she can no longer keep herself under control. The half of her demonic heart that she has suppressed begins to stir.

When Lu Ning receives that person's first look, she appears to lower her head shyly, her fingertips clenched tight, but deep in her eyes is a profound stirring.

She wants to hold on to that gaze, for a long, long time.

Low-magic cultivation: Golden Cores are precious, Nascent Soul cultivators are god-tier, and Deification means becoming a true god.

High-magic cultivation: Golden Cores are everywhere, Nascent Soul cultivators are worthless, and Deification cultivators can be counted at a glance.

(The above is all something I made up [strikethrough] as a personal setting.)

The protagonist and antagonist are actually the same person, split into pieces of a soul. They will eventually reunite as one. No polyamory.

Idea saved on /2022.6.18/ and logged.

*

How Could I Not Like You [Marriage]

Blurb:

The grandfathers of the Gu and Jiang families shared a bond forged through life and death. After Old Master Jiang passed away, Old Master Gu took pity on his granddaughter, who had no one to care for her, and decided that Gu Ningxi should marry Jiang Zhi and bring her home to look after her.

Gu Ningxi has no ill feelings toward Jiang Zhi, and doesn't want her grandfather to worry or grieve, so she marries Jiang Zhi.

Gu Ningxi is gentle, considerate, and attentive to Jiang Zhi, caring for her in every way and doing everything a spouse should do in a marriage.

She also takes Jiang Zhi's feelings into consideration and tells her, "Now that you're part of the Gu family, we're family. Don't worry, I won't do anything you don't like. You can think of me as your closest family member, your big sister. We can be family who support each other."

But she has no other feelings for Jiang Zhi, and knows that she shouldn't make a move on someone so young.

Once Jiang Zhi has grown into a strong person, Gu Ningxi will respect her choice, whether she decides to stay or leave.

-

Jiang Zhi gradually falls in love with Gu Ningxi, but Gu Ningxi doesn't love her. She only looks after Jiang Zhi like a young girl from the neighborhood, without a trace of romantic feeling.

Jiang Zhi thinks her unrequited love will continue until Gu Ningxi can't take it anymore or meets the love of her life and chooses to end their engagement.

Later, Jiang Zhi mistakenly believes Gu Ningxi has really fallen for someone else. She runs to a bar without thinking, trying to drown her sorrows in alcohol and even planning to let herself go for once.

But before the drunken Jiang Zhi can make a move, Gu Ningxi grabs her by the wrist and leads her into the corridor.

Under the dim lights, Gu Ningxi struggles to contain her emotions and asks in a low voice, "What are you planning to do? Little girl, are you ready to have some fun too?"

Jiang Zhi, affected by the alcohol, starts crying. Between sobs, she complains, "Anyway, anyway, you don't even like me. Why do you care what I do?"

Gu Ningxi sighs and kisses her. "How could I not like you?"

Perhaps she fell in love from the very beginning. Otherwise, why would she have agreed to the marriage and cared for you so much, until she gave you her whole heart?

Theme: Set your sights on a goal and pursue it without hesitation. Stay true to yourself, and even if you make a mistake, have the courage to correct it and reach your goal.