A Transmigrated Side Character's Guide to Self-Improvement

[Reader comments are open. Since this is a long story, the piracy protection is set to just 50%. Please support the official version, dear readers. Thank you!] After dying from staying up all night reading, Lu Qing transmigrates into the interstellar Mary Sue novel she was reading before bed. In this novel, the heroine is kind, hardworking, and just. Though she comes from a commoner background, she wins almost everyone's affection. Her career flourishes, and she becomes the first commoner in the Empire's history to serve as chief battlefield commander. Her love life is just as successful: even the heirs of the four most powerful families fall at her feet, and in the end, she marries the Crown Prince. But Lu Qing doesn't become the heroine. She becomes the villainous female supporting character in the Mary Sue novel. The villainess, Eve, is the heroine's complete opposite. She's mean, cunning, and a social climber. Born into a collateral branch of the Medici family, one of the four great families, she schemes her way up until she finally becomes engaged to its heir. Then she discovers that her fiance has already fallen for the heroine and wants to break off their engagement to pursue her. Furious, Eve decides to poison the two lovebirds, but her plan is exposed, and her fiance personally has her killed with poison. Eve: ...If I'd known I would end up inside this book, I wouldn't have opened it in the first place. #How to turn back time# At this point, struggling is pointless. Eve decides to stop worrying about the drama between men and women and focus on improving herself and changing her fate. Once she devotes herself to her career, Eve discovers that even as a supporting character in a Mary Sue novel, life can be pretty great. Humans in the interstellar era have awakened their mental powers and can summon extraordinary spirit beings to accompany them for life. Technology has reached its peak. Mechs of staggering scale and mechanical beauty roam freely through the sea of stars. Ancient alchemy has come to life again, its runes bursting with the brilliance of wisdom. Beyond the orderly, strictly stratified Empire, countless nameless and chaotic dark stars turn in isolation, while sleeping, mutated Zerg and riches beyond study lie in wait in the depths of the universe. Go forth and fight, girl. The scroll of your destiny is slowly unfurling! Many years later, Eve becomes the Empire's chief executive. When she returns to the First Imperial Academy, where she once studied, to give a speech, a junior student asks her admiringly how she managed to live such a remarkable, legendary life. Eve thinks for a moment, then replies, "First, start by setting yourself a sensible little goal." "For example, if you want to become an experienced executive, you can start by becoming the head of a family." Tips before reading: 1. The couple: a female lead with a stable core, a slightly twisted dark side, and a tendency toward control x a male lead who seems gentle but is actually gloomy and calculating, with a green-tea personality and a tendency to marry into his wife's family. Neither is perfect. They're both sweet on the outside and dark underneath. I like to list the female lead first when writing about the couple, but this is still a BG story in my style. 2. There is no competition with the original heroine over men, and the female lead won't compete with her over romance either. Both girls are wonderful: one is a commander, the other an executive, and they're perfectly suited to be confidantes. 3. There is no close-kin marriage in the story. They just share a surname, so please don't misunderstand >.< 4. Corrections are welcome, but to keep the plot moving and updates steady, I won't make major revisions while the story is serialized. I'll fix logical issues after it's finished, and I'll correct typos whenever I spot them. 5. This story revolves around the female lead. If you find that her characterization isn't to your taste, remember to stop reading in time! 6. I'll add more if I think of anything. I've most likely decided on my next story. Check out my profile for Can Magic Charge Your Wife?~ The bionic android Ilyel makes a deal with a deity from a neighboring world just as she is about to be destroyed. The deity saves her from certain death, and in return she becomes the mascot of the deity's church. But being a mascot isn't easy. Sometimes she has to make sacrifices for the church, like agreeing to a marriage alliance between its forces and the secular powers. After getting Ilyel's consent, the Mechanical God tearfully sends Their precious treasure to live with a foolish human family. The foolish human, no, Ilyel's new husband, has a very complicated family: Her husband is a duke, the most powerful person in the Empire and the leader of the old nobility. He's a hypocritical schemer with nothing but self-interest in his heart and not a trace of sincerity. He rarely comes home and has a string of messy romantic entanglements. There are also two children her future husband adopted for various reasons: a gloomy, withdrawn foster son, and a sunny, cheerful foster daughter who seems like the most normal person in the family... except she has a fluffy tail. Now there's a bionic android wife, too, and the whole family is taking on an increasingly promising, vibrant new look. On Ilyel's first day there, her not-yet-officially-wedded future husband plans to explain the rules for surviving in their super blended family. Halfway through, Ilyel interrupts him. "Please wait a moment." The man raises an eyebrow. Though he is impatient inside, he maintains a tender, affectionate expression. "Is there anything you didn't understand? Do you need me to explain it more carefully, or would you like some water and a rest?" "Husband... is that what I should call you?" Ilyel speaks politely in a flat tone. "Husband, you're being so convoluted. I'm overloaded. I need to recharge." The man: "..." Wait, that's fine, but at this point, a native of a steampunk fantasy world can't help but ask: What does recharging mean? - "My wife is like a swan. From the outside, she is beautiful, elegant, capable, noble, and refined, just like any proper lady. But only after getting to know her do you realize what a blunt and stubborn violent offender this woman is." As written in the diary of the great Duke Adonis of the Empire "But I have to admit, the swan is my favorite animal." Also written in the diary of Duke Adonis Tips before reading: 1. The couple: an android-like female lead x an emotionally fussy male lead, BG. Both have major flaws, but the male lead is pure in both body and heart. 2. A low-level magic-and-steam fantasy setting, most likely a family comedy. The setting is entirely made up. The author loves making references but is illiterate; the title and blurb were written with their feet, so they may change, but the jokes will stay. 3. A friendly reminder from the author: whirlwind marriages are risky, so choose your partner carefully. 4. I'll add more if I think of anything. Theme: Your fate is in your own hands