“Thank you, Helena. It’s all thanks to you.”
After the wedding of Adelia and Calix, as I was about to board the carriage to leave for the estate, Adelia hugged me and expressed her gratitude.
“You have to be happy, you know?”
“Yes, I will definitely be. And Helena, you too…”
Adelia stopped mid-sentence and looked away briefly before locking eyes with me again, smiling brightly.
“Helena, I really hope you find happiness with the person you love. You know my feelings, right?”
The person I love…
Sadly, the person I loved did not love me back.
Therefore, Adelia’s wish – and my wish – would definitely never come true.
But…
‘There’s no need to burden Adelia with such thoughts, especially now that she’s starting a new chapter in her life.’
“Yes, of course. So, you just focus on having a happy married life with Calix.”
I nodded lightly and smiled at her.
“Then, I’ll be off now. Take care.”
“Goodbye, Adelia.”
With our final farewell, the carriage carrying Adelia and Calix departed.
Watching the carriage speed away, I was suddenly overwhelmed by memories, and tears trickled down my cheeks.
‘I never thought I’d actually succeed in changing the future…’
Honestly, at first, I wasn’t confident this plan would work.
This was a novel world with a predetermined ending.
On an ordinary day at eighteen, when I woke up, I suddenly realized.
I was reborn in a novel’s world.
Upon this realization, I gathered information from newspapers and stories told by people, researching this world.
And I learned one thing for certain.
The main characters in the novel had predetermined destinies.
They weren’t exactly marionettes in a play, bound to scripted lines and actions. But they didn’t show completely contradictory behaviors to the original content either.
However, I was different.
I was merely an extra, mentioned only as a friend of the villainess, without a single line in the book.
Initially, I was slightly disappointed not being a protagonist, but this view changed as I researched this world. Being nearly nonexistent in the original plot meant I could pursue the life and goals I desired.
So, on the day I became certain of my conjecture, I moved far from the capital, intending to find my happiness without interfering in the novel’s plot.
But the plot of the novel meant that my best friend, Adelia, not related by blood but like a real family, would be wrongly accused as a villainess and die unjustly. This fact held me back.
And starting from this incident, the empire would be engulfed in the flames of war, and even my fiancé, Kaern, Adelia’s only brother, would lose his life.
Regular web novel readers might think that preventing the incident leading to Adelia’s accusation would solve everything.
Regrettably, whether it was her fate or the novel’s twist, when I became aware of my reincarnation, Adelia was already strongly attracted to the novel’s male lead, Calix Crayton.
After losing her heart to Calix, Adelia talked about him all day, every day.
Witnessing this, I strongly realized the immense power of the original plot.
If I merely watched, the future of the Laverion siblings would surely unfold as written in the original.
‘I can’t let Adelia and the Laverion Dukedom follow the same tragic path as in the original.’
The Laverion siblings and their family held a special meaning for me.
“After my parents passed away in an accident, and I was left unable to do anything, it was the Laverion siblings who saved me and helped me and my family get to where we are now.
I carefully planned a different future for Adelia, recalling the contents of the novel in detail.
Fortunately, since the original story hadn’t started yet, my plans greatly helped change the relationship between Adelia and Calix in a positive direction, different from the original.
‘All I did was prevent an incident that would cause Calix to misunderstand Adelia and made sure they encountered each other more often.’
It might seem trivial, but just that was enough for them to develop feelings for each other.
And now, I was watching them leave, tears of relief and joy streaming down my face.
But then…
I felt someone’s presence nearby, and through my blurred vision, I saw a hand with thick fingers holding out a white handkerchief. It was perfectly folded without a single wrinkle.
I quickly wiped my eyes and looked up at the person who offered me the handkerchief.
‘Ah…’
A familiar handsome face came into view.
Kaern Laverion.
Adelia’s brother and the head of the Laverion Ducal House, he had been renowned for his exceptional swordsmanship and sweeping victories on the battlefield even before reaching adulthood.
His army always brought victory to the empire, and now his name instilled fear in neighboring countries.
Thus, the citizens revered and trusted Kaern and the Laverion Ducal House more than the royal family and the emperor.
And he was the man I secretly loved, who had agreed to be my fiancé to protect me.
But…
‘Something’s off…’
His eyes were cold, his lips firmly set, indicating that he was not in a good mood.
What happened on such a joyous day? Why is he like this?
“Thank you, Duke.”
I tried to suppress my worries and accepted the handkerchief he offered.
“Why are you crying?”
“Huh?”
As I wiped my eyes, his calm and deep voice reached my ears.
It seemed different from usual, much more subdued, making me wonder if I had misread his mood.
I looked up at him, trying to understand his question, when he asked again.
“Why is my fiancée crying?”
Realizing what he was asking, I wiped the remaining tears and smiled at him.
“Out of happiness, I was crying out of happiness.”
It was true; the tears were not of sadness but genuine joy.
I no longer had to worry about my dear friend falling into unrequited love and making the wrong choices leading to her death.
Such a happy day warranted tears of emotion.
But now, Kaern seemed puzzled by my response.
“Happy?”
“Yes, of course. Adelia married the man she loved so much. I’m really…”
I stopped mid-sentence as I felt tears threatening to come again.
Usually, I wasn’t this emotional, but today my feelings seemed overwhelming, like something was surging within me.
“I just hope Adelia and Calix live happily ever after. I’m not worried, knowing how much they love each other.”
Saying this, I looked at Kaern and smiled brightly.
“I wish that you…”
“Yes?”
“No, never mind.”
He started to say something but then stopped, sealing his lips as if deciding not to continue.
Knowing he was generally a man of few words, I didn’t press him further.
However, I noticed that the previously tense expression on Kaern’s face had slightly softened.”
“Was he upset seeing me cry?”
It seemed that as Adelia’s closest friend and, though nominally, his long-standing fiancée, my crying must have bothered him.
Despite his outwardly gruff and indifferent demeanor, in reality, he was attentive and kind-hearted.
His willingness to protect me by being my fiancé for all these years was evidence enough of that.
His exceptional abilities, handsome appearance, and kind heart devoted to others – it might have been impossible from the start not to harbor feelings for such a man.
“You’re happy too, right, Duke? That Adelia married the one she loves?”
Kaern nodded slightly, and afterwards, we stood side by side, engaging in brief conversation.
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
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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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