“So this is the money the genius knight lost in gambling?”
Riga lifted his head while meticulously counting each gold ingot.
“It’s what’s left after losing a moderate amount. I sprinkled some on the gambling table and added some extra to make it into these gold ingots. Sure, I suffered some loss, but what can you do? I also bought some jewels. Not sure if they have any value.”
Several sizable diamonds were separately stored in another pocket. Though there were more than 40 gold ingots, Hayden counted them with a look of dissatisfaction.
Is this all there is? Just this to exploit Rustica Gennes? It was enough money to live quite comfortably in Caletta, but it was far short for what she had done. He should’ve given more, naturally.
“Is the count correct?”
“Um…, yes, it’s correct.”
Roo was about to tie the bag again, but Hayden snatched it from her first.
“More?”
“Excuse me?”
“Where else did you hide it? We need to take everything back.”
“There’s nothing more. This is all there is. There’s really not much at the construction site, either. I don’t have any lingering attachments to it now.”
Hayden sighed while watching Roo shake her head.
“Your Highness, it’s a problem if you’re not greedy enough.”
“I am greedy. I have big ambitions, too.”
Very big. As in cutting the throat of the neighboring empire’s emperor big.
“Killing Carlos is your ambition? That’s just rightful vengeance. What else do you have?”
“Uh…, to live happily with my family.”
“Everyone wishes for that.”
A person who had only been robbed and lost could naturally wish for that. The academy’s top graduate mumbled, not fully satisfied with any of the answers.
“Please understand. While you’ve helped me a lot, from my perspective, I need to be very cautious.”
“Don’t. I’ve paved the way for you and supported you. Don’t worry about what others think. It doesn’t suit you.”
Roo looked at him with an expression that seemed to ask what kind of person he was.
“How much do you know about me to say that? I do care a lot about what others think, and I’m a timid person.”
“I can’t claim to know much.”
Hayden nodded.
“But I remember the spirit you had when you shared all your rationed food with me, and opposed recruiting child soldiers while advancing on your own merits.”
In a dense forest where even sunlight can’t penetrate, Roo felt like she had seen a light that couldn’t possibly shine there. Couldn’t a shining smile also be considered a light? Hayden smiled that brightly.
“You promised you wouldn’t make me go to the battlefield.”
“Did I?”
“I knew you’d be like this. I’m the only one who remembers what happened between us. That’s too much.”
How could you do that? Hayden quickly changed his laughing face to one that looked extremely sad.
“No, it’s not that I don’t remember every word. At that time, I was so busy, and there were so many monsters, I couldn’t keep track of my mind…”
When the big man closed his mouth and lowered his eyelashes, Roo panicked.
“Your Highness, it’s not that I forgot.”
“No, you’re right. Back then, you were the only person I could rely on, and you had too many responsibilities.”
Under his long eyelashes, his gray eyes flickered. It felt wrong to see a man who had always appeared glamorous now look so sad, as if she had committed a great sin.
“Your Highness, please look at me. Your Highness, okay?”
His drooping eyes cautiously looked back at her. A man twice her size was gently led by her careful grip.
He must have been really hurt.
“I might have forgotten the details, but I do remember that blond-haired boy. I really do. At first, I couldn’t recognize you because you had changed so much.”
“…And now?”
“Now is not the time to recognize everything either.” His deep voice was gloomy.
Lu seemed at a loss, patting his thick arms. At times like this, she felt significantly younger than him. Of course, the actual age difference was something she needed to consider, but for now, it was like this.
“How much do you remember now? Is it all vague?”
Hayden asked in a drained voice. Pulling her hand toward him, he rested it on his cheek. Her hand seemed to be swallowed by his gloved one, yet he did not pull away from her considerably smaller hand as if it offered some form of salvation.
“That’s not it…”
The soft sensation against her hand almost clouded her mind. Her gaze was firmly locked into his gray eyes, which were damp with moisture. Her startled heart dropped. Lu tried her best to calm Hayden.
“I haven’t forgotten you, Your Highness.”
She shook her head as she met his eyes.
“I just don’t remember that time well. When I was competent, when everything was alright, when I had the ability, when efforts yielded results…”
It felt so distant that she wondered if it ever existed.
“I tried to remember and be like that again, but nothing came to mind. What did I do? Who did I meet? I tried to remember, but I can’t.”
After being cursed and losing her strength, those glorious times seemed increasingly distant. Her dull, sluggish brain clouded.
“It’s not that I’ve forgotten Your Highness; I’ve forgotten myself.”
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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