With an unsatisfied face, Pronuns stretched out his hand to receive the document Belladonna had presented.
He looked down with great displeasure at the paper, all crumpled and torn from being held for a long time.
“What on earth is this……”
The Pope looked at the paper with little expectation.
“……”
As he confirmed the contents, his face began to harden more and more as time passed.
His eyes, slowly moving downwards, also trembled finely.
Soon, after reading all the contents, he widened his eyes and asked loudly.
“W-What is this blasphemous document! Where on earth did you find such a thing?”
“I found it inside the papal office.”
“Where in the papal office!”
Blood was rushing to his face, which had hardened.
With a face flushed red, he once again tightly grasped the already crumpled paper.
Belladonna looked at the paper being crushed in his fist with an expressionless face.
It was a satisfying reaction.
It was understandable to be surprised, seeing a detailed account of evil deeds done in secret, which he thought no one knew about, written on a document he’d never seen before.
Towards her, who gave no answer, the Pope spat out each syllable with force, as if suppressing his anger.
“Tell me immediately who gave this to you.”
“It’s content shocking enough even for Your Holiness, isn’t it? To dare conduct such horrible experiments on people under God’s gaze……”
“……”
“I wonder if the one who conducted this experiment thought they were God? So they arrogantly believed they could create someone with holy power by their own hands……”
“I said tell me immediately who gave it to you!”
Pope Pronuns shouted, his whole body trembling. He was about to explode again.
Belladonna swallowed dryly before opening her mouth.
“I found it left behind by Cardinal Nicholas in the chapel. I was going to return it directly to the Cardinal thinking he had forgotten it, but the content was so shocking……”
“This XXX……”
A curse immediately flew out.
It was just a casual mention that Cardinal Nicholas had left it, yet such a reaction.
Judging by his sharp response, it was certain that Nicholas was also involved in this matter.
Belladonna cleared her throat and opened her mouth again.
“Surely Cardinal Nicholas didn’t conduct such terrible experiments……”
“……”
“Cardinal Nicholas wouldn’t have done such a thing alone, if perhaps he did it together with someone else inside the papal office…!”
As she spoke, she glanced at him, whose face had rapidly become anxious.
To find real evidence to bring down the Pope, she sowed a small seed of doubt towards him.
Now, what will you do?
Pope Pronuns asked, taking a deep breath as if suppressing his anger.
“Have you shown this document to anyone else besides me?”
“No. I found it on my way here and brought it straight away.”
“Where is Cardinal Nicholas?”
“I heard he went out of the papal office urgently a little while ago.”
“He went out?”
It was interesting to see his face changing moment by moment at Belladonna’s words.
Pope Pronuns stared into space as if thinking about something, then quickly turned and walked towards the office entrance.
Opening the door and poking his head into the corridor, he spotted a priest walking around and asked in a loud voice.
“Do you know where Cardinal Nicholas is?”
“Ah, Your Holiness. Cardinal Nicholas left the papal office a little while ago.”
“Did he say where he was going?”
“I-I’m not sure.”
The voice of the flustered priest could be heard answering.
Belladonna watched as the Pope’s back instantly stiffened.
It must have been quite bewildering for him, not only that a trusted subordinate had written a report that could put a knife to his neck, but also that he had left the papal office.
‘……He seems extremely flustered.’
Watching this scene, Belladonna blinked her eyes slowly.
He was so flustered that he seemed to have forgotten that he sends Cardinal Nicholas to Father Timothy’s house once a day.
Right now, Cardinal Nicholas would just be diligently doing what you ordered him to do…….
Soon, the Pope, who had been standing blankly, turned his head and spat out towards Belladonna.
“Wait a little, Belladonna. Until Cardinal Nicholas returns.”
Belladonna nodded.
As long as needed.
[This is the timeline separator]The sun set outside the large window, the pride of the office.
Until the red sunset completely disappeared, Cardinal Nicholas did not show up at the papal office.
And that was natural. By now, Escalion and the Gribblata Knights would have taken him somewhere.
“……”
In the darkened room, Pope Pronuns lowered his head between his interlocked hands.
Belladonna watched him silently.
As time passed, he must have made some decision on his own.
Perhaps that his foolish subordinate had carelessly dropped an important document, or that he had really betrayed him and left the papal office to prepare to reveal this fact to someone.
No, actually that wasn’t important.
What was important was that his evil deeds had almost been revealed to someone.
And soon, they could be revealed.
“Belladonna.”
A low voice tapped Belladonna’s ear.
Pope Pronuns raised his head to look at her and opened his mouth.
“Forget what you saw.”
“……”
“One chosen by God cannot do things that harm people, can they? For Nicholas’s sake, let’s cover up his mistake.”
Huh…….
Belladonna secretly let out a scoff.
Firstly, she could not cover up mistakes for Nicholas’s sake.
Covering up the evil deeds committed together by Cardinal Nicholas and the Pope itself was something that would harm people.
Secondly, strictly speaking, it wasn’t Cardinal Nicholas’s mistake.
It was none other than Pope Pronuns who had carried out that deed.
How can he lie without even blinking an eye…….
“But separately from that, I’ll have to strip Cardinal Nicholas of his position from today. The human experiments he conducted were extremely unethical and cruel.”
“……”
“I’ll show you Scarlet.”
Pronuns stood up.
Belladonna also rose and followed behind him.
The Pope walked down the corridor without even glancing at Belladonna following behind him.
‘Huh? He’s not blindfolding me this time?’
Anxiety was evident in his steps ahead. How anxious must he be to have forgotten even that?
Belladonna kept her mouth shut and pretended not to notice as she followed him.
Pope Pronuns entered a corridor Belladonna had never been to before, went down a round staircase for a long time, and repeatedly passed through unknown doors.
I didn’t know the papal office building was this complicated…….
She thought that perhaps all the buildings might be intertwined underground.
A moment later, Pronuns, who had stopped in front of a door that didn’t look particularly special, opened his mouth.
“Belladonna, let’s go back to the old days.”
What does he mean?
“If you live a pious and pure life, praying to God in the chapel, you may regain your lost holy power. If that happens, live sacrificing yourself for the papal office like before.”
Belladonna turned her head towards him, who kept uttering hypocritical words.
What exactly does he want to say by beating around the bush like this?
Pronuns also turned his gaze towards her, who was perplexed.
“Belladonna. Now, instead of Cardinal Nicholas, I want to entrust many things to you. Because I think you will do well the things he couldn’t do properly.”
After finishing his words, he took a step closer to Belladonna.
“People often say that we are the closest to God. Some even go further and call us God’s representatives.”
“……”
“I certainly believe God exists. No, to be more precise, I believe in the hearts of people who serve God. And that heart is often maintained through the special abilities of chosen ones like you.”
Belladonna looked at him quietly.
“I need you. I did before, and I will in the future. To maintain the papal office, and further to maintain the Elineros Empire, the existence of those chosen by God is absolutely necessary. And in fact, the more such people, the better.”
The more the better…….
Vaguely, she felt like she understood why he had forced such human experiments.
He wanted to have saints with holy power chosen by God under him, and make all the people’s faith and respect towards them his own.
Even so, how could he do such a thing?
The subjects the Pope chose for human experiments were mostly powerless and isolated poor commoners.
Thinking of those who must have died without knowing why, she could hardly maintain her composure.
Belladonna looked at Pope Pronuns, suppressing her boiling anger.
He opened his mouth as if responding to Belladonna’s gaze towards him.
“Can you assist me by my side from now on?”
Belladonna’s gaze slowly moved to the Pope’s hand fiddling with a bunch of keys.
“……”
And at that moment, an inexplicable premonition pierced her.
An agile sense, from where it came unknown, was shouting that there was something in this room.
Belladonna swallowed dryly and slowly opened her mouth.
“Yes, I will do so.”
Pope Pronuns, hearing Belladonna’s answer, found a small key from the bunch of keys and inserted it into the doorknob, turning it.
With an unpleasant noise of old wood opening, the interior revealed itself.
This place is…….
An old desk and chair, and a safe with a lock. And a tightly closed door where Scarlet would be confined.
At that scene reminiscent of a classical torture chamber, Belladonna frowned.
“See for yourself.”
The Pope, who had entered first and spoken briefly, pulled out another key from the bunch of keys he was holding and opened the door inside the room.
Belladonna approached there as if entranced and peered into the dark interior.
“……!”
In the middle of the room, someone could be seen lying as if dead.
Soft black hair and a familiar thin frame wrapped in simple Gribblata-style clothing.
She really was Scarlet Leyton.
As soon as she confirmed the miserable state, Belladonna rushed towards her without hesitation.
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
_____
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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