The moment Yuriella took a step towards Flama, Justin, who had been lying collapsed, tripped her feet.
Justin lightly caught the staggering Yuriella, laid her on the floor, trapped her in his arms, and chuckled.
“Every time you left for the battlefield, I trained too. I wanted to feel like I was with you.”
Yuriella kneed Justin hard, rolled her body to the side, stretched out her leg, and kicked Justin’s chin with all her might.
“Ugh.”
Blood dripped through Justin’s fingers as he clutched his chin.
“Is it because your body changed? Solas, you’ve become incredibly weak compared to before. It breaks my heart.”
The emperor embraced Yuriella’s leg, which had a disgusted expression, and rested his head on it.
“Do you hate me? You must hate me. You can curse at me, you can hit me.”
His embrace was so strong that her leg felt numb. The more she tried to escape, the tighter his hold became.
“You can even cut off my limbs. I’ll give you as much as you want. Just leave me one eye to see you, and one ear to hear your voice.”
“If you’re going to go crazy, do it gracefully.”
“Stay by my side. Breathe next to me, let me hear your voice in my ears. So I can feel that you’re alive. Please, Solas.”
“You killed Solas. Solas no longer exists.”
“I love you. I love you, Solas…!”
The emperor’s face was already stained with tears, not realizing he was crying. His fervent voice was filled with endless madness.
Yuriella looked down at the emperor in a daze.
She remembered his blue eyes twinkling with life when he first came to her and offered his hand to join the Imperial Knights.
She was excited by his smile dreaming of the new country she would rule. It was a dream as beautiful as his golden hair shimmering in the sunlight.
Was it all a lie? Or was it a frustrated ideal?
If the emperor was truly a corrupted piece of god, did that mean he was already tainted by darkness even then…?
Despite being by his side for a long time, she had failed to notice at all.
She had no intention of sympathizing with him. She felt no compassion. But…
The small pieces of god were said to be the sacred traces left by the goddess Yustera, who created the world, within the humans she loved.
Thus, the spirits of the holy swords also chose their masters among the pieces of god.
Even the corrupted pieces of god must have once been pure pieces of god.
The words of the spirits echoed in her ears, saying that one must be exposed to the pain of corrupted magic from the moment they cry out of their mother’s womb to harbor such darkness.
‘Justin Della Ponti. What kind of life have you lived?’
*
Caw. Caw.
An ominous crow flew into the White Swan Palace, flapping its wings.
The Empress Dowager glanced at the crow circling above the heads of the noblewomen from the great aristocratic families. It had been sent by the dark mage planted in the Imperial Palace.
The Empress Dowager rose from her seat. She was about to end the tedious tea party anyway.
“They say that even though women live like shadows, their gossip is not as powerless as a shadow’s. At times, it can even stir up a typhoon, isn’t that right, ladies?”
The Empress Dowager elegantly conveyed the message that if they didn’t keep their husbands in check, they would face a terrible fate.
The noblewomen from the East chorused like nightingales and bowed deeply.
“How could we not? Your Majesty’s will is our will.”
The Empress Dowager snorted as she headed towards the Imperial Palace.
They were like bats, moving without integrity in the direction of power.
When the previous emperor passed away, they had diligently sent people to the North, weighing between Frost and Justin.
It was disgusting to see them spouting nonsense with straight faces and laughing.
‘Can’t I just kill them all?’
The Empress Dowager, who had been boarding the carriage with an annoyed expression, let out a deep sigh and shook her head.
The empire was a gift she had painstakingly prepared for her son.
As a mother, she couldn’t carelessly damage her precious son’s precious toy. She had to let him play with it as flawlessly as possible.
Her poisoned husband was resting peacefully in the imperial tomb, but the prince who had been engulfed in flames had returned unscathed and started gnawing at her nerves like a rat.
He was holding hands with the troublesome Northern Duke on the right and the South, the North’s blood alliance, on the left.
But the Empress Dowager’s greatest unease was her own son.
The bats and rats could be burned, cut into pieces, or killed, and that would be the end of it.
But her son, her own flesh and blood, kept getting out of control and causing trouble, leaving her only with sighs.
According to the dark mage planted in the Imperial Palace, her son had emptied the palace and met someone in secret, driving everyone away.
Seeing that even the shadows guarding him 24 hours a day were kicked out of the Imperial Palace… The guest was most likely the one she dreaded the most.
Yuriella Ielheim, the Duchess.
The lowly wench her son had become irrationally obsessed with after killing Solas and going mad.
The last message from the undead soldiers who had raided the ducal residence was that the duchess was not there. She had been brazenly with her son.
That woman was dangerous. Not just because she was someone the Northern Duke cherished dearly.
Her maternal instincts told her. The duchess would be the one to completely break and sink her crumbling son.
After returning from the duke’s wedding, her son had even weeded out the Empress Dowager’s people planted in the Imperial Palace to block her eyes and ears.
‘What are you trying to hide from your mother?’
The four-wheeled open carriage heading towards the Imperial Palace picked up speed at the urging of the Empress Dowager, whose mind had become twisted.
*
“Halt! Halt!”
Aaron, the captain of the Imperial Knights, raised his arm high to stop Frost.
Frost pulled the reins of Mars, who was panting heavily, and glared at the tightly closed main gate of the palace.
“Open it.”
At Frost’s low voice filled with murderous intent, shivers ran down Aaron’s spine, but he gritted his teeth and stood his ground.
His Majesty the Emperor had strictly ordered not to allow the Duke of Ielheim into the palace today.
According to the chief attendant, a special guest was visiting the Imperial Palace.
Seeing how savagely the duke was acting, it was easy to guess who the special guest was.
Aaron frowned, looking troubled. A high-ranking aristocrat could enter the palace at any time without inspection. Let alone a duke.
As Aaron’s mind was busy trying to figure out how to make excuses, a huge black horse leaped over his head.
“Gasp!”
Aaron crouched down, covering his face with his hands as the dust swirled.
Frost pressed his body close to Mars’ back and jumped over the tall main gate of the palace. He had no time to deal with the likes of Aaron.
Curses spilled out from between his anxiously clenched teeth.
He knew the emperor wouldn’t dare harm a single hair on Yuriella’s head.
The man had already gone mad once after killing Solas, so he would tremble at the thought of giving her even a small wound.
But that was what his head knew.
Frost’s heart had been so constricted that he couldn’t even breathe as he rode towards the imperial city. He had to see with his own eyes that his wife was safe.
“Yah!”
Aaron straightened his crouched body and shouted at the Imperial Knights lined up behind him.
“What are you doing? Chase after him!”
Only then did the knights in golden uniforms, who had been standing in a daze, hastily mount their horses.
Aaron gripped the reins tightly and spurred his horse with all his might.
Frost left the Imperial Knights, who were chasing after him in a cloud of dust, far behind and dashed like a gale deep into the Imperial Palace located in the heart of the imperial city.
*
The Empress Dowager’s shadows blocked her path as she tried to hurriedly enter the Imperial Palace after getting out of the four-wheeled open carriage.
“Step aside.”
“We apologize.”
“I said, step aside.”
When the shadows showed no sign of stepping back, the Empress Dowager pulled out one of their swords and stabbed it into his chest without hesitation.
“Ugh.”
As the Empress Dowager pulled out the sword, blood spurted out, splattering on her cheek and dress.
The Empress Dowager wiped her blood-stained face with the back of her hand, her expression unchanging, and took a step forward. The first shadow, Sereno, blocked her way.
This time, the sword was stabbed deep into Sereno’s thigh.
Sereno bowed politely to the Empress Dowager without faltering in the slightest.
“Please go back. I will inform His Majesty that you came to visit.”
“Is the one with him the duchess?”
A deep murderous intent flickered in her violet eyes.
“I asked if the duchess is here!”
“If my wife were here, would you cut her down with that sword?”
Frost’s voice came from behind. The Empress Dowager slowly turned around.
Frost jumped down from the huge black horse and approached the Empress Dowager.
He must have ridden in quite a hurry, as his silver hair flowed down disheveled by the wind. His roughly heaving chest clearly showed his anxiety and anger.
The Empress Dowager pulled the sword out of Sereno’s thigh.
“Frost, keep your wife in check. If she runs around carelessly bothering others, it can be a nuisance to others and may even lead to an untimely death.”
Frost looked indifferently at the blood dripping from the sword the Empress Dowager was holding and snickered.
“I return the same advice to you. Keep your son in check. If he touches anyone carelessly, he might not die a natural death.”
As the duke exuded murderous energy, the shadows stepped in front of the Empress Dowager and drew their swords in unison.
“All of you, get lost.”
However, the emperor’s shadows, with only their eyes visible through their face coverings, took a step closer to Frost and formed an attacking formation.
“It seems you really want to die.”
As Frost stretched out his right hand to the side, the holy sword Iello, enveloped in a deep blue aura, revealed its transparent blade.
The shadows’ eyes flashed as they leaped into the air in unison.
At the same time, Frost plunged the holy sword straight into the ground.
The immense sword energy emanating from the holy sword Iello swelled like a transparent semicircular barrier and hurled the shadows flying over the duke’s head far away.
“Urgh.”
The shadows, their limbs twisted and torn to shreds by the sharp energy of the ice, were impaled on the ground.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please stop!”
Dario, the emperor’s chief attendant, came running out of the palace, waving his arms frantically.
Frost stopped the sword he was about to swing at the shadows and turned to look at the elderly chief attendant.
“His Majesty’s guest has left.”
The deep blue eyes coldly stared at Dario.
“When?”
“Just now.”
“Is that so?”
Frost retrieved the holy sword Iello and mounted Mars.
Dario widened his eyes and looked up at Frost. He seemed surprised that Frost believed his words and obediently followed.
‘Crybaby Dario.’
In the stories of her time as an imperial princess that his mother sometimes told him, there was a young novice attendant named Dario who often appeared as a sweet element.
He was a gentle soul who often cried until his eyes were swollen from dealing with the mischief caused by his mother, Princess Adelia, who was exceptionally playful.
Without even a glance at the Empress Dowager, Frost gave Dario a light nod and left the Imperial Palace.
“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, please come inside. His Majesty is waiting for you.”
After the Empress Dowager went inside, Dario stared at the direction Frost had disappeared for a long time.
It felt as if his beautiful and valiant princess, whom he had served long ago, would be scolding him from the heavens.
How could he attend to his master in a way that made his cousin’s sister-in-law cling to him and cry?
[You can curse at me, you can hit me. You can even cut off my limbs. I’ll give you as much as you want. Just leave me one eye to see you, and one ear to hear your voice.]Dario was shocked to hear the emperor’s desperate voice leaking out from the tightly locked chambers.
[I love you. I love you, Solas…!]Why did His Majesty call Duchess Yuriella Solas and confess his love as if coughing up blood?
Even if the world pointed fingers at him, Dario felt sorry for His Majesty.
The previous emperor, for some reason, only looked at his son as if he were an enemy and never showed a shred of affection. The more he did so, the more coldly the Empress Dowager drove her son away.
His Majesty, who had nowhere to place his heart in this vast Imperial Palace, had smiled brightly like a blooming flower for the first time after meeting Solas. Warmth had seeped into his always empty, cold eyes.
After sending Commander Solas as the supreme commander of the Northern Expedition, His Majesty had said he would marry Solas.
[Dario, prepare to welcome the empress.]When Dario, who thought Solas was a man, was startled, His Majesty had shared the secret that Solas was a woman.
When Dario said it was too short a time to build a new Empress Palace, His Majesty had smiled excitedly, saying they would stay together in the Imperial Palace and not to build a separate Empress Palace even in the future.
But Solas had disobeyed, and the emperor, who had extinguished the life of his love with his own hands, was going mad to the point where it was hard to bear watching.
But of all people, the one who had captured His Majesty’s heart again was the duchess…
No matter how one looked at it, it was a love that could never be reciprocated. There was no way to take her. And it was something that should never happen.
When his eyes were reddening with tears,
– Meow. Meow.
A small cat cried at Dario’s feet.
A black cat with patches of baldness rubbed its head against his leg, wrapping its tail around it.
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.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
