A conversation like a comic dialogue took place.
“Who are you?”
“I am a servant belonging to the Annex Palace. I serve His Highness Prince Trilian.”
“Are you saying you know who tried to assassinate His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“I, I know someone who possesses items that could be used for assassination……”
“Who is it?”
“That, that is……”
“Don’t be afraid, speak up!”
“It’s His Highness Prince Trilian……!”
The banquet hall was in an uproar.
“What? His Highness Prince Trilian? Are you sure? If this is an unconfirmed rumor, you’ll have to pay with your life!”
“……It, it’s certain! I heard it from a former attendant of the Annex Palace.”
“……Your Highness, what will you do? Can we trust this person’s words?”
“……It’s hard to believe, but let’s hear him out. The matter is too important……”
The Princess muttered, covering her eyes with a handkerchief while leaning on the Duke’s chest.
As permission was granted, the Marquis gave a nod signaling to begin.
“Explain in detail. What exactly did you hear that makes you dare to suspect a member of the royal family……”
“From what I’ve heard, His Highness Prince Trilian always carries a poison sachet on his person.”
“Wh, what? A poison sachet?”
“Yes. There was also an incident where a maid from the Annex Palace fainted after smelling the scent of the poison sachet on the Prince’s clothes.”
The murmuring of the people grew louder. An alarmingly large number of eyes turned towards Trilian.
“……Is this true? Prince Trilian?”
“That is merely an item I carry for my own protection.”
“……So you admit to possessing it?”
A poison sachet at a royal ball? Could it have gotten into our food?
Voices of anxiety grew louder. Diana noticed that Trilian’s voice, standing next to her, was trembling slightly.
‘He’s scared.’
The cornered protagonist clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth.
However, to Diana’s eyes, it looked like the last gasp of someone desperately trying to survive.
The royal knights began to approach Trilian.
As the encirclement tightened, Trilian shook with anger, his eyes wide open, revealing the whites.
At that moment, various thoughts flashed through Diana’s mind.
‘No. Don’t intervene. If I step in carelessly, I might end up in even bigger trouble. Look at Raoul. Because I brought him herbs, he ended up being bullied by the slaves……!’
However, the moment a knight grabbed Trilian’s arm, Diana’s conscience raised its hand.
‘Are you really going to leave him like this? You know who the real culprit is! You know his alibi!’
Diana grabbed Trilian’s left wrist, which was not yet caught, and raised her hand.
“……I will testify!”
People’s gazes instantly shifted to Diana.
Cold sweat ran down her back.
She tried her best to calm her trembling body, ignoring the loud thumping of her heart.
The sharp gazes of the Marquis and the Princess flew like knife blades. The Duke also looked surprised.
“……I, I will testify.”
Diana pushed Trilian behind her and stepped forward.
‘I never thought the day would come when I’d play the hero……!’
“St, state your affiliation.”
“I am Diana de Arnel. May I speak……?”
The Marquis looked at Duke Carlyle with disapproval. It was a clear signal to stop her, but the Duke seemed to have no intention of helping the Marquis.
“Ahem, ahem, proceed with your statement.”
The Marquis reluctantly granted permission to testify, with an unpleasant expression.
Diana explained as clearly as possible, trying not to appear intimidated.
“Prince Trilian cannot possibly be the culprit. Because I heard the real culprit’s voice on the terrace. The real culprits were clearly two people, an adult man and woman.”
“……”
The Marquis glanced at the Princess with a bewildered look. She glared at the Marquis with a cold gaze and buried her face in her handkerchief again.
“It was such a shocking scene that I can even reenact it accurately……!”
Diana repeated exactly what she had heard.
“Is the effect certain? Of course it is. You’ve already experienced it, haven’t you? You couldn’t get the timing right last time. You said it would kill in 2 weeks, but it took 3 months. This time, we’ve greatly increased the dosage period and amount. Don’t worry too much. Do your job properly! That’s exactly what they said……! Right above the terrace where I was.”
“Lady! Are you sure you weren’t dreaming? What fearless person would easily say such things at a royal ball, not in their own bedroom?”
‘I suppose the Princess finds the ballroom as comfortable as her own bedroom!’
Diana frowned indignantly and argued back.
“How could I remember so accurately if I hadn’t heard it……? This is the absolute truth without a shred of lie. I swear before the Goddess Aiona.”
“……Ahem, ahem! How dare you take an oath so lightly! Even if someone conspired, we can’t know who actually carried it out! The most accurate evidence is physical proof!”
‘This is ridiculous!’
Diana, though trembling, argued back without backing down.
“I can explain that as well. There is another reason why the Prince carries a poison sachet. It’s because His Highness is being severely abused!”
What? Abuse? What is this about? People kept whispering and looking at Trilian.
Diana turned around and met Trilian’s eyes.
“I’m sorry for exposing your private matters arbitrarily……. But there’s no other way to clear your name.”
“You……”
“Please show them. Even if it’s just a part……”
As Diana pleaded with her eyes, Trilian began to unbutton his uniform one by one.
As he unbuttoned his shirt, bruises and scars starting from around his neck were revealed to everyone.
“……Oh my goodness……”
“Who on earth would do such a thing……”
“Even if he’s the son of a maid, he’s still a recognized member of the royal family……”
Nobles who were dissatisfied with the current Crown Prince began to speak up one by one.
Currently, there was no strong royal authority to punish them.
The Emperor and Crown Prince were both bedridden, and the Princess didn’t have a strong enough support base to turn against the nobles.
As public opinion shifted, the Marquis’s eyes gleamed a cold blue.
It was enough to send chills down Diana’s spine.
‘Still, this is 100 times better than being hated by the original protagonist……!’
“Even today, the Prince was dragged to the main palace guest room and beaten. These scratch marks are fresh, the lines are still clear!”
“……Who on earth would do such a thing?”
Yuris, the captain of the knights who had been watching this scene with an uncomfortable expression, muttered.
‘Ah, that’s a relief. This person can be trusted. In the original story, he was the top meritorious subject who followed the Emperor’s will and helped Trilian.’
Diana, emboldened by public opinion, made her final argument.
“The Prince must have carried the poison sachet to protect himself……! To think there are those in this palace who would try to assassinate His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Prince……! This must be the work of traitors challenging royal authority……!”
Yuris, who had been watching the young girl’s desperate efforts, added to Diana’s words.
“……To begin with, that servant did not testify to directly witnessing the Prince poisoning anyone. Without catching someone in the act, it’s difficult to declare someone a criminal based solely on a poison sachet.”
“Moreover, there are various types of poisons. Shouldn’t we hear the coroner’s opinion and properly compare and analyze……?”
‘It’s done. Public opinion has shifted to our side……! If this goes to trial, it will be favorable for Trilian.’
Most of the prosecutors and lawyers belonging to the legal profession were academy alumni who despised Crown Prince Albert.
Even in the original story, there were some nobles who rejected the self-centered individuals full of a sense of privilege and turned to Trilian.
Diana gripped her dress and bit her lip tightly.
When the Marquis gave up and turned his gaze to the Princess, she ended the situation.
“……To think that after my brother, even my younger brother would be involved in such a thing……!”
“Your, Your Highness! Are you alright?”
The Marquis rushed over dramatically and clumsily supported the Princess’s right arm.
“Es, escort Her Highness! Of course, His Highness the Prince as well!”
Perhaps conscious of the gazes, they wanted all the royal family members to leave together.
‘Nominally, Trilian is also a prince, so they can’t just leave a sick child behind.’
Diana watched Trilian’s retreating figure as he left with Yuris.
Only then did the tension ease.
‘I’m crazy……! As I spoke, I feel like I said things I didn’t need to say, did I do well?’
As she stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly into space, suddenly a yellow head of hair turned slightly over a shoulder.
Red eyes curved slightly, and incomprehensible words followed between the lips.
Diana was curious about the words Trilian left behind, but she only guessed that it might have been words of gratitude.
She couldn’t even imagine that the words he had said were “See you again.”
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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