Kasallin could not help but doubt her eyes.
When someone is in the powder room, it is common courtesy for a gentleman to knock politely and wait outside.
But Shallen, as if such courtesy was unnecessary between us, entered with such ease and quietly closed the door.
For a moment, Kasallin had a bad feeling, wondering if Isabella had deliberately arranged this encounter with Shallen.
It was because she had glimpsed Duchess Rudo introducing Isabella to Shallen in the hall earlier.
“This is my space. I never permitted you to enter, so please leave now.”
Kasallin, clenching her teeth, warned him in a tone more resolute than ever.
At her cold voice, Shallen stopped in his tracks and stared at her with wavering eyes.
His gaze, meticulously scanning her from head to toe, was so unpleasant it felt like tiny insects crawling over her body.
“You invited me here, Kasallin. You’re not going to question why I came now, are you?”
“Yes, I invited you. And I knew you would come.”
The corners of Shallen’s eyes twitched slightly.
“You sent the invitation knowing I would come?”
“Despite any unfortunate incidents, you are the king of a neighboring country. Not sending an invitation would be a diplomatic discourtesy. It could also cause tension with other nations. So, I sent the invitation out of courtesy. But questioning why you came? Why would I do that?”
“Because you must have hoped I wouldn’t come, Kasallin. Seeing me on such a fine day would surely irritate and displease you.”
“I’m sorry, but it seems you’re mistaken about something.”
“Mistaken?”
“I am not an idle person. As the future empress of this country, I have many tasks to handle and people to attend to. So why do you assume, without basis, that I’m concerned about you?”
As she retorted sharply, word by word, Shallen seemed at a loss for words.
Until he left the Kan Kingdom, his eyes had been full of confidence, but now they wandered aimlessly, lost at the bottom.
Those arrogant lips that had insulted her, comparing her point by point to Rose.
That violent fist that had struck her cheek in a fit of uncontrollable anger.
All of it had completely lost its former strength and was trembling pathetically.
Kasallin tore her gaze away from him and fixed her disheveled hair, looking at herself in the mirror.
“If you have nothing more to say, please leave. I must go to His Majesty now.”
“I know everything.”
“Know what?”
“That you, Kasallin, are orchestrating an irreversible, colossal deception against Emperor Parnes. I’ve figured it all out.”
Kasallin’s hand, carefully adjusting her crooked earring, froze in place.
In that moment, even the fierce night breeze seemed to hold its breath, and the air felt like it was moving in slow motion.
In the explosive silence, Kasallin slowly closed and opened her eyes, looking at him.
What nonsense is he spouting?
“That you became unable to bear children after a carriage accident is a secret known only to a very few, including me.”
“Yes. And?”
“You’re using that very fact to deceive Emperor Parnes and the people of the Renel Empire. Am I wrong?”
It was only after the second hand of the wall clock ticked five times that Kasallin realized how massive a misunderstanding he was under.
He believed she was hiding the fact that she could not bear children from Parnes.
He couldn’t even imagine that she had already confessed everything to Parnes and entered a strategic marriage.
Kasallin nearly burst out laughing but desperately held it back.
Should she explain in detail that he was gravely mistaken? But on second thought, it didn’t seem necessary to go out of her way to do so.
“Fine. Let’s assume your claim is true. So what? What will you do now? Run to the banquet hall and shout to everyone that Kasallin is pulling off a vile deception?”
As if they’d believe you.
As Kasallin spoke mockingly, a hollow laugh escaped Shallen’s lips.
“You’re acting calm to the end. Yes, that’s the Kasallin I know. A cold-blooded woman with nothing but pride, devoid of blood or tears…”
Isn’t it strange?
Parnes had comforted her, saying her heart was too soft and that it was okay to cry when she wanted to.
Yet this man called her a cold-blooded woman devoid of blood or tears.
Perhaps both men were right, Kasallin thought.
“Kasallin, think wisely. If you continue this lie, it will come back with irreversible consequences. It won’t end with simply being deposed as empress.”
“Yes, you’re probably right. I’m really looking forward to how harshly His Majesty Parnes will punish me. Will he try to burn me alive, like you did?”
“Kasallin…”
When Kasallin asked playfully, Shallen took a calm breath.
One surprising thing was that he no longer tried to crush her spirit as he once did.
In the past, he would have glared and raised his voice, but now he seemed overly cautious, even a bit servile.
“Kasallin, think carefully about who’s giving you a chance to survive right now. It’s me! Your first love, your first man!”
“I’m sorry, but please speak correctly. My first love and first man is His Majesty Parnes. I realized the Shallen Riche from back then was a fictional character who never existed.”
“What did you say…?”
“Then, if you’ll excuse me.”
Without a hint of hesitation or conflict, Kasallin coldly passed by Shallen’s side.
The sound of heels clicking down the corridor to the banquet hall seemed to echo in his ears.
[This is the timeline separator]“That you became unable to bear children after a carriage accident is a secret known only to a very few, including me.”
When King Shallen’s voice echoed lowly from beyond the firmly closed powder room door,
Isabella, who had been listening to their conversation through the slight crack, felt as if time itself had stopped.
Even more shocking was Kasallin’s response to Shallen’s question, a casual “Yes.”
After a few exchanges, as Kasallin’s footsteps approached, Isabella quickly hid behind a corner.
“No way.”
Leaning her head against the cold wall, Isabella began to piece together the unbelievable story she had just heard.
The most critical duty of an empress is to bear an heir to the throne, yet she cannot have children.
That fact is known only to a select few in the Kan royal court, and, naturally, His Majesty the Emperor does not yet know.
“In short, Kasallin is hiding her infertility from His Majesty to marry him.”
For a moment, she considered whether she should inform His Majesty.
But what proof did she have?
With the marriage approaching, it was obvious whose word His Majesty would trust unconditionally.
Even if Kasallin’s deception were revealed, at this stage, before the marriage, it would merely result in a broken engagement and slight damage to her reputation.
“But if this comes to light after the state wedding, the story changes.”
A broken engagement and a divorce carry vastly different weights.
If it were revealed that the promising empress, expected to usher in a new era, had been deceiving everyone, the repercussions would be far-reaching.
“Yes, until the evidence is clear, I’ll stay quiet for now…”
“Stay quiet?”
Startled from her deep thoughts by a voice above, Isabella snapped awake.
Dressed impeccably, Emperor Parnes stood before her like an unyielding wall, sending chills down her spine.
Her heart, still not calmed from the excitement, raced wildly.
“It’s nothing. Just talking to myself.”
Isabella smiled awkwardly, speaking lightly as if it were no big deal.
Parnes’s face, looking down at her, was as cold as if doused with ice water, making Isabella wonder if he could see through her heart, gripped by an unreal sense of anxiety.
“Talking to yourself.”
“Your Majesty?”
After lazily blinking a few times, Parnes let out a quiet, inscrutable chuckle.
“Fine, let’s say that’s true. I don’t have any evidence either, after all.”
“What do you mean…?”
Thud.
Parnes’s black boots passed by Isabella without a response, heading down the opposite corridor.
[This is the timeline separator]Emerging from the powder room, Kasallin took a few deep breaths, trying to bring life back to her rigid face, but it wasn’t easy.
She had acted strong, but facing Shallen was still difficult.
“I can’t go out in front of people with this face.”
She didn’t need a mirror to know.
Just being in the same space as Shallen, even briefly, had drained the color from her face.
Her steps toward the banquet hall felt heavy, and as she leaned wearily against a deserted corridor window to clear her mind,
“Kasallin.”
A captivating fragrance she could recognize without looking wafted toward her.
Of all people, the man she least wanted to see her like this stood there, his expression as if he had finally found her after wandering a maze-like corridor.
Pretending nothing was wrong, Kasallin naturally curved her lips into a smile and straightened her posture.
“Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be mingling with the guests?”
“That’s what I’d like to ask you.”
His half-hushed voice was cold.
As if cornering her against a dead-end wall, he took a bold step closer, tilting his head to read the expression on her face.
“You disappeared while I was receiving a report from Ludwig. In less than a minute, when I looked away, you were gone.”
“Something got on my dress, so I went to the powder room. You worry too much…”
“Is that really all?”
Kasallin looked up at him with a blank expression.
As the moon emerged from behind the clouds, its light streamed through the window, dusting his head with mystic glow, allowing Kasallin to see his face more clearly.
He wore the face of a stranger she had never seen before.
“Answer me. Was that really all?”
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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