How To Choose A Knight (28 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 1
Jade’s eyes snapped open. At the same moment, a groan burst out of her as a pain like someone pounding her skull seized her.
“Ugh… what… what is this…?”
She squeezed her eyes shut again. It felt as if dozens of needles were pricking her blood vessels from all directions.
The sharp, electric pain gradually blurred into dullness after a long while, leaving only a tolerable ache.
When she opened her eyes again, she could finally make out her surroundings. She was still immersed in hazy darkness.
Was it the fading light of evening? Or the dawn breaking through?
Jade raised her hand—or tried to—to clear her still-blurry vision.
“Huh…?”
Only then did she realize her body was restrained.
What the hell? Am I tied up right now?
A cold shiver ran down her spine. An unfamiliar dark space, immobile arms, inexplicable pain—what did that add up to?
No matter how hard she thought, nothing came to mind except abduction. If that was the case, she needed to stay quiet and let her mind race instead.
But even that was difficult. Every time she tried to recall what had happened just before she opened her eyes, a headache ambushed her instantly, as if a fairy living inside her skull was drumming on it like a tambourine.
Fine, I don’t know. Let’s just get these bindings off first.
Jade squirmed, trying to widen the gap between her hands and body.
After wriggling like a caterpillar for a while, a slight opening gradually formed, giving her some room to push back. The more she moved, the more it felt like breaking out of a chrysalis.
Yes, yes!
Through sheer effort, she finally freed herself from whatever had wrapped around her body. It must have been scraps of cloth—they silently scattered onto the floor.
Jade cheered inwardly.
That’s it! Good job, Jade Broen.
Her next task was to properly assess this place. The dim lighting still made it hard to see anything clearly.
But she could at least make out something protruding from the wall. It looked like a doorknob—and indeed, it was one.
Crawling silently on her knees toward the door, Jade suddenly felt gloomy.
Damn it. If only I were skilled in wind-element magic. Then I could’ve already chanted some spells and activated teleportation by now.
Why isn’t there anything like that in fire-element magic?
She had exceptional talent for setting things ablaze fiercely, but absolutely none for escaping when waking up in an unknown place. Well, she could burn the whole house down—but then she wouldn’t come out unscathed either.
Just as she muttered inwardly, a sound came from outside. Jade froze, curling up tightly again.
Footsteps. Broad strides, fast-paced. Then came the creak of a door opening, followed by a soft, gentle voice.
“H… as she… woken… up…?”
It wasn’t perfectly clear, but it somehow sounded like an elderly woman’s voice. The next voice that followed had a deep, low resonance.
“Don’t… know… yet.”
It was a man’s voice. Likely the same person who took those wide, swift steps.
“If you take her… you’re responsible…”
“Damn…”
Though unclear, that was definitely “damn it.” Absolutely certain. No doubt about it.
Jade pressed her ear flat against the wooden wall. She had to figure out who was outside—she couldn’t recall at all what had happened right before she woke up here.
Now the conversation became clearer.
“I’m busy too, so hurry up! You know how much I have to prepare before the season of water arrives, now that it’s the season of wind. I’ve set no less than three plans for today alone!”
“So that’s why you came at this hour of dawn?”
“Exactly. It’s only natural that old folks don’t sleep in.”
“You go to bed early at night, you young whelp.”
The old woman’s tone dripped with condescension—as if the boy didn’t even know this basic truth—while the man replied wearily.
“Young whelp… Fine, sure.”
Then came that familiar footstep again—broad, swift strides. So fast that the vibrations felt distant one moment and right in front of Jade the next.
Before she could dodge, the door swung open abruptly, and she smacked her forehead hard against it.
“Ow!”
“…….”
Jade didn’t even look up at whoever stood before her. Tears welled up as she clutched her forehead and rolled on the floor.
The pain she’d felt upon first waking surged through her body again. Every nerve from fingertips to toes screamed and burst.
Just then, a large hand firmly supported the back of her neck and pressed hard near her temples. Startled, Jade flailed her hands helplessly in the air, trying to push the person away.
“Stay still. You’ll start bleeding again.”
And if you bleed on the floor, I won’t let you be.
The man’s low voice was sharp with irritation. Jade clutched his thick forearm and groaned. Damn, this hurts like hell!
“Oh dear, she’s awake already! That’s great, really great!”
Jade barely opened her eyes, but tears blurred her vision so much she couldn’t see much.
So she asked the most reasonable question first.
“W-who are you?!”
“I should be asking that! Just who are you to cause so much trouble?”
His gruff tone deflated her. Jade sniffled, but the voice she’d assumed belonged to an old woman clicked her tongue.
“Oh my, every single word out of your mouth is so bothersome—for someone who crawled into the Athanase Forest.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
What did you say? Athanase?
Blinking desperately, tears streamed from the corners of her eyes, and finally, her vision slowly returned. As her eyes adjusted to the crimson light filtering through the open door, she saw before her—
The most handsome man she’d ever laid eyes on, with an impressively sharp jawline, and behind him, a thin old woman watching with eyes full of curiosity.
“What the…?”
What a bizarre… pairing….
It was so strange it instantly branded itself into her mind.
The man’s thick eyebrows furrowed as if he didn’t understand her words. That brought his brows closer to his eyes, intensifying his striking appearance.
His clear, deep gray eyes gleamed almost blue in the dim light.
“You’re handsome—no, wait, what did you just say?”
Jade mumbled as if entranced, then suddenly snapped to her senses and asked the most crucial question.
The man studied her eyes closely, as if checking whether her pupils were dilated or if she’d gone mad.
“You find me annoying?”
“No, not that! Which forest did you say I entered?”
Only then did the man seem to understand, nodding slightly.
“Athanase Forest.”
Crazy.
Any mage born in this era would surely have heard of three forests: Florencio, Daoud, and Athanase.
The first, Florencio Forest, was famed for its rare herbs and mystical magical creatures. The second, Daoud Forest, was a historic site where a mage-king once left traces of powerful magic.
And lastly, Athanase Forest—it was spoken of for a different reason altogether.
A place where all magic inexplicably lost its power.
A place where no spell offered to the gods would ever be answered.
No matter how great a mage was, they couldn’t conjure even the smallest flame or levitate the lightest feather.
“It must be a dream…”
No, it has to be a dream…
As another sharp headache spread through her, Jade passed out again.
This was Jade’s first memory—unexpectedly dropped into Athanase Forest.
[This is the timeline separator]Long, long ago, it was said that the gods once walked upon this land. But as all their creations flourished and the earth grew chaotic, the gods decided to dwell in the heavens instead.
Yet just before departing, the gods left their language to all people—giving their spirit to the one they cherished most, and a fragment of their flesh to the second.
Thus, the divine language became spells; the one who received the spirit became the first mage of this land, and the one who received the flesh became its first knight.
It was a tale passed down like a fairy tale.
And much later, long after that story had faded into legend, Jade Broen was born.
Mage Jade Broen, as her name suggested, hailed from the Broen family. As the firstborn child of the family head, she was immediately named heir.
Her peculiarity? She possessed extraordinary talent in fire magic—but oddly lacked any aptitude whatsoever in other elemental magics. Her water magic, in particular, was truly dreadful.
Her grandmother, Mabel Broen, seemed deeply displeased by this, but it didn’t matter. Her parents believed in her and loved her dearly.
Their affection made Jade Broen strong.
But one day, her parents went to donate to the slums and caught an unknown fever, passing away within mere days. It was unimaginable, yet it was reality.
Jade attended the funeral as the appointed heir, holding back tears as she placed a flower atop the lavishly adorned coffin.
That was when it began—people started openly disliking or mocking her.
“Jade, look at this.”
Her two-years-younger cousin Ascela flashed a bright smile and instantly showed her a healed wound—a demonstration of earth-element healing magic, though controlling its strength was still difficult for her.
“That’s amazing, Ascela. You’re progressing so fast.”
Jade smiled sweetly as she congratulated her. Ascela wasn’t just a cousin—she was also her dearest friend.
“It was super easy! I managed it in just a month. You still can’t do it, right? Really?”
“Yeah, I really can’t. I just don’t have talent for earth magic.”
Though unnecessary, Ascela cheerfully comforted her.
“It’s okay! Dad said if you lack something, just don’t get greedy. And you’re super, super kind, so you never get greedy!”
It might have been oversensitive, but it didn’t feel like innocent boasting from a child. It felt more like someone whispering through a child’s mouth.
Jade kept her smile and asked gently,
“Who said that?”
“Dad.”
Jade was young too, but at twelve, she was quicker to notice things than ten-year-old Ascela. Ascela was her closest friend—but she was also the daughter of her uncle, Felix Broen.
When her father had been alive, Felix Broen had always been gentle—but sometimes his eyes carried a strange look. A look filled with greed.
So right at this moment, Jade understood perfectly what was happening.
“I see. Ascela, look over there.”
Jade pointed with a bright smile toward a massive tree. Ascela stared at it with wide, round eyes.
“Whaaaat?”
No sooner had Ascela finished speaking than a loud explosion sounded, and the huge tree burst into roaring flames.
The sharp red against a backdrop of green was jarringly unnatural. Screams erupted from the surroundings.
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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Chapter Comments (15)
Inline Comments (64)
If only I’d had the chance to say a proper goodbye—to tidy things up—would it ha
I have a feeling in this chapter, he too will realize his feelings- or come to be mad at Jade
Before those behind could stop him, the young man gulped down the plain water fr
Hhahahah your brother must love you a lot~~ he’s probably gonna reunite you with Jade
“A handsome man with a good body.”
Hahah looks like someone is getting an entertaining sister in law hehheh
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It is so sweet how preciously the treat the eggs because they are empathetic to the old hen’s struggle. Idk why I didn’t expect that from their character. I wonder how fervently her aides and servants are searching for her right now? I feel like one of them should be clever enough to investigate the uncle
It is so sweet how preciously the treat the eggs because they are empathetic to the old hen’s struggle. Idk why I didn’t expect that from their character. I wonder how fervently her aides and servants are searching for her right now? I feel like one of them should be clever enough to investigate the uncle
I feel like Axel must of royal bloodline. Jade is so cute! They are gonna be so cute together