Phook!
Chwarruk!
Water splashed in all directions. Hasdeya, who had been peering into a container filled with water, was suddenly hit by a downpour.
“Darn it.”
He transformed back into a human and now wore the face of the saint, Malik.
His smooth fingers, as sleek as his appearance, brushed back wet strands of hair. Hasdeya grumbled, revealing his gums.
“Not as simple as it looks, this.”
Hasdeya swiftly soaked his body. Suddenly, a chair appeared from somewhere and supported his wet bottom.
Sinking into the soft backrest, Hasdeya, drained of energy, gazed at the ceiling.
The ceiling was peculiar. Rather than a ceiling, there was a gaping hole in its place. Along the boundary between the hole and the wall, unknown characters and patterns wriggled like living bugs.
Unintentionally staring at it, bug-like wrinkles formed on Hasdeya’s forehead. Despite his youthful appearance, Hasdeya sometimes had an ageless look, depending on his expression.
“It’s beyond belief.”
Thunk!
Hasdeya clapped his middle and index fingers together, making a sound.
“You called?”
After a moment, someone entered.
It was a person dressed in a priest’s robe, but it differed slightly from the attire of the priests in the Haryos Temple.
Having abandoned the Haryos Temple without hesitation when the plans through it failed and his nest was at risk, Hasdeya had set up a new lair in another temple.
Manipulating priests was easy. Most of them had blind spots more than other humans, and a slight hint was enough for them to consider him their god.
As Dekan suspected, Hasdeya had spatial constraints.
Without this space, where the power of the demon realm was called upon and confined, he couldn’t maintain a human form or use magic freely.
Once outside the barrier, his demonic form was revealed without a trace. To revert to Malik’s appearance, he had to find a secure nest and set up the barrier again, which was a hassle.
Therefore, for this reason, Hasdeya became cautious about destroying carefully chosen nests in the future.
He also made Malik’s knights wear priest robes. Unless Bahamut was a fool, he would have noticed that Hasdeya was using the Malik Knights. Not only himself, but the traces of the Malik Knights also had to be erased.
“What you mentioned before, was it true?”
“I have faithfully reported everything I have seen and heard, my saint.”
“Hmm… you claimed you lived in ignorance in the temple, right? Locked in a room as your parents commanded, living without knowing anything.”
“That’s what I heard.”
“But why do you seem so carefree?”
Splash!
As Hasdeya made a face, water droplets that had scattered in all directions splashed Malik’s knight, causing him to grimace in pain.
“You already know how to manipulate power. If what you said is true, does that make sense?”
“It may sound absurd, my saint… The Delarta Temple, where that woman stayed, has undergone a complete transformation. The new king of Delarta, who seized the throne through rebellion, reportedly sought to bring the temple under his control. Those who remembered the previous appearance of the temple disappeared without a trace. There weren’t many who dared to speak about it.”
“Ah, this is maddening. Are there wicked humans like me on the surface?”
Hasdeya laughed as if in disbelief.
He hadn’t known that there were humans who would kill all the priests in a temple. The goals might be different, but the disappearance of the temple was the same.
Although he was a demon, it was fascinating that someone could exist who didn’t believe in any god under the human guise.
“I should observe that face soon… Anyway, was there anything else? Just squeeze out whatever is in your mind. There’s something you’re missing, isn’t there?”
“My saint, I have already shared everything I know.”
“Damn it, don’t say the same thing again! It’s not enough, so think of something more! You’ve been there, haven’t you seen something!”
“…Hmph, well…”
Malik’s knight rolled his eyes with a pale face.
Within the barrier, Saint Malik was a being endowed with infinite power. Through Saint Malik, they had opened the forgotten doors of ancient magic.
With his power, they could instantly travel from one end of the Delarta Kingdom to the other. They could burn down a whole village, or submerge all the people of that village in water, with just a breath.
That immense power inevitably instilled fear and submission in their minds.
Malik’s knights were loyal to him unto death, but they knew that he could twist their necks and kill them at any moment.
Choosing the right answer was crucial.
“That, that woman…”
There were not many humans who knew much about the woman that Saint Malik was fixated on. It was mere speculation that she might have been one of the dreamweavers of the prophet.
There were two or three dreamweavers by the side of the prophet, all dressed alike, with their faces covered by flipped-over linen. One of them had a clue despite her long black hair, like Queen Cartahena.
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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