The difference lies in who realizes it first – there are many things that cannot be achieved by effort alone.
Nigel stopped praying to find her real family when she became an apprentice priestess at 11 years old.
The following year, she gave up sneaking out through hidden holes all over the orphanage.
The year after that, she wore the cheap gemstone necklace she received as a gift more often than the locket left with her as a child.
And the year after that, Nigel was about to… stop eavesdropping on conversations in the director’s office from the hidden narrow passage behind the basement storage.
“…Is that true, Handel?”
“Yes, Director. After exchanging messages several times, the description matches Nigel perfectly.”
Just as her legs were starting to go numb and she was about to leave, Nigel froze at the sudden mention of her name.
“Nigel is really…”
At that moment, the sound of children roughly running and stomping on the floor drowned out the rest of the words.
‘…I knew those brats would cause trouble once.’
Vowing to give a knock on the head to the likely culprit, Nigel focused on the conversation again.
“But Nigel is…!”
Bang!
This time, the running came from the opposite direction.
“Hahaha!”
At the same time, Jack’s excited laughter could be faintly heard.
‘…Jack, you’ve won yourself a knock on the head.’
Nigel finally left the storage room without any gains, briefly massaged her numb legs, and immediately set out to find Jack.
Knock knock.
Soon after, the bedroom door slowly opened. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Jack.
“Nigel… your footsteps are scary. Are you angry again?”
“No.”
Nigel forced a smile while stroking the child’s soft brown hair.
“…Scary.”
Nigel’s smile dropped at the child’s merciless assessment.
Just then, a dark blonde boy, a head taller than the brown-haired child, popped out from behind the door.
“Looking for Jack again, sis? Jack went to the kitchen saying he was looking for leftover muffins!”
“Thanks. Now everyone get inside. It’s freezing out here.”
Nigel headed to the kitchen only after seeing the children get into bed.
A rustling sound could be heard from a corner of the kitchen, which was permeated with a faint butter scent.
Following the sound, a familiar head came into view.
“Jack.”
The head jolted violently at the single word.
“Ahaha… Hello?”
“Remember, no snacks after bath time or it’s a week without snacks, right?”
“Ah, I haven’t eaten yet!”
Jack quickly hid his tiny hands behind his back.
“At least wipe off the crumbs on your mouth before lying.”
After compromising with two knocks on the head and barely avoiding punishment, Jack happily allowed himself to be dragged away by Nigel.
“By the way Nigel, how did you know I was hiding in the kitchen so perfectly?”
“I have my ways. You’ll see when you grow up.”
“But Nigel, you’re not an adult yet.”
Nigel lightly ignored Jack’s words. Regardless, Jack continued chattering naturally.
“Nigel… do you know the future too?”
Nigel’s face stiffened slightly before she chuckled and spoke.
“Go to bed quickly. Monsters will take you if you sleep late.”
“Come on, what monsters? Even the youngest Benny wouldn’t be scared of that!”
“If you say so.”
In front of the bedroom, Jack turned back as he was about to enter.
“Oh right, Nigel. Priest Handel is looking for you.”
Thanks for telling me so early.
Nigel messed up Jack’s curly hair for no reason.
“My hair!”
“Sleep well.”
Bang!
Nigel smiled softly, imagining Jack’s crumpled face behind the door.
This is why teasing kids is fun.
Nigel’s upturned corners of her mouth slowly drooped as she stared at the closed door.
Rustle, Nigel put her hand in her pocket.
It was time to do what needed to be done.
Trudge trudge.
In front of the director’s office, the wooden door that required two firm pushes to move due to its age seemed even more worn out today.
Nigel opened the door while having a staring contest with the wooden goddess statue hanging above it.
Creak.
A chilling sound grazed her ears.
“You’re here, Nigel.”
Director Priest Ron and Deputy Director Priest Handel greeted Nigel with smiles. On the table where they sat were cups of tea without a trace of steam.
“It’s still cold even though it’s February, isn’t it? Come, have a cup.”
Too late to go to bed before midnight.
Nigel took out a white teacup with a single blue line from the cupboard.
Fortunately, the tea in the pot was still steaming.
Nigel frowned after taking a sip of the tea, which was too steeped and bitter, overpowering the aroma.
Until Nigel’s tea cooled, the two made small talk about the weather and tomorrow’s menu.
Finally unable to bear it any longer, Nigel spoke first.
“If there’s nothing else, may I go to bed now?”
Only then did the two exchange glances and nod slowly.
“Um, Nigel. Actually…”
Handel swallowed once before taking out a stack of papers from his chest.
“Well… it seems we’ve found your family, child.”
Ron said awkwardly.
Nigel examined the stack of papers and pulled out the envelope with the most recent date.
The creamy white envelope had delicate tree branches engraved on each side and a complex seal stamped in the center.
It was a far cry from the cheap ecru envelopes that came in packs of 100 commonly used at the orphanage.
“It’s a letter from your family. We thought you should read it first, so we haven’t opened it yet.”
Handel said with a smile in his eyes.
Nigel broke the seal and read the letter.
The letter was filled with beautiful cursive writing expressing a desire to meet Nigel.
And at the bottom of the letter, next to the seal, was the name of the family Nigel had expected.
“Nigel, we’ve taken the liberty of booking a train ticket to the capital, so you can write a reply and leave in a few days.”
Handel pulled out a train ticket from his chest with an excited face.
Silver. It was a second-class train ticket.
They had wasted money that could have covered the children’s snacks for half a month, despite the orphanage’s difficult financial situation where support from the temple was barely trickling in.
“You’ve been through a lot, Nigel.”
Ron said with reddened eyes.
Looking to the side, Handel’s glasses were also fogging up.
How should I say this in this atmosphere?
After a brief hesitation, Nigel spoke.
“I don’t want to meet them.”
“What?”
“But Nigel. It’s the Duke’s family, known even to us living in the outskirts. Considering how much you’ve struggled here all this time…”
Handel and Ron said with wide eyes.
She had struggled indeed. Entering the boys’ orphanage as a baby girl based solely on her name, growing up jostling among boys alone.
Whenever inspectors came from the temple, her carefully grown hair would be shaved off, and since it was difficult to adopt a girl from a boys’ orphanage, she ended up passing the difficult apprentice priest exam without any backing.
As she grew older, she started taking on more and more work. The orphanage, which received little to no support from the temple, was piled with chores, and Nigel’s days would end quickly just doing housework.
Ron and Handel always felt sorry for Nigel, who spent her youth caring for children instead of dressing up and falling in love like others her age.
Even when they scraped together money to buy her pretty clothes, they were scolded for the purchase and had to resell them multiple times. Sometimes when given time off to play, she would somehow find work and return with a day’s wages to buy groceries.
To think that such a Nigel was actually a lady from a ducal family, it seemed her hardships were finally over, but…
“I won’t meet them.”
Nigel firmly put her foot down.
“Then… do you intend to stay here?”
Nigel was already seventeen, with little time left until she came of age.
Upon reaching adulthood, she would have to either leave the orphanage completely or become a full-fledged priest and remain at the orphanage.
“No. I should start preparing to leave as well.”
“Then your original family…”
Handel’s words, spoken with courage, were cut off by Nigel’s unwavering gaze.
“I’m planning to go to the academy.”
The two men’s eyes widened once again.
The academy was a high-level educational institution where all members pursued learning with specific goals, and graduation from some prestigious academies could secure good jobs on its own.
The problems were twofold: admission and tuition…
“I was accepted to Sienia a few months ago.”
Nigel pulled out an envelope with gold-leafed corners from her chest.
Ron and Handel quickly read through the letter.
[Congratulations. We are pleased to inform you that Nigel Ars has been finally accepted (val) to the Imperial Sienia Academy.]“Val…?”
“Valedictorian. They say tuition is waived.”
Nigel calmly answered Ron, who was just tilting his head in a daze.
Thud-
The letter fell limply to the floor.
“My goodness…”
“Nigel…”
Sienia was the empire’s only imperial academy, and graduating from there guaranteed employment, making it the top among academies.
“We knew you were intelligent, but to this extent…”
“We’ve only made you struggle so much…”
As the atmosphere was about to become depressing, Nigel spoke again.
“I’ll take the train ticket as a congratulatory gift.”
It was the perfect gift at the perfect timing.
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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