Hertian laughed low and shook his head.
“No! Sit down for now. I’ll get some medicine.”
But Hertian couldn’t even stop me. He brought a comfortable chair and made me sit down. I opened my eyes narrowly, waiting for him to speak. Eventually, Hertian, who seemed to have a lot to say, opened his mouth.
“I heard that Serdis canceled the duel.”
After inquiring about his physical condition, he suddenly changed the topic to the duel.
“If you go out for a duel in this state, you’ll lose immediately.”
“Do you really think I’ll lose?”
“Well.”
That wasn’t the case.
“Just losing a duel because of a cold would be embarrassing for the people of the Blandiche territory.”
Hertian would do his best to fight, and if he lost, it would be because of the cunning scheme that the Empress had unfolded.
That’s what I believed.
“But Hertian, I didn’t want you to fight a duel because of me.”
I clearly expressed my intention.
It was also a warning not to step forward because of me.
When I opened my eyes, Hertian held my hands as if not letting them go with both hands and feet.
“I lost this time because of my wife.”
Was he the one who vowed never to lose? He unexpectedly accepted it easily.
‘Today, everyone seems to be lenient with me.’
Even Serdis…
Serdis to me.
‘What did he say to me?’
It seemed like I met Serdis, but I couldn’t remember anything after that. The memory of sitting on the terrace and talking to him came back. But what kind of conversation we had, what story I heard, it didn’t come back clearly.
Now that I think about it, when I regained consciousness, I was in front of the prophet.
I got up from my seat and went out, grabbing the nearest maid.
“Go and see if Prince is back.”
“Are you talking about now?”
“Yes, and if he’s in the Imperial Palace, tell him I want to see him.”
“All right, Lady Vi.”
In a hurry, the maid left the Star Palace.
“Mistress, what happened?”
He who had followed me due to my sudden actions asked. I shivered as I recounted the events a while ago.
“I actually met Prince Serdis regarding the duel issue. Micael said that if I talked to Prince Serdis, it would be resolved amicably.”
“After meeting… What happened next? Did you happen to lose consciousness?”
In response to his penetrating question, my head nodded involuntarily.
“What happened after that?”
I don’t remember.
What conversation I had with Serdis.
Judging by the story of canceling the duel that entered Hertian’s ears, it must have ended well. However, I had no memory of what happened afterward.
“How did you come all the way here?”
His impatient gaze was directed at me.
As if my body remembered, it replayed only the awkwardness of that time. Inside the closed building. A black room. Pungent smoke. And even the sight of dripping melted candle wax.
“Lady?”
“I met the prophet.”
I explained everything to the surprised Hertian without omitting the previous incident.
“Does it seem to be related to Prince Serdis?”
“First, I have to meet Serdis to be sure. But it’s not certain.”
Then, there was no need for Micael and the prophet to meet separately and discuss.
“Since you approached because the Lady wanted something… it could be the Empress’s faction. People who are annoyed with me to get rid of me.”
He rubbed his face in distress.
“No. She said she would kill Serdis for me.”
“The Crown Prince?”
“Yes. It seemed like he approached knowing that I dislike Prince Serdis. If I help, killing Serdis would become more enjoyable for him.”
His goal was to use me, whom Serdis likes, to crush him ruthlessly.
“Although it seemed like Lady had a deep grudge against Serdis. As far as I know, there is no one who has enough resentment to kill Serdis. By any chance, does Hertian have a guess?”
Hertian answered my question calmly.
“There is probably no one in the Empire with the willingness to kill Serdis except me.”
Looking at him pointing at himself, my lips sealed shut like a trap. I overlooked that this question might sound bad to him.
‘Hertian probably doesn’t think so, of course.’
Having read the original work, I know well.
He is a character who wants to survive, not someone greedy for imperial power.
If he were a person with desires, he would have obtained the power of a strong outer clan to strengthen himself.
“Hertian, I don’t think you’re that person. This is sincere.”
After much contemplation, I spat out a word.
“How can you be sure?”
He asked.
“I don’t think Hertian is a bad person.”
“How can you be sure of that?”
He asked again.
I couldn’t know what he was thinking or how he was taking it.
“Even if I hide a big secret from Lady, will you still see me favorably?”
He continued to ask test-like questions.
“If it’s a big secret. Have you ever killed someone…? Even if you’ve been to war, not killing someone is impossible. Well then. No matter what the secret is, it doesn’t matter.”
Hertian took away the person precious to me.
He made sandwiches for me, and every night, he held me to keep me from the cold. He couldn’t be a bad person.
“And even if you’re me, there’s no reason to kill my information. You already know a lot.”
He raised his eyes slightly, then smiled thinly.
“I wished I had given the information to the prophet.”
And the joke he spit out made my mind flash.
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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