Ordinary brown hair neatly adorned with a threepiece suit. The man, Yeongsik, seemed mildmannered, his demeanor distanced from anything to do with romance.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Anette Leangberia.”
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, he presented me with a bouquet he seemed to have been holding for some time.
The sweet scent of flowers tickled my nostrils.
“I heard you like flowers. It might be a little much for our first meeting, but please accept it as a small token of my sincerity.”
Pink Celosia.
My favourite flower. Seeing the Celosia blooming in the academy garden often brought back memories of my playdates with Lian. I unconsciously smiled lightly, reminded of those days.
“It’s lovely. The scent is soothing.”
“I’m glad. I was worried you might not like it, I was fretting over it all night.”
Edward Yeongsik smiled more brightly than me. His genuine demeanor made me feel slightly guilty. I was here under the coercion of my father, but there was no chance of us becoming partners.
“Fretting all night, were you?”
“Yes, indeed. I was hoping you would be pleased…”
He seemed taken with me, his cheeks reddening shyly.
His eyes were bloodshot, possibly genuine, and his skin looked flushed. It was clear he had prepared thoroughly for our first meeting, making me feel guilty.
“Edward Yeongsik. Should we postpone this if you’re feeling tired? I’m fine.”
From the beginning, I planned to slip away early to meet the duke. I felt sorry, but it would be a good thing for me to clear the way sooner.
“No! I’m not tired at all. Please, let’s go this way.”
But Edward, startled, widened his eyes. His innocent face was painted with urgency. I bit back a sigh of regret.
“Well, let’s get moving then.”
Edward dutifully played his role as my escort.
During the carriage ride, I witnessed him trying to fend off sleep by pinching his thigh, but I pretended not to notice. The date wouldn’t last long anyway.
Finally, we arrived at our destination.
A brief squint in the warm sunlight. The view of the wide open landscape, accompanied by a cool breeze, filled my sight.
“This is Aurora Lake.”
The lake known to house fairies, reminiscent of the Duke’s eyes.
‘Has he received my letter by now?’
I found myself deep in thought about my marriage issue with Hertian again.
I was most worried about the possibility of him getting upset over my father’s letter and refusing to marry me.
“Your Highness, come over here! The lake is a sight to behold.”
In contrast, Edward was simply delighted.
“I’m coming. Let’s go.”
I moved my feet sluggishly.
“Please take care not to hurt your feet. Take your time.”
We walked along the path surrounding the lake.
I was glad I had worn a widebrimmed hat. It shielded me from Edward’s eager gaze.
“But how long are we going to walk?”
How many minutes have we been walking?
Time was precious. Only then did Edward check his pocket watch and calculate something.
“We finished a 30minute walk… Now, let’s go boating!”
You had this planned all along?
It seemed like he had carefully prepared this, what should I do? I need to leave soon.
Looking at him, grinning proudly, I could tell that if his plan fell through, he would be greatly disappointed. That wouldn’t be polite. I decided to preemptively ruin his plans.
“I have to go to a class later, so I can’t stay long.”
“The Earl said today was your day off.”
“My schedule changed just before I left. And I’m not feeling well.”
I quickly interrupted him in case he wanted to argue.
“I see… That’s very, very disappointing, but we’ll save the rest for next time.”
“Alright.”
If there is a next time.
I decided to go along until boating, looking at his very disappointed face. It was the least courtesy for my father, who had arranged this.
However, when we were almost at the dock, Edward suddenly confessed.
“Actually, I confessed to you during the academy, but was rejected.”
Out of the blue?
My steps halted abruptly.
“You might not remember.”
“You confessed to me? I don’t remember.”
This man.
He was a stranger I met for the first time today.
Edward blushed, biting his lip hard. The lavalike blush that erupted was evident in his liking for me.
“I thought you wouldn’t remember. But, that’s fine. After all, we’ve met again, Your Highness and I.”
“Haha. I’m a bit slow.”
I gave an awkward smile out of guilt.
But today would be the last meeting. Haha.
“Back then, I was too immature. It was a blessing that you refused me then.”
Edward coolly averted his gaze diagonally.
“Finally, I have come facetoface with Your Highness.”
“……”
A stiff syllable.
It was clearly a prepared remark.
“Yes. Our heights are similar so it’s easy to see each other facetoface.”
I dodged his gaze and changed the subject.
“YoungSik, I’ll go wash my hands before boarding the boat. I’ll leave the flowers here too.”
“Go ahead.”
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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