The next day, Eilidh faced a brief scolding from Linet.

“I asked you to wake me up after an hour.”

“It’s not like we’re behind on work. We just need to send letters encouraging the ladies’ participation in the charity event.”

“Still, work should be done promptly…”

“Sometimes, Your Highness, you push yourself too hard.”

Especially when she wanted to forget certain things. Linet could guess Eilidh’s dreams from her look when she woke up.

Today, in particular, her eyes were unusually red. Surely, it must have been a bad dream.

Linet approached Eilidh’s side immediately. Placing her hand on the chair, Linet bent over to make eye contact with the queen.

“I may not fully understand Your Highness’s plans, but… you need to stay healthy. That’s how you’ll endure this.”

Eilidh’s face, previously occupied with worries about the charity letters, softened a bit. She managed a slightly embarrassed smile as she looked at Linet.

Eilidh hadn’t yet disclosed her entire plan to Linet. Probably, Linet, as a long-time friend, would have some idea about her intentions.

“Aren’t you upset? I keep my mouth tightly shut.”

“You’ll tell me when you’re ready. If you haven’t yet, I assume it’s something I don’t need to know.”

“Thank you.”

“If you know, then make sure to eat and sleep well. As the head of the queen’s chamber, I am responsible for your health.”

Linet sometimes felt more like a sister than a friend. She managed the schedule with care, ensuring Eilidh had breaks and didn’t skip meals.

“In exactly one hour, after finishing your meal, we’ll go for a walk. I won’t accept being busy as an excuse.”

Eilidh had no choice but to accept her friend’s order with a smile.

Beneath the peaceful scenery, an uneasy man was walking.

A man utterly out of place in the elegant atmosphere of the palace. People strolling in the garden hastily stepped back or completely avoided him upon realizing his presence.

Eilidh froze at the sight of the tall, intimidating man approaching from a distance.

“Why is he here…”

Barely managing not to collapse, Eilidh stood firm. Linet, recognizing the man, quickly took her place beside Eilidh, trying to hide her trembling body.

Tamil, the royal torturer.

The very word ‘torturer’ was bizarre and horrifying, a title Tamil proudly claimed for himself, even acknowledged by Emperor Claudius. Tamil was a manifestation of the emperor’s power. His presence signified fear, especially the mention of the ‘Dungeon Tower,’ where those who sought to usurp or betray the emperor were sent.

It was said that no one who sat before Tamil could resist confessing, whether guilty or not.

“Has anyone ever walked out of my interrogation room?”

This phrase was Tamil’s signature. Those who went through him were left physically and mentally scarred.

Even when victims’ families protested, their voices were quickly suppressed. Anyone related to the traitors was not spared either.

Tamil, one of Claudius’s most loyal agents, had brutally tortured Eilidh’s brother, Limeres Rowen Melpheus, to near death.

The memory of Limeres’s face behind the prison bars forced Eilidh to close her eyes.

“Who do we have here, if not Her Majesty the Queen herself?”
Tamil greeted Eilidh in a slimy manner. Eilidh, who had tightly closed her eyes, slowly opened them.

In front of her stood a massive man, an unusual sight in the palace where almost no one dared to address the queen in such a manner. Even Selina, at the very least, extended a formal greeting.

‘He must believe the Emperor will protect him to the end.’

Eilidh clicked her tongue lightly. To her unexpected response, Tamil raised his eyebrows. He had expected her to be trembling and speechless, but she stood firm against him.

The queen was no ordinary noblewoman. Her expression was not that of someone who had lived a compliant life in complete tranquility.

‘But what can the queen do after all?’

Eilidh had almost no nobles openly supporting her, and Tamil had the backing of Claudius. The emperor could clip and break the queen’s wings at any time.

Soon, Tamil approached Eilidh. Her steady gaze pierced through the giant’s form.

Look at that. A smirk appeared on Tamil’s face. He felt an urge to mar the queen’s beautiful face. He didn’t adjust his lifted lips but taunted Eilidh.

“Strikingly, Your Highness resembles Lord Melpheus of Melpheus.”

Tamil’s voice dropped sharply at the mention of Melpheus. As soon as the name ‘Limeres Rowen Melpheus’ left his mouth, Eilidh bit her lip.

Tamil languidly rolled his wet tongue, savoring Limeres’s name. He then scrutinized Eilidh’s expression. What reaction would she show upon seeing the face of the man who pushed her brother to the brink of death?

Linet glared at Tamil while worrying that Eilidh might collapse.

The siblings were particularly close. Limeres was one of the few who truly understood Eilidh, a pillar in her world. Part of her collapsed the day Limeres was sentenced to death.

Unperturbed by Linet’s glare, Tamil slowly continued.

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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