Imperial Calendar Year 1577, November.
Count Conte, visiting the Grand Duchy of Torkan, headed to the audience chamber with his chin arrogantly raised as always. The indulgence that began from being an envoy of the Kingdom of Gania continued even as he entered the audience chamber and faced the master of Torkan.
“Grand Duke Floyd Ratean, receive the royal command sent by the august and noble King Joseph V of the Kingdom of Gaia!”
At his rude attitude, Adrian, who was guarding Floyd’s side, clicked his tongue, and Cain’s hand moved towards the sword at his waist. However, Floyd Carlot Ratean, the Grand Duke himself, raised one hand to stop his subordinates’ movements and laughed cheerfully.
“They say if you live with cats long enough, even a mouse thinks it’s a cat. Count Conte fits that description perfectly!”
Despite the jovial tone, the content was a put-down to both Joseph V and Count Conte.
Joseph V was the cat, Count Conte was the mouse.
Realizing the meaning, Count Conte’s face turned red and his eyes bulged, but Floyd was still laughing loudly, looking down at Count Conte.
“What insolence…!”
Count Conte, about to burst out, couldn’t finish his words due to the sudden heat that engulfed him. The abrupt heat took on a tangible form like a rope and strangled Count Conte’s neck.
Sizzle-
Count Conte couldn’t hear the sound of his flesh burning. He was too busy screaming and clawing at his neck, trying to loosen the intangible rope of heat, to come to his senses.
“Aaaaagh! Aaaagh! Sa-save… save me…!”
Ignoring the piercing screams, Floyd turned to his subordinates and asked.
“Look at that, don’t you think this one turned out well?”
Cain, who had been seething at Count Conte’s insolent attitude, lowered his hand that had been fidgeting near his sword hilt and said in a satisfied voice.
“Your accuracy has certainly improved compared to before.”
“Well, it might just be luck.”
Adrian expressed doubt, but Floyd didn’t lose his cheerful expression.
By now, Count Conte had collapsed and was writhing on the floor. His neck was bloody from his own fingernails and was sizzling from the heat.
“My lord. He is an envoy from the Kingdom of Gania. We cannot send him back as a corpse.”
If it weren’t for Arsen’s rational remark, no one would have paid any attention to Count Conte.
Floyd exclaimed “Oh my!” and stretched out his hand.
The heat that Floyd had released returned precisely without leaving a trace, but Count Conte was still rolling on the floor. It was because he was too terrified to realize that the heat had disappeared.
“Count Conte.”
Only when Floyd’s heavy voice filled the audience chamber did Count Conte stop scratching his neck and blink his eyes.
The heat that had seemed about to burn his entire body was gone, but the pain from the burns and the wounds from his own fingernails remained. However, it wasn’t enough pain to prevent him from regaining his senses.
Count Conte hurriedly stood up and took his place. His posture was markedly different from when he first entered the audience chamber.
Slightly lowered eyes, hunched shoulders, trembling fingers.
Seeing this, Floyd chuckled and raised his finger, causing Count Conte to stumble backward with a “Eee!” and fall with a thud. As Floyd and his subordinates laughed heartily, Count Conte’s face turned bright red.
“Why are you so afraid? I merely gestured for you to bring that royal command.”
Count Conte got up clumsily with a red face and awkwardly walked forward to respectfully present Joseph V’s letter with both hands.
At Floyd’s nod, Arsen stepped forward to retrieve the letter.
“Read it. Exclude the unnecessary flattery and personal news.”
At Floyd’s command, Arsen read out the main contents of the letter in a low voice. As the content continued, the smile that had been on Floyd’s face disappeared, and seeing this, Count Conte’s complexion also turned pale.
“So, in essence.”
Floyd stood up and took the letter Arsen was holding, skimming through it.
“Now that the Kingdom of Kanta has become Gania’s possession, you want me to subjugate the monsters in the vicinity?”
He already knew the news that a few months ago, Prince Lucas Pelur of the Kingdom of Gania had personally raised an army to attack the Kingdom of Kanta and killed the entire family, including King Victian IV of Kanta.
The Franche royal family, which had ruled the Kingdom of Kanta for a long time, had miserably collapsed under Lucas’s scheming.
But that had nothing to do with Floyd.
“Count Conte. What do you think about this royal command?”
Count Conte looked up at Floyd, who was standing in front of him, smiling slightly.
With a giant two heads taller than others standing right in front, the pressure was considerable, and when he realized that this giant’s eyes were not smiling, cold sweat ran down his back.
Why did I act so arrogantly in front of such a man? Even after hearing all the rumors about him.
Count Conte’s knees trembled as he realized his mistake.
Gulp.
Count Conte, swallowing dry saliva, barely opened his mouth.
“Ra-rather than a royal command, it’s more like a request…”
“Well, that’s not how I heard it. Didn’t you say to receive the royal command? You’re not suggesting there’s something wrong with my hearing, are you?”
Count Conte swallowed dry saliva once again.
“Grand Duke, this is just…”
Thwack-!
Before Count Conte could finish his sentence, Floyd kicked him in the chest. Pushed back by the strong force, Count Conte fell without even being able to scream.
Count Conte, lying on the floor, watched in bewilderment as the large man walked towards him step by step.
Floyd’s foot stomped on Count Conte’s chest.
“Cough, cough.”
Count Conte coughed sharply, but Floyd glared at him without releasing the pressure from his leg.
“Your master is quite brazen. Did he think such a shameless trick would work?”
“Gr-Grand Duke…”
“Do I still look like the pathetic wretch begging for his life in that household? Does your master think Torkan is still in his grasp?”
Floyd grabbed Count Conte by the collar and lifted him up with ease. Bringing Count Conte’s eyes level with his own, Floyd glared at him before throwing him aside, growling:
“Go back and tell him, Count. Torkan is not a part of the Kingdom of Gania, and I am no longer Pelur’s dog.”
+++
Imperial Calendar Year 1577, April.
Emerging from the Great Temple after a month, Roxiana looked up at the clear spring sky. Her platinum blonde hair swayed gently.
The chilly weather when she entered the Great Temple had now fully turned to spring. The sky was clear and clean, and the wind carried the scent of flowers.
‘It’s really spring now.’
Spring comes every year, but the spring of her 20th year held great significance for Roxiana.
For a long time, Roxiana had been set to marry Lucas Pelur, the crown prince of the Kingdom of Gania, in the year she turned 20.
There was a custom for women from various royal families and noble houses across the continent to pray at the Great Temple in the Empire and receive the blessing of the high priest before marriage. For royal women in particular, the mandatory prayer period was longer.
Around this time last year, after the wedding date was set, Roxiana was busy preparing for the wedding while also getting ready to go to the Great Temple.
And finally, she had safely completed the biggest task before the wedding – a month-long period of prayer.
‘When I return this time, I’ll also be saying goodbye to the Kingdom of Kanta.’
As per custom, Roxiana and Lucas’s wedding will be held in the bride’s country, the Kingdom of Kanta. After a week of wedding ceremonies and parties, they will depart for the Kingdom of Gania.
Then Roxiana will change from being a princess of the Kingdom of Kanta to the crown princess of the Kingdom of Gania.
The crown princess of the Kingdom of Gania.
Even though she had known since childhood that this would happen someday, now that it was right in front of her, her feelings were strange.
“Princess!”
At the familiar voice, Roxiana snapped out of her thoughts.
The carriage of the Franche royal family of the Kingdom of Kanta was now in front of Roxiana, and Lasha, one of Roxiana’s maids, was smiling brightly in front of the carriage.
“You waited long, didn’t you? I tried to hurry, but still ended up being late.”
Lasha had accompanied Roxiana when she headed to the Great Temple and had been staying in a nearby city for a month, waiting for Roxiana’s prayer to end.
When praying before marriage at the Great Temple, even those of noble birth couldn’t bring attendants inside.
“No, I just came out early. It must have been hard staying in an unfamiliar place, are you feeling alright?”
“Of course. I ate well and lived well. I’m more worried about you, Princess. They say the meals at the Great Temple are terrible, just look how thin you’ve become.”
Roxiana smiled a little.
The meals at the Great Temple were terrible, but as she got used to them, they weren’t inedible. Sometimes there was meat, and sometimes there was pickled fish.
“Ah, please get in the carriage quickly, Princess. Everyone will be waiting.”
Roxiana thought of her kind father and mother, her brothers and sister, as she got into the carriage.
After a journey of about 10 days, she would meet her family. She missed them terribly, having never been apart from them for so long.
For the first few nights after entering the Great Temple, she had cried thinking of her family.
I mustn’t tell anyone about this. If my brothers find out, they’ll tease me all day.
“It feels strange. To think this will be the last time I meet my family.”
“Oh my, Princess. What do you mean, the last time? Why say such sad things? Gania and Kanta aren’t that far apart, and with the train, you’ll be able to see them often. And Lucas is such a kind and affectionate person, he’ll surely let you visit your family whenever you miss them.”
Roxiana thought of Lucas.
As Lasha said, he was a kind man. He was only slightly taller than Roxiana, but he was a handsome man whose bright blonde hair suited him very well, admired by many women.
Even Elise, Roxiana’s oldest friend, used to say enviously.
-“You’re so lucky, Princess. To have such a wonderful person as your fiancé.”
He certainly was a very handsome and wonderful man, but.
‘I’m not sure.’
Roxiana looked down at her hands.
‘Do I love Lucas?’
Even before she was old enough to understand, Lucas had been Roxiana’s fiancé.
Because they were from different countries, they couldn’t meet often, but they did have what were called dates three or four times a year. They would walk along the riverbank together, go to the opera, and even share a kiss when parting.
Roxiana had her first kiss with Lucas when she was 16.
Only when she saw his face slowly approaching did she realize he was going to kiss her, and she tightly closed her eyes.
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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