“Don’t say things you don’t mean.”
The emperor tried to stand up.
“By any chance, the memory only you and Mikael knew… Is it the frog story?”
The empress held him back. The emperor was taken aback.
“How do you…”
“You mentioned it to me.”
“Ah… Right, yes.”
The emperor’s eyes drifted into memory.
“That child, so adorably holding the hideous creature in his hands, smiling like sunshine. Yes…”
“Do you truly believe you never mentioned that to anyone else?”
“That’s right. Why do you ask?”
“Cecilia, the girl, knows that memory. I was curious how she knew.”
“······I wonder too. Have you told anyone else?”
“······Once.”
“Who?”
The emperor’s eyes flashed.
“Medea, the Grand Duchess.”
“Medea?”
“When I retreated to the villa a few months after seclusion, young Duchess Medea visited me with her father.”
The empress recalled that time.
She thought of her as a kind and cute child who came to find her, giving up everything. But was it really so?
Young Medea, with her round eyes, kept asking.
“Are you truly not returning to the palace, Empress? Is that really true?”
What did that child want to know? Did she want to confirm that I really had no intention of returning?
The empress opened her eyes.
“To that child, who asked why I wouldn’t return to the palace, I said I had too many memories to return to your side. I also mentioned the frog story with you and Mikael.”
“······.”
“I’ll leave now. Please don’t skip your meal.”
There was a regretful tone in her voice.
“Are you leaving? Back to the villa?”
“I will now stay where I belong, Your Majesty. There may be those who don’t want it, but I will be by your side.”
“That, that’s good.”
“······.”
“Anyway, Bellfast, as the shield of the empire! Must return to the North. The border cannot be left unguarded for a moment, a strategic key point. And the restoration of the Antuan family must be carried out.”
The emperor stated firmly.
The empress bowed respectfully to the emperor without a word. She then turned and headed towards the exit.
Her expression, on the brink of collapse, went unseen by the emperor.
Alone again, the emperor sank deep into thought.
“Medea… that child knows it.”
But she wasn’t the kind of child to use such a story maliciously.
“The empress isn’t as sharp as she used to be. She’s aged like me… Or perhaps, that ruthless Bellfast whispered something to her?”
The emperor picked up his teacup to rinse the bitterness in his mouth, only to find it empty, the tea spilled out.
His anger flared again.
“The emperor called the saint of the fallen nation of Benthus, whom the prince loved, a ‘whore of the ruined nation.'”
“A whore of the ruined nation…”
I repeated the words unwittingly. Arcadia explained.
“Yes, only the emperor.”
Upon our return to the provincial mansion, Arcadia called me into an empty drawing room.
He then explained why the emperor hated Bellfast.
“But his only son eloped with that ‘whore’, or rather the saint of Benthus, and our former duke hid them. They were very close friends. It could have had a happy ending, but the prince was murdered, and the first one to find him was the former duke. So, the emperor thinks Bellfast killed his son… It’s an absurd idea, but he wanted to believe it. People go mad when they can’t find a reason.”
Bellfast wasn’t the one who murdered my parents; it was Rahert.
But the emperor trusted Rahert.
“In the end, the emperor decided to kill the former duke. He constantly sent him to battlefields. After achieving his aim, he summoned the Duchess and the eight-year-old Sion Bellfast to the capital, under the guise of aiding the young duke’s growth. But in truth, he took the young duke as a hostage. So, I also came to the capital at nine, representing my family.”
“······.”
“Then the Duchess passed away from illness, and since then, it was just me, Duke Bellfast, and our Hans.”
“I see.”
“You sound a bit dry?”
“······.”
“Eh? Why are your eyes red?”
Arcadia suddenly peered into my face.
“It’s nothing.”
I quickly turned away.
I wasn’t the only one who lost parents.
Because of Medea’s father, Duke Bellfast also lost his parents.
Because his ancestor helped my parents.
And in my past life, I killed Arcadia, who was Duke Bellfast’s right-hand man, this candid and warm man in front of me.
Then, Bran, who came to drink water, waved at us cheerfully.
“Hello, Lieutenant! Hey, Esdel, my fellow knight! Aren’t you going to greet me?”
I made Bran, who was jealous but loved the North and respected Duke Bellfast and Arcadia, a traitor and killed him.
I also killed Knight Emils in my past life. I killed him without even seeing his face.
Not just these three.
I killed dozens of Duke Bellfast’s people.
The memories of my past life, that heavy guilt, began to weigh down on me.
Breathing became difficult.
“And here I am in this life, wanting to step forward as the princess, even for a moment.”
An assassin princess to a mad emperor who can’t distinguish between friend and foe!
How ridiculous.
“Why so, Esdel? Are you suddenly ill?”
Arcadia looked at me with an unfamiliar, worried face.
I sighed unintentionally.
“······No, it’s nothing.”
“Lieutenant! Count Jardine has arrived!”
At that moment, Knight Emils came to call Arcadia.
“Oh! I’ll be right there! Take him to Duke Bellfast immediately!”
“It’s okay, Lieutenant. Go ahead. It’s about taxes, right? Important.”
“Yes, it is. The important information you provided.”
The information I provided…
“Don’t look at me like that, Arcadia. I remember your face as you fell from the balcony because of me.”
“I’ll go out for some fresh air.”
I got up and went to my room. After putting on a black cloak, I stepped out into the street.
The sudden onslaught of guilt made it impossible for me to stay in the beautiful room the Duke had provided for me.
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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