In This Life, I'll Assist You (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 1
Far away, I saw him bound upon the scaffold. His body, parched for days beneath the scorching sun, was denied even a moment of rest.
His arms, stretched wide, were chained to two distant pillars. His once-gleaming black hair now hung limp from his bowed head, trailing toward the ground.
A punishment so cruel even seasoned knights could not endure it—the crime of treason, demanding death exposed to public scorn and shame.
No drop of water permitted, no swift execution allowed—this was the Emperor’s most merciless sentence for a noble criminal.
Grand Duke of the North, Zion Belfast. That man was never meant to die like this.
Hidden in the shadows, I watched him until deep night fell.
Perhaps I was the one who destroyed everything he had, yet still, I wished for him not to end like this. It was a feeling I could not even understand myself.
I killed Sir Arcadia Nugent, his closest friend, vassal, and right hand.
I slew the vice-captain of the Northern Knights, who had served faithfully under him—their commander—to defend the Empire.
Afterward, I whispered lies to Bran Ophelit, who became the new vice-captain, inciting him to rebel against the Grand Duke and then killing him.
Because of that, the Grand Duke’s knightly order was shattered.
White Butterfly—this was my name as an assassin.
I was the hound of House Lahert, who hated Grand Duke Zion Belfast—the shadow of Medea Lahert, eldest daughter of the Grand Duke Lahert.
An assassin with silver hair, who obeyed every command of Medea Lahert—her nameless monster, her face half-ruined.
All those descriptions pointed to me, yet I truly did not know who I was.
When darkness cloaked the world so thoroughly that not even a hand’s breadth ahead could be seen, I slowly approached the Grand Duke. I stood right before him, yet he seemed unaware of my presence.
The water I had deliberately chilled still felt cool.
I knelt on one knee before the Grand Duke. At that, he lifted his head and looked at me.
His eyes, once bluer than the deepest and widest lake in the Empire, now gazed at me, dimmed of their light.
“I brought water.”
I placed a cotton pad soaked in water into his mouth.
He swallowed, then spat out the pad. After a moment, his eyes fixed upon me.
“Is it you?”
His lips—once crimson, now parched and scabbed—parted. Unable to meet his gaze directly, I lowered my head.
Grand Duke of the North, Zion Belfast.
You are only twenty-eight. A hero who defended the Empire through countless victorious battles.
The only noble who cared first for his people, not for his own safety.
The man beloved by all commoners, thus becoming the sworn enemy of my lord, Grand Duke Lahert.
The last bloodline of House Belfast.
The man who first defeated me with a sword.
“I had hoped, above all others, that you would survive.”
A rasping sound, like dry wood scraping, escaped my throat.
“Those are not words for the White Butterfly of Lahert, it seems.”
The Grand Duke spoke. A fleeting smile touched his once-beautiful jawline before vanishing—calm, without anger or mockery, merely stating a fact.
How long had you known of my existence as an assassin? Did you glimpse me that night, when I passed you after making Arcadia’s death look like suicide?
“When I was fifteen, Count Hern Nugent, who guarded the North in my stead, died. Was that Lahert’s doing as well?”
“My master, the Black Worm of Lahert, assassinated him.”
“I see. I’ve never heard that name before.”
“Because I killed him.”
I answered flatly, eyes lowered. The Grand Duke spoke again.
“Raise your head, White Butterfly.”
At his commanding words, I closed my eyes and silently asked him in my heart:
Do you not know that I have no right to look upon you directly?
All you would see, even if I raised my head, is a masked monster with half a face utterly ruined.
“Raise your head, nameless one.”
The Grand Duke spoke once more. From his voice, I sensed he would not survive the night.
Slowly, ever so slowly, I lifted my face.
—Does moonlight fall upon my face?
—Is my utterly collapsed left side not hideous?
—My iron mask still covers my right face. I still live like this.
I spoke to him in my heart.
He looked into my eyes—as he had that day, eleven years ago.
The seventeen-year-old Grand Duke of the North, who accepted a duel with a fourteen-year-old masked girl.
After giving me my first defeat in life, he gently removed the mask covering half my face with careful hands.
And he said,
“Why do you hide the beautiful side of your face?”
“Because the ruined side is my true face…”
Flustered, I stammered. He replied,
“That doesn’t seem right. To me, the hidden side looks more like your true face. Wouldn’t it be better to live showing your beautiful side?”
Even then, his tone had been calm. And to keep me from panicking further, he carefully put the mask back on.
Never taking his eyes from mine.
You were the first and last person in this world, aside from my lady Medea, who did not despise me.
You probably don’t remember.
When I unintentionally lifted my gaze, my eyes met yours—those clear blue eyes staring right at me.
The Grand Duke said,
“Your eyes remind me greatly of someone I knew long ago.”
“…”
“Eyes as clear as a sky without a single cloud—sky-blue eyes. Yours are red, but the eye beneath your mask… I can’t recall.”
I could not bring myself to answer that my eye beneath the mask was also sky-blue. I didn’t want to tarnish his memory.
Just then, footsteps echoed from the darkness.
Instinctively, my hand went to my scabbard.
I couldn’t let my master catch me giving water to a traitor.
Whoever saw me now had to die.
But the one who appeared was my lady’s handmaiden, Medea Lahert.
Without looking at the Grand Duke, she said to me,
“My lady seeks the White Butterfly.”
I nodded, and she vanished into the darkness.
She likely assumed I had come to witness the Grand Duke’s end.
The Grand Duke’s breathing grew ragged. I tried to pour all the water from the small glass vial I’d brought into his mouth.
But he shook his head.
“Why… do you follow Lahert?”
He asked.
“My first memory is of Lady Medea’s smiling face. She took in a child who had lost her memory and whose face was half-ruined. She was the only one who treated me as a person, when everyone else called me a monster.”
“I see. How foolish. What a waste. How regrettable.”
His voice trembled like a dying candle. Even his broad shoulders began to sink slowly in the wind.
I closed my eyes again. I didn’t want to see him crumble.
I asked him,
“Is this pity?”
“Concern.”
“I respected you.”
At my words, he fell silent for a moment. I waited for his silence.
After a while, the Grand Duke’s lips parted.
“Could you tell me your real name? Your true… name.”
It was unexpected. I couldn’t fathom why, in his dying moments, he would ask for the name of someone like me.
“Bella. The name Lady Medea gave me.”
It was a name only she knew.
“Bella. May your soul find its way out of the darkness.”
The Grand Duke said.
His words felt like a piece of my heart had been carved away.
But the White Butterfly must never reveal emotion.
I bowed my head quietly toward him.
A strong wind rushed between us.
After a long while, I lifted my head.
The Grand Duke hung lifeless from his chains.
“In your next life, I pray you are never born into a world like this.”
I had to swallow my tears.
But the pain piercing my chest could not be fully suppressed.
I wished to lay his chained, lifeless body down gently.
Yet in the end, I could not even touch his hand, now cold and white.
I dared not let the tainted hands of the White Butterfly touch his body.
[This is the timeline separator]The Lahert ducal mansion stands in the heart of Sharghen’s bustling district, overlooking the execution grounds.
I entered the estate through a secret passage.
Then I stepped into a corridor lined entirely with gold, stretching a full lena in length.
The Grand Duke’s final image refused to leave my mind, making the glittering corridor feel strangely unfamiliar today.
Pull yourself together.
This is unlike you.
After walking for a while, I arrived before Lady Medea’s private chamber. At the closed door, I steadied my breath.
It doesn’t matter what is right, Bella. What matters is what my lady desires.
Carefully, I tapped on the door adorned with red rubies.
“Come in.”
Her voice, soft yet kind, reached me.
Inside, I bowed deeply.
“No need for formalities between us, Bella. No matter how many times I say it, you remain the same.”
When I raised my head, I saw her smiling warmly at me.
“You are my one and only true friend.”
For a moment, I regretted having entered with such a shadowed face.
I felt guilty for having doubted, even briefly, the long-standing friendship my lady had shown me.
It was my choice to kill the enemies of House Lahert for her.
Each time I took a life, I felt more like a monster—but it didn’t matter.
Ever since I was five, when my memory began, people called me a monster for my ruined face.
I answered as respectfully as I could.
“It is an honor, but you must no longer call someone like me your friend. Tomorrow, you shall become the adopted granddaughter of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor himself.”
“Hehe, is that so? But even then, one mustn’t forget old bonds, right? Isn’t that true?”
She offered a faint smile, but then her straight nose wrinkled slightly.
…Why?
In an instant, she smiled again.
“Still, thank you, Bella. Everyone will surely envy me, yet you alone continue to care for me. Honestly, it’s hard to believe. After longing for so long, it’s finally happening tomorrow—becoming His Imperial Majesty’s adopted granddaughter. It feels far too grand for me.”
“It is not excessive, my lady. Have you not worked tirelessly for this?”
“Really? Truly not too much? Am I worthy?”
“Of course. Excluding the Imperial Family, you hold the highest status in the Delphast Empire. To the childless Emperor, you will be a light in his lonely life.”
“Hehe, I suppose so. Lately, he rarely speaks of his deceased son or his lost granddaughter.”
Tomorrow, my lady Medea’s investiture ceremony will be held.
The day she becomes the childless old Emperor’s adopted granddaughter.
The day she ascends from Grand Duke’s eldest daughter to Imperial Princess, inheritor of the throne.
“Which reminds me, Bella—I received a gift from His Imperial Majesty.”
She ran a hand through her luxuriant golden hair, her crimson eyes sparkling.
I loved how she spoke to me cheerfully like this.
In those moments, my loneliness felt a little less heavy.
“Aren’t you curious what it is?”
“I am.”
“The Imperial Treasure—the sword Lucella, which proves the Imperial bloodline.”
“His Majesty must truly love you, my lady.”
I said it with genuine awe.
Lucella is one of only two Holy Swords in the Empire.
Mentioned even in the founding myth, it remembers and verifies the Imperial blood.
Legend says its silver blade turns gold upon contact with true Imperial blood.
At this, my lady laughed brightly.
“Exactly! That’s why I want to make His Majesty even happier.”
Lady Medea showed me the silver sword resting in a transparent jewel case.
Even to look upon it was dazzling.
It was an honor.
I knelt on one knee before her.
“My blood will never turn this sword golden—but if it somehow did, you’d be so happy you’d faint from joy, wouldn’t you?”
She was sometimes cruel but fundamentally pure.
She laughed, imagining something impossible, something that could never happen.
The Emperor, who had lost his only son—the Crown Prince—and the Prince’s daughter, his only granddaughter.
Knowing the Emperor’s deepest wish was to find his granddaughter, everyone on the continent pretended to have found her, flocking to the palace.
Yet none of the imposters they presented could change the color of that sword.
“I still remember clearly—when that despicable King of Rhoman presented his own daughter, His Majesty cut his own noble body with this very sword, proving the silver blade truly would not turn gold! Everyone who doubted the sword’s power fell silent. Rhoman was destroyed by the Emperor’s wrath.”
“I’ve heard that tale before.”
Lady Medea walked slowly to a corner of the room and opened an old oak drawer.
From it, she drew another sword and showed it to me.
“Now that I have a sword, I wish to give you a gift too. What do you think of this one?”
“!”
It was a blade slightly longer than a dagger, shimmering with a faint green hue.
The hilt was made of an unknown blue mineral.
“I’m deeply honored, my lady.”
Truly astonished, I bowed my head.
Then, before I knew it, my lady stood before me and lifted my chin with her long, elegant fingers.
“Bella, truthfully, I’ve wanted to give you this dagger for a long time. I’m sorry it took until now.”
“What? I… I’m truly overwhelmed.”
“I have one request in return.”
“What is it?”
“Take off the sword you’re wearing now and place it far away, then come back.”
Seeing her bright, cheerful smile, I realized she had devised another playful trick. I obediently did as she asked.
“Sit as you did before. Ah—your mask is a bit loose. Let me adjust it.”
She resecured the mask covering the unruined half of my face snugly over my ear.
“Don’t be ashamed that your true face is ruined, Bella. You may show it proudly. If anyone says anything, I’ll scold them just as I did when we were children.”
Lady Medea slowly approached me, holding the Holy Sword Lucella. I teased her,
“Are you planning to grant me a title, Your Imperial Highness?”
“No—something even better. Absolutely do not move, Bella.”
“Yes.”
“Promise me.”
“Yes.”
In that instant, she lightly pricked the ruined side of my face with the dagger she had just shown me.
Why?
But within seconds, the ground seemed to rise toward me.
Dizziness overwhelmed me. In that moment, she thrust Lucella into my heart.
Khk—
I couldn’t even make a sound.
What is this?
Her blade pierced my lung. She twisted it once inside me and smiled clearly.
“I want to reveal a truth beyond compare, Bella. The Emperor’s true granddaughter… is you.”
“!”
I heard the sound of air escaping from my punctured lung.
At the same time, Lucella’s silver blade slowly turned golden—from the edge, along the blade, all the way to the hilt.
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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They are deeply concerned and confused and hurt from the past….they just can’t overcome their fear from the past…it is deeply rooted…it will take time…in the mean time they are hurting each other…and Arcadia is also feeling twisted inside…what are all they can do…
This chapters sentences were really weird to read so maybe someone should proofread to verify. It was a lot of broken up words to complete a sentence. like they were talking on a radio.
why did we switch into caller her a he again. Does anyone Proofread. I love the novel but I really wish that you guys would pay better attention. I paid for this novel, I expect it to atleast be done correctly