“Kore, all men should rightfully return to the embrace of the earth.”
A cool breeze blew from beyond the cliff along with the waves.
Recalling her mother’s words, Persephone furrowed her brow at the salty smell reaching her nose. She turned her head toward the fairy making a flower crown.
“Cyane.”
“Yes?”
“When Mom talks about men and always mentions ‘the embrace of the earth’, does she mean death?”
Doubt clouded Persephone’s eyes. Seeing her expression, the water nymph Cyane startled and stammered.
“W-why are you suddenly talking about such scary things?”
“Hmm…”
Persephone hummed, tilting her cheek. Resting her chin on her hand, she asked Cyane another question.
“Anyway, it seems like Mom wants to use all men as fertilizer for the land? That’s no different from saying she wants to kill them.”
“Surely not, it must be a figurative expression. The Goddess of the Earth who embraces the humans of this land couldn’t possibly have meant it that way.”
“Do you really think so?”
Trying to make excuses, Cyane couldn’t withstand Persephone’s persistently shining gaze and quickly lowered her head.
She couldn’t handle the young woman’s curiosity, asking questions like an inquisitive child.
Silence lingered between them for a long time.
In the end, it was Cyane who showed submission by agreeing with Persephone.
“…Well, it’s clear she’s not very favorable towards them.”
“…”
“Oh my, I understand the lady, but you’re all grown up now. It’s too much that she won’t even let you date.”
Persephone smiled ambiguously at her jest.
Her mother, Demeter, was always anxious when she couldn’t keep her daughter by her side. Whenever they moved residences, she would take care of Persephone first, and she couldn’t help but interfere in matters related to lovers or men.
Once, when Persephone couldn’t stand the annoyance anymore, she had asked Demeter, who was constantly giving warnings and cautions:
“Then what about Lord Hades of the Underworld? Should he also ‘return to the embrace of the earth’?”
“W-what?”
“He’s a man, but he’s also the ruler of death. Even if you send him to Mom’s ’embrace of the earth’, he won’t die!”
Her question seemed to catch Demeter off guard, as she uncharacteristically opened and closed her mouth for a while, unable to speak.
“…He’s no exception either, Kore.”
“Hmm, really?”
“Yes, really. And what this mother means by ’embrace of the earth’ isn’t death, you clever thing.”
The image of a flustered Demeter clearing her throat was still vivid in her mind.
Persephone ran her fingers over the smooth rock she was using as a chair. Green weeds danced at her feet, growing haphazardly.
While her mother’s pessimistic attitude was a bit frustrating, considering the famous story associated with her name…
‘It’s probably a thousand, no, a hundred thousand times better that she’s paying me the utmost attention.’
Persephone, who had been enjoying the spring breeze, stood up, brushing off her fluttering skirt.
“If anything, I feel more sorry for Cyane. You can’t have any personal time because you have to stick by my side.”
“Oh no, it’s not like that. I find this much more comfortable.”
“Really?”
“Yes. And the scenery on this island is so beautiful, isn’t it?”
Cyane smiled softly and placed the flower crown on Persephone’s head. A drop of dew fell from her fingertips.
“Lady Kore, you suit this scenery so well.”
She pointed to somewhere in the forest on the island.
“Shall we go make flower crowns together?”
Where Cyane’s index finger was pointing, the nymph daughters of the sea god were playing.
Persephone’s heart lifted naturally at the sound of laughter that could be heard. She alternately swung her arms and began to walk vigorously towards the flower field.
“Alright, I’ll have to show off my skills.”
“You won’t tear it up if you get frustrated, will you?”
“Of course not! Don’t you know I’m actually quite good with my hands? I’m a good cook too!”
“You certainly do make food well, unlike your usual self, but…”
“What did you say?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Snorting with a “hmph,” Persephone brushed back her hair that was fluttering in the wind. She kicked away the pebbles that got in her way, making a path.
It was then, at the end of her free-spirited steps, that she caught sight of a daffodil.
“…”
For the first time, the smile disappeared from Persephone’s face, which had been smiling all along.
“Lady Kore?”
Sensing something strange, Cyane examined Persephone.
“Is there some problem…?”
“…No.”
Persephone shook her head with a smile.
“I was just looking at how pretty the daffodil is.”
Of course, it was a lie.
“Don’t say such nonsense. Daffodils have always been pretty.”
Yeah, that’s right. They were pretty. They still are pretty. Giving a vague response, she chewed on the inside of her lip secretly from Cyane.
This place was an island, and she, Persephone, was playing with the nymphs.
The fact that there were daffodils here too meant…
‘Am I about to be kidnapped?’
Persephone shuddered at the chill running down her spine.
Indeed, ‘Persephone’ already knew the future that she would be kidnapped.
She didn’t know the future from the moment she was born as a goddess on the Greek mainland. ‘Persephone’ didn’t have the ability to foresee the future like a prophet.
However, after falling seriously ill at the age of 10, she realized she had a past life.
The place where she lived in her past life was a rural area in a peninsula country with no tall buildings, but plenty of mountains and sea. It was also a place where myths were vividly passed down among humans.
Thanks to recalling the memories of her past life, she realized that she was ‘Persephone’ from Greek and Roman mythology.
And when it came to myths about ‘Persephone’, they inevitably mentioned her abduction marriage and her husband.
Persephone’s husband is Hades, the king of the underworld.
In mythology, Hades falls in love with Persephone at first sight and tries to kidnap her to make her his wife.
“I don’t want to be kidnapped…”
Persephone mumbled, following Cyane, in a voice too low for others to hear.
How could she, the goddess of seeds, live in the underworld filled only with the dead?
Before knowing the development of the myth, Persephone had set a goal to someday become independent and obtain a good house and temple.
She thought that if she showed herself living well, Demeter would set aside her anxiety and feel reassured.
Persephone’s own idea of romance was to cook with crops grown in her garden, receive offerings from humans who worshipped her, and live a leisurely life.
But if she were to be kidnapped by the king of the underworld, she could never achieve the romance she had cherished for so long.
This was why Persephone, usually called a tomboy, had been quietly observing the scenery since earlier. If she caused a commotion and caught Hades’ eye, it would be a big problem.
‘No, and how can they expect me to marry my uncle? It’s absurd!’
Persephone puffed out her cheeks petulantly as she recalled the family tree of Hades and herself.
Hades and Demeter were siblings, so if she, Demeter’s daughter, married him, it would be no different from incest.
Although it might be unavoidable to marry within blood relations in Greek and Roman mythology, now that she knew the myth, she didn’t want to be the one involved. It was also because the place where she lived in her past life strictly prohibited incest.
‘Well, but myths are actually a bit flimsy, so if I avoid it well for a while, won’t it be okay?’
Persephone relaxed as she made an optimistic imagination in her mind.
Isn’t that how all myths are? Since they were folklore passed down by word of mouth before becoming myths, even if she had been reincarnated as Persephone, if she knew the future, there were many ways to avoid Hades’ kidnapping.
Yes, for example, being a good child who always listens to Demeter’s words to come home before sunset.
Or…
‘Not going to pick the daffodils blooming thickly at the edge of that cliff.’
Persephone stopped following Cyane and stood still.
In the myth, Hades lures Persephone, who was playing with nymphs on the island, with fragrant daffodils. After leading her to the boundary between the underworld and the living world, he jumps out and takes Persephone away just as she’s about to pick the daffodil.
Persephone narrowed her eyes at the cluster of daffodils with particularly large flower heads.
The number was roughly a hundred flowers.
The fragrance was so strong it reached where she was standing, and the petals even sparkled in the sunlight, but from her perspective, knowing the myth, it was nothing more and nothing less than a trap.
She pouted her lips and was about to turn away from the daffodils when it happened.
Rumble…
“…What’s that?”
Persephone quickly raised her head.
The ground was shaking unstably.
In the distance, Cyane and the nymphs’ sharp screams erupted. Meanwhile, Persephone lost her balance and stumbled, falling to the ground.
Her body slid down the sloped hill, approaching the cracks in the cliff.
‘Could it be Hades?’
Persephone hurriedly dug her fingers into the dirt. Sticking to the grass like a spider, she spat out the weeds she had inhaled and raised her upper body.
‘He’s not here, right? No one’s here, right?’
Fortunately, there was no sign of Hades.
Persephone exhaled a sigh of relief as she stood up. She waved her hand towards Cyane, who was running towards her, as if to say she was okay.
At that moment.
An ashen shadow fell over her head.
Persephone raised her eyes. Glossy black fur entered her field of vision.
“Huh…?”
The horse’s pitch-black hooves were swaying above her head.
The reins swung in the air like a whip. Her gaze naturally flew to the connection point of the reins.
It was a chariot, no, a war chariot.
With a background as dark as the abyss and golden decorations proving its wealth. It was clear whose chariot this was before her eyes.
Hades’ chariot.
Persephone’s face turned pale as she instinctively sensed the threat.
There was no sign of someone coming out of the chariot to grab her, but there was an even bigger problem.
That is, the chariot that was dozens of times larger than her body…
‘Is it trying to run me over?’
The flower crown that had been placed on her head floated off.
“Young lady!”
With Cyane’s cry as the last thing she heard, Persephone’s vision turned black.
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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