Carlein instinctively cast his gaze downwards.
“Are you talking about shoes…? You can’t take them off?”
“Not my shoes.”
“Then whose…?”
“The False Emperor. Like how I just changed my face, he changed his face too. I think he’s wearing magical shoes that can change his appearance. I’m not sure though.”
“Of all things, shoes. That’s troublesome. If it were a ring or something, it would be easy.”
“A ring would be easy?”
As Carlein reached out his hand, he naturally grasped Latil’s hand. A firm pressure could be felt between their interlaced fingers.
“What are you doing?”
Upon Latil’s question, Carlein made a playful smirk and pretended to pull his hand up.
“Because I can pull it out like this.”
“And you cunningly took this opportunity to hold my hand?”
“I should seize such an opportunity.”
“Your hands are always cold. ……They say a person with a warm heart has cold hands. Is that why?”
“No, I have Raynaud’s disease.”
“You are moodless. The cold thing isn’t your hands but your unromantic nature, I guess.”
As Latil pulled her hand away and grumbled, Carlein gently placed his hands on both of her cheeks with a laugh.
“It’s warm like this.”
“Shut up. Get down. The romantic atmosphere is long gone.”
“If you give me another chance……”
“Get down.”
“……”
He grimaced and lowered his hand, but was it mistaken that he seemed a little sulky? Latil realized it wasn’t the right time as she thought Carlein looked a bit cute.
‘Yeah, he’s the only one who recognizes me now, so I shouldn’t be harsh on him. I should treat him very delicately, as if he were a priceless artifact.’
“My precious Carlein. With your fragile hands affected by Raynaud’s, can you manage to remove the shoes?”
“……”
“What’s with that face?”
“Just do as you’ve always done, Master. It gives me chills.”
“Hey.”
As Latil grimaced and glared, Carlein crossed his arms and looked as if he was seriously contemplating something.
“How can I remove the shoes?”
Though it was an obvious act, Latil was the one in a hurry and thus she obligingly went along with him.
“If I offer to give a foot massage…… won’t it work?”
“If the shoes are really magical, then that won’t be enough.”
“Right.”
“In this case…… I see. Instead of getting him to take off the shoes, we should put him to sleep and then remove them.”
“Can you do it?”
“I’ll have to try.”
“Don’t do anything else. Only take off the shoes.”
Having said that, Latil regretted her words. Don’t do anything else. She shouldn’t have said that.
During the day, Carlein had carefully tucked the False Emperor under a blanket, and this act had stayed with her, causing her to blurt it out now.
But the words had already been said, and Carlein was staring intently at Latil.
“What do you mean by ‘Don’t do anything else’?”
Ignoring Carlein’s question, Latil rambled.
“I’ll clock out for now and come back later, so let me know the result. Hide the shoes. No, should I not clock out? Should I stay here? Should I dispose of the shoes? What to do?”
Carlein lifted his hand, and with his cold fingers, tugged at the vicinity of Latil’s eyebrow. Seeing her look, he cracked a smile.
“Shall I put you to sleep?”
“Eh?”
[This is the time separator]Thanks to Carlein’s room being on the first floor, it was easy to enter through the window once she had kept an eye on the surroundings.
‘It feels a little awkward.’
Entering the room, Latil aimlessly touched her hair. Carlein’s servant was surprised for a moment upon seeing Latil, but as soon as Carlein said, “It’s the master,” he promptly agreed with a “Yes.”
That was it? The acceptance was so clean and straightforward that it was rather baffling for Latil.
“Your servant believes your word like it’s the truth.”
“In a situation where you don’t know when you might die, it’s important to trust each other.”
“All the members of your mercenary group have this kind of relationship?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good…… I’m envious.”
“There’s no need for envy. They’re all your people.”
“They’re your people, not mine.”
“They’re your people.”
Even their words are thankful. Smiling, Latil patted Carlein’s shoulder and began to look for a place where she could hide.
The plan they had established went as follows.
Firstly, if Latil were to hide in the room, Carlein would bring the imposter emperor into the room and take off his shoes once he fell asleep.
Next, Latil, who had been watching this, would either dispose of or hide the shoes as soon as the imposter emperor returned to his original form.
It was a simple method that rendered the imposter emperor powerless in one go. The problem was…
“But will the imposter come here if called?”
This point exactly. The imposter would also be careful and cautious about his actions. It was a bit doubtful whether he would actually fall asleep here.
He might fall asleep in the harem. He might let down his guard. Someday. But wouldn’t that take a little more time?
Since the imposter hadn’t infiltrated the palace for long, wouldn’t his guard be at its highest?
“There’s no harm in trying.”
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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