Finally, the exhausted boy shouted. And, taking advantage of the boy’s open sides, William didn’t miss the chance and struck hard with his wooden sword.
“Ouch!”
The boy collapsed with a single blow.
And so, William’s tedious duel continued. He waited for his opponents to get tired and show their weak points before awkwardly swinging his sword.
Yet, William emerged as the final victor. All his victories were single-strike knockouts.
“Wow, William! You’re the top!”
Larisa, jumping with joy, made William smile as he walked towards her. But he stiffened upon hearing Guinevere’s comment.
“Top of the class, well done.”
‘Am I hearing things?’
But looking again, Guinevere said nothing more.
In the carriage ride back, Larisa chattered.
“Mother, what does top of the class mean?”
“It means number one.”
“Wow, William. You’re the top of the class, well done.”
Larisa repeated Guinevere’s words, as she was keen to use new words she learned from her reading.
William realized he hadn’t been hallucinating.
“Mother, you’ve changed a bit lately?”
“Me?”
“Doing things like praising me…”
William wasn’t exactly happy about the praise. Instead, he looked suspicious. Guinevere felt bittersweet.
‘I need to change this time.’
Guinevere modestly excused herself.
“I always thought it was natural for my son to excel.”
‘Did she just say ‘my son’? Now?’
William was internally shocked. Was his mother dying? Already over a hundred years old, it wasn’t impossible.
Suddenly worried, William asked.
“Are you dying?”
“What?”
“People change like this when they’re about to die…”
“No.”
Whew. William internally sighed in relief. Guinevere, holding back tears at her son’s jest – she had been tearful lately, thinking of his suicide – changed the topic.
“Anyway, it turns out this is your talent. I’m really glad we discovered it now.”
“This is still early. I’m only 14…”
Guinevere, who had discovered her son’s talent after 64 years, was at a loss for words.
“I’m busy, so I must go.”
Then she disappeared with teleportation.
Back in her study, Guinevere clung to her bed, sobbing, but to William, this was just his unpredictable mother.
Alone together, Larisa began to chatter.
“William, you were really cool. And I’m so glad you didn’t get hurt.”
“If I’m to enroll in the Knight Department, I have to be prepared to get hurt during training.”
“Prepared?”
“It means I have to be ready for it.”
“But I wouldn’t have wanted to see you get hurt right in front of me. I was really relieved that you dodged everything.”
That was…… something William felt too. Ideally, he didn’t want to see Larisa getting hurt right before his eyes. Yet, he couldn’t oppose her wish to join the Knight Department.
William knew well what it truly meant to ‘protect’ someone. It was as if he had pondered over it for a long time.
“Me too. I think I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Then I should practice dodging like William!”
“Yeah.”
William smiled bitterly. Had he been lonely all this time? Was that why he had grown so fond of this child who appeared so suddenly?
And his mother too…… she had changed after Larisa appeared. Not just Hedel, but the entire household had felt the change.
‘Is it because Larisa is adorable?’
William briefly recalled his own 7-year-old self.
‘Why do I have to learn magic?’
He remembered shouting rebelliously at that age.
‘Wasn’t I cuter?’
He tried to recall his 5-year-old self.
‘I don’t want to! I hate learning magic! You do it!’
He remembered saying that to his mother, who walked away shocked and limping. Hmm. Not very cute.
“Willi will help me, right?”
“Huh?”
Larisa, tilting her head inquisitively, was incredibly adorable. William, dumbly responding, was met with Larisa’s beaming smile.
“Willi is a good teacher. You taught me how to read, and I bet you’ll be great at teaching swordsmanship too.”
“Oh, in that case.”
Despite not knowing much about swordsmanship himself, William smiled warmly and agreed. He’d have to teach her well.
It would pain his heart to see her get hurt by a harsh instructor.
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
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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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