“Your words… Do they mean you dissected the bodies?”
Nodding as if to say exactly that, Meiana looked at Cedric. He said, “I didn’t formally request an autopsy. It would take too long for a capable doctor to come from the capital to here, and there isn’t a doctor nearby with such skill. However, the employees who saw the bodies of Berbo and Liria all said unanimously, ‘The two must have drunk poison.’ Their faces, even after being left underwater for a long time, looked extremely bluish. Almost close to black.”
“With only circumstantial evidence, there’s nothing we can do. Lord, you know that, right?”
Cedric maintained a moment of silence, then nodded.
“Yeah. Since you confirmed the potion flask, I plan to secretly bring the herbalist to the mansion. And we need to find out what kind of deal Jocelyn made.”
“What if the person is unrelated or doesn’t speak the truth?”
“I don’t really think they’re unrelated, but if that’s the case, we’ll have to find another way. We finally found Becker, the runaway forester. And not speaking the truth… That won’t be a big problem.”
Meiana looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“Do you have something prepared, my lord?”
Looking out the window, Cedric smiled faintly. He wondered where the carriages driven by Harman and Clophea might be now…
Meiana asked again, “By the way, is this person Becker… the one who was near the lake?”
“That’s right. If someone had seen Jocelyn doing something to Berbo and Liria, he would be the only witness. You probably didn’t go there, but the lake where Berbo and Liria died… is visible from the forester’s cabin. Also, the forester managed the rowboat on the lake…”
“Will that person really speak honestly? After all, he’s someone who ran away.”
Her question was reasonable. However, rather, if that’s the case, Cedric’s tension and anticipation only increased.
As seen from his sudden departure from the Duke’s Forest to another place, Becker was a weak-minded person for a forester, not to mention a heavy drinker.
The fact that he, surprisingly timid, abandoned everything and fled was suspicious enough.
Cedric said, “This is just my thought, but I believe Becker fled to avoid Jocelyn’s retaliation.”
“Because he saw the scene of the incident himself?”
“Yes. And conversely, Jocelyn probably didn’t know that Becker was watching him. At least, that’s what I think. If she had known, I wouldn’t have left Becker hiding for so long. Or perhaps she believes Becker’s memories have faded.”
Meiana, tilting the potion flask with her finger, murmured like a soliloquy.
“Witness and evidence, everything is gathered now. All that’s left is to confront Jocelyn herself.”
At her words, Cedric’s expression became momentarily awkward. Meiana gently tapped his shoulder as if consoling. It was a comforting touch, and Cedric, with a short sigh, took her hand.
“I know this is by no means a pleasant matter. At least not for you, my lord.”
Cedric mumbled like talking to himself.
“What, what in this place, what in this house could have changed Jocelyn so much? But I couldn’t find an answer.”
Meiana lightly touched the row of potion flasks on the desk with her fingertip. A sinister chill was felt.
“Who, what made Jocelyn change is not so crucial. At least, not to me.”
“Do you think so?”
When Cedric turned his head to look at Meiana, she nodded.
“Everyone changes… in some way. In any manner. Whether it’s me, the lord, the lady, or even Master Swan, we can’t guarantee that we’ll be the same ten years from now as we are now. Even a fallen apple, depending on whether it rots and attracts only insects, or grows into a new tree, the results after ten years can differ. Jocelyn is just a rotten apple. Without a sprouting seed… So the gardener has only one thing to do.”
“Dispose of it?”
“Yes, dispose of it, that’s all. There’s no need to think about why this apple can’t grow into a tree.”
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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