Bianca dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin.
It was a silent signal that the meal was over.
No sooner had she done so than Gillian also tried to rise from his seat.
“Stay.”
Bianca firmly stopped Gillian.
Confusion marred his face, but Bianca stood alone.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
Instead of answering Gillian’s question, Bianca gestured lightly at the generals with her eyes.
Although a storm seemed to have passed, lingering questions were still evident in the generals’ eyes.
Even for Bianca, it hadn’t taken long to make up her mind.
No, deep down, she still felt that he would eventually abandon her.
Someday, certainly.
As if she had experienced it before.
Even while receiving an unbelievably unconditional and obsessive affection.
But what could she do about the generals?
To make them understand, Gillian might have to devote time until late tonight.
Bianca gently stroked the back of her hand clinging to her, stood up, and left the dining hall.
Originally, she had planned to go back to her room and sleep.
She seemed calm, but it had been a long time since she had received such wary looks, and she was more exhausted than she had thought.
How hard she had tried to appear relaxed and arrogant so as not to show any flaws.
The tension had made her back subtly sore.
It seemed that she would have to ask Julie to bring her a hot water bag for her back.
Just when she was about to prepare for bed, a visitor came to see Bianca.
“Creta?”
Wasn’t he supposed to be helping Gillian in the dining hall?
“I urgently came to ask for a favor. Is it rude to ask for a moment of your time?”
Late at night.
To visit a lady who had already prepared for bed, he had already been quite rude.
But he, who was more loyal to the duke than anyone else, must have a reason for doing so.
Bianca fastened her robe and led him to a small reception room attached to her bedroom.
“Would you like a cup of tea?”
“No, I plan to go back immediately as I am pressed for time.”
Creta, who had set down the papers he was carrying, looked as pallid as ever today.
Whether it was because his long eyelashes cast shadows, he always appeared frail and sickly.
His fingers holding the papers were long and slender.
The very image of a typical civil servant.
Because of this, his introduction at the dining hall came to her mind anew.
“The General of the Second Manor.”
“By the way, you are truly remarkable.”
“Pardon?”
As Creta was arranging the papers for easier viewing, he blinked at the unexpected words.
“General of the Second Manor, aide, and also managing the fief.”
“It’s nothing…”
“You’re amazing. Truly remarkable.”
Bianca swiftly cut off his modest words.
Contrary to what she thought he would do, Creta actually opened his eyes wide and asked.
“Is it praise, by any chance?”
The corners of his eyes, always pale, were tinged with red.
Bianca paused.
He was pleased.
He, who held all sorts of fancy titles and showed more exceptional skills than anyone else, was pleased.
“It’s praise. It’s admiration. Isn’t it obvious?”
“……I have never thought about it like that.”
At that, Bianca hesitated.
She thought of whom Creta was serving.
If it were someone like Silerus Barlock or Gillian Barlock, this workload would have been natural, and even the perfect results he presented might have been taken for granted.
But that wasn’t true.
Neither Gillian Barlock nor Creta seemed to know, but this was really an amazing feat.
“Truly, you’re remarkable. I was amazed when I received three years’ worth of documents. I thought there would be flaws, but not only were there no flaws, I was astounded by how cleanly you managed so much.”
She left out the discussion of the cost of maintaining dignity.
That wasn’t even a problem.
Thinking about it, Gillian always wore a shirt and trousers.
At best, he threw on a thin coat.
Never adorned with any accessories, his style was unvaried.
If her memory stretched a bit further, even Sylas Barlock was the same.
While he always dressed formally when entering the palace, it was only his radiant appearance that seemed lavish, not his clothing.
Trendy fabrics and imported silks were irrelevant to him.
Always impeccably neat, yet brighter than anyone else, a fact that nobody realized except Bianca now.
All were concealed by his singular and imposing beauty that dominated even the subtleties around him.
Perhaps the cost of maintaining dignity was excessive for just one person.
Bianca’s compliment at this moment was sincere.
So she was a little taken aback by Creta’s subsequent words.
“Uh, may I make a request relying on your grace, ma’am?”
“What is it? I’ll help however I can.”
“I’m really sorry, but can I only send half the maintenance cost until spring? Of course, I will provide the remainder all at once in the summer.”
“Huh?”
“Unexpectedly, a lot of expenses came up for castle repairs.”
“Castle repairs? Ah….”
“Specifically, more cost than expected went into building a shelter for refugees. As for the castle, we were mostly able to reuse the materials.”
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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