In her 16 years of life, this was the first time Isabella had flattered a woman with all her might. She believed it was a waste of her labor, and the smile on her beautiful face brightened even more.
Then, the voice of the court servant announcing the entrance of a distinguished guest echoed from the north side of the ballroom.
“His Majesty the King!”
From the ‘Lily Chamber’ passage, which was reserved for distinguished guests and prohibited for general use, the voice of the royal court servant announcing King Leo III’s entrance echoed throughout the hall.
Bum, bumbum!
Just in case the guests hadn’t heard the announcement shouted aloud, the King’s 12person guard appeared and blew their horns.
The guests immediately halted their conversations, rose from their seats, and turned towards the direction of the distinguished guest passage.
Between the echoing horn sounds, King Leo III, leading the procession, and Queen Marguerite walking beside him appeared. Right behind the regal couple, walking with dignity, was Prince Alfonso. His face was expressionless. The left hand of Duchess Lariesa was on his arm.
Also, following them were Duke Mireiyu, the highestranking representative of the Kingdom of Gallico, and Lady Rubina, the King’s confidante and Countess.
Isabella’s eyes sparkled.
The man who had rejected her mercilessly, Count Cesare, had appeared at the royal ball escorting his mother. Thanks to this, he was able to use the distinguished guests’ passage to enter the ballroom with the royal family.
‘Count Cesare, I will make you regret…!’
She didn’t know how, but she would do it. Isabella wouldn’t forget the grudge of being rejected.
No matter what kind of feelings Isabella de Mare, who was merely one of the guests, harbored as she glared at the royal family, King Leo III, flaunting his authority, stepped onto the prepared podium at the front and raised his right hand. The guests filling the ‘Lily Room’ instantly fell silent.
“My loyal subjects, welcome to the court ball announcing the beginning of the ‘Spring Festival’. You are the core figures of San Carlo, the ones who most need to be respected.”
The audience sent a round of applause all at once.
“As the negotiation has been long, everyone must know that today we have invited even the dignitaries of the Galico kingdom, which we are considering a marriage alliance with, to the ball. To commemorate this, the first dance is decided to be between my only son, Alfonso, and the Grand Duchess of Galico Kingdom, Lariesa. I hope that all our guests eat, drink, and have fun. Everyone, waltz!”
At the proclamation of Leo III, the invited guests in the audience unanimously responded.
“Everyone, waltz!”
Leo III’s greeting was rough but had the undeniable advantage of being short. As soon as the king’s greeting ended, the 70piece orchestra began to play all at once. It was the fastpaced San Carlo waltz.
Lariesa looked back at Alfonso with a smile on her face. But only men could request to dance.
Alfonso, hiding his reluctant feelings, asked her.
“Shall we go, Grand Duchess?”
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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