The voice that answered carried an uncharacteristic tremor. It was due to the unexpected mention of that story.
Caliph took a deep breath. Though the party was over, he momentarily forgot his responsibility for the words he had spewed in the lingering excitement.
He thought carelessly that the ‘next’ that he was promising in his response to wait wouldn’t come today.
Of course, he could have poured out everything right then if she wanted it. There was nothing he couldn’t do for her. But that didn’t mean it was easy or alright.
An indistinct anxiety that they might have to start over again filled his chest.
Caliph was truly happy today. To be able to face her without excessive emotional expenditure, to stand beside her, to hold her hand, not to hurt her.
Perhaps living Liurian’s life countless times, today might have been the happiest day.
So Caliph was more afraid. He wanted to spend just a bit more time like now with her.
To make precious memories that he could look back on when he was tired in the repetition of the past and wanted to give up someday.
But Evelia had no way to know his earnest heart.
[You remember that I answered that I will wait until you tell me, don’t you?] [Yes, I remember.]Caliph nodded, staring intently at Evelia. The moment he wanted to avoid most seemed to be fast approaching. So he wanted to engrave this lovely face looking at him into his mind, into his heart.
But the words he heard through her were something he never expected.
[Your Majesty, sorry to say, but I would like you to give me another chance to respond.] [Another chance to respond?]Caliph’s eyes fluttered in confusion. He didn’t understand the meaning of her words at all.
[I will tell you again when I desperately want to hear your story. So please tell me your story then.] […….] [I wish we could spend just like today until then.]With that, she smiled brightly.
Caliph couldn’t move. Her face smiling at him was so dazzling that his heart trembled. Yet he couldn’t understand her intention promising a next time different from the first, so his heart was heavy.
The complex emotions weren’t easily cleared away. Even after parting with her and returning to the Prince’s palace, he still felt a pang in his heart.
“What are you thinking about so hard?”
Felix, who had been waiting for Caliph’s response, couldn’t hold back and asked again. Caliph, finally escaping from his thoughts, exhaled the breath he’d been holding and collected his expression.
“No, nothing.”
He passed Felix with a cold breeze as he answered briefly.
Felix narrowed his brows and scrutinized him but didn’t ask any further. Normally, he would have pestered him several times until he got the answer he wanted, but today was also a tiring day for him.
Massaging the back of his neck, he sighed heavily, when Caliph’s question suddenly flew at him.
“What are all these books?”
It was a question about the traces that hadn’t been cleaned up.
Felix hesitated for a moment, feeling caught. But soon, he turned around and looked at Caliph with his usual expression.
“I was bored, so I read some books.”
“All these books?”
“Is it a lot? They read faster than I thought. They probably look more because they’re stacked.”
Felix shrugged as if it was no big deal. Caliph’s sigh of exasperation followed.
“Your ability even includes such trivial talents.”
Though the words were clearly teasing, Felix just laughed it off.
Tonight, he too wanted to keep a secret to himself.
(This is a time separator.)
Early in the morning, Phaelyn entered the bedroom and instinctively headed toward the window, but stopped and wore a shocked expression.
“Your Highness!”
Phaelyn, as if she had seen something unseeable, covered her mouth with both hands and hurriedly ran toward Evelia.
She stopped at the small table placed on the opposite side of the bed.
“Surely you didn’t sleep poorly again?”
Her worry, bordering on extreme, noisily turned to Evelia. This made Evelia, surprised, stop what she was doing and look at Phaelyn.
“Huh? No, Phaelyn. I slept very sweetly for the first time in a long while. That’s why I woke up early.”
“Really? Did you really sleep?”
Phaelyn’s eyes narrowed as if she couldn’t believe Evelia’s words. Evelia was seen nodding, but Phaelyn still couldn’t believe it.
It was because Evelia had lied to her several times before so as not to worry her.
Phaelyn narrowed her eyes and examined Evelia’s face in detail.
The corners of her eyes must certainly look rough, her eyes twitching as evidence of fatigue, and her rough skin would be obvious at a glance….
“……Huh?”
Phaelyn, who had been observing Evelia as if she were a detective, widened her eyes.
“Your Highness, did you really sleep? Did you really sleep sweetly?”
Phaelyn asked in disbelief. There was no trick. The eyes were not rough, the eyelids did not tremble, the skin did not look parched.
Rather, the sharp focus in her eyes and the youthful face proved her words were not lies.
“Yes, really. I slept soundly and sweetly.”
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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