Stop Coming On to Me (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 1
0. Prologue
“Damn it, here we go again.”
I quietly muttered behind my fan.
He was approaching me—drawing the sharp stares of every young noblewoman filling the ballroom.
Rocard Kaidel, eldest son of Duke Kaidel. Handsome, accomplished in both arts and arms, of exceptional lineage, with a ruined personality, a faulty conscience, and… well…
While I was searching for another four-character phrase, he’d already stopped right in front of me.
His height was ridiculously excessive—I already disliked how I had to tilt my chin up just to look him straight in the eye.
Even his smoothly combed black hair seemed to boast, strand by strand. And those violet eyes fixed intently on me—how passionately they shone!
There’s only one word to describe how such radiant eyes could sit upon such a perfect face: unfair. The gods are unfair.
Before he could open his mouth, I curved my eyes into a smile and whispered,
“Would you kindly go away?”
“Miss Roar…”
Look at this guy, putting on that wounded expression.
I straightened my fan to hide my snort.
Just then, heat rushed toward me from behind him—the jealous flames blazing from the eyes of noblewomen pretending not to watch us.
Ha. That’s it.
He intends to burn me alive in that fire without dirtying his own hands.
I know this man’s black heart—and exactly why he’s putting on this little performance.
Though my tone was exceedingly rude and cold, he took another step forward with a solemn expression, as if to say he’d treasure even an emotional wound if it came from me.
I shot him a sharp look as if to say, “Stop right there!”—only to meet his moist, earnest gaze.
To use such a pitiful face to make me the enemy of every imperial noblewoman…
I don’t know if he’s charmed the entire empire with that overwhelming expression, but he certainly won’t charm me.
Then again, where on earth does one even buy eyes like that? Damn it.
The moment my focus slipped, he struck.
“Miss Roar. I intended to ask you for a dance, but if I’ve offended you, I apologize first. Still, if there’s a misunderstanding, I’d like to clear it up. May I request a brief conversation?”
Doesn’t he hear me telling him to go away?
“For someone with such poor hearing, what makes you think you’re fit for conversation?”
He straightened his chest and replied.
He’ll probably never understand, even if he were to die and come back to life, just how grating his shining self-confidence and pride are to someone like me.
“Miss Roar, why won’t you give me a chance…”
I cut him off sharply and hissed fiercely, so only he could hear,
“Do you think I don’t know your schemes, you devil!”
Mom, I really am a bad child. When I was little, I thought the village kids called me bad—but now I realize they threw stones at me because I truly was bad.
I pondered: Should I splash him with wine I’d barely sipped, or pretend to accept his request and drag him to the balcony to scrape his shin?
But both options were problematic. Publicly insulting the first imperial lion—the legitimate heir of Duke Kaidel—would surely bring repercussions upon my father, Count Roar, given his lower rank.
Yet if I went to the balcony with him, it’d be as good as publicly confessing I’d fallen for him.
Everyone watching us now would never believe a woman who spent time alone with Lord Rocard Kaidel hadn’t fallen for him.
He knows this—that’s precisely why he’s doing it. He’ll laugh while rubbing his scraped shin after I reject him.
After scanning the sharp gazes piercing into me, I spoke low and fast,
“Just stop and go back. Right now, you’re the victim in everyone else’s eyes—that should be enough, shouldn’t it?”
He smiled faintly and said,
“They say in matters of the heart between men and women, the one who feels more deeply loses. So perhaps Miss Roar is right.”
“Oh. Sure.”
He must’ve picked that up somewhere. Honestly, it’s laughable.
“Though we serve different masters, that shouldn’t prevent us from growing closer, Miss Roar… If I were to kneel, would you open your heart to me?”
“Oh my.”
Before he could draw more attention, I stepped right up to him, carefully controlling my movements as if surrounded by his broad presence.
Even standing on tiptoe, I was too short—I glared up sharply, and he slightly bent his waist. Only then could I bring my lips close to his ear.
The faint scent of an expensive perfume mixed with musk drifted toward me with my breath. Must he even boast about his wealth through his very body odor? Though admittedly, it smelled nice.
I whispered quickly,
“Don’t you realize no one’s dancing right now? Everyone’s staring at us! Could you please back off a little?”
He instantly dropped his act. A wicked, playful breath brushed past my ear.
“Dinner in town? If you accept, I’ll leave right away.”
“In some fancy restaurant swarming with idle nobles even at midday?”
“Naturally. Etrang would be perfect. I’ll send a carriage.”
“So the Imperial Princess’s handmaiden can be rumored to have betrayed her princess and fallen head over heels for you?”
“That’d be fine. If not, I’d still get a chance to uncover your true intentions—also fine.”
“Oh my, such dreadful words! Someone might misunderstand, Lord Kaidel.”
“I told you to call me Rocard. Say my name out loud—so everyone can hear. It’s fine if you’re angry. I enjoy how expressive your voice is.”
“Heh heh heh. Please stop saying such perverted things.”
I barely restrained myself from shouting “Shut up!” loud enough for everyone to hear. Again and again, I held back. He was like a walking gauge of my patience.
Yet the Lord Kaidel, whom I expected to retort immediately, was instead gazing down at me with a faint blush on his face.
Even though we’re at war, did I go too far? My heart sank as our eyes met—his quiet violet gaze filled with silence.
“Did you just call me a pervert?”
His melodious voice had grown heavy.
But I sensed it instantly: now was not the time to back down. This fight isn’t mine alone.
I tensed my stomach and spoke as calmly as possible,
“Ah, so your hearing is perfectly fine after all, Lord Kaidel.”
After a brief silence, an unbelievable sound reached my ears.
“Pfft.”
His face flushed red from holding back laughter, then he looked away into the air to compose himself.
Suddenly, he took my hand and kissed the back of it. His lips, whispering a secret, brushed my skin like a feather, tickling me.
“His Highness the Second Prince doesn’t call me the cub of Tagar for no reason, Miss Rorisha Roar. I will absolutely bring you down.”
I fluttered my fan like a butterfly’s wings and gave him a full, teasing smile.
“Then go ahead and try.”
1. The Spring Deep in the Mountains
My mother was an herbalist. We lived in a small cabin in the Tunbar Mountains on the border.
Whenever Mother went into the mountains for days to gather herbs, I stayed alone, waiting for her return.
People said the Tunbar Mountains hated humans—snatching them up at every chance and never letting them return. They claimed that’s why accidents and disappearances happened so often.
I worried about Mother climbing the mountains with her frail body, and feared she might encounter beasts like bears or wolves.
But Mother always promised me,
“Rorisha, I’ll definitely come back to you. Even if the mountain path is blocked and I’m a few days late, I’ll surely return to your side. Will you believe me?”
And I’d nod vigorously and reply,
“Yes, Mom!”
When Mother came back and prepared the herbs, I’d take them to the apothecary in the market and bring back the money.
Exploring the market on my errands was always exciting—the unfamiliar people, goods, haggling, and the occasional scuffle.
But the path through the village on my way home was never easy.
Children from the lower village would swarm me, shouting that a monster from the mountains had come down, or poking me with sticks, calling me a fatherless child.
Perhaps that’s why I never felt curious or longing about my father. The word “father” was always mentioned only in the worst of circumstances.
One day, after being hit by a stone thrown by the village chief’s son and returning home bleeding from my forehead, Mother looked at me—crying uncontrollably—with a face about to burst.
Thinking she was furious with me, I cried even harder out of fear and sorrow. But later, when I looked outside because she wasn’t in the house, I saw her crying outside.
She couldn’t even cry out loud like I did—just muffling her sobs like a frightened person, covering her mouth tightly.
That’s when I realized just how badly I’d behaved.
Mother was my only family, my talisman, my blanket—and simply, my mother. Yet I’d made her cry so painfully.
Right then, I made a vow: I’d never do anything bad to Mother again.
The next time I returned from the apothecary, the village chief’s pot-bellied youngest son gathered the village children and surrounded me again.
He poked me with a stick and shouted,
“The Tunbar Mountain monster has come down! A fatherless abomination!”
Watching the children giggle, I clenched my jaw. I couldn’t let myself get beaten today.
“Hey, damn it! Will you put that away?”
At my shout, the children widened their eyes and looked at each other. I was probably seven or eight then—still at the age where harsh curses frightened kids.
My first curse was so crisp it stuck to my own ears like glue.
The chief’s son stumbled back in shock, and I seized the moment, unleashing a torrent of curses.
All the insults, slurs, contempt, and scorn I’d overheard at the market poured out like a waterfall.
Cursing is strange—when you first do it, it feels like breaking the world’s most terrifying taboo, as if your very soul is falling into corruption.
But once you’ve opened the floodgates and let it flow, it pours out from deep within your soul like a song—rippling, surging.
That day, the village children ran away crying.
Afterward, whenever I went to the market, I carefully listened to and memorized adults’ haggling and verbal sparring. Whenever a fight broke out, I’d rush over to study it.
Fighting is all about momentum. As long as I cursed first, no one dared call me a fatherless brat to my face. They might gossip worse behind my back, but at least no one dared say the words Mother hated most right in front of me.
So cursing became the magic that protected both Mother and me. Truthfully, I was a little proud of how well I could curse.
But that peace shattered suddenly one day.
One afternoon, instead of Mother returning from gathering herbs, the village chief came to our house.
“Come down to the village with me.”
I burst into tears right then. Something must have happened to Mother.
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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How sweet are they!! I’m curious how well our ML will come to know Roba. I have a feeling he’ll know more about her than she does herself. And we finally get to hear about the princess Roba will come to support. Roba will be the “little lion cub” she raises. I wonder if she has the intention to rise to the throne. Or if she really has no familial bond to the second prince. I think Roba will come to believe the princess hold romantic feelings towards ML and try to avoid him. ML knows the princess just wants him as a shield and will openly pursue Roba, Roba will just this he’s trying to get her in trouble with the princess. And the princess wouldn’t support ML courting Roba because she using her as protection. And ML wouldn’t like that cause only he can protect Roba, Roba can protect herself tho. This is my guess, I wonder to see if this is accurate or not. They are so cute hhehehe
How sweet are they!! I’m curious how well our ML will come to know Roba. I have a feeling he’ll know more about her than she does herself. And we finally get to hear about the princess Roba will come to support. Roba will be the “little lion cub” she raises. I wonder if she has the intention to rise to the throne. Or if she really has no familial bond to the second prince. I think Roba will come to believe the princess hold romantic feelings towards ML and try to avoid him. ML knows the princess just wants him as a shield and will openly pursue Roba, Roba will just this he’s trying to get her in trouble with the princess. And the princess wouldn’t support ML courting Roba because she using her as protection. And ML wouldn’t like that cause only he can protect Roba, Roba can protect herself tho. This is my guess, I wonder to see if this is accurate or not. They are so cute hhehehe
There is an error!! I spent more than half the chapter trying to figure out who the “earl” was—> it’s her father, “the count”. I’m a little confused, is she back countdom or back in the village? The duke seems very kind. I wonder if the prince will want Roba as an apothecary, and will make the ML bring her to their side.