“……Catch the butterfly!”
In the forest at sunset, a woman was running desperately with her bare feet full of wounds.
In the blazing redstained forest, her disheveled blonde hair and white nightdress dress waved like waves.
Her clothes were torn by tree branches and grass, and her slender arms and legs were bruised, but she was so engrossed in running away that she was unaware of that fact.
But perhaps she ran too hastily, looking only ahead.
She did not see the thick tree root protruding from the ground, and her foot caught on it, causing her to tumble roughly forward.
Her whole body felt as though it was breaking and tearing, but, hearing the threatening sound closing in from behind, she gritted her teeth, got up, and ran on her bleeding legs.
The only thought in her head was to get away from that man as far as possible.
But soon she faced a deadend cliff, and Asha stopped, breathing heavily as her breath reached her chin.
Below the cliff, fierce waves seemed to devour her, crashing against the cliff and causing spray.
Her golden hair was wildly blown backward by the sea breeze.
Then, at that moment, a chillingly low voice came from right behind her.
“……Did you think you could escape from me?”
Asha’s eyes widened, and she turned around abruptly.
Suddenly behind her stood the Emperor, wearing a black cloak embroidered with gorgeous rose, arrogantly standing.
Bloodchilling red eyes peered through his jetblack hair, staring at her intently.
The youngest ever to ascend to the throne, but the only one who did not bloom, a tyrant…….
He was none other than the Imperial Black Rose, Tyrant Karaf Lode Etzheim.
Asha’s eyes trembled intensely like a candle flame in the wind.
Regardless of his enchanting face, she was terrified, as if his red eyes were etched onto her body.
As Karaf took a step closer, Asha took a step back.
She was now at a perilous distance where one step back would make her fall off the cliff.
This had always been the distance between them.
Karaf looked at her with fiery red eyes of anger and said,
“……How dare you repay my favor in this way. I promised to keep you by my side and love you forever. But why are you always trying to leave me!”
Asha looked at him defiantly with violet eyes and said,
“If the butterfly wants to leave a flower without fragrance, what is wrong with that?”
Karaf furrowed his brow.
“You, who cannot bloom the flower of His Majesty, are already a useless butterfly. So please let me go now.”
His red eyes flashed as he said,
“No. I can’t. You must realize that the more you try to escape from me, the more miserable you become. Every time you run away, I will catch you and tie you by my side. Even if I have to break your ankles, cut off your wings, I will make you stay by my side. You will never leave me……!”
Seeing his obsession and crazed eyes, Asha closed her eyes tightly.
This man never changes.
If she goes back to him now, she will never be free.
She will live forever by his side like a stuffed butterfly.
But a butterfly cannot live crawling on the ground with decorative wings that are of no use.
A butterfly is a being that must fly.
Even if it meets a storm, its wings get wet and broken; it must live flying in the sky until the moment of death.
Asha looked at him and smiled faintly.
“……Then I will fly far away with those broken wings. I will fly to a place beyond Your Majesty’s reach, a very far place.”
As she finished speaking, Asha took a last step back and fell off the cliff.
Karaf’s eyes widened, and he screamed in a screamlike shout, but the sound was drowned out by the crashing waves.
The tattered white dress pajamas fluttered in the wind like the wings of a butterfly.
Asha closed her tired eyes and felt the wind wrapping around her body.
Ironically, this was the first voluntary choice she had made during her time with him.
[This is the time separator]With a splash in the icecold water, the moment Asha fell, she exhaled with a ‘gasp’ and opened her eyes wide.
As soon as she came to her senses, the terrible cold cut through her body like a blade.
She was lying at an angle on a snowy path in the forest.
She had clearly fallen from the cliff, but this was not the sea.
Luckily, she had fallen into the forest, but it was the dead of winter here, a perfect mountain range with no sight of the sea.
She blinked, not grasping the situation, lying on the inclined snow field to catch her breath for a moment, when threatening footsteps and voices of men came from just above her head.
“She can’t have gone far! Search around thoroughly!”
“Yes!”
Asha sucked in her breath with wide eyes.
She didn’t know what the situation was, but as soon as she opened her eyes, she knew that she was being pursued again.
Asha slowly turned her trembling gaze and glanced around.
Everywhere was filled with twisted branches and pure white snow.
She instinctively realized where she was.
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.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
