The servant looked at him in surprise.
Jackal’s face was like a silent storm hidden within.
Seeing that, the servant responded with a serious face as well.
“I will follow.”
[This is the time separator]Asha had been following the master of ceremonies all day long, taking care of all sorts of trivial matters.
Like the emperor’s personal attendant, she was in charge of all the menial tasks related to him, and wherever she went, there were incessant stares and whispers.
Was it jealousy because she was a servant brought by His Majesty?
Even if there were no servants who openly harassed her from the front, it was even more vicious to hide behind and torment her secretly.
The palace servants had gradually dumped all the work onto her.
Whether they were trying to pass off the dishes after the emperor had eaten, or as soon as she entered the kitchen, the dishes were piled up like a mountain.
“Shall we go to prepare for the banquet at the opening ceremony then?”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
They loudly chatted amongst themselves as if telling Asha to hear, and then left the kitchen en masse.
In the kitchen, the cooking utensils used by the palace’s top chefs were scattered about, and the plates were stacked like a mountain.
Asha bit her lower lip unseen and silently went to work.
It was unfair, but nothing could be done. She might not have known that her feeling aggrieved was exactly what the emperor wanted.
He was just waiting for the moment when she could no longer endure and would kneel before him.
She couldn’t surrender so easily to his will.
At that moment, when she was composing herself, a servant approached her with a trot.
Thinking someone else was coming to pick a fight, Asha turned her head, and her eyes widened.
There stood a girl with curly red hair, green eyes, and a face full of freckles.
The only servant in this palace who had been on her side until the end… It was Sonya Kaneis.
Asha felt a lump in her chest.
Sonya had been the servant closest to her before regression, and she was the very girl who had almost been beheaded by Karaf because of her.
On the last day of fleeing from Karaf, Asha had run into her on a deserted side road as she secretly escaped from the palace.
Standing there with wide eyes in surprise, Sonya seemed to have noticed that she was escaping, and forced a smile, saying:
‘Go now, Miss Banetsa. No matter what happens to me, I’ll keep your door tightly guarded.’
Even though she must have had trauma from almost being beheaded before, Sonya had helped her escape until the very end.
Without any conditions or rewards, just wishing that she would escape far away to a place without the emperor and be happy, along with…
While trembling with fear, she had firmly held both hands and reassured her with that face, a face Asha could not forget.
Her eyes involuntarily reddened.
Seeing her expression suddenly looking like she was about to cry, Sonya jumped in surprise and said,
“Do, don’t be too sad! With the opening ceremony approaching, the workload has suddenly increased, and everyone is very irritable. That must be why.”
Sonya seemed to think that Asha was depressed because she was being ostracized by the servants.
“If there’s anything you don’t know, ask me anytime! I haven’t been in the palace for long either, but I’ll tell you as much as I can. Since it’s your first time in the palace, you must be very confused. I still get lost too.”
Sonya said this, twirling her curly hair with her finger, looking a bit embarrassed.
Though life in the palace must have been tough, she was indeed a lively and warmhearted child.
Asha smiled faintly and said,
“Thank you.”
She had said that to Sonya just before parting, at the very last moment.
「Thank you……」
Perhaps as soon as it was discovered that she was not in the palace, Sonya was immediately executed by Karaf right then and there.
There was no second mercy from him.
Sonya had exchanged her life for the happiness of the master I served, but still, she could not escape from Karaf……
Feeling overwhelmingly sorry for Sonya, Asha could not bear to lift her head.
But Sonya was so pleased with a simple expression of thanks that her face blushed as she helped with the dishes.
Asha looked at her intently from the side.
‘Thank you for being on my side, then and now……’
On the day of the initiation ceremony, when officially becoming a butterfly, she wanted to make Sonya her personal servant first, freeing her from all this drudgery.
The higher her status in the imperial palace, the more stable and comfortable Sonya’s life would become.
Another purpose had arisen since returning to the palace.
In this life, Asha wanted to be a master Sonya could be proud of. She wanted to repay what she couldn’t do for her before.
To do that, she must completely captivate the emperor’s heart at the flower festival.
Thanks to Sonya, Asha was able to gather her weakening determination.
When the dishwashing was over, Asha immediately went to wash the emperor’s clothes.
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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