The Deposed Empress and Her New Husband (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 1
#Prologue
The Great Hall of the imperial palace, brimming with nobles lavishly adorned for Paradium Empire’s Founding Day celebration.
“His Imperial Majesty, Emperor of the Vaschker Empire!”
Amidst the commotion, a servant announced.
At the appearance of the enemy emperor, every noble’s gaze turned sharply toward the entrance.
Whispers hushed among the nobles as they watched a man and woman stride in with confidence.
The man was Ikar, the cold-blooded young emperor of the Vaschker Empire, and the woman smiling beside him, arm-in-arm, was none other than Lady Renev of House Seiren of Paradium.
Three years ago, she had been sent to Vaschker as a sacrificial pawn in a peace treaty between empires. Yet now, she and the enemy emperor appeared strangely affectionate—like lovers.
It was just as the pair reached the center of the hall.
“……Renev?”
Lucius, Third Imperial Prince of Paradium, contorted his face in utter dismay at the sight of the two standing side by side, arms linked.
Behind him, the Empress Consort also furrowed her brow upon seeing them.
“Lady of House Seiren?”
“It has been a long time, Your Highnesses—the Prince and the Empress Consort. I trust you have been well?”
Renev gently stroked Ikar’s arm and offered a faint smile.
“Renev, what is the meaning of this?”
Lucius demanded harshly. The Empress Consort interjected.
“Lady of House Seiren? You must explain yourself—what exactly is going on?”
“An explanation, you say……”
Among the nobles watching her intently, Renev spotted a familiar face.
Ashika, Lucius’s consort.
Just as Ashika’s lips twisted slightly,
“The lady is to become Empress of the Vaschker Empire. I strongly advise you both—the Empress Consort and the Prince—to show her the proper respect.”
Ikar warned coldly.
“Th—this is absurd! What on earth……!”
So flustered was the Empress Consort that she stammered,
“What happened during these past three years? I think… we need to talk. Don’t we, Renev?”
Lucius trembled, fists clenched tightly.
In her previous life, the Empress Consort—her mother-in-law—had manipulated Renev relentlessly through gaslighting.
And Lucius, her husband, whom she had devoted her entire life to, had ultimately killed her.
Lastly, even Ashika, the beautiful consort he cherished so dearly.
“As His Majesty stated—His Majesty and I are betrothed.”
Renev took in each of their shocked expressions and smiled sweetly.
‘This life, it’s your turn to suffer.’
#Chapter 1: The Dethroned Empress
In the drawing room, a crystal chandelier of dozens of candles hung from the lofty ceiling, and cream-colored walls displayed masterpieces and sculptures.
Renev sat on a plush cream sofa, enjoying her tea time—a rare and precious moment of rest granted to the Empress each day.
Yet the table remained piled high with documents she hadn’t managed to review that morning.
Just as Renev set down her teacup and reached for a file, the drawing room door swung open without a knock.
A small golden head peeked through the gap. Renev blinked once, then a soft smile graced her lips.
“Kael.”
“Mother!”
Kael dashed into the room, short legs thumping, and buried himself in the folds of Renev’s dress.
Renev was delighted by her young son’s affection, yet reminded herself he’d skipped the lessons befitting a prince to come see her.
“Kael, isn’t this your lesson time?”
At Renev’s deliberately stern tone, Kael’s tiny shoulders drooped sadly.
“Yes…”
It was unbearably cute—and pitiful.
Even noble children, raised under strict discipline, played outdoors at Kael’s age.
Such relentless education was surely overwhelming.
Of course, Renev was just as exhausted. Her day ended with nothing more than a brief glance at her sleeping son after finishing her duties.
“I missed you so much… Can I stay here just a little while?”
Kael, fiddling with his tiny fingers like fern fronds, pouted and looked up.
He must have longed for his mother’s warm embrace.
Renev lifted Kael into her arms and patted his back gently. He immediately nestled into her.
“It’s fine to visit. But skipping lessons without good reason…”
Suddenly, heavy footsteps echoed from the corridor.
‘Who’s making such a racket in the hallway…?’
Frowning, Renev assumed it was Kael’s tutor coming to retrieve him and continued,
“…is unacceptable.”
“Yes…”
Kael’s round eyes drooped instantly, clearly discouraged.
“Then promise me you’ll return to your lessons shortly after staying here a bit.”
“Really? I can?”
Kael’s face brightened at her permission, and Renev’s smile returned.
At that moment—
Imperial knights burst abruptly into the drawing room.
Sensing something grave was about to unfold, Renev swiftly hid Kael behind her and spoke with solemn authority.
“What do you think you’re doing? You haven’t forgotten I am the Empress, have you? Nor that this is my private retreat.”
Intimidated by the Empress’s dignity, the two knights at the front hesitated and stepped back.
“Hesitate no longer! By His Majesty’s command, we are to arrest the traitor at once!”
The captain of the knights, standing at the rear, retorted firmly, and the knights advanced again toward Renev.
“His Majesty’s command? What is the meaning of this?”
Though inwardly shaken, Renev calmly sought an explanation.
But the knights seized both her arms with rough hands.
“How dare you! This is Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress!”
Terrified by the knights’ sudden intrusion, Kael cried out.
“Your Highness Prince Kael, please don’t worry. There must be some misunderstanding.”
As Renev soothed her son, the knight captain ordered impassively,
“Arrest both the Empress and the Prince!”
“……!”
In the central square of the capital, crowds gathered like storm clouds to witness the Empress’s execution.
“Punish the traitor!”
“Burn the Empress who conspired with the enemy!”
Dragged through the throng, Renev frowned at the deafening roars.
‘A traitor? Conspiring with the enemy?’
None of it had anything to do with her.
Yet it was clear the furious crowd’s wrath was fixed squarely on her.
“This… something’s… gone terribly wrong.”
Muttering dazedly,
Thwack!
A sharp pain erupted at the back of her head. Before she could react, something struck her forehead.
Before she could cry out in pain, hands reached from all sides, tearing at her hair and dress.
Her neatly coiled silver hair unraveled into disarray, and her pristine, unwrinkled gown was ruined.
Shoved along in utter panic, she soon found herself before the execution block.
“Patrick…? Why?”
Before the block knelt Patrick, her brother and Duke of Seiren, in a humiliating posture on both knees.
At the sight of Renev’s wretched state, despair darkened Patrick’s face.
“Renev… I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you…”
As Renev stared at him in confusion, a nearby knight kicked her behind the knees.
Too stunned by pain to scream, she collapsed beside Patrick.
Then a grim voice sounded from behind.
“For conspiring with the enemy, Empress Renev Paradium is hereby dethroned! Duke Seiren, complicit in this crime, is dismissed from office. All assets and territories of House Seiren are confiscated and revert to the Imperial House of Paradium…”
The crowd’s roar swelled. Renev shouted with all her might.
“It’s not true! This is someone’s plot against me!”
But no one paid her desperate plea any heed.
“Emperor! Summon Lucius! He can prove my innocence…”
Renev begged a nearby knight.
“How dare you speak His Majesty’s name so casually? Do you still think you’re Empress?”
Instead of an answer, she received only jeers and blows.
“Aaah!”
As she screamed and fell to the ground, her eyes caught sight of Patrick being dragged toward the block.
“No! Patrick!”
In that instant, the sun glinted off the freshly sharpened blade, blinding her. Renev squeezed her eyes shut and writhed—
“Waaaah!”
The crowd’s cheers intensified, then—
Thud!
Something heavy dropped onto the wooden platform. Immediately after, something rolled toward Renev.
She slowly lifted her eyelids.
“……!”
Her eyes met Patrick’s half-lidded gaze. A scream burst involuntarily from Renev’s lips.
“Aaaah!”
Yet her suffering only served as entertainment for the onlookers.
“Execute the deposed Empress!”
Kneeling before the block just as her brother had moments before, Renev cried to the knight beside her,
“The Prince! What will become of Prince Kael, His Majesty’s bloodline?”
“I’ll tell you since you’re on your way out—he’ll likely be exiled to a foreign land.”
“Exiled…? But he’s innocent! He’s just a child who knows nothing!”
Renev thrashed and shouted, but no one answered.
They simply carried out their duty in silence.
From before Lucius ascended the throne until now, she had devoted her entire life to him. In return, her husband repaid her with icy indifference.
And that wasn’t all.
When the Empress Consort—her mother-in-law—harassed her for years over failing to bear a child, and when Lucius took Ashika as his consort immediately after her miscarriage, she endured it all.
For the sake of changing the future, for the stability of the royal house, and to uphold the dignity of the Empress.
And this was the result—how utterly futile.
Just before the sharpened blade plunged downward,
‘Something entertaining is about to happen. You may look forward to it, Empress.’
Lucius’s voice, whispered excitedly in her ear just days ago, echoed in her mind.
“…So this was it.”
A bitter smile touched Renev’s tear-streaked lips. Her expression looked strangely unsettling.
Years had passed since she’d briefly read a novel on the subway and awoken inside the body of its villainess.
No matter how hard she struggled, the villainess’s ending never changed.
At the very hour of the execution, Emperor Lucius and his consort Ashika were entwined in his study.
The knight captain, accustomed to such scenes, reported calmly.
“Your Majesty, the execution was carried out as planned.”
“I see…”
Lucius lowered his gaze, lost in thought.
Ashika, seated on his lap, traced his cheek with a seductive smile.
“Your Majesty… do you regret your decision?”
Lucius shook his head.
“Of course not. How did the Empress look before she died? Did she beg for her life?”
“No.”
One of Lucius’s eyebrows arched upward.
“No…? Then what?”
“She was smiling.”
“Ha—smiling?”
Lucius let out a hollow laugh and pressed his lips into a tight, bitter line.
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.
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (91)
I already like you, brazen Ikar. But what happened to the first and second princes?
Patrick run!! The scheming empress plan to tie you her daughter
The translation is confusing, but my understanding is that the empress has 2 sons and a daughter, while the consort has one son
Inline Comments (1)
It felt familiar yet warm—somehow.
How an already 30 chapters in without anything significant happening?!
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VKotaku28
What is going up happen to Kael after the regression?