At the eastern end of the Elyos Duchy lay the port city of Maris, ever bustling with vessels coming and going ceaselessly.
Maris’s port, usually bustling with people due to the active movement of goods, was especially crowded with a larger crowd that day.
The subjects of Maris, who had gathered like clouds, were divided into two along the middle path.
At the very end of the path was the Napoleon, a large cruise ship with the emblem of the Duchy engraved on it.
People were filled with anticipation, waiting for something. Their bright, sparkling eyes were full of life.
“He’s finally coming!”
As someone exclaimed in an excited voice, people’s heads turned in unison towards a single direction.
Where their gaze met were the Duke and Duchess of Elyos, who had just arrived at the port with their entourage.
“The Duke is here!”
“The new Duchess is here too!”
As soon as Idel, who had just arrived at the port of Maris, stepped out of the carriage, she involuntarily held her breath, slightly startled by the sight of the many subjects standing fervently as if on fire.
The subjects, waving small flags engraved with the Elyos Duchy’s emblem, were cheering towards the Duke and Duchess.
As she stepped down from the carriage, Caeron, escorting Idel, took her hand. He whispered quietly into her ear, which was hesitating with surprise.
“Don’t be nervous, just walk naturally.”
At Caeron’s words, Idel composed her face and straightened her back. He held her hand and paced with her, slowly walking through the crowd.
“Long live the Duke!”
“Long live the Duchess!”
At the sight of the dazzling Duke and Duchess before their very eyes, the excited subjects cheered and waved with broad smiles on their faces.
Receiving such a reception for the first time, Idel didn’t know what to do. She tried to maintain a natural expression, repeating his words in her head.
“Sister Superior! Is that woman an angel?”
Among the welcoming crowd that came to greet the Duke and Duchess were also the children from the Maris cathedral’s orphanage. A girl pointed at the Duchess and asked the Sister Superior.
She had always been curious about the depiction of angels in biblical stories, but now she thought she understood. The girl could not take her eyes off the sight of the beautiful angel that was alive and moving.
“Yes, she’s like an angel. Now, let’s give her the gift we prepared.”
The Sister Superior nodded with a kind smile. As the distance to the Duchess narrowed, she took a step forward and spoke.
“Duchess, just a moment… we have something for you.”
When the middleaged woman in a nun’s habit called her, Idel stopped. Children gathered around the woman, looking up at her with sparkling eyes.
“We are from the Maris Cathedral’s Orphanage. Thanks to the budget provided by the Duchy… our children are able to receive an education.”
At the nun’s words, Idel remembered the details related to the orphanage budget in the budget documents from the Duchy.
The Maris Cathedral Orphanage took in children abandoned by single mothers. Due to societal views on single mothers, the orphanage had significantly less funding than other charities.
Children who had done nothing wrong were faced with cold stares just because of their birth… It reminded her of herself, and she was particularly concerned.
Idel had allocated additional funds to the Maris Cathedral Orphanage budget by taking a portion from the dignity maintenance fee given to her as the Duchess, while maintaining fairness with other charities.
Thanks to this, the children of the Maris Cathedral Orphanage, who had been lacking in tuition, could now attend school without worries. Not only that, but a small library was also established in the orphanage with books for the children.
The servants from the Duchy had informed them that all of this was due to the new Duchess who had taken over the Duchy’s administration.
Especially, the books were supported by the Duchess spending her own money, and they said she would continue to send books that the children needed periodically.
Knowing this fact, the Maris Cathedral Orphanage decided to find a way to express their gratitude to the Duchess.
Initially, they planned to send a thankyou letter to the Duchess located in the capital. However, upon hearing the news that the Duke and Duchess were coming to Maris for their honeymoon, they prepared a gift to present directly.
“This is a gift our children have made with gratitude in mind. We hope you will accept it.”
The children presented the gift with hands small as fern leaves. It was a bouquet of beautiful wildflowers bloomed in the spring sunlight, and a garland.
Idel’s gaze went to the children’s hands dyed green with grass. Her eyes welled up. It was a priceless gift.
After a moment of thought, she turned her head and looked at Caeron. Meeting his eyes, she gave a small nod and slightly released the hand she had been holding.
She immediately moved closer to the children’s side and slowly bent her knee.
“Her, Her Highness!”
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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