As the emperor approached slowly, they felt like they would be struck at any moment. Their entire bodies trembled. The fear of potential death overwhelmed them.
“Who cannot speak for themselves?”
In the chilly voice of the emperor, they shivered, raising their heads.
Cold eyes with a sharp gaze of disdain stared at them.
“It seems like you can’t speak for yourself.”
The emperor roughly lifted the servant’s chin and struck his face with the back of his hand.
“You’re chattering away so much, aren’t you?”
The emperor pushed the maid’s head and asked her in a subdued voice that only she could hear.
“Who is behind all this?”
The whispered voice flowed into her ears.
“…! I-I don’t know!”
The maid forcefully turned her head at the emperor’s discreet question.
Was it that the maid, shivering with her exposed body, suddenly seemed pitiful?
The emperor, abruptly changing his oppressive attitude, spoke gently, as if trying to soothe her.
“How did you end up like this without telling anyone?”
The emperor touched the maid’s face lightly. She endured the sharp pain, trembling with her head bowed.
‘She didn’t tell anyone…’
Seeing the maid’s reaction, the satisfied expression appeared on the emperor’s face.
The worst-case scenario would be the maid revealing the mastermind.
However, she claimed she hadn’t told anyone. How fortunate.
He licked his lips with a snake-like tongue.
“The Duke is not dead. So, if you tell me who’s behind it, I’ll specially spare your life.”
The whispering sound penetrated the maid’s ears once again.
Even if she claimed not to know anything, if Duke Artem died from poison, she would not have escaped death.
Therefore, she did not open her mouth despite severe torture. She feared that if she mistakenly revealed something, her family might face retaliation.
Even if she died, she preferred to die alone. That was her perspective.
‘…If the Duke is not dead, and if I reveal the mastermind, maybe I can survive!’
A fleeting moment of hope emerged in her heart.
Although it was a brief moment, the emperor detected the hopeful glint in her eyes.
He indulgently toyed with the maid as if coaxing her, flashing a sly smile.
“Don’t worry, just speak. If you expose the mastermind and handle everything, not only will I spare your life, but I will also grant you a great reward.”
The sweet whisper lingered in the maid’s ears.
Somehow, she felt she couldn’t miss this opportunity. She made up her mind.
To tell the emperor everything.
“The, the mastermind is…”
Whether the emperor’s persuasion worked or not, her tightly sealed lips opened.
And at the same time, the emperor stood up abruptly. Then, he took the sword from a nearby knight.
Without hesitation, he swung the sword, and blood splattered in all directions like a fountain. The emperor’s actions showed no hesitation.
He wielded the sword even towards the servant, who was trembling and unable to say anything.
‘How foolish. Even though I told her to speak, she really opened her mouth.’
The emperor stared at the maid with a cold gaze.
Clang.
Then, he threw the sword towards their lifeless bodies.
“Dispose of them. Not only did she dare to attempt regicide, but she also insulted a Duke in front of me.”
He casually wiped the blood off his cheek and ordered the knights without any remorse.
The knights, as if they hadn’t heard the conversation between the emperor and the maid, busily carried out his orders.
They covered the two corpses with white cloth, and the maids briskly cleaned up the scattered bloodstains on the floor.
The emperor’s eyes fell on the fallen Duke. His gaze towards the Duke was far from gentle.
In his glimmering and burning eyes, there was a chilling anger.
The plot to frame the Duke as the culprit and execute him had completely failed.
According to the plan, his daughter Diana was supposed to ingest a small amount of poison and collapse, but why was Duke Artem lying unconscious instead?
‘Damn it…!’
The situation had not just changed; it had solidified.
The emperor glared at Duke Artem with a cold gaze.
‘The audacious brat has grown up a lot.’
Indeed, he should have disregarded public opinion and killed him.
The Duke, who was once nothing more than a mere kitten, had grown into a formidable beast.
‘I shouldn’t have listened to Duke Fliche’s words.’
It was Duke Fliche who convinced him that if the late emperor died of illness and Duke Artem also died, suspicion would be unavoidable.
Observing from the sidelines, Duke Fliche suggested sparing the Duke’s life, claiming he could be killed later when the opportunity arose.
At that time, many doubted the claim that the late emperor died of poisoning.
Diana’s birth mother died, followed by the death of the late empress. And then, the emperor himself lost his life.
Within a period of less than two years, a series of suspicious deaths occurred.
So, suspicion was inevitable.
At that time, Duke Fliche’s advice seemed appropriate.
The emperor glared at Duke Artem with resentful eyes. Then, he clenched his fist, gritted his teeth, and ground his teeth.
It seemed absurd that the Duke was lying down.
‘Resistant to poison, huh?’
To fall so weakly like this.
No, maybe he’s just acting like he’s fallen.
A melodramatic act to make him hit his own neck.
The emperor was seized with an impulse to twist the Duke’s neck right away.
This incident would be an opportunity to oust the nobles of the emperor’s faction and even threaten the throne.
It was infuriating to be taken advantage of by a young Duke with a bluish hue.
Despite closing his eyes, could the emperor feel his gaze?
The corners of Duke Artem’s mouth, lying like a corpse all along, faintly twitched.
Now it was time for retaliation.
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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