Delia, exhausted, had opened her eyes in the late afternoon.
As she slowly lifted her heavy eyelids, her eyes, blue as glass beads, were revealed.
Fragments of dreamy sunlight seeped into her blurry, unfocused vision.
‘Is it a dream?’
Her mind felt melted, devoid of any thought.
It felt as if her body wasn’t her own, all senses having escaped her control.
‘I think I had a terrible dream.’
Languid, Delia closed her eyes without effort.
Closing her eyes, her other senses began to revive.
The sensation of rough fur transmitted throughout her body.
The faint scent of earth and gunpowder, along with a damp and warm breath, came in with her inhale.
It was clear that this wasn’t her usual room.
‘So where am I?’
Delia once again struggled to open her eyes, slowly scanning her surroundings.
Her long eyelashes fluttered following her continuously blinking eyelids.
With clearer sight, the scenery around her started to become visible bit by bit.
Dishes knocked over and fruits rolling on the table where the light reached.
A white shirt spread out on the floor.
The shirt was touching the bed where she was lying.
Her own figure sprawled out lifelessly on the rough field bed.
And the warm heat she felt behind her back.
With that thought, Delia’s eyes widened in shock.
She gasped.
Delia inhaled sharply.
The hazy fog covering her mind cleared instantly, and everything became vividly alive.
I must be crazy.
What the hell did I do?
A torrent of harsh regret engulfed Delia.
Responding to such an absurd bet.
If he hadn’t seductively urged me with his voice like mist.
If I hadn’t been provoked by talk of betrayal.
Delia, returned from dream to reality, bit her lip desperately to keep from screaming.
She barely managed to stifle the sound, but the unfamiliar pain engraved all over her body attacked Delia even more intensely.
“Are you awake?”
Delia was startled by the low voice coming from behind her, her body shrinking in surprise.
“No. I’m still asleep.”
“You seem awake.”
“I said I’m still sleeping.”
Perhaps Delia’s response was amusing, a light laugh resonated from behind her.
Responding to each and every question while supposedly asleep.
Realizing her own mistake, Delia bit her lip tightly.
It was clear that the man behind her already noticed Delia’s discomfort.
“Why are you so tense, unlike yourself?”
His large hand caressed her back as if trying to soothe Delia’s tension.
His touch on her bare skin was so soft that it left her breathless.
“Who? Who said I was tense?”
Delia, who feigned calmness, moved her body towards the edge of the bed to avoid his touch.
It was a precarious situation, about to fall off the bed.
“So why are you running away?”
Unable to watch any longer, the man wrapped his arm around Delia’s waist and pulled her towards him.
“Kyaak.”
The more Delia struggled, the more force was exerted into the man’s arm.
Aaron held Delia, who was flailing to escape, close and whispered softly.
“Shush. Don’t be scared.”
Aaron brushed away the fine golden hair covering Delia’s face.
As the strands of hair like rays of light were neatly sorted, her cheeks, dyed like pink rose petals, were revealed.
He whispered gently while slowly caressing her soft cheeks.
“I won’t force you if you don’t give permission.”
His soothing voice.
The careful touch as if stroking something precious.
And the warm body temperature and regular heartbeat transmitted from his chest touching her back.
Delia, who had been tense, slowly relaxed at Aaron’s hands.
But that fact made Delia even more anxious.
The person holding her from behind was the commander of the Stiletz Empire.
He was the enemy who invaded to occupy Delia’s country, Eorenti.
But to be held in the arms of an enemy like this.
You can’t hand yourself over to the enemy so helplessly…
In order not to get caught up in him, Delia desperately pushed him away.
“But you forcefully caught me, didn’t you?”
“Prisoner. That was a military operation as a soldier. It’s different from this.”
“I’m very ‘grateful’. For distinguishing clearly between official and personal matters.”
“It’s natural as an imperial army with strict military discipline and high pride.”
“What a great Imperial Army. Attacking Eorenti…”
Pouting her lips, Delia gnawed on her lip with her teeth, turning her back on Aaron.
Aaron ran his thumb over Delia’s moist lips.
“Damn, again. I told you not to. Your lips will get chapped.”
Aaron applied some force to the finger that touched her lips.
Gently swept away as if trying to erase the mark, slightly parting her lips.
Delia’s red, fruitlike lips changed shape following his moving finger.
“Better bite my finger instead.”
Just like before.
Her ears turned bright red at the covertly whispered last words.
“The commander shouldn’t care. Whether my lips get chapped or not.”
“Don’t I have the right to care now?”
“No. Because we are not in any relation.”
“Do you really think so?”
Delia, trying to ignore the firm touch she felt on her lips, purposely stared at the table far away.
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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