“What, are you calling me a dictator now?”
Luella put her hands on her hips as she questioned, but Pano stepped back with a smile.
“How could I dare think that? I was just saying that if you agree, everyone else will too. I will go down and convey your message. Ah, also, dinner will be a bit early tonight. Please come down by 7.”
“Fine. You can go now.”
At Luella’s command, Pano responded with a ‘yes’ and exited the room. Left alone with Shuna, Luella mumbled as she sat down on the bed.
“Why do my tastes keep overlapping with Hazen?”
Shuna, who was about to move to the secondary bedroom, paused and looked directly at Luella.
“You two make a good pair.”
Hearing that cheerful and somehow sincere comment, Luella felt chills. She rubbed her own arm as she made a fuss.
“What? Don’t even joke about that. My taste is Kite.”
“Has His Lordship mentioned that?”
At the casually mentioned name of Kite, Shuna pretended to know something, causing Luella to flinch for a moment.
“How did you know?”
“I heard it from Tien earlier. The only people I haven’t met yet are the Duke and his servant. Oh, and I haven’t met the costume department, but that’s an exception.”
“Did you also meet Hans and Ralph?”
“Yes. They were peeling potatoes in the kitchen.”
“Potatoes? Why?”
“The number of people keeps increasing, so there’s a lot of work to do. The head chef called them. I offered to help, but the head chef told me to take good care of you instead, especially since it’s my first day.”
“Emma is really kind. But it must be really hard. We’re nearly twenty people, and she’s handling all the meal preparations herself.”
“That’s why Tien promised to find an assistant chef.”
“It won’t be easy here. Who would come here to work, antagonizing the Curan royal family… Ah, sorry.”
Luella abruptly apologized, realizing she might have touched a nerve with Shuna.
“Why should you apologize? It’s my choice. At first, I hesitated but now I’m glad I followed you. I even want to praise myself for making such a decision.”
Luella walked over and took Shuna’s hand.
“It’s a bit late, but… if it hadn’t been for you back at the Camus mansion, I couldn’t have endured it. Thank you for that time.”
Touched by the heartfelt words, Shuna fidgeted with the hand Luella was holding. She gently shook her head in response.
“It was only a few days. And when you were chased out, I couldn’t do anything.”
“It’s natural. What could either of us have done when the landlord said to leave?”
“Still, I felt sorry.”
Luella quickly patted Shuna’s hand.
“If I had felt resentful then, would I have come back to find you? I was very unstable during those three days with you. If you hadn’t been so comforting, it would have been really hard. Thanks for being there for me.”
Shuna, who was blushing at Luella’s gratitude, seemed to remember something.
“Would you like me to help you with your bath? I’ll tell you the story I heard earlier.”
Luella, who had already intended to bathe and rest, perked up her ears. But remembering that Shuna too had traveled with her, she hesitated to accept the offer outright.
“Would it be too much for you?”
Careful not to push her, Shuna shook her head vigorously.
“It would be tiring. If I were in Camus, I would have finished morning cleaning by now and gone to pick fruit and be doing afternoon cleaning. Compared to that, today is practically a day off.”
The more she heard, the more Luella felt that Shuna hadn’t been treated well at the Camus mansion, leaving her with a bitter feeling.
“They divide cleaning into morning and afternoon? It’s not even larger than this place.”
“It was the Lady’s instruction. She puts an immense emphasis on cleanliness. She gets irritable if she detects any sort of smell.”
Shuna said as she went into the bathroom to get water.
“What smell? I didn’t notice anything when I was in the mansion.”
Luella, following Shuna into the bathroom, asked as she started to undress, leaving the door open.
“I felt the same. But it’s not just for a day or two. It’s been going on for years, so we’ve had to make a big deal out of cleaning.”
“The more I hear, the stranger she sounds.”
Luella showed her displeasure, to which Shuna cautiously asked.
“Miss, you said you’ve lost your memory… Had it been like that even before you fell down the stairs?”
As she spoke, Shuna looked visibly anxious. Luella, who had been with her since the first day she lost her memory, responded nonchalantly.
“Did you notice?”
“Because you seemed spaced out. They say you’re a very demanding person, but you just stood still during the party preparations, letting me do all the work.”
“Because what I wore and how I looked wasn’t the main issue at the time.”
Shuna moved to the bedroom and began to put away the clothes Luella had taken off.
“I told you there was an accident involving you before I began to serve you, didn’t I?”
Luella, who was heading back to the bathroom, turned to Shuna and asked seriously.
“Yes, you did. Can you give me the details?”
“You fell off a horse.”
Luella tilted her head in confusion.
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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