In a moment, the banquet hall was filled with murmuring sounds, and now there was no one laughing and playing. Finally, when Angarad left the place crying, the children left the banquet hall like a flood.
Neris chuckled to herself. Alecto was a smart child. She never knew the day would come when that intelligence would help her side.
There is nothing useless in the world.
(This is a time separator.)
Angarad was absent from the gathering of lower aristocrats held at the beginning of the next month. There were only two hosts.
The children, who had seen enough of Angarad’s downcast face as she attended classes without conversing with anyone for a while, did not question it.
“Even for a small theft, you must serve a penalty of staying after school for two weeks, and you have to have a consultation with Mrs. Hoffman. If you don’t reflect then, they will contact home.”
A fourteenyearold party attendee whispered to a freshman attendee with connections. The freshman attendee couldn’t hide his pleased expression.
“That kid was always a bit strange.”
“Yes, but you have to be careful since there are children like that. You can’t leave your valuables anywhere as you do at home. If the maid claims to have committed the act alone like this time, additional punishment is difficult. Understand?”
Angarad’s maid, Masa, ended up being expelled from school for bearing responsibility for the ribbon incident.
It was obvious what treatment Masa, born and raised in the Nine Earldom, would receive when she returned home, but it must have seemed like the best course of action to Angarad.
But how many would believe her words?
Neris smirked at the atmosphere around her.
‘Strange,’ they say. There must have been no one in this place who heard that word more often than Neris. A ‘strange’ child in a social sense was not born that way.
‘It’s created. The more you’re ostracized by the children.’
Neris, who was cheerful and bright as a child, grew darker as she was bullied at the academy. But the darkness itself was a secondary issue.
People she met in the social scene, whether on Megara’s side or not, openly showed discomfort when conversing with Neris.
‘Ordinary’ topics, ‘ordinary’ responses, ‘ordinary’ emotional expressions, none of which she did not learn in her relationships with peers as a child. Those were the things Neris struggled most to learn.
The expression ‘a bit strange’ used by children ultimately meant acting differently from one’s peers. And a child who was judged as different is repeatedly ostracized by their peers.
As Neris had done, it seemed Angrad would do in the future.
The children recognized the weak.
“There she is, Neris.”
One of the hosts of this party who was conversing with Neris, Hadi, asked with sparkling eyes.
“You attend the same classes as the upperclassmen. So, are you invited to their parties as well?”
Neris shook her head in response.
“Not really. The upperclassmen have their set group to hang out with.”
“That’s a shame. You would do well at an upperclassmen’s party.”
“Thanks for saying that. But I experienced a formal party for the first time since coming to the academy, you know? The academy’s parties are all amazing and wondrous. Being invited to this occasion is a grateful experience for me, Hadi.”
Hadi wore a proud face. The other children at the same table felt the same way.
It was a party of lower nobility, so the parents of the children present were at most barons, and there were numerous children of knights. But hardly anyone had as difficult a background as Neris. Usually, if a knight’s child had no money, they wouldn’t attend school.
A comfortable sense of superiority and the magnanimity stemming from it ruled the students. Another child showed off their dignity as they spoke.
“Neris has beautiful purple eyes, right? She’s undoubtedly the descendant of a great family. Her lineage is good, and she’s smart, so she’ll be invited to many honorable places in the future.”
It was true. It was now just a painful memory of betrayal, but Neris concealed a bitter smile with a modest expression.
‘You never really invited me to those parties.’
“Everyone received the invitation? See you on Friday!”
All classmates except Neris had been invited at least once every two weeks to the gatherings called class parties. Even after graduation, gatherings among those who entered the academy together tended to continue, but Neris was the only one never invited.
There was once, when everyone was still in the first year, that Neris received Angrad’s invitation for the first time. Something seemed strange, but Neris accepted the invitation, thrilled simply by the fact that she, too, had received one like the other children.
And when she went to the place written on the invitation, wearing her best clothes.
There was no one there. It remained the same no matter how many times she checked. That place turned out to be a classroom where the seventh graders had lessons.
The venue written on the other children’s invitations was different. Wondering if she had misunderstood the location, Neris wandered around until a kind upperclassman told her the firstyear party was held in Megara’s dormitory.
Not giving up, Neris went as far as Megara’s dormitory and saw her classmates joyfully laughing and playing.
Fine clothes, fine food. Neris knew that none of it was prepared for her.
She was just about to turn away, blaming herself, when she heard Angrad and her friends laughing and chattering.
“Her? Did she really go?”
“She must have. She’s stupid.”
“Oh, it’s really funny. I should have seen that.”
“Did you see her face when she got the invitation? Who likes her coming? Angrad is really fun!”
“I don’t like it if she comes either. Honestly, her mother was strange when we were young. I feel sorry for Earl Wilmot…….”
She wanted to believe it was about someone else. But as soon as the name ‘Earl Wilmot’ was heard, Neris realized.
Angrad, when showing off among her friends, didn’t care about any truth. What mattered was bringing up the insignificant topic of Neris. Yelling at the other children in this school, who were richer or of higher status than her, ‘I’m just like you. Compared to her!’
Now Neris had no interest in such trivial gatherings. But that didn’t mean she was okay with it.
Therefore, she didn’t need to feel guilty about Angrad anymore.
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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