How on earth did this happen?

“Your, Your Majesty… at this hour… How did you get here?”

“Walked.”

“?”

“Heh, is it okay not to drink any more water?”

“Ah, I want to drink a bit more…”

I raised my hand towards the cup of water he was holding, my thirst not yet fully quenched.

“This is warm water, is that okay?”

He slightly lifted the water cup, as if trying to prevent it from touching my hand, and asked.

“It felt like I just drank cold water… is it my imagination?”

“It’s not your imagination. I held this water in my mouth because it seemed like you desperately wanted cold water, and then handed it to you.”

“…Yes?!”

Emperor Rinel seemed to find my puzzled expression amusing.

“Things that touch my hand decrease in temperature. It’s possible.”

“Ah, so that’s why the water became cold?”

“That’s right, it was colder because it stayed in my mouth.”

At his additional explanation, I was speechless.

“Do you need more water?”

“Yes, I need it but…”

“That means you need me.”

He chuckled a bit when he caught my eye while murmuring to himself.

“Wait.”

As I swallowed my dry saliva, he spoke, bringing the cup of water to his mouth.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he drank the water and came close to my face.

My lips parted as if they were waiting for this.

I absorbed the water that he slowly transferred through his mouth.

Surprisingly, the water he held in his mouth was as cold as ice water.

My mouth, which felt as if it was boiling, began to cool down with his calm sensation that came with coolness.

“You still seem very thirsty…?”

He softly grasped my chin and whispered after parting his lips,

“I’m fine now…!”

Whether Emperor Rinel didn’t hear my words or not, he drank all the remaining water in the cup and handed it to me again through his mouth.

“Haah.”

It felt like the flames that had been rising from my throat were completely extinguished now.

It felt like I had found an oasis in the middle of a desert under the scorching sun and threw my body into it.

Even after handing me the last sip of water, he still had his lips against mine.

I gently pushed his shoulder away.

“This, now, I’m really okay.”

I wiped my moist lips, thanks to Emperor Rinel, with the back of my hand and spoke.

“I’m the one who gave you the cool water, but it’s strange. Why is my body getting warm…?”

He fiddled with the water cup still in his hand.

“It’s just a feeling, isn’t it?”

He murmured and lifted his head to look at me again.

“Empress, are you sick anywhere? Like a cold.”

He put his hand on my forehead and tilted his head.

“There’s no fever.”

It seemed he couldn’t feel the hot heat inside me either.

“I’m not sick anywhere. I just woke up with a dry throat. But Your Majesty, why on earth are you here at this hour…?”

“I told you I’d come to your palace tonight during lunch, didn’t I?”

“Ah, I thought you weren’t coming because there was no message until evening.”

“I thought it would be late… and I told them not to tell you because I thought you might not sleep waiting for me.”

“Yes…”

“Just woke you up when I just stopped by to see your face.”

“With your lips, right?”

I smiled and repeated his words, but he still looked at me with a worried expression.

“Earlier… It seemed like you were having a nightmare?”

“Ah, that happens sometimes.”

When I brushed it off lightly, he didn’t ask further with an uncertain expression.

“I see.”

We exchanged glances in silence for a moment.

Unable to stand the awkward atmosphere, I first lifted the corner of my mouth, and he too, perhaps feeling awkward, followed me and lifted the corner of his mouth.

Then he coughed a few times and got up from the bed where he had been sitting.

“Um, um, since you’re okay now, I’ll go.”

“Yes…”

“?”

As he said he was leaving, I also got up from the bed to see him off.

“Are you going to your palace bedroom?”

“…Yes. There’s nowhere else to go.”

Emperor Rinel’s voice was somewhat cold.

Despite his cold words as if he would turn around at any moment, he was still standing there.

What should I say to the emperor who is still looking at me?

Should I stop him out of courtesy? Or should I say goodbye again?

The cause of this hesitation stemmed from one thing.

If I were his real wife, I would have definitely grabbed his arm.

But I am.

“So, please be careful on your way back…”

She wasn’t the real wife of Emperor Rinel.

In the end, she bowed her head and greeted him again.

“Just stay here. You have nothing to go out for.”

Emperor Rinel turned around sharply, commanding me as he tried to follow him to the bedroom door.

“Oh, yes.”

She felt a pang of regret as she watched him walk to the bedroom door.

She thought she might have the courage to approach him if he looked back one more time.

Clang.

In the end, he just left the bedroom.

She felt a void, as if it was seeping in through the bedroom door.

She stood staring at the bedroom door until his retreating footsteps disappeared.

The silence returned.

She turned off the small lamp he had left on and lay down on the bed again.

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

_____

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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