A cool breeze swept between the two. The scent of roses, carried by the swaying wind, tickled their noses at that moment.
Dmitri, wearing an expression of disbelief, called out a long-lost name to Lea.
“Now, my daughter who has returned to the earth. My Ariel.”
Lea’s red hair fluttered in the wind, resembling the roses scattered across the garden. That wasn’t all.
The luminous green eyes, as if about to run towards him at any moment, stared at him with a vibrant grass-colored intensity.
Dmitri reached out a trembling hand towards Lea.
“Is this a dream?”
Yes, it must be a dream. Otherwise, his deceased daughter wouldn’t be facing him like this.
“Hmm.”
A deep sigh escaped his lips as Dmitri, convinced it was a dream, slowly closed his eyes and then opened them again. His eyelids trembled like reeds swaying in the wind.
“It seems my time to die has come. Seeing you in my dreams like this… Yes, does this father seem so detestable to you?”
“…”
“I detest myself. If I had allowed the two of you back then, you wouldn’t have tragically perished.”
Duke Belarus spoke quietly with a voice filled with regret. However, Lea, who silently listened to the duke’s words of remorse, was utterly bewildered.
She had only spoken to the old man, who seemed injured while walking in the garden.
She hesitated, unsure of how to handle this situation.
‘Perhaps he is confusing me with his deceased daughter…’
He must have seen the wrong person. Seeing the grieving old man lost in longing, Lea couldn’t bring herself to utter a word.
‘What should I do?’
Just as Lea was contemplating how to deal with the old man, who seemed like he might approach her at any moment.
“Lea.”
At the sound of the familiar voice from behind, Lea turned around.
It was Akia.
Dmitri, who seemed to have just regained his composure after facing his deceased daughter, stiffened at the appearance of hostility towards Akia on Duke Belarus’s face.
“Why are you…”
Dmitri, having seen his deceased daughter and thinking it was a dream, couldn’t hide his confusion in the face of Akia’s vivid voice.
‘Could it be that it wasn’t a dream?’
Only now did Dmitri, looking at the woman standing side by side with Akia, realize that she wasn’t imagining Akia and his deceased daughter.
“Lord Duke Belarus.”
‘What?’
At Akia’s words calling Dmitri, Lea’s eyes widened.
Lea, who had been drawn to this place unknowingly due to the dense rose fragrance tickling her nose, had been exploring the beautifully embroidered garden. There, she found an old man who had collapsed, unaware that he had been pricked by thorns, his head lowered in apparent pain.
‘If that old man is Duke Belarus…’
Lea’s gaze turned towards Duke Belarus. She had heard that he was a formidable figure who ruled the empire.
In her eyes, he looked nothing more than an old man who missed his deceased daughter painfully.
Lea deeply bowed, realizing belatedly that she had been impolite.
“Excuse me. Lord Duke Belarus. I am Lea, the apothecary of Duke Heydern.”
Only now did Dmitri, who realized it was reality and not a dream, feel a chill run down his spine.
‘Heydern’s apothecary…’
Seeing Lea again, he realized she emitted a different atmosphere than Ariel. The woman, resembling Ariel, looked even younger than his daughter.
‘It’s not Ariel.’
Only now did Duke Belarus realize that he had confused another woman with Ariel. However, it seemed odd to call it a mistake.
Could he resemble his daughter to the extent that even her father could be confused? Moreover, her red hair was so distinct, reminiscent of the emblem of the Belarus family.
‘It’s strange. She looks so much like her.’
Finally, Dmitri regained his senses. Belatedly grasping the situation, he asked Lea with a trembling voice,
“Are you… Duke Heydern’s apothecary?”
“Yes, I apologize for my rudeness… Please forgive me.”
A commoner shouldn’t initiate a conversation with a noble until spoken to. Yet, here he was, asking her if she was the one hurt first.
Afraid that a reprimand might be issued, Lea bit her lip inwardly. However, Duke Belarus, seemingly having no intention of scolding her, merely scrutinized Lea.
“That attire…”
Dmitri’s gaze fell on Ariel’s green dress. It seemed that this mishap occurred because she was wearing the dress his daughter used to favor.
As Duke Belarus’s gaze landed on the dress, Lea hastily added,
“Oh, this was lent to me by the steward…”
“Bytton?”
The attire Lea was wearing was a relic of the Belarus lady.
Although it had been a long time since Ariel’s death, her room remained nearly unchanged from when she used to live there.
Every day, maids were employed to clean and arrange her clothes. Even though Dmitri had confirmed his daughter’s death with his own eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
Hence, the steward was unaware that Dmitri cherished his daughter’s belongings so dearly.
‘Perhaps Bytton was thinking the same.’
Lea looked so much like the deceased daughter that Dmitri felt as if Ariel had returned to life.
‘Maybe… that child…’
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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