Celia Brillion could not understand Dietrich Calypso at all.
Just now, what if she had plunged the dagger into Dietrich’s throat instead of hesitating?
A droplet of blood gathered at his neck and silently trickled down along the line of his throat.
“Are you angry?”
At the calm voice, Celia Brillion glared at him with bloodshot eyes.
“Angry? I’m not angry at all.”
“…Your eyes are saying otherwise.”
“I should’ve stopped hesitating and just plunged the dagger in. That way, you wouldn’t be able to speak such awful words.”
“Then why didn’t you do it?”
Why didn’t she stab him? There were many reasons. The moment she saw the droplet of blood form on Dietrich’s neck, a vision of him dying flashed through Celia Brillion’s mind.
Even if it meant dying with a dagger buried in his throat, Dietrich probably wouldn’t have changed his expression at all.
Beyond all that, the decisive reason Celia Brillion couldn’t bring herself to kill him was—
“Because I didn’t want to kill you.”
She didn’t want to kill him. She wanted him to live.
Not because she wished to depend on Dietrich.
To Celia Brillion, Dietrich was still a suspicious, inscrutable figure.
“I find you so difficult. I don’t know what you’re thinking, and you never bother to share important information with me. You just arbitrarily test people.”
Celia Brillion stepped closer to Dietrich. He remained standing still, quietly looking down at her with a serene expression.
She looked at the wound on Dietrich’s neck, where a droplet of blood had formed. She gently rubbed the injury she had inflicted with her fingers.
Just from lightly touching it, a red droplet of blood stained her fingertips.
If she had driven the dagger just a little deeper, he might have truly lost his life. Thinking this stirred a tremor in her heart.
What unsettled her now wasn’t likely due to some fleeting emotion. It was probably because the Dietrich standing before her seemed utterly devoid of sanity.
Or perhaps he had used some ability on her.
Even while endlessly suspicious, she simply couldn’t bring herself to take his life.
“I wanted you to live rather than die.”
Her mouth, which usually spat out meaningless remarks or lies, now spoke nothing but the truth.
After finishing her words, Celia Brillion quietly gazed up at Dietrich. Because he was tall, she always had to crane her neck to look at him.
Dietrich bent his waist to meet her eyes.
A cold wind tousled Dietrich’s black hair. Within his crimson eyes, only Celia Brillion was fully reflected.
Dietrich gently smoothed her hair, not his own. Her silver strands tangled between his large fingers.
He pulled the hood attached to the top of his robe over Celia Brillion’s head. The robe, tailored for Dietrich’s frame, had an oversized hood, making it nearly impossible for Celia Brillion to see anything in front of her.
In the darkness of her obscured vision, Dietrich’s deep voice settled against her ear.
“Celia.”
Had he ever called her name before? Probably not. As Celia Brillion tried to remove the hood in frustration, Dietrich stopped her by gently taking her hands in his.
Just from that handhold, the turmoil in her heart quietly settled. When Celia Brillion stilled, Dietrich’s voice once again brushed against her ear.
“Live.”
“…”
“And I, more than anyone, wish for you to live as well.”
Having spoken those words, Dietrich removed the hood that had been blocking Celia Brillion’s vision.
Looking at her with an emotionless face, Dietrich resembled either a monk detached from the mortal world or a massive ancient tree rooted firmly in place.
Dietrich bent down and picked up the dagger Celia Brillion had dropped.
“Your attack was good, but your grip on the dagger was wrong from the start. You held it convincingly enough, but doing it that way won’t let you apply proper force.”
Dietrich placed the dagger back into Celia Brillion’s hand, then stepped behind her and placed his hands over hers.
“Don’t tense your wrist too much. And aiming precisely at vital points is more important. If done well, you can cut off your opponent’s breath in a single strike.”
Dietrich personally guided her, folding each of her fingers one by one to show her the correct way to hold the dagger. Her back pressed against his torso, and Celia Brillion ended up nearly cradled in Dietrich’s arms.
“If you fail to cut off your opponent’s breath, stab both eyes with the dagger.”
“…The eyes?”
“Yes, the eyes. Most people, when attacked in the eyes, become so flustered that they completely lose their will to fight.”
“You say it like you’ve done it many times.”
At Celia Brillion’s remark, Dietrich let out a clear, light laugh.
Hearing that laugh for the first time, Celia Brillion turned her head to check his face, but Dietrich wore his usual indifferent expression, as if he had never laughed at all.
“Focus. Look ahead.”
Guiding her hands, Dietrich physically demonstrated how to grip and use the dagger depending on the target area.
Celia Brillion absorbed every lesson Dietrich taught without missing a single detail.
Watching Celia Brillion quickly absorb his instructions, Dietrich wore a soft smile on his lips.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had smiled like this. He had always thought he’d never have a reason to smile in his entire life.
—I wanted you to live rather than die.
Celia Brillion’s image, looking him straight in the eyes as she spoke those words, lingered in Dietrich’s mind like a lingering afterimage.
He had expected that, given any chance, she would try to kill him. Yet, contrary to his expectations, Celia Brillion had not harmed him.
Of course, even if Celia Brillion had truly intended to kill Dietrich, nothing would have changed. As a Sword Master, Dietrich could channel orae into any part of his body at will and avoid death.
Dodging Celia Brillion’s attacks, which were clearly visible to the naked eye, was effortless for Dietrich.
The reason he abruptly covered her eyes with the hood was because, for a fleeting moment, he had failed to control his expression.
At that moment, Dietrich had been flustered, unsure of what expression to wear. Unwilling to let Celia Brillion see his bewildered face, he had simply thrown the robe’s hood over her.
Someone like Emperor Sekret Basileus, a lecherous ruler, was far less useful to him than Celia Brillion, who possessed abilities. Perhaps she even shared his goal of Abelon’s destruction.
That was why he was personally teaching her how to use a dagger.
What excited him was simply the fact that Celia Brillion had chosen not to harm him.
Nothing more.
Dietrich raised his head and gazed up at the sky. It felt like hardly any time had passed, yet dawn had already broken.
“Celia.”
Dietrich called her name. Celia Brillion, hearing her name, looked up at him.
“Don’t go anywhere. Stay hidden here safely until I return.”
Dietrich placed the dagger back into Celia Brillion’s hand. She nodded in response.
“I’ll wait.”
Celia Brillion smiled softly. Her green eyes, reminiscent of a summer forest, gently crinkled at the reddish outer corners.
Dietrich gazed at her smiling face for a brief moment before turning away.
[This is the timeline separator]At dawn, Empress Erpia went to the palace where Ileon Gredrick resided.
Passing through the golden hall, where even the ceiling and walls were entirely made of gold, she reached a marble staircase leading to the second-floor reception room.
Upon ascending to the second floor, she saw a door adorned with a crest: a massive black serpent coiling around a white cross.
It was the coat of arms of the Gredrick Dukedom.
Entering the reception room, Ileon, his hair tied back on one side, greeted the empress with an endlessly gentle expression.
Dressed in a loose, pure white garment, he looked less like a duke and more like a priest.
As if anticipating her arrival, a mahogany table with a vase of roses already held a steaming teapot and two teacups.
“Your Majesty, please sit.”
The empress sat across from Ileon, her face visibly furious.
She had already been upset lately because Jeremy wasn’t listening to her, so she hadn’t attended the banquet in anger—yet she never expected Ileon to leave the banquet hall alone with Celia.
“Duke, what exactly did you discuss with that wretched girl, Celia?”
Ileon found the empress’s inability to control her emotions utterly amusing. He shrugged his shoulders as he poured tea into an empty cup.
“I merely wished to see with my own eyes the woman accused of attempting to assassinate the emperor. There was no other reason.”
At Ileon’s reply, the empress’s eyebrows twisted sharply.
“Are you asking me to believe that now? I heard you spent over two hours alone with that lowborn girl.”
“How come you dislike her so much? Your Majesty, as the mother of all people, should you really be so shaken by a mere nobody?”
Hearing Ileon’s words, the empress felt her throat burning with rage and took a sip from her teacup.
Thud.
Placing the cup back on the table, the empress brought up the main topic.
“…That aside, did you bring what I asked for, Duke?”
“You mean the poison that disfigures the face?”
“Yes. As I wrote in my letter, preferably one that doesn’t just disfigure the face, but one that makes it grotesquely melt away.”
Ileon laughed silently.
People were so different.
Some searched for poison to harm others, while others refused to even hold poison in their hands.
The image of Celia, who had smiled like a fresh spring blossom, telling others not to use poison, had been rather refreshing.
Thud.
Ileon pulled a small vial from his robe and placed it on the table.
Inside the vial, no larger than a finger joint, was a transparent liquid.
The empress’s violet eyes gleamed as she reached for the vial. But Ileon snatched it faster than she could. The empress, having had her desired object taken right before her eyes, narrowed her eyes sharply.
“What are you trying to do, Duke?”
“How can you say that, Your Majesty? I merely wish to inform you of a few precautions before handing it over.”
“Precautions?”
Smiling pleasantly, Ileon shook the vial.
“Yes. This poison won’t endanger one’s life, but even a small dose will cause the face to grotesquely melt, leaving the skin sagging and the eyes, nose, and mouth horribly deformed. Everyone who saw their reflection afterward fell into despair, developed madness, or in severe cases, took their own lives. There has been no exception.”
At Ileon’s explanation, the empress voiced her excitement.
“So it’s very effective.”
“…However.”
Pausing briefly, Ileon smiled at the empress, his eyes crinkling into crescents. His blue eyes, already giving his face a gentle appearance, now added a refreshing clarity.
“In exchange for giving you such a highly dangerous poison, I have a condition.”
“A condition?”
The empress’s eyebrows twitched.
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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