Why weren’t you asleep?
What on earth is going on here?
For a moment, I stared blankly at the man who had just spoken to me in an unexpectedly gentle tone.
Had I known this man before?
Tilting my head slightly, I silently moved my lips for a moment before finally managing to speak.
“Um… who are you?”
For a split second—truly, just about one second—I even wondered if he might be the owner of this room.
But in my imagination, the owner had always been a frail, sickly water strider type.
Completely the opposite of the man standing before me.
“You’re asking who I am?”
The man, clearly displeased with my question, pressed his lips together tightly and slowly swept his hair back.
Moonlight settled gracefully upon his flawless forehead.
Only briefly, though—his soft hair soon slid back down, neatly covering his brow again, and I swallowed hard.
“You don’t remember me?”
I nodded. Nope. I don’t.
“Hah.”
He let out a hollow chuckle, his handsome brow furrowing slightly in disbelief.
But seriously—though now’s hardly the time to say this—he really is absurdly good-looking.
A sharp but bold jawline, smooth skin, perfectly aligned eyelashes, eyes like embedded red diamonds, and slightly upturned outer eye corners.
His features were balanced and strikingly beautiful; his tall frame and well-built musculature exuded a powerful, masculine aura.
His appearance had not a single flaw—it was the kind of clean, universally appealing image that anyone, regardless of taste, would find attractive.
Clean? Even though he’s drenched in blood? What an absurd contradiction.
But why… why do I keep feeling like I’ve seen that face somewhere before?
Could I actually know him? But no way—I couldn’t possibly have seen a face that handsome and forgotten it. Right? How could anyone forget a man with that kind of beauty? He’s the kind you’d remember for life after just one glance.
Just as I tilted my head again, studying his face—
He dropped the sword he’d been holding onto the floor with an annoyed flick.
Clang!
“…!”
Startled by the sharp sound, I flinched and squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again.
And in that brief instant, a memory flashed through my mind—and I took a step backward.
‘No… no way. It can’t be, right?’
I’d been living such a peaceful daily life that I’d nearly forgotten—but this is the novel world of
And that face—golden hair, red eyes, still devastatingly handsome even covered in blood…
There was exactly one person it could be.
‘No. Not him.’
My heart began pounding as if it might burst from anxiety.
Meanwhile, the man—now seemingly having sorted his thoughts—tilted his head slightly and lifted his chin arrogantly, like some swaggering delinquent.
“That’s right. You’ve never seen me before.”
Slowly, he began walking toward me.
Step by step—calm, haughty strides. Even a madman’s footsteps radiate arrogance.
I squeezed my eyes shut and silently prayed to the entire universe.
‘Please grant me teleportation! Just let me vanish from here right now!’
Impossible, of course.
‘Then at least give me a status window!’
Naturally, nothing happened.
While I wept internally, tears and snot streaming in my mind, the man stepped right up to me—one foot away.
He stretched one arm out, bracing it against the wall behind me, and slowly leaned forward until our eyes met.
The moment our gazes locked, my suspicion hardened into undeniable reality, shaking me to my core.
If my guess was correct, this man before me was the worst villain in the story—the one who, in the near future, would go utterly insane over the female lead and commit bloody massacres.
And his name was…
“Hello. I’m Edan Dietrich. Your master.”
With that mocking, smoothly curved smile, my peaceful world crumbled.
Male Lead Candidate No. 4. The mad villain.
Edan Dietrich was so handsome that no amount of adjectives could do him justice.
The day the author revealed the official illustration—reportedly commissioned at personal expense—the popularity rankings of the novel’s male leads were completely overturned.
Male Lead Candidates 1, 2, and 3: The Crown Prince, the Knight Commander, and the Duke of the South.
As with most romance novels, all were extraordinarily handsome men.
With their tortured auras and overwhelmingly sexy vibes, their vote counts had been neck and neck.
But the moment Edan’s illustration—as the villain—was revealed, all previous rankings were instantly reversed.
“Could I be imprisoned and die instead of Ivy?”
“That face, that power—and he’s the villain? I’ll bury my bones here.”
“Edan, please, can’t you be just a little less handsome? Grandma’s gonna faint.”
“Edan, give me your healing power. All of it. I want it too! Please!”
Truly insane, yet his face alone carried its own internal logic. No matter what he did, he was crazier than anyone could imagine.
Edan, the Emperor’s illegitimate son, was obsessively fixated on Ivy’s healing power—but the problem was Ivy was the Grand Holy Maiden of the Temple. Everyone desired her, yet no one could ever possess her alone. Edan, however, broke the law, kidnapped her, and stole her away from the Temple. He slaughtered every royal soldier sent to retrieve her and turned the other three male leads into his enemies—all for the sake of Ivy.
But when Ivy, a pacifist, voluntarily left his side, he completely lost his sanity and even dabbled in dark magic. After that, it was pure chaos—he became a madman who killed mercilessly, sparing no one.
And yet… because he was just too handsome, I’d once even thought, “Just once, I wish I could meet him in real life.”
But now… to actually see that golden hair before my eyes? To lock gazes with those eyes?
‘Handsome is one thing, but in person he’s terrifying! His aura is pure horror!’
I wanted to turn and run. But no one could escape from Edan.
This man wasn’t just good-looking—he possessed absurdly overpowered abilities.
How could anyone possibly flee from the man who single-handedly commanded and defended the North—the region most infested with powerful monsters?
Just thinking about it made every hair on my body stand on end, but I forced myself to smile calmly at him.
“Ah, hello? Master Edan Dietrich.”
Trembling, trembling—I was smiling so awkwardly it must have looked grotesque.
But right now, this was my best option.
Merely holding back tears while standing before a man who could slice anyone in half with a single stroke felt like an achievement worthy of self-praise.
Edan, who had been silently gazing down at me, gave a faint chuckle, parted his lips slightly, and slowly dragged his blood-stained thumb across them.
Red blood roughly painted the outline of his lips—and a metallic scent brushed against my nose.
His crimson eyes, fixed on his own fingertip, slowly drifted downward, then rose again to meet my gaze.
Insane. How can anything be this sexy?
Is my heart pounding because of his beautiful face—or because I’m terrified? I can’t even tell anymore.
“Remember me now?”
I quickly nodded.
“Y-yes, of course. This is our first meeting.”
“You’re seeing me for the first time.”
“…Huh?”
“I’ve been watching you all along.”
What? Watching me? Since when?
As my pupils rapidly trembled, Edan took a sudden step closer.
Forget the blood smell—I felt crushed beneath his broad shoulders and massive frame.
“What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you scared of me?”
“No?”
Of course I’m scared! Obviously I’m scared! Setting aside the fact that you’re a lunatic—how could anyone not be terrified of a blood-drenched man holding a sword right in front of them?
But I put on a brave front. I couldn’t lose this psychological battle. Nothing had even happened yet—if I showed fear now, it might look even weirder. This man was simply the shut-in master of the room I’d finally met today. That’s all. I hypnotized myself repeatedly.
Edan slowly scanned my body up and down.
“You’re trembling like a cicada’s song.”
“That’s a misunderstanding. I have a condition—my body shakes every night.”
“Is that a real illness? I’ve never heard of it.”
“It’s… a rare disease.”
“Doesn’t seem like it.”
“It is—!”
I wanted to argue further, but Edan’s smile vanished, his expression turning deadly—and I immediately clamped my mouth shut.
His gaze was so sharp I wouldn’t have been surprised if actual blades shot out of his eyes. This time, I truly felt every hair on my head stand on end.
While I struggled to keep my wits about me, terrified he might snap my neck at any moment, Edan thankfully stepped slowly backward.
“Food?”
“Huh?”
“My breakfast. Did you clear it away?”
“Oh, no. It’s still there.”
Whoosh. Edan turned, revealing his broad shoulders, walked over, and picked up the sword he’d dropped on the floor.
Blood still trickled steadily from its freshly sharpened blade.
‘Good heavens. So that blood… was his.’
The main reason I’d assumed the room’s owner was sickly was precisely because of that blood.
Every morning, I’d wake to find one or two drops of blood pooled on the floor.
Every day, the first thing I did upon waking was wipe it up—it was, oddly, the cleaning task I paid the most attention to in this quiet manor.
I’d thought he was just so frail he frequently suffered nosebleeds—but nope! Not at all!
“Sleep well.”
Huh? Edan tossed the words carelessly over his shoulder as he passed me, grabbed the tray near the door, and walked straight into his room.
“Uh…?”
Long after Edan’s door had closed, I remained standing dumbfounded in the hallway.
It’s strange—he has the handsome looks and the dangerously alluring aura just as described in the novel… but something feels different.
-“I will kill anyone who interferes. Kill them all. Just to keep you by my side.”
He used to speak in that rigid, chilling tone.
But wasn’t today’s Edan… subtly gentler in speech?
[This is the timeline separator]“Aaaah!”
I screamed, bolting upright with my hair wildly disheveled.
“Hah… hah…”
I’d only just managed to fall asleep—and then suffered through a horrible nightmare.
In the dream, I was happily sweeping the garden with a broom, enjoying my usual healing life, when suddenly the sky darkened.
I turned my head and saw a massive cloud of darkness approaching. I tried to run, but the ground began filling with bright red blood.
I ran desperately, but my body slowly sank into the thick pool of blood—and eventually, the giant dark cloud swallowed me whole.
It was an infuriatingly vivid dream.
As I struggled to catch my breath, warm sunlight poured onto my face.
Only then did I blink awake—and frowned at the unusually bright weather.
“…What time is it?”
“11:57.”
“Yikes!”
Whoosh! I whipped my head around—and there sat Edan, legs crossed in a chair, hands clasped together, staring straight at me.
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
