On the first night, Esika sat alone on the bed for a long time.
Callian did not come to the room.
She had spent days filled with worry and anticipation, thinking only of this moment…
Esika bit her lip lightly.
And finally, she got up from the bed and opened the heavy door.
She felt she should go look for Callian.
‘That cold gaze towards me… It bothers me. If there’s some misunderstanding about me, I should clear it up.’
When she heard the news that their marriage would be realized, she was overjoyed.
But to be in such a frustrating situation from the very first step… She let out a sigh.
As she opened the door and stepped into the hallway, she saw a servant guarding the door flinch.
“Where is he?”
The servant answered Esika’s question with a flustered expression.
“Ah. Lady. Today… um… He has too much work, so he’s working in his office.”
“Is that so? Then rather than waiting…”
“No, my lady. You must wait.”
“What? Why?”
“Well… The Duke…”
The servant rolled his eyes and continued.
“He dislikes women who come looking for him without notice.”
“…Women?”
Esika twitched her eyebrow.
“Women? …Perhaps besides me…”
Esika shook her head as she thought.
Right, it’s no big deal if someone as wonderful as Callian had a few lovers before marriage.
It seems he’s disgusted by them coming to see him without notice.
Judging by the servant’s awkward face.
“I see. But…”
Esika, who seemed to be agreeing for a moment, continued.
“The window in the bedroom makes a creaking sound whenever the wind blows. Could you go in and take a look? I’ll wait here for a bit.”
The servant nodded at Esika’s words.
“Ah… If it’s that, of course.”
And soon he opened the door and entered the bridal chamber.
Seeing the servant go in, Esika quickly moved her feet.
“…Good.”
After all, she was the mischievous youngest daughter of the Brigitte family.
It wouldn’t be Esika Brigitte of Priehatz if she just did as she was told.
Having shaken off the servant, she recalled the path to the office she had memorized.
She didn’t intend to surprise him by visiting.
Just…
“…”
Esika’s cheeks reddened as she thought of Callian’s handsome face.
She just wanted to see his face, dedicating himself to state affairs even on their wedding day.
Since she would only look secretly, it wouldn’t cause him any displeasure.
“I don’t think I can sleep like this.”
Esika put her hand on her chest.
Her heart was pounding.
The prestigious Klaus ducal family. The first night she would spend here as his wife.
She had come all the way to Torres, far from Priehatz, thinking only of Callian.
So tonight, at least his face…
“Ah…”
Light was seeping through the slightly opened door of the office.
And suddenly, a sultry moan was heard.
Esika stopped in her tracks.
Thump thump, her heart began to beat violently.
‘I must have… heard wrong?’
Esika slowly moved her steps.
One step, two steps, with each step the sound became clearer.
“Mmm…”
It was none other than a thin, delicate woman’s voice.
She wanted to turn back and run to her room even now.
But her damned curiosity pushed Esika’s back.
Esika, who had reached that door, peeked at the scene inside and stiffened her shoulders.
A woman wearing a deeply cut dress and a man embracing her waist and kissing her.
Perhaps due to the intense act of affection, red shoes that had been taken off could be seen on the floor.
The courtesans of the empire wore shoes that showed their little toes, and those shoes also had holes in the little toe area.
“…Your Grace.”
The woman seemed to reach out and caress the man’s cheek, and the man began to kiss the woman intensely again.
Esika very slowly turned her gaze away.
She did not see Callian’s face.
“I thought you wouldn’t come looking for me on our wedding night…”
“I’d rather be with you than embrace such a woman.”
All she saw was a broad back and shoulders eerily resembling Callian.
Just the same hair color and hairstyle, and wearing the same top he had worn earlier…
‘No, that can’t be.’
Esika’s steps quickened.
Her lips were trembling.
Since she didn’t see it, it didn’t happen.
‘Callian… The man I’ve been in love with couldn’t do that.’
The woman’s voice followed behind her as she walked quickly.
“Hold me…”
Esika stopped abruptly.
Her shadow stretched far ahead.
The end of the shadow was dark and thick, indiscernible.
Callian’s cool purple eyes as snow flurried.
And his rough breathing as he mingled bodies with a courtesan.
Everything was signaling that she should flee from here.
Is it too late, no, wouldn’t it be too late? No, it’s too late. It’s become too late.
“…”
Esika’s tightly clenched fist trembled.
Hot tears were flowing down her cheeks.
A wiser and stronger woman might have been able to act.
But Esika just stood there as if her feet were nailed to the ground.
‘If I stop here… Our family’s reputation will be shattered…’
Her father and brothers would pat Esika’s shoulders saying she did well to return, but she would no longer be able to live as the beloved daughter of the proud Brigitte family.
‘…This failure cannot be undone…’
Tears fell to the floor, drip by drip.
Her fluttering heart shattered like broken glass.
She raised her hand to her chest.
‘And I… Callian…’
It felt like hundreds of nails were being driven into her heart.
She realized today that she might never be loved by the one she had long admired.
‘…Still, I like Callian. I want to be by his side.’
It was only after a long while that Esika began to walk forward.
Though tears blurred her vision and she couldn’t even distinguish directions, she still walked.
Her mind was filled with thoughts of wanting to fall from a high place and die right then.
‘My heart hurts so much…’
“…”
Esika opened her eyes.
She saw the ceiling of her room.
This place she returned to after being in that small room.
“…”
Esika got up from the bed and stretched lightly.
It seemed she had dreamt of that day after a long time.
The wedding day she would never forget.
The corners of her lips twisted bitterly and coldly.
**
In the evening, as Esika was combing her hair, Sella approached her.
Having received sufficient compensation for her sister’s matter, she no longer needed to work, but Sella had decided to stay by Esika’s side for life.
She looked forward to the changes Esika would bring to the Klaus ducal family.
“My lady…”
In Sella’s hand was a small note.
She held it out to Esika.
“Earlier… His Highness the Crown Prince stopped me.”
At those words, the tip of Esika’s eyebrow twitched.
Esika took the note from Sella.
“I was bowing my head, and he asked if I was your maid. When I said yes, he seemed to think for a moment, and then…”
Sella recalled what had happened earlier.
The Crown Prince visited the Klaus mansion about once a week.
It seemed to be to check on troops and supplies related to the war.
This time too, he appeared to be leaving after meeting with the Duke, but he suddenly stopped in front of Sella and spoke to her.
And after a moment, he handed her a twice-folded note.
Sella felt her knees go weak the moment her eyes met those piercing golden eyes.
The war-crazed Tureshian… For what reason would that terrifying person want to send a note to her lady?
“He told me to give this to you, my lady.”
“The Crown Prince, you say?”
“Yes. Do you know His Highness the Crown Prince, my lady? I was so scared… I almost wet myself. How can a person’s aura be so ominous…”
Sella shuddered, making a gesture as if chilled.
Well, it’s understandable for ordinary women to be frightened.
Esika unfolded the note.
There was a single sentence written on it, pressed hard with a pen.
The tips of Esika’s eyebrows hardened as she read the note’s contents.
‘Why this sudden provocation?’
They had only exchanged brief conversations a couple of times, not enough to call it an acquaintance.
While it is courteous for the whole family to come out and welcome royalty… Riona always told Esika not to come out, and she herself stood beside Callian to greet the royals.
Seeing her in a maid’s uniform, he should have guessed the circumstances.
Moreover… There’s no reason for them to be pleased to see each other.
“My lady… It’s not an ominous message, is it?”
Sella, who seemed to have been thoroughly frightened by the Crown Prince, asked with a worried expression.
“It’s just nonsense.”
“What? From him?”
I thought he was busy with war every day… Is that not the case?
He seems quite free these days, she thought.
Esika used her inner energy to burn the note with her fingertips.
And in an instant, different letters appeared on the blackening note.
“…?”
As the paper crumbled to ash, Esika’s eyes wavered greatly.
[Hasetsu]“…”
“My lady?”
Sella voiced her concern as Esika’s eyebrows suddenly hardened.
Esika looked down coldly at the ashes that had fallen at her feet.
This note was made in anticipation that Esika would burn it with her inner energy.
Moreover, the word ‘Hasetsu’ that appeared for a fleeting moment could only be seen with good dynamic vision.
‘What are you trying to tell me? Or is it just a prank?’
Hasetsu… Certainly the name of a region she knew.
As she recalled that place name, her head suddenly throbbed.
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.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
