No matter how much I thought about it, there was no better place than this.
At that time, a very faint voice looking for me came from the upper floor.
“Miss! Where have you gone?”
It seemed like Matelline had approached nearby. Tyler spoke up without lowering his voice as if to tell me not to worry.
“While we can hear sounds from upstairs, sounds from here don’t leak upwards.”
“Is that so?”
It was better than I had expected.
Since I couldn’t just leave Matelline, who was looking for me, I gestured towards the upper floor to Tyler and whispered.
“Please buy some time. I will look around a bit more and then come up.”
“Yes, miss. And this is……”
As Tyler spoke, he subtly glanced at Askan standing next to me. But since I nodded for him to continue speaking, he spit out the rest of his words.
“……the key to the secret passage that Robin asked me to deliver.”
“Oh, I was just about to ask about that.”
I took the luxurious key with a gem set in the middle and put it in my pocket.
Askan maintained his position without asking anything, despite likely being curious about this secretive situation.
After completing all his tasks, Tyler bowed to me in greeting.
“Then I will move with the others from the upper floor. Please look around sufficiently and come up.”
“Sure, you must have had a hard time building the laboratory. Thank you. I will later tell my father to formally invite you to the Brelof mansion.”
“Thank you.”
Tyler smiled awkwardly.
He was probably shy about my words of gratitude.
For some reason, Askan’s gaze seemed a bit disgruntled, but there was no reason for him to feel that way, so I thought I must be mistaken.
After Tyler left, I toured the underground bunker with Askan.
“You probably noticed already, but I was thinking of using this place for you to practice controlling your power. What do you think? Does it seem okay?”
Askan, with a cautious look, examined the wall made of Blythium and said,
“I will have to try to be sure, but I think it should be fine from my point of view.”
“I found out while building this building that Blythium is a very hard ore. I didn’t know it was fireresistant, but it worked out well.”
“I see.”
“Aren’t you curious? You’re not asking anything.”
“Can I ask?”
At Askan’s question, I had no choice but to laugh.
“Of course. Ask anything.”
“This does not seem like a normal lab…”
“I put a bit of thought into building it. I made a secret passage, built a bunker underground, and there is also a warehouse to store food.”
“Is there a reason you built a lab like this?”
“A precaution for an uncertain future? Anyway, I simply built it as a bunker, and it’s lucky that it found use.”
I moved to go upstairs, having looked around the underground sufficiently, and turned to Askan with a thought that just came to me.
“I’ll show you the secret passage when you have time later.”
“To me?”
“Because you might need to use it someday.”
Askan’s expression became a bit strange.
While turning to walk again, he grabbed my shoulder, making me stop in my tracks.
“What’s up?”
To my puzzled question, he replied in a deeper voice.
“I will do my best to control the power I possess.”
“That’s good.”
“No matter what happens in the future, don’t get hurt on my behalf. It’s better for me to get hurt than to watch you get injured.”
“Got it. Then reflexively…”
“If I could control my power now, I would have run off and killed Princess Kriesha.”
“What, what?”
I had already been considering how to handle Leyana. Because I hadn’t imagined killing her, I was momentarily at a loss for words.
Thump, Askan took another step toward me.
Just one step, but the atmosphere around us felt different from before. Unconsciously, I opened my eyes wide and looked at him.
Somehow, it felt risky and dangerous.
“I won’t let anyone touch a single hair on your head.”
It seemed as though the flame he created was in Askan’s golden pupils.
“I’ll protect you.”
I couldn’t help but stare at Askan, who was murmuring to me as if making a vow.
I suddenly realized that there was a wound on my shoulder that Leyana had left, which Askan was holding. He seemed to be constantly concerned about it.
There was a strange aura in the air, but I tried my best to ignore it as if nothing was wrong.
“You don’t have to protect me that much. You can just hide behind me.”
At my words, Askan started to tilt his face towards me, accompanied by a light laugh from his throat.
What, what is this?
I looked at Askan with surprised eyes, and his pupils looking at me were filled with laughter.
“Do you remember the promise to give me a reward once I’m able to control my power?”
I had completely forgotten.
Looking back, he did say something like that.
Askan showed me the dust that was on my hair. I wondered why he approached me so closely, but it seemed this was the reason.
But he didn’t move away even after he was done. He was so close to me that I felt his breath on my face.
It was when I was looking up at him unknowingly and holding my breath. He whispered to me in a low voice.
“I’m looking forward to it because you said you’d give me anything.”
Suddenly, I remembered what role Askan had in the novel ‘The Beloved Saint’. He was the ultimate villain, hiding behind the veil, manipulating everyone.
It was a promise I made lightly, like giving a candy to a child.
But hearing it from his mouth, the promise felt extremely dangerous.
What’s this? Why do I suddenly feel like I’ve fallen into a trap?
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.]
