In the early dawn when Cedric’s fever subsided.
LaMain returned to the room.
Sitting on the bed, hugging her knees, she stared blankly at some dark corner of the room.
The time that passed was like a fleeting lantern.
‘I feel like I’m going crazy.’
‘Can I kiss you?’
‘I missed you.’
The serious gaze and voice in every moment.
A bitter smile spread on LaMain’s lips.
…Did I not know?
Or did I want to pretend not to know?
“Both, probably….”
She spat out a disappointed voice and buried her face between her knees.
Beyond the time spent in ignorance, a time to pretend not to know has come.
She had to avoid giving affection. She hoped that would happen.
“Lord Viscount truly likes the mistress.”
She denied it effortlessly.
Even if that was the truth, it would be a fleeting emotion and feeling anyway.
To herself facing death, it was such an unattainable and unreal emotion.
Faced with what had to be done, her heart was impatient.
There was no time to delve into such emotions.
But.
“Why does my heart sting like this…?”
The unexpected confession came.
It began to disturb my heart.
After swallowing emotions that went up and down for a while, the sun had risen outside the window.
Tap, tap.
At the knocking sound, she lifted the face that had been buried between her knees for a long time.
Jane entered the room.
“Madam, couldn’t you get any sleep?”
Jane, who knew that she had been nursing Cedric all night, asked.
“Cough. How about your meal?”
“I don’t have any thoughts. You don’t have to worry about it.”
“Yes, understood.”
Cough, cough.
Jane covered her mouth with her hand as she coughed.
“Jane, did you catch a cold?”
LaMain raised the eyelids that had been drooping.
“Perhaps because I didn’t properly cover myself with a blanket for a few days. I have a cough.”
Cough.
Jane finished speaking and covered her mouth with her hand again.
“Medicine?”
“Medicine? I’ve never taken medicine for a cold until now. I’ll recover soon.”
Jane said as if it were obvious.
“What does that mean? What will you do if you get a fever?”
In a firm voice, Jane did not respond.
‘Ah, Jane can’t easily get medicine.’
LaMain, who realized the fact she had momentarily forgotten, took a deep breath.
“I’ll ask Roberto to prepare medicine. Just in case, because I shouldn’t catch a cold from you.”
Since Jane would probably refuse if she just gave it to her, LaMain attached a reason to prevent refusal.
“Yes, understood.”
LaMain, who silently watched Jane, who answered obediently, slowly opened her mouth.
“Jane, did you happen to hear about yesterday’s incident?”
“What? Yesterday’s incident?”
Jane widened her eyes.
“What happened at the party yesterday, in the banquet hall.”
Jane blinked her eyes slowly.
“I heard that the lake overflowed to the extent that it covered the villa, and everyone was in danger.”
“…”
“Since there was no carriage for you to return, Cedric went there. Fortunately, wasn’t it because Marquis Haribo lent you a carriage to come back together?”
Marquis Haribo lent them a carriage?
LaMain’s eyelids trembled ever so slightly.
“Why are you like that, madam?”
“Oh, no. I don’t know what happened after I got on the carriage yesterday.”
“Surprised and tired, you fell into a deep sleep.”
“I didn’t know either. It seems so.”
LaMain smiled faintly.
For now, except for Cedric, she seemed unaware that she had been in a dangerous situation yesterday.
“Cough. Madam, really, won’t you eat anything?”
“I’m fine. Jane, go and have breakfast. If you’re not feeling well, you should eat well.”
“Yes, madam. Thank you.”
“I’ll deliver the medicine through Roberto. Go rest.”
Jane, who bowed slightly and left, erased the faint smile she had on her face.
LaMain’s pupils, which had been subtly smiling, deepened.
“How did Cedric know and appear at that place?”
It could be as simple as him looking for her because she wasn’t visible.
However, this expectation is the kind of expectation that could have been made before hearing his words last night.
‘I want to protect you without anyone knowing what kind of person you are….’
The more I rewind, the more the meaning of that single phrase intensifies.
For fear of being shot with an arrow in the hunting competition.
The reason for desperately embracing himself.
The reason he ran out in the rain to save himself from the rain.
It reveals one thing.
‘I love you.’
All his actions.
All the words he whispered.
“Cedric knows my identity.”
Throwing away all the vague reasons, everything perfectly fell into place.
Cedric slowly rose from the bed where he had long been lying.
Approaching the window, he looked at the sky, completely different from yesterday.
The same sky, but difficult to consider as such, was so clear.
The fever that tormented him all night had subsided.
And.
‘I love you.’
The torment that had been thoroughly stripped away also disappeared.
Instead.
“Now I’m curious about how you’ll come out.”
Beyond the frame of reason,
He couldn’t know what strange emotions and situations would disturb him.
Tap, tap.
Without answering the knocking sound, Cedric turned his body.
The door opened.
“Why are you awake?”
The woman he had been waiting for appeared before his eyes.
“The fever has gone down.”
“Still, it might be good to rest just in case.”
Cedric chuckled silently.
“It seems like the most heard words from you recently.”
“…What are you talking about?”
He stared at her, who was approaching step by step, for a long time.
“It means to rest.”
“Oh… Well, of course, because you’re sick.”
His gaze, as if examining, roamed over her face.
Cedric, who had been staring intently, slightly pursed his lips as he moved them slowly.
“Do you have anything else to say to me?”
What his words meant.
As if everyone knew, her eyes gradually deepened.
“Yes.”
With a short answer, she took a deep breath.
A slight tension flowed over the gaze of the two facing each other.
As if urging her to speak, Cedric slowly lifted his lips.
In the momentary silence, the quickened heartbeat.
A small, rhythmic beating.
As if saying, knock on the door of the world.
…I might regret it.
Inadvertently hesitating at the thought that suddenly rushed in.
“Whatever you say. I am on your side.”
But he says it as if he read my mind.
…Not to hesitate.
As if telling me to embrace tightly the moment I leap into the world.
While facing the eyes that looked at me like that, I gently clenched my fist.
It was time to bring out the deeply buried truth.
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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