Clang.
What on earth was that sound announcing?
The noise that had drilled into Lenisha’s ears like tinnitus.
It made Lenisha feel as though her heart was falling into an unfathomable abyss.
Lenisha’s empty pink eyes turned towards the Emperor.
“Why are you looking at me with those eyes, Empress?”
The Emperor rose from his throne and walked lightly down the steps.
His steps were as light as if he had gone on a picnic.
Lexsus’s fidgeting eyes scanned Lenisha from top to bottom.
Her shoulders trembled under his snakelike gaze.
Even though she didn’t want to show it, her anger, frustration, and sorrow inevitably appeared on the surface.
It was the residue of overflowing emotions.
Lexsus wiped away the tears flowing down Lenisha’s cheek with his finger.
“Lenisha, my beautiful and elegant Empress. Why are you crying? What connection do you have with those criminals over there?”
Lexsus scoffed.
Where Lexsus pointed, there were two heads neatly placed in a box full of salt.
Once called human, now nothing but corpses.
Merely the remnants of those left with nothing but their necks above.
The Lotera family’s Seria and Beritun.
The names of the parents who bore and raised Lenisha.
Who would have thought they would meet their end in such a horrific manner?
The Lotera family had laid the foundation of the Hientri Empire with the first Emperor and had been protecting the royal family as a meritorious family.
The Hientri were able to live as the royal family because of Lotera’s support.
Everyone said so.
But now, all that glory and promise had miserably crumbled.
The Emperor tilted his head and kissed Lenisha’s lips.
A strong peppermint fragrance rushed in and then receded.
Staring blankly, only tears dropped from Lenisha’s eyes, to which Lexsus asked,
“Why are you crying, did I not ask you, Empress?”
“……”
“Answer me. What connection do you have with those criminals?”
Lexsus was forcefully demanding of Lenisha.
He wanted her to abandon her own family, her parents, with her hands.
‘Why do I have to survive so ignobly?’
Lenisha thought blankly.
Death was gripping Lenisha’s ankles.
Lexsus grasped Lenisha’s wrist with his smooth hand.
There was no tenderness or warmth in it.
Rather, a chill that one would feel from a nonhuman crept over her skin.
‘Empress, fortunately, it seems the Count has saved his life. The lady and the child, too. They have not been caught yet.’
What had caught Lenisha’s opposite ankle was the fate of her surviving family.
She cannot leave before confirming their fate.
She cannot die.
Lenisha opened her lips like a puppet.
“Yes, they are nobody. They have no relation to me.”
Lexsus smiled brightly at her emotionless voice.
He kissed Lenisha’s cheek, as if to say he’d done well.
Moving away from Lenisha, Lexsus gestured to his servants.
It was a sign to remove that foulsmelling thing.
Lenisha barely held back the urge to grab them.
She had to remember who stood before her.
The man who stood in front of her, mocking the death of her parents, had to remember who he was.
The Emperor of the Hientri Empire and a man regarded as a tyrant of his time.
The one who had built an insurmountable imperial power and stood at its peak.
The one who could also take Lenisha’s life at any time.
And at the same time, he was the husband she had lived with, skin to skin.
The guilt brought by the words she had uttered scorched Lenisha’s throat.
“You may leave now, Empress. You look tired.”
Lexsus released Lenisha’s wrist.
Lenisha nodded her assent with a tearstreaked face and left the place.
Thud.
The door closed.
Lenisha’s legs gave way, and the maids rushed to support her as she staggered.
“Empress Lenisha!”
Certainly, here’s the translation:
“Hahaha……”
Empress Lenisha let out a hollow laugh, clutching her face.
No tears flowed.
As if this criminal no longer had the right to shed tears in the face of her parents’ death, they had stopped.
Lenisha raised her hand.
Slap!
“Your Majesty, the Empress!”
The maids embraced Lenisha.
“Hold on, please! You mustn’t do this!”
Lenisha, who had slapped her own cheek, pushed the maids away and slapped her cheek again.
She had denied her parents who had raised her with love for a lifetime, promising to treasure this life.
Damn you, Lexus. Lexus, who is worse than a dog!
A dark red flame flickered in Lenisha’s heart, making a crackling sound.
“Your Majesty, the Empress! Rather, hit me. Please……!”
The maids, who embraced Lenisha with their whole bodies, burst into tears together.
Blood flowed from Lenisha’s burst lips.
The maids cried in place of Lenisha, who couldn’t cry.
Her head felt blank.
Everything that had happened so far felt like a dream.
Lenisha, who had pushed the maids away and staggered, suddenly crumpled.
Living was a sin.
[Star Icon][Star Icon][Star Icon]Lexus was fiddling with a liquor bottle.
The pumpkincolored liquid, filled in the long liquor bottle, reminded him of Lenisha.
It was Lenisha’s hair strand.
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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