“Did you also look into Luzensia’s educational system again in the Temper Kingdom?”
“And how about the Liand Kingdom? I’m frustrated that the entire continent hasn’t followed the policies we are trying.”
“Everyone is grateful to His Imperial Majesty.”
“Yes, indeed. Especially the decision not to impose social restrictions on administrative appointments was truly excellent.”
“That’s right. Honestly, I opposed it at the time, but now I understand His Majesty’s profound intentions. Opening career paths for everyone without being bound by social status has reduced discontent among commoners towards the noble society. Incidents involving bandits and thief groups have significantly decreased as well.”
Riz enjoyed the fragrant tea while pleasantly listening to the ladies’ conversation.
In the fourth year of Hersis’s reign, the national projects he implemented showed increasingly fruitful results. His tendency to recklessly sprint forward, compensating for lost time, had disappeared. He had learned that it was more desirable, in the long run, to walk with others, even if a bit slower.
The resistance from the nobles was no longer suppressed but persuaded over time. For those nobles who remained unconvinced, he proved that he was not wrong with visible results.
Riz was proud of him.
At the moment when a contented smile was deepening on his lips.
“Your Highness, you become cuter day by day.”
Lady Olivia Harzen said. Following her, other noble ladies began praising Cain.
“How charming he is! Once you see him, you can’t take your eyes off him. He’s truly different from His Imperial Majesty… Hm!”
Lady Grace Skalene, next to her, pinched her side.
Riz burst into laughter.
“You all wouldn’t know, but our Cain is just like Dad.”
The ladies expressed disbelief.
In their eyes, Hersis was always cold and sharp, so it was natural for them not to believe.
Well, come to think of it, Cain was good at following people.
He believed in people without any suspicion, just like my father.
Some tried to inject distrust into him, thinking it wasn’t suitable for the Emperor to trust people too much.
‘Your Highness, don’t trust people too much. People are very cunning animals…’
But most of them failed.
Cain melted away as he looked up at his opponent with his naive eyes and laughed.
‘Whatever.’
Then, everyone decided to appreciate him as much as possible, thinking that they would know everything when they grew up anyway.
“Oh, did you hear that?”
Lady Krenslie brought up a topic that had made the cheerful tea time a turning point.
“What?”
“Lord Inert is said to have entered the government.”
“The government? No way, how did that famous gentleman end up doing that?”
“That’s what I heard. It seems Lady hasn’t been very accommodating for such union. Well, it’s not a reasonable reason to avoid intimacy, but it’s not uncommon for rare occurrences to happen between couples who have become distant through childbirth and parenting.”
“So, there’s that saying that husbands should not take their eyes off their children even for a moment?”
“That’s right. I’ve heard that story a lot.”
“….”
Riz’s complexion turned pale.
She thought for a moment.
‘When was the last time we had intimacy with my husband?’
Oh my goodness.
It’s to the extent that I can’t even remember. How on earth did we manage to live without mixing our bodies for so long?
Well, come to think of it, it was natural.
Cain had been stubborn since he was a baby. He only fell asleep when he was lying between them at night, and he cried and woke up if any part of his parents wasn’t touching.
Even with three nannies, it wasn’t much help at night.
Sometimes he whined to be picked up.
Fortunately, Hercesis was in charge of holding him.
If not, with a growth spurt like my dad, there wouldn’t have been any of her arms left holding that well-grown little one.
When he was a baby, Cain only knew Riz, but as he grew, he insisted on Hercesis. Hercesis was much better at playing with him.
He knew exactly what the child wanted before he even spoke. The relationship between the two was very close.
Looking at the affectionate appearance of the two, Riz felt as if Hercesis had chosen her to meet that wild little one, rather than the other way around.
This couldn’t go on.
She couldn’t live with her husband like siblings.
Riz’s eyes sparkled with determination, more than when she realized the ending of the novel three years ago.
She sent a letter to Mirabel, asking her to come to the palace for a day and watch the child. Since Cain was attached to Mirabel after his mother and father, and she was close to her daughter, Alys, there were convincing reasons.
Of course, she had to explain a reasonable reason. Mirabel gladly accepted without disappointing expectations.
“Just tell me earlier. Leave it to me.”
Seeing Mirabel’s reply, Riz smiled with relief.
The next day, Mirabel, holding a little lady in a red ribbon and a small flower-patterned dress, visited the palace.
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
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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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