I am a pharmacist.
People often think being a pharmacist means just opening a pharmacy, smiling brightly, and simply handing out medicine as prescribed by healers or requested by patients – an easy and straightforward job.
Many customers complain about high medicine prices, accusing us of overcharging despite seemingly doing nothing.
It feels unjust. There’s so much I do! Besides the enormous workload, endless studying is necessary to prescribe the right medicine for each illness.
And that’s not all. Patients might think of ‘medicine’ as a singular entity, but in my pharmacy alone, there are over a thousand different types of medicinal herbs. Each of them requires specific handling and storage methods. The way medicines are prepared, the combinations with other ingredients – all these factors can make a world of difference in efficacy.
Patients think healers specify exactly which medicine to use, but that’s far from the truth. I often find prescriptions laughable.
Medicine for stomach ache, headache, or stopping bleeding – these vague descriptions on prescriptions sometimes make me want to find the healer who wrote them and pull out all their hair. If I had acted on my thoughts, all healers in the capital would be bald by now.
Moreover, healers from noble families often refuse to treat commoners due to their arrogance. Those who can’t get treatment from them come to me, a pharmacist, hoping for a cure. Eventually, I end up doing both diagnosis and prescription.
It’s usually the commoners, who have to do the tough work unlike the nobles wrapped in silk and doing nothing more than using forks and knives, who get injured more often.
Sometimes, I make house calls for patients who can’t come to me.
Patients in need are everywhere.
I’ve gone to lumberyards outside the capital to treat woodcutters injured by trees, entered noble kitchens to treat maids burned while cooking, and rushed to stables to care for people kicked by horses.
I’ve climbed ladders to rooftops to treat someone who collapsed from heatstroke while repairing a roof and even entered brothels to treat prostitutes beaten by clients.
It doesn’t matter what the patient does or where they are. Wherever it is, I’ll take my medical bag and go. Even if it’s inside the royal palace.
“Jane! Isn’t this too long since your last visit? I’m getting upset you’re neglecting me.”
The person playfully pouting and smiling in front of me is Ian. The notable thing about him? He’s the crown prince.
Ian swept back his smooth, velvety silver-gray hair, revealing his striking blue eyes beneath his neat forehead.
His sharp gaze might seem irritable, but his well-balanced nose, lips that are neither too big nor too small, and especially his smooth yet strong jawline, were excessively attractive, enough to tempt anyone.
If the word ‘enchanting’ were to be personified, it would look like him. Just looking at him brought a smile to my face.
‘Snap out of it! Don’t be swayed by his looks. Think of him as a Siren, enchanting not with voice but with appearance.’
Falling for that face could mean ending up at the palace every day. I quickly regained my composure and wiped the smile off my face.
“I do visit you once a week. How much more often can I come! If it were up to me, I would prepare your medicine for three months in advance.”
“If you gave me that much at once, I wouldn’t be able to store it properly, nor would I take it regularly. It’s only when you come to see me and check that I make progress.”
“You don’t even brew it yourself, you have your servants do it.”
“Still.”
It’s like dealing with a child every time I offer to prepare his medicine in bulk… Ian always insists that he won’t take his medicine, will wait in pain until I arrive, and refuses to be examined by other healers. Using his health as leverage, he forces me to come for a house call each time, reluctantly.
I don’t dislike him, but visiting the palace is a significant mental burden. With my rough red hair and black eyes, my exotic appearance always attracts attention, making every visit uncomfortable…
Anyone seeing me for the first time would find it strange that someone who looks so out of place in the Calobanian Empire’s palace, especially visiting the crown prince, is there. Even I haven’t gotten used to it.
“I’m exhausted.”
I massaged my aching shoulders and legs, preparing to go to bed early.
Muscle soreness lingered from wandering around the palace for a long time two days ago. Before the fatigue could subside, I had to continuously work, drying the moisture-laden medicinal herbs. There was no time to relax.
“If it hadn’t been for that gardener, I’d still be lost in the palace, maybe starved to death. That place is so big and complicated. How do people who work there find their way?”
I vividly remembered the gardener’s shocked expression when I asked him for directions out of the palace. “Do you know how to get out of the palace? I promise I’m not a weird person. I just got lost after coming in for work.”
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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