A contest to find the empire’s princess, ‘Arlyn Aibem’s spouse had been opened.
The opening ceremony of the tournament in the circular arena was to begin soon.
The inside of the stadium was already filled with spectators.
Selecting the royal family’s spouse through a contest.
Everyone was eagerly discussing this astonishing event.
“Is it really true that the winner of this tournament will marry the princess?”
“That’s right? Regardless of status, if you have the ability, you can marry the princess!”
“I think the boy next door is also participating in this tournament.”
“Oh my, just that boy? If it’s a young man in this empire, wouldn’t all of them have applied?”
This groundbreaking tournament was a hot topic day by day.
Moreover, Princess Arlyn was famous as the empire’s most beautiful woman.
That’s why numerous young men gathered to marry the princess.
But this tournament was by no means easy.
Tens of thousands of contestants, but most were eliminated during the brutal preliminary rounds.
And finally, today.
The carefully selected contestants were to reveal themselves to the public for the first time.
Soon after, the host took the stage.
His image was broadcasted largely on the large magic device set up behind the stage.
Holding a microphoneshaped amplifying magic device, the host shouted towards the audience.
“Citizens of the Empire, welcome! The Aibem Empire Buma Selection Tournament finally begins!”
“Wow[Dash]!”
A thunderous cheer erupted from the audience.
The opening ceremony began.
Various spectacular sights continued on stage.
But the hearts of the spectators were focused elsewhere.
The contestants were to adorn the finale stage of the opening ceremony.
It had been said that something enormous, thoroughly kept in secret, awaited.
What kind of performance would it be?
Would the Buma candidates, of course, show elegant classical acts? Or would they dance with swords?
Moreover, a strange rumor was circulating in the empire.
That ‘they’ participated in this tournament.
It was hard to believe.
No one else, but they would never appear in this tournament.
That’s why the expectations of the audience were at their peak.
They were impatient to see the contestants as quickly as possible.
…Of course, not everyone felt that way.
In a corner of the audience, someone sat with a serious expression.
Prodia Duser Countess Yeongae.
A sharplooking woman with long, jetblack hair like the night sky.
While everyone else enjoyed the opening ceremony, her expression was grave.
‘It’s about time to come out.’
Her violet eyes, fixed on the stage, looked somewhat anxious.
Because, she wasn’t a spectator…
She was a producer.
Just then, the host raised his voice.
“The moment you’ve all been waiting for! It’s finally time to present the combined stage of the contestants to adorn the finale of the opening ceremony!”
“Wow!”
The biggest cheer yet erupted.
Soon after, the lights went out, and the entire hall darkened.
The audience went silent.
Prodia too, concentrated on the stage.
Blue light brightly illuminated the stage.
Pat[Dash]
Beautiful melody flowed, and white smoke covered the stage.
Then the contestants began to rise onto the stage.
Step.
The faces of each were displayed one by one on the large screen behind.
“……!”
The spectators forgot to breathe at the sight of those faces.
Indeed, they were the rumored owners of breathtaking beauty.
The contestants walked with confidence, standing in their designated places on stage.
A magnificent scene unfolded as handsome men with unique personalities filled the stage.
But then.
As that face filled the screen, the audience froze in place.
“That, that’s……!”
They couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
“It’s really the eldest son of the Northern Duke!”
That wasn’t the end.
“The Grand Magician of Matop is there too!”
The murmuring grew louder.
“Wasn’t he said to become the Southern Admiral?”
“Successor to the Duke? A commoner can’t have a job!”
“Even the, the priest of the shrine…!”
The rumor was true.
The audience was in confusion.
A rotten smile also crept onto Prodia’s lips.
‘Yes, as expected, chaos has broken out.’
There’s nothing good about my participant being noticed already. It will just provoke unnecessary rivalry.
But look at our child’s face.
Just then, her participant smiled sweetly at Prodia.
Then, happy screams poured out from the nearby women.
“Kyaa! Was that smile just for me?”
“Is he even human? He’s too handsome[—]!”
Prodia resigned herself.
Hmm, the game’s over from the face alone.
How could he not attract attention with that appearance?
Anyway, the audience still looked shocked.
It was then.
“People of the Empire!”
“Thank you[—]!”
Suddenly, the participants bowed 90 degrees towards the audience.
The audience felt something was off.
They could be commoners.
Why are they bowing so humbly?
But as the participants aligned themselves, the audience soon quieted down.
Anyway, the performance was starting.
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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