A few hours ago.
Eurtis was waiting for her turn in the order of confession with other participants.
Soon her turn approached.
“Next person, please move.”
Eurtis followed one priest into the confession room assigned to her.
Inside an old space woven with wood all around.
There was a small window on the wall, but she couldn’t see the face of the person on the other side.
Soon, the priest’s voice came from beyond the window.
“Participant, confess all your sins here. The Holy Child will forgive you.”
Judging from the voice without fear towards her, the priest conducting the confession apparently didn’t know the participant’s identity.
‘The confessions at the royal court are based on anonymity, it seems. They are keeping that promise.’
It was a relief, at least.
But Eurtis was still not comfortable with the current situation.
Confess sins?
Defining what acts are good or evil at their whim.
And then saying ‘confess your sins, and I will absolve you’ didn’t even seem funny to her.
Even though she had lived as an outlaw, Eurtis had her own sense of justice.
Of course, her justice was somewhat different from what the world accepted.
Anyway, getting through this confession wouldn’t be too difficult.
Last night, she planned to say as Prodia had taught her.
Eurtis spoke to the priest beyond the window.
“Have you ever exterminated pests?”
“Pardon?”
A momentarily confused breath was heard from inside.
“Even if it’s a small life, killing is a grave sin.”
“So I came to repent. I’ve done some pest extermination, can you forgive me?”
“Hhow much did you exterminate?”
“Hmm, quite a lot.”
“So exactly how much…….”
“Will it be enough to say I dried up the seeds of a whole district?”
“…….”
A moment of silence followed.
The priest inside the confession room looked down at the holy relic in her hand.
On a flat plate covered with gold, a transparent bead was embedded.
One could not lie in front of this relic.
If truth be told, a green light would come on, but if a lie was confessed, the bead would turn red.
Most previous participants had spun plausible lies.
But all were caught by the relic, and at the end of the questioning, they confessed their real sins.
Anonymity was assured according to the existing rules, but an exception was applied to the participants of the contest.
If they confessed to a felony, a secret portrait would be drawn as soon as they left the confession room.
This, of course, was to be reported to the royal court.
What else could be done? Criminals couldn’t be seated in the arena.
But…….
Twinkle.
Eurtis’s result was green.
In other words, the participant beyond that window was telling the truth.
The priest hardly believed it.
‘She came to confess just because she killed bugs……?’
That was impossible.
The priest started to probe Eurtis.
“Participant, is that pest you’re talking about, by any chance, a metaphor for people?”
A snicker came from beyond the wall.
“Are there really people who can’t tell the difference between bugs and humans?”
Eurtis was sincere. To her, criminals didn’t look like humans.
Last night, Prodia came up with this idea after Eurtis called them bugs.
The priest stared intently at the relic.
The green light came on again.
This couldn’t be.
There must be another sin besides killing bugs.
But Eurtis’s allocated time was soon coming to an end.
The priest hurriedly asked.
“Participant? If you have committed any other sins, please confess them before the Lord through this opportunity.”
“Um… I also broke the house where the bugs lived. Forgive that too.”
Twinkle.
Two more green lights came on after that.
Before long, Eurtis was safely released from the confession room.
‘It ended easier than I thought?’
Prodia’s idea seemed to have worked perfectly.
At that time, a priest who was hiding far away entered Irtis’s eye as he left the confession room.
Judging by what he held in his hand, he seemed to be sketching the participants.
Irtis scowled.
‘Sure enough, there was a spy.’
It was a great relief that the confession had gone off without a hitch.
Getting caught here would be a headache. It would require time to explain.
‘In any case, those regents or royal brats, not keeping promises is all the same.’
Well, thanks to Prodia, the trap was avoided.
Irtis adjusted her hood to cover her face.
Soon, the priest in charge of the lead called the participants in a loud voice.
“We will move to the next location.”
Irtis arrived at a large main hall with the participants.
From an organ that filled one wall, pious music was flowing.
The participants took their seats as designated by their guide.
Soon, a regent with white hair and a solemn look revealed himself.
Finally, the ceremony began.
The regent reached out to the participants with a solemn expression.
“Participants of the holy contest, I sincerely welcome you to this place. May the grace of Aido be with you until the end…….”
For a moment, the regent’s sermon continued.
Among the participants, some were weeping with emotion at facing the regent.
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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