The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 17

That night.

Whether it was stress or an overactive mind, Celonia found it hard to fall back asleep.

“Haa…”

She sighed softly and got out of bed.

It seemed impossible to sleep, so she decided to take a walk in the garden to calm her restless thoughts.

She grabbed a thick shawl to ward off the night’s chill, draped it over her shoulders, and opened the door to find the knight on guard nearly asleep.

It was midnight, when everyone else was sound asleep.

Not wanting to burden him, she quietly slipped out of the hallway alone.

She walked along the path lit by magic lamps placed at regular intervals on the walls.

“What on earth is he thinking?”

She muttered, recalling the Demon King she had seen earlier that day.

His behavior was unexpected.

She had anticipated a threatening or intimidating presence, but he simply wandered around the mansion like a ghost and hadn’t left his room all day.

She didn’t know what he was doing in there, but she’d heard he wasn’t even eating.

What was he planning?

“He’s still dangerous.”

Pondering how to get rid of him, she turned towards the main gate, descending the stairs.

That’s when it happened.

“Ugh…”

A faint groan reached her ears from somewhere.

“Hng, eugh…”

Just as she wondered if she had imagined it, another strange sound came.

She turned her head, but no one was around.

Only a sliver of light escaped from the room next to her.

The room with the light on was a guest room, currently occupied by the man.

The room he had been inside all day without leaving.

Curious, she hesitated before approaching the door, and a clearer sound than before drifted out.

Listening again, the sound was more like a painful moan.

A moan. She felt conflicted and uneasy.

Should she investigate?

The dilemma was brief.

She needed to know what he was up to, whatever it was.

This was her home, where the people she cherished lived.

“Hello?”

There was no answer, no matter how many times she knocked.

Left with no choice, Celonia turned the doorknob.

“Excuse me?”

As she opened the door, a bright light made her squint.

Blinking to adjust, she scanned the room.

“Huh?”

He was nowhere to be seen in the room with the large chandelier.

The bed was neatly made, with no sign of anyone having used it, and he wasn’t on the sofa next to the table either.

‘I definitely heard a sound.’

Besides, she had received reports that he hadn’t moved from the room.

Many things seemed suspicious, but since the man was gone, she turned to leave.

“Ugh.”

Suddenly, a soft moan pierced her ear.

The sound came from the half-open bathroom door.

The bathroom?

With a determined look, she strode to the bathroom and stood with her back to the door.

It was a more private space than the room, so she didn’t open the door further or turn around.

“Hello?”

“…”

“What’s wrong?”

No answer came.

“If you don’t answer, I’m checking, seriously?”

There was no response, even after several warnings.

Celonia had no choice but to turn around.

At that moment, her eyes widened in shock.

What was going on? He was half-naked.

She was so surprised she couldn’t even turn her head and remained frozen.

She couldn’t help but stare, and she quickly understood.

Why the man was panting in the middle of the night with his top off, as if he was about to breathe his last.

He was leaning against the bathtub, gasping for air.

His body, revealed under the bathroom light, was covered in perfectly sculpted muscles, and a long, large scar ran from the center of his left chest to his abdomen.

Red blood, the same color as his eyes, flowed from the open wound.

“Ugh…”

While she was frozen, another painful groan escaped him.

He clenched his teeth tightly, sweating profusely, as if in great pain.

“Was it an attack? What happened!”

Coming to her senses, she approached him in dismay.

It was clearly a wound from a blade. But the room was clean, and the windows were closed.

He struggled to breathe at her words and abruptly raised his head.

Celonia was startled by the fierce red eyes she met.

The look in his eyes was so intense, burning as if he wanted to kill someone. [This emphasizes the Demon King’s inner turmoil and potential danger.]

He contorted his expression even more severely than before and glared at her. It was clear he wasn’t happy with her presence.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

“Get lost.”

The answer to her concerned question was a response from someone with a terrible personality.

Still, she held back, not wanting to lash out at someone in pain.

“First, a doctor. I’ll call a doctor.”

“Don’t bother, ugh… get lost.”

He managed to say ‘get lost’ with a face that looked like he was about to die.

He swallowed his pain and bit his lip, frowning.

His chest rose and fell so dramatically that she couldn’t even imagine how much pain he was in.

His body was drenched in sweat.

The cold sweat on his forehead trickled down his face, pooled on his chin, and dripped between his chest, seeping into the open wound.

Celonia frowned, feeling as if she was experiencing the stinging pain herself.

She could use her healing abilities to heal the wound.

But Celonia couldn’t bring herself to use them.

If he were just a regular patient, she would have used them without hesitation, but he was the Demon King.

The moral implications of saving him held her back.

“This won’t do. I need to treat him at least until the doctor arrives.”

In a flurry, Celonia rushed out of the bathroom, grabbed a passing servant, and ordered them to call a doctor.

Then, she grabbed the first aid kit from the guest room and quickly returned.

“The doctor will be here soon. Let me take a look in the meantime. I think I need to disinfect it first…”

As she re-entered the bathroom in a hurry, she reached out to him.

No, she was about to reach out.

If she hadn’t been grabbed.

“Get lost…!”

He grabbed her hand nervously and widened his eyes in surprise.

He looked at her with disbelieving, confused, and shaking eyes.

“What is it? Why, ugh!”

Celonia, who had been examining him as he suddenly froze, screamed and fell forward.

Because he had grabbed her hand and pulled her in forcefully.

Unable to maintain her balance due to the unexpected action, she buried her face in his bare chest.

She didn’t even have time to lift her head.

Because a rough, unrefined voice mixed with heavy breaths echoed in her ear.

“You, what are you?”

* * *

It was an indescribable pain.

The large wound on his chest was accompanied by sharp pain every midnight.

The pain felt as if his skin was being torn apart by something very sharp.

When the pain was severe, the wound would open and blood would flow profusely, just like tonight.

The wound had been there since he opened his eyes, as if he had experienced something like that in a past he didn’t know.

An abandoned, desolate house where no one and nothing existed.

He had opened his eyes there three months ago, with no memory of anything.

He wandered around to find even a small clue, but found nothing.

Just as he was getting used to this life filled with silence and loneliness, he realized he could use a strange power.

But that didn’t help him find out who he was.

Time passed.

He should have gotten used to it, but as he writhed in pain that he couldn’t get used to, the day dawned.

Like the darkness that disappears naturally when the sun rises, his pain disappeared as dawn approached.

Pale dawn.

As the sun pierced through the darkness and began to emit a faint light, his pain subsided.

As if it wouldn’t kill him even if he felt like he was going to die from the pain.

Pain and recovery had been repeating like that for three months.

But why…

Why did the pain disappear the moment he grabbed this woman’s hand?

It was a shackle he couldn’t escape, even if he struggled.

“Hey!”

Celonia abruptly raised her head.

Her ears were burning at the fact that she was not only seeing bare skin in front of her, but also that her face was touching his chest.

“What are you doing right now?”

Annoyance burst from her lips because of the man who was acting as he pleased.

What kind of rude behavior was this towards someone who was trying to help?

Her feelings were hurt for a moment, but Celonia was soon embarrassed.

The red eyes staring at her were confused, yet filled with a silent desperation.