The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 46

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“My lady, you can’t come in here.”

A knight of the Imperial Guard, spotting Celonia, blocked her path.

“Has the cause of the fire been determined?”

“Well, that’s something we’re handling…”

“Hey, that’s her. Lady Celonia of Bestian.”

The knight sighed, a look of annoyance on his face, as he spoke. Another knight beside him nudged his side.

“Ah… Lady Celonia.”

The startled knight quickly erased his expression and saluted with rigid posture.

He didn’t necessarily have to since she wasn’t his direct superior, but she was Ian’s former fiancée and also Lady Celonia of Bestian, so he had no choice.

“Has the cause been determined?”

“It’s being ruled as a simple accident.”

“Were there any suspicious circumstances?”

“No, there weren’t. Ah… Even if you are Lady Celonia, the case hasn’t been officially closed yet, so I can’t answer your questions…”

The knight, flustered, answered Celonia as if she were his superior, then belatedly realized his place and trailed off with a troubled expression.

“What about the body? Has it been handed over to the family?”

“Lady Celonia…”

“Just this. I’ll only ask this much.”

“Well, the owner of this place didn’t have any family.”

“Thank you.”

Celonia stared at the Wiklander shop, where everything had been burned away without a trace, before turning her gaze and footsteps away.

“My lady…”

Ella followed Celonia, teary-eyed.

She felt terrible seeing the guilt on her lady’s face, which was obvious to anyone.

“They said it was a simple accident. It’s just an accident…”

“…”

Ella tried to alleviate Celonia’s guilt, but she failed.

Suddenly, a fire broke out and the owner died? Moreover, everything in the shop was burned, leaving only the frame.

‘Is this a warning? A warning not to try to know or get involved in anything?’

In what, exactly?

Could this be Gillian’s doing? Did he notice that I saw his parchment? [Parchment is a writing material made from animal skin.]

Did he steal the letter brought by the messenger pigeon? But there were no signs of the envelope being opened…

Only endless questions coiled and piled up in Celonia’s mind.

It’s heavy. Both my heart and my mind.

Pushing through the crowd that had gathered because of the fire, Celonia walked down a quiet alley with Ella to get to the carriage.

The murmuring sounds faded away, and only the sound of the blowing wind echoed in her ears.

If it wasn’t a simple fire, then who on earth did this?

It was then.

Celonia, who had inadvertently raised her gaze, spotted a person in a black hood hiding behind a roadside tree not far from the shopping district.

The person fidgeted, stamping their feet anxiously, looking around before their eyes met Celonia’s.

Then, as if a thief caught red-handed, they startled and suddenly started running away.

In a situation that was suspicious to anyone, Celonia dashed off in the direction the hood had run.

“My lady!”

Ella exclaimed in surprise and followed behind her.

“Ugh, ugh! Why, why are you doing this!”

The person in the hood glanced back, saw Celonia chasing after them, and shouted.

“Stop right there!”

Celonia chased after the black hood with all her might.

This person, acting suspiciously to anyone, might be related to today’s incident.

Black hood, Celonia, Ella.

The three of them raced through the shopping district as if in a chase scene.

“Ugh, ugh…”

The black hood, with a flustered expression, checked Celonia, who was still chasing them, and looked around, spotting a secluded alley and entering it.

Celonia, not missing that sight, ran into the alley after the black hood.

Even though she was wearing a cumbersome dress, she didn’t stop, even though she was breathless.

I can’t let them get away.

Her heart was about to burst from chasing after the nimble black hood.

Moreover, the gap was widening more and more.

“Stop chasing me!”

Besides, this guy was making a fuss while also speeding up.

With no other choice, Celonia reached out as she ran. She was thinking of shooting a light of healing to collapse the wall and block that guy’s path.

It was that moment.

“Ugh!”

The black hood, who had been running non-stop, stopped in an instant. By a Tan that seemed to have popped out of nowhere.

Tan grabbed the black hood by the back of the neck, slammed their head against the wall, and bound their hands behind their back.

“L, let me go!”

The black hood, completely caught, struggled, but there was no way they could escape Tan’s overbearing strength.

“Who are you?”

Tan directed a chilling, murderous voice toward the black cloak.

Celonia, who had by now run to where the black hood and Tan were, leaned over and gasped for breath.

“Hee, heee, hee…”

“Celonia, are you alright?”

Tan looked at Celonia, who seemed to be out of breath.

Her face was flushed red like an apple from how hard she had been running.

“…Celonia?”

The black hood, who had been struggling while being held by Tan, stopped moving at the sound of Celonia’s name and quietly repeated the name.

“Yehehe… I’m, hee, okay.”

Words that were indistinguishable as either breath or speech came out of her mouth, garbled.

Her forehead was damp with sweat in this chilly weather because of how hard she had run, and her bangs were wet.

Ah, I need to exercise. My heart felt like it was about to die from just running this much.

“You’re out of breath.”

Tan effortlessly restrained the hood with one hand and reached out with the other.

He pulled up his sleeve and wiped the sweat from Celonia’s forehead.

Celonia flinched at his sudden action.

“Ah, I’m okay, haa… Thank you.”

Celonia said, subtly pushing away Tan’s hand in the awkward situation.

Because for a moment, she had a strange feeling that her heart, which had been calming down until just now, was beating fast again.

At that moment, the person in the black hood protested loudly.

“It hurts! Let me go!”

“Don’t do anything foolish, or else I’ll blow your head off.”

Tan opened his merciless lips even at the word that it hurt.

It was a very ruthless and cruel remark, but Celonia was grateful.

As always, he had helped me again.

Even though he wasn’t even with me, how did he know and come?

“By the way, how did you know to come?”

“I followed you.”

Tan had invariably stopped by the slum and was on his way back to the mansion in one breath to return to Celonia.

Then, he saw her rushing out and followed her.

He watched from afar and thought she needed help, so he caught this guy instead.

“Why, why are you doing this to me!”

The black hood, whose face was squashed against the wall, raised their voice as if they were wronged.

Now that I see, their voice is quite young.

That’s why they ran so fast. I almost died chasing after them.

Celonia glared at the black hood and spoke in a voice that had now calmed down.

“Why did you run away?”

“I, I ran away because you were chasing me!”

“You ran away after seeing me first.”

“Th, that’s…”

When he didn’t speak hesitantly, Tan roughly pulled off the hood of the black cloak with a menacing look.

The hood was removed, and their face was revealed.

It was a boy. His height was similar to Celonia’s, but he looked to be just about 17 years old.

“Speak.”

“Aaaah! I, I’m my grandfather’s disciple!”

The boy screamed in pain as Tan strongly pressed down on his bound hands.

“Grandfather?”

At the sound of ‘grandfather’ from the boy’s mouth, Wiklander automatically came to Celonia’s mind.

Wiklander was an old grandfather with white hair and beard.

“Are you talking about Wiklander?”

The boy nodded at Celonia’s question.

“Hwaaa!”

Soon, the boy’s eyes welled up, and he began to cry loudly.