The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 94

“What’s wrong?”

Celonia gazed silently at his face, which was devoid of expression.

Tan’s expression was unreadable, and somehow looked a little dark.

“Did you wait long?”

She looked up at him with wide eyes and asked. Tan stared at her intently with his lips pressed tightly together, then slowly reached out.

“I just got here.”

His hand gently smoothed her hair. The touch was very careful and tender.

After tidying her hair, his hand softly brushed Celonia’s cheek with the back of his hand.

Then Tan’s brow furrowed. In just half a day, her cheeks seemed thinner than yesterday.

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

“No, I’m okay now. You came at midnight, right? Did you pull the bell cord to call someone?”

Celonia said with a slight smile at Tan’s clumsy but gentle touch. Tan nodded in response.

Having entered her room secretly, all he could do was call for someone as quickly as possible.

He wanted to take her to the Grand Duke’s mansion, but if someone discovered she was missing, the mansion would be turned upside down.

So, he had visited the Duke’s residence early in the morning to formally see her, but was refused and came to her room instead.

“Were you surprised? Did you hold their hand? Was the pain okay?”

“You…….”

Tan’s eyebrow rose at Celonia’s words, as if he was very displeased.

“Who is worrying about whom right now?”

Tan cupped Celonia’s cheeks with both hands. He could feel the soft texture and a slight fever on his palms.

His eyes moved busily to check her condition.

Her cheeks were pale but flushed, her lips dry. Below them was her white and clean neck.

Suddenly, Tan’s fingers twitched. The white neck in the strangely vivid scene overlapped with her neck now.

“…….”

Tan swallowed the words that had risen to his throat with trembling eyes. A question he couldn’t bring himself to ask: Did I ever strangle you?

“I only get like this occasionally, but you’re in pain every day.”

Celonia shrugged as she was held by the cheeks.

It was natural to worry because she liked him, but the two of them were a little more special than other lovers.

She was also responsible for his wounds and pain. That’s why she couldn’t help but worry more about how much pain he was in last night than about her own condition.

Tan looked at her with a churning feeling. He could see only himself reflected in her blue eyes, and the worry within them.

He moved his thumbs, which were covering her warm cheeks, and stroked her dry lips. Her soft lips were lightly crushed by his fingers.

The hidden obsession beneath the intense stimulation he wanted to devour covered his red eyes.

Tan quickly lowered his head. As soon as he bit down on her plump lips, his breath forced its way into her mouth.

His soft breath, which had stubbornly entered, swirled around as if claiming hers, as if breathing life into her.

“Hiss…….”

Celonia let out a small groan at the strange sensation.

His breath, stubbornly entwined like a snare, and the fingers that caressed her ears, made her toes curl up.

It felt like the fever that had subsided was warming her whole body.

The two wet breaths filled the quiet dressing room.

But after only a few dozen seconds, Tan slowly took his lips away.

“Haa……. Celonia.”

Then, with a dizzy mind, he exhaled.

His red eyes, filled with desire, stared intently at Celonia.

He could see her chest rising and falling busily as she gasped for breath, with his traces on her lips.

The sight stimulated him again, but he endured it and wiped her glistening lips with his fingers.

After wiping away his traces, he kissed her trembling eyes briefly, then wrapped his arms around her delicate shoulders and waist. He couldn’t bring himself to push her too hard in her painful state, so he ended it there.

His flushed face naturally sought her white neck.

A neck he could lean on, not one he would grip.

He smelled the scent of soft cotton and her unique sweet scent.

Yes. Nothing changes.

Now that he had reached her, there was no way he could let go.

Even if what he remembered was his own memory, if she was okay with it, that was enough, since she remembered everything.

But he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that such a scene had come to mind.

Tan remembered exactly what Ius had said to Celonia: That his energy was also in Celonia.

“I won’t let you hurt anymore.”

He would make sure of it. Tan hugged her tightly as if he had made up his mind.

* * *

“Be careful.”

“What do you mean? It’s what I always do.”

A middle-aged man with graying hair replied indifferently to his colleague’s concern.

His name was Denny.

For him, patrolling at night was easier than eating cold soup [an easy task].

Denny was already very unhappy about having to do this kind of vigilante work.

As a soldier of the Imperial Palace, he felt pride in his duty of patrolling and guarding the outskirts of the Imperial Palace, even though he was the lowest rank.

But he was eventually demoted for drinking while on duty several times.

He was now in charge of the night patrol, the most trivial task in the village patrol and usually done by the youngest members.

“Haven’t you heard the rumors these days? The rumors that one or two people go missing every night and never return!”

The colleague next to him whispered in a very small voice, so that no one in the patrol station could hear.

“Ha! Missing, my foot.”

Denny snorted as if he was dumbfounded.

If such an incident had occurred, it would have already been in the newspaper. But he, who enjoyed reading newspapers, had read several newspapers every day, but had not seen a single article about it.

He had never even seen it in the village newspaper.

“Don’t take it lightly. The reason why it hasn’t been reported is that all the missing people are orphans with no ties or extremely poor people without homes.”

The colleague warned Denny once again, who was not even listening to him.

“Then this is an opportunity……!”

At that moment, Denny’s eyes flashed with selfish desire, and he grabbed a magic lamp and left the patrol station.

“Tsk, tsk. He’s going to cause trouble.”

The colleague who remained at the patrol station shook his head at Denny.

“I’m going back to the Imperial Palace.”

Denny was more enthusiastic than ever, patrolling with the magic lamp illuminating the dark surroundings. This was a golden opportunity to return in triumph.

He couldn’t believe everything his colleague said, but if he could find out the truth, his return to the Imperial Palace was a sure thing.

The reason why only orphans and the extremely poor were disappearing was obvious.

Kidnapping. They had been kidnapped by someone. They were probably kidnapping people with no strings attached and selling them into slavery.

Even though it was illegal, slave traders were still rampant in the shadows.

That was true not only in the Flanagan Empire but also in the neighboring Kingdom of Vale, he had heard.

So, if he caught the kidnapper, he would not only be featured in the newspapers but also receive an immediate return order from the Imperial Palace.

Feeling the sweetness of that dreamlike future, Denny strayed far from his original patrol route and went further inside.

It was then.

In the pitch-black darkness where nothing could be seen without the magic lamp, a black silhouette seemed to move.

Could it be?

Denny quickly shone the magic lamp in that direction, driven by the desire to return rather than fear.

“……Wh-who’s there!”

Although he shone the light, Denny’s voice trembled like a lamb’s cry, frightened. Because there was a person wearing a black cloak standing blankly inside the bushes illuminated by the magic lamp.

At the bizarre and eerie sight, Denny swallowed hard and moved his trembling legs one step at a time.

“H-hey! What are you doing there!”

No matter how much he shouted, the black cloak did not move.

“You look suspicious, come out here. It’s best not to do anything foolish!”

Denny gripped the sword stuck in his belt and took one step closer.

At that moment, the black-cloaked figure, who had been standing still like a statue, turned his head towards Denny and rushed forward quickly.

“Ugh, eek!”

Startled by the sudden movement, Denny ran away as fast as he could, unaware of the goosebumps all over his body, but it was no use.

“Agh!”

Denny’s death throes echoed around him as he was caught by the black cloak.

The black cloak, who had lightly stabbed Denny, took out a piece of parchment from his pocket and tore it.

A magic circle appeared on the ground, and in the blink of an eye, the black cloak and Denny disappeared.

When even the brightly shining magic circle disappeared completely, the place was once again filled with darkness and silence, as if no one had ever been there, without a trace.

However, in the place where the two had been, there was Denny’s blood and the broken magic lamp he had been holding.

* * *

A few days later.

“Who are you betting on?”

“I’ll bet five gold coins on Duke Cherbil’s victory again this year.”

“Hmm. Then I’ll bet five gold coins on the new figure, Grand Duke Hershbrook, this time. I witnessed him slaying a monster at the Denroha Marquis’s residence myself.”

The Mirnar Forest owned by the Imperial Family.

At the entrance to the Mirnar Forest, far from the Imperial Palace, a five-story seating area and temporary tents were set up for today’s hunting festival.

The seats were crowded with nobles who had gathered to watch the hunting festival.

People were naturally betting on today’s winner. Most of them bet on these three.

Duke Cherbil, the former winner. Grand Duke Hershbrook, a rising star with excellent martial arts who was said to have slain a monster in one blow, and Count Ford, a dragon.

But most people bet on Duke Cherbil, whose skills had already been proven.

That was only natural. There were many rumors about Grand Duke Hershbrook, but few people had seen him in person, and in the case of MacRyan Ford, he attended the hunting festival every year, but as the last descendant of the dragon, he attended to promote harmony with the Imperial Family and was not interested in winning.

“Tsk, tsk. You guys don’t know enough.”

At that moment, a man sitting in a higher seat behind them clicked his tongue as he listened to the conversation.

“Then who are you betting on, Young Master?”

The Young Master, who had bet five gold coins on Duke Cherbil, turned his head and asked sharply.

“You have to read the trends. I’ll bet twenty gold coins that His Highness the Crown Prince will be the winner of this year’s hunting festival.”

Then the man smiled very confidently and took out twenty gold coins from his pocket.