The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 101

<101>

“You should eat something.”

Smiling, Celonia held out two well-cooked pieces of ogre meat, offering the larger one to MacRyan.

“No thanks. You eat a lot.”

MacRyan glanced at the meat, then turned his head away with a look of disgust.

“You need to eat well to recover your strength. I’ll leave it here.”

She placed the meat on a large leaf she had picked up and set it down next to MacRyan.

Too annoyed to reply, MacRyan leaned his head against the tree.

But Celonia, instead of leaving, plopped down next to him and began to tear into the ogre meat she was holding.

“What? Aren’t you leaving?”

“It’s cool under the shade of the tree.”

“Ha…”

Speechless, MacRyan stared at her face.

She was munching away at the meat like a bandit, her mouth constantly moving.

Even Ian and Reyev struggled when eating monster meat, but this woman seemed to have a stronger stomach than them.

“Doesn’t it disgust you?”

“If you’re picky, there’s nothing to eat. You have to eat to survive.”

She replied, tearing off another large piece of meat, chewing and swallowing it before opening her mouth again.

“I really want to live. I really want to go back alive. There are many things I need to do. Many things I want to know.”

“……”

“So, I need to work harder. I’ll try not to freeload. I need to do my part, too.”

Freeload?

It was a word he had never heard before, but he roughly understood the context from her determined tone. It seemed she meant she would try not to be a burden to them.

But it was quite amusing to hear such a solemn vow from someone looking so disheveled.

However, her eyes were anything but funny.

Her resolute and firm eyes, as if filled with venom, shone blue and were quite pleasing.

‘Unexpected.’

That’s what MacRyan thought of Celonia. He expected her to whine about how hard it was, having grown up pampered, but come to think of it, he had never heard her complain about the difficulty throughout the subjugation.

She was physically struggling, but she always followed them without complaint.

“So, MacRyan, feel free to use me anytime.”

“What?”

Suddenly, her white hand touched MacRyan’s wounded side.

Soon, a white light of healing began to be absorbed into his body.

MacRyan’s hand, which had been about to stop her, froze in mid-air.

The throbbing pain from the wound quickly subsided, the bleeding stopped, and the torn flesh healed. Completely.

He no longer felt any pain. His side was smooth, as if it had never been wounded.

“You……”

“I’m grateful. You worked so hard today. My healing magic will help you recover your strength.”

“……”

MacRyan stared at Celonia with wavering eyes.

She had healed his wound and said it would help him recover his strength.

She was pretending not to notice that he was trying to hide his injury.

Even while struggling to subjugate monsters to the point of not being able to take care of his own body, she had noticed his wound.

“Hahaha!”

He suddenly burst into laughter. It was the first time he had laughed so heartily since joining the expedition.

It was strange and funny.

His deceased predecessor had often said that humans were an incomprehensible race and that they were increasingly fascinating to observe.

He never understood what he meant back then, but now he felt like he understood a little.

She looked like a delicate flower, yet she nonchalantly tore into monster meat, and she marched silently with legs that looked like they would break at any moment.

Even her blue eyes, filled with a kind of venom, seemed to indicate that she had some clear reason to survive.

He found Celonia amusing. She was interesting and intriguing, enough to want to keep her close and watch her. He was also curious about what she had to do to stay alive.

He still thought she was cumbersome, but still, it was easy enough to protect one human woman.

“Then rest, MacRyan. Make sure to eat.”

“Speak informally.”

“Pardon?”

“Call me MacRyan, from now on, by my name.”

He grinned at the flustered Celonia. A gentle breeze surrounded the two.

* * *

With that day, which was the beginning of his feelings, all emotions returned, and MacRyan bit his trembling lip.

So, this is…….

“How do you feel?”

Celonia’s voice, which he had clearly been hearing by his side, felt like he was hearing it for the first time in a long time, and MacRyan slowly turned his head.

His eyes, shaking like a ship caught in a storm, looked into her sky-blue eyes.

“……Celi.”

A choked, tearful voice flowed from his trembling lips.

“What’s your impression of the great dragon being tricked by a human’s scheme?”

Celonia, who had already removed her hand from MacRyan’s chest, stood next to Tan. Her expression was colder and more indifferent than ever.

“Ha……. That woman did something to me…….”

The feelings for Grace that had dominated him until now were all burned away without a trace.

Upon realizing the truth, MacRyan’s pride as a noble dragon was crushed in a ridiculous and shameful way because he had been tricked by a human woman.

“To dare humiliate me! What on earth did she do……!”

Enraged, MacRyan punched the ground while still sprawled on the floor.

His face, which had been completely healed, was flushed red, as if he could not suffer a greater humiliation.

He, who had clearly drawn a line, saying that he was a transcendent being and a noble dragon different from humans, was overcome with humiliation and anger at the fact that he had been tricked by a human woman’s scheme without even noticing it.

“Is that all you have to say to me?”

“It wasn’t my true feelings. You know that! That’s why you brought me back!”

MacRyan hurriedly regained his senses and stood up, opening his mouth at her question, which pierced his heart with many meanings.

“It’s true that I thought of you as a nuisance. But that was before I knew you! Have you forgotten how I treated you? I saved you from falling off a cliff and cherished and loved you so much that I gave you my heart. That feeling hasn’t changed!”

“……”

“Damn it! I hate to admit it, but I was temporarily insane because of the trick that woman played on me. That’s why I said things to you that I shouldn’t have. It wasn’t my true feelings. That wasn’t my real heart!”

MacRyan became anxious as Celonia continued to remain silent with an unreadable expression.

He was burning with impatience. He wanted her to say something, but she continued to remain silent.

Grace’s trick had blinded his eyes, distorting the memories of the past he had spent with Celonia.

Since his feelings for her were all based on affection, the remaining emotions were only the annoyance and negative feelings he had felt in the early stages of the subjugation journey.

That’s why he made such an absurd mistake. It wasn’t what he wanted.

“Celi, say something……!”

“I told you. The regret is yours. But you…….”

Celonia paused for a moment. MacRyan, who was frowning with reddened eyes, looked quite wronged.

‘I understand. He must feel wronged because he was tricked without knowing it. But the words that should have come out of his mouth were not coming out.’

Now that he was free from the trick, he was just making excuses, excuses, and more excuses.

He was asking me to understand him, saying that I knew everything, so why didn’t I understand? Celonia hardened her heart at the feast of self-justifying words, as she had no intention of being lenient from the start.

“You don’t even apologize after knowing everything.”

“……”

Thump.

The moment her mouth opened, MacRyan felt like his heart was plummeting to the bottom of the earth.

His complexion turned white as he realized his mistake. He was so busy trying to fix the situation that he was missing the most important thing.

The harsh words he had uttered to Celonia so far were revived without exception.

Her expression, which had been distorted each time to the point that his own heart ached, came to mind, and his expression became increasingly dumbfounded.

In addition, the pain that Celonia, who had been left alone by the betrayal of her departing comrades, must have felt, and the sight of her eyes as she looked at them shamelessly standing next to Grace at the celebration, flickered in his mind, and MacRyan clenched his trembling hands.

“I…… I mean, Celi…….”

His lips, which had trembled and opened, soon closed.

Why couldn’t the word ‘sorry’ fall from his lips like this? It was up to his throat, but he couldn’t bring himself to utter it as a voice.

Was it because of his pride? Or was it…….

“It’s over there!”

It was that moment.

Along with the sound of rushing footsteps, people’s voices flowed in, squeezing through the densely packed trees.

The participants had discovered the griffin as MacRyan’s barrier, which had exhausted his energy earlier, disappeared.

“I will catch it!”

“I found it first! Get out of the way!”

Even through the competing voices, arrows began to fly towards this way. Because the griffin’s head was visible from afar due to its large size.

However, because Celonia, Tan, and MacRyan were hidden by the bushes that came up to their waists, the participants were shooting arrows indiscriminately.

And eventually, one arrow passed through the bushes and flew quickly towards Celonia’s face.

“Celi!”

Surprised, MacRyan belatedly reached out to Celonia, but Tan was faster.

In the blink of an eye, Tan drew his sword, held Celonia in one arm, hid her behind his back, and instantly cut down the flying arrow.

“……”

At that moment, MacRyan saw it clearly. The murderous intent in the red eyes that were directed at him after cutting down the arrow.

“You stupidly got tricked and say it’s not your fault at all?”

“……”

“You’re not even worth dealing with anymore.”

Tan, as if he couldn’t show Celonia to MacRyan, hid her firmly behind his back and growled like a beast baring its fangs.

Red eyes filled with emotions boiling like lava. A madness like an obsession with Celonia could be seen.

As if trying to protect her from all threats.

MacRyan’s mouth closed on its own at his feelings for Celonia, which were felt so clearly.

“If you cross my path again, I will kill you for real then.”

As soon as Tan finished his warning, Celonia took his hand.

Without any regrets, Celonia turned around and took the griffin and left the place before the participants rushed in.

“Cel……!”

MacRyan hurriedly opened his mouth to grab Celonia, but he couldn’t complete the sentence.

Because her receding figure was cold.

“Huh? Did you see a beast around here?”

The participants who arrived late asked, but MacRyan stood in place as if his feet were stuck to the ground, only looking at the direction where Celonia had disappeared.

* * *

“What should we do now?”

Celonia said with a worried face, stroking the griffin’s head.

As soon as they were out of MacRyan’s sight, they had moved to an uninhabited place with Tan’s teleportation.

But unless the hunting festival ended, the participants would continue to search for the griffin.

“Purrr.”

The griffin blinked its eyes as if it was in a good mood and quietly accepted Celonia’s touch.

She had Grace work as a spy for Reyev, who was begging for forgiveness, but she didn’t say anything to MacRyan.

The old comrade who couldn’t even offer a sincere apology was no longer someone she knew.

It was obvious how MacRyan, who had learned the truth through today’s events, would treat Grace.

Since the pride of the noble dragon had been tarnished, he wouldn’t just let it go. If so, Grace would know that her trick had been discovered.

It didn’t matter anymore. There was no need to hide it anymore.

She already had Darjeeling, which she had received from Reyev, as evidence, and there were even witnesses.

Rather, it would be easier to approach the truth if Grace’s machinations were known to the world.

“Celonia.”

“Yes. Is there no way? A way to save the griffin.”

Celonia turned around and asked at Tan’s call.

Tan chuckled as he looked at her, her mind completely focused on the griffin.

It seemed that MacRyan had already disappeared from her mind. She really wasn’t going to listen to any excuses.

Tan fixed his gaze on Celonia’s face, sweeping back the hair that fluttered in the blowing wind.

A burden-like, unnecessary existence?

MacRyan’s words were ridiculously absurd. He had been saved by her hands so many times, yet he dared to say that.

Even if Celonia didn’t have healing abilities, they would have been comforted and saved by her anyway.

She was someone who couldn’t ignore the wounded even knowing their identity, who knew how to heal wounds, admit misunderstandings, offer sincere apologies, and comfort others by saying that difference was not a bad thing but a special thing.

Even he, who had lost his memory and was drifting alone in the vast ocean, had been comforted by her so many times. Although she herself didn’t know it well.

Tan approached her and reached out his hand.

His large hand cupped Celonia’s white cheek.

The soft touch tickled his entire palm, and his heart pounded and the ever-present desire bloomed again, but he swallowed it down and opened his mouth.

“There is a way.”

“Really? What is it?”

“That is…….”

Tan explained to Celonia about the method he had thought of.

Then he thought to himself.

He had to regain everything he had lost for Celonia’s sake.

And to give her everything in her hands better than those incompetent fools, no, so much that it couldn’t be compared. Even this empire, if she wanted it.

The more his desire for her grew, the more his darkness, which had been hidden in a deep abyss, was emerging.

The lost nature of the Demon King.