The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 111

The Extra’s Been Stealing the Male Leads (111)

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Dried tea leaves were piled high on a large table, taking up most of the cramped room.

“Ugh!”

Celonia covered her nose and mouth with both hands, overwhelmed by the pungent stench coming from the tea leaves.

It was a familiar rotten smell, so she knew without having to check closely that the tea leaves were Darjeeling [a type of black tea with a distinct muscatel flavor].

The amount was considerable at a glance.

According to the documents Daniel from the Storm Guild had found, Baron Bennett’s weekly Darjeeling consumption was equivalent to other nobles’ consumption for half a year, which was indeed true.

‘Where on earth are they manufacturing this?’

Daniel had said that in order to use wicked dark magic, a price must be paid, and that price was the lives of the living.

‘If they continue to produce this much, someone must be being sacrificed somewhere…’

“What’s wrong? Hurry up and pack it. He told you to finish it all before noon!”

The maid pushed Celonia’s back with a dissatisfied expression.

Celonia, reluctantly stepping into the room, felt dizzy from the severely overwhelming stench.

It was a grueling task. Others might not be able to smell the stench on the tea leaves, but she could.

‘This isn’t going to work.’

She was going to try to get information from the maid while helping with the work, but she couldn’t stand it here, let alone pack.

Celonia endured her nausea and moved towards the door to rush out of the room.

“What are you doing right now? Are you going to keep doing this? Do you think I can’t tell the young lady? Do you want to be dragged to the basement?”

Naturally, the maid grabbed Celonia’s wrist roughly and shouted, seeing her actions as abandoning her work and running away.

Then Celonia, who had turned pale as if she was about to vomit, turned her head and looked at the maid.

“Basement?”

“Yes! Basement! You’re scared of that basement, aren’t you? If you don’t do your job properly, you might be dragged there. You saw it back then, didn’t you? Yuria being beaten. If I tell the young lady, you’ll end up like that too!”

The maid crossed her arms and sneered, as if she had caught a very important weakness.

But at those words, Celonia’s eyes flashed instead.

“There really is a basement? Where is it?”

If the rumored basement really existed, then it was almost certain that dark magic was being performed in that basement where the maids were dragged.

“Wh, what? Of course, there is! Don’t you remember? Jamie, you were whining about not wanting to go to the basement where the wails were coming from!”

The maid was rather flustered by this unexpected reaction and raised her voice.

Celonia was genuinely asking out of curiosity, but because she was in Jamie’s form, it appeared to the maid as if she was mocking her, knowing everything.

“So, where is that wailing basement? Ugh…”

“Th, that’s…! Are you saying I’m lying right now? It’s there! It exists! I’m sure!”

The maid shouted, pressured by Celonia’s continued questions.

She tried to intimidate her to pass on all the work, but she didn’t expect her to ask about the location beyond just the existence of the basement, let alone be intimidated.

“How long have you been working here?”

Regardless, Celonia still covered her nose and spoke in a muffled voice.

“Ha! Are you threatening me right now? Do you think the young lady will listen to you? Who do you think she’ll trust more, you who hasn’t been here long, or me who’s been working here for over half a year!”

The maid screamed fiercely with a flushed face.

It seemed she had misunderstood. She was only asking to gather information, but her attitude suggested she was being pressured.

But this made something clear.

The fact that the maid, who had been working for more than half a year, did not know the exact location of the basement meant that there was no general entrance or that it was hidden.

If it was hidden so well that no one knew, wouldn’t it be faster to be dragged to the basement than to find it?

Celonia thought so and moved again to leave the room.

If she stayed any longer, she might actually soak the floor.

“You think I’m easy to…!”

The maid, who was about to grab Celonia again as she tried to leave, couldn’t finish her sentence. She lost consciousness from the strong impact on the back of her neck.

Celonia caught the maid’s body, which was limply falling forward, with a surprised expression and raised her eyes.

“Tan?”

Tan, still disguised as a maid, was standing there, having arrived at some point.

“I think I found it.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Mac라이언 [Mac Rian], sitting face to face with Grace in the drawing room, could not help but find this time excruciating.

He had no choice but to come to meet her so as not to be caught that the trick had been undone, but he had to keep loosening his clenched fist because he wanted to crush the shameless face sitting in front of him.

“Mac라이언, what’s wrong?”

At Grace’s words, Mac라이언 flinched his shoulders and raised his head.

He was anxious that he might have been caught, but he opened his lips without showing it as much as possible.

“What.”

“You like tea, don’t you? Drink it before it gets cold. It’s cold outside.”

Grace pointed to the tea that Mac라이언 had not even touched since she brought it out and smiled sweetly.

Mac라이언 felt goosebumps on the back of his neck and rage surged at that smile.

‘How dare you do this to this body……!’

He had to suppress the urge to grab Grace’s collar, who was calmly recommending tea.

That woman must have really had her nerve outside her belly [meaning she’s incredibly audacious]. How dare she think of using dark magic on him, a dragon.

How dare, how dare……!

Just recalling the humiliation of the past when he was caught off guard made his whole body seethe with murderous intent.

But getting angry now would only be a loss for him. He had to expose that woman’s true colors and re-establish his prestige.

In the end, Mac라이언, who had endured and endured, looked at the red tea water, like a sunset, placed on the table right in front of him.

The Darjeeling tea that he had always been treated to here by Grace was the culprit that caused him to be subjected to dark magic.

She even gave him a gift of that tea to drink at the mansion.

After learning all the facts, Mac라이언 threw all the Darjeeling tea leaves in the mansion into the fireplace.

If he drank that, he would be 100 percent subjected to dark magic again.

How did he get out of the trick? He couldn’t be caught again.

“I’ve already had a lot to drink, so I’m okay.”

Mac라이언 avoided Grace’s gaze and refused the offer.

“Is that so?”

Grace’s lips curved crookedly as she looked at him with strange eyes.

“Are you keeping the heart I gave you as a gift safe?”

He looked out the window at a distant place and asked casually as if he had no intention.

Even if he pretended not to be out of the trick, he had to get his heart back as soon as possible. He needed it so he wouldn’t be subjected to dark magic again.

“Of course. I’m keeping it safe and sound.”

“I see. I’ll go to the bathroom for a moment.”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

At Grace’s gentle answer, Mac라이언 벌떡 [beoljjeok – abruptly] stood up from his seat.

Then he quickly 빠져나왔다 [ppajyeonawatda – slipped out of] the drawing room.

* * *

“Is it here?”

Celonia and Tan had sneaked into what was presumed to be Baron Bennett’s office.

Around the wooden table in the center of the small room, the entire left wall was filled with bookshelves, and the right wall had a fireplace and a stuffed horned deer hanging on it.

“Yes. I feel a strange energy in this room.”

Tan said, looking around the room with bright red eyes.

He had been disguised as a maid and wandering around for not long, but he could feel it quickly. That this room was suspicious.

From the beginning, the mansion was not that big, and he could feel the energy of dark magic from the beginning, so it was possible.

“If there’s a suspicious space in this room…….”

Celonia muttered quietly and thoroughly examined the right wall.

Hunting trophies were hanging here and there above the fireplace, which had no firewood in it, but there were no suspicious grooves, buttons, or handles.

Then…….

“Behind the bookshelf?”

She quickly looked at the bookshelf that filled the left wall.

A bookshelf filled with books that showed no suspicious points even if you looked closely. The location of the basement that even the maid who had worked for half a year did not know.

It made sense. If there was a basement here, no one would know. That’s why Daniel couldn’t find it either.

“I should look for a doorknob.”

She immediately reached out to take out the books on the bookshelf. But Tan stopped her hand and grabbed it.

“There’s no need to do that.”

“Yes?”

“Celonia, what do you take me for?”

He smiled confidently and wrapped his arms around Celonia’s waist.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them were not in front of the bookshelf, but in a very dark space where they could not see an inch ahead.

“……Could it be here.”

“That’s right. It’s the space behind the bookshelf.”

Tan laughed and pushed the closed door.

Then, the light that seeped through the open door illuminated the dark space.

“Really.”

Celonia muttered with a surprised expression.

The office where they had just been standing could be seen beyond the door.

The door that Tan opened was a bookshelf. They were really in the space inside the bookshelf.

“Can you teleport even in situations like just now where you couldn’t see the door?”

“If it’s certain that there’s a space, there’s nothing I can’t do.”

“Heo…….”

Celonia’s mouth dropped open.

This is too much of a scam [meaning unfair advantage]. She was once again grateful that Tan was on her side.

“It’s not a good sign.”

Tan hugged Celonia’s waist even tighter, feeling an unpleasant energy through his skin.

“It looks like a staircase leading to the basement.”

Celonia, who had been staring down, could see where she was standing now.

The two were currently standing on top of the starting point of the stairs. In front of them was a staircase leading down.

The lower part, where the light did not reach, was hidden in the darkness.

Perhaps that’s why. It was giving off an even more suspicious and eerie atmosphere.

At this point, it was certain. This was the staircase leading to the basement.

Here, the voice echoed dully like in the basement, and the air was cool and damp, making her spine tingle.

Celonia swallowed hard without realizing it.

She felt a little scared, but soon she felt relieved by the arm that was holding her waist tightly. She didn’t know how reassuring it was to have Tan by her side at this moment.

“Let’s go.”

“Be careful. Don’t let go of my hand.”

He released the arm that had been holding her waist and held her hand. It was better to hold hands to go down the stairs.

Celonia nodded and closed the opened door, lest she be caught.

The view became as dark as pitch again, but Tan created a spark in his hand.

Thanks to his spark, which served as a torch, the two began to descend the stairs together without difficulty. To the hidden space, the basement.

* * *

“Damn it! Where did you hide it.”

Mac라이언, who was rummaging through all the drawers, shook his head roughly in frustration.

He was currently in Grace’s room, which was decorated luxuriously and extravagantly, unlike the simple exterior of the mansion. He had said he was going to the bathroom, but he had secretly entered Grace’s room, avoiding the eyes of the servants. This room’s interior decoration changed every time he came, so he couldn’t get used to it.

He didn’t originally intend to do this, but he couldn’t just let it go because he was resentful.

He had to get his heart back. He couldn’t stand to see that woman, who had looked down on him and humiliated him, having his heart.

“Damn it, damn it!”

From the dressing table to the small side table next to the bed and even the closet. He rummaged through all the drawers, but his heart was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe there’s a safe in the room? He had never seen it, but if it didn’t come out after searching this much, it was credible.

However, quite a bit of time had passed, so he had to go back. Otherwise, she would be suspicious.

First, he would go back and then say he was going to the bathroom again.

He was about to turn around thinking that way.

“Mac라이언.”

His actions stopped for a moment at the chilling voice heard from behind.

“Are you perhaps looking for this?”

As he creaked and turned his stiff body, Grace was leaning against the door, having arrived at some point.

Smiling eerily as she held his heart in her hand.