The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 112

<112>

“You…….”

MacRyan’s expression turned icy as he confirmed that the heart he had been searching for was in Grace’s hands.

*How did this happen?*

*Did she know I was going to find the heart and took it away in advance? How did she know?*

Seeing MacRyan with such thoughts, Grace leisurely walked into the room, hands clasped behind her back.

Tap, tap, tap.

The steady sound of her heels filled the room like a rising tide, and MacRyan involuntarily stepped back.

For some reason, the Grace he was facing now was different from usual.

The green eyes that usually seemed thoughtless, almost foolish, now held something deep within.

He didn’t know what it was, but it felt ominous, like a curse.

“Seriously. You’re too predictable.”

“…….”

“How could you ask about the heart and then immediately search my room like this?”

Ha ha ha.

Soon, a witch-like laughter echoed in the room.

MacRyan raised his eyebrows, and Grace burst into hearty laughter, holding her stomach as if it was the most amusing thing she’d ever heard. It felt like she was mocking him.

*Is this crazy woman out of her mind right now?*

MacRyan couldn’t control his expression, overwhelmed by a sense of humiliation. His face twisted savagely, as if he wanted to strangle Grace at any moment.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice you were released from the magic?”

However, MacRyan stiffened at Grace’s words, her laughter abruptly ceasing.

“Hmm. So it really was released? How did it get released?”

Grace stroked her chin, observing MacRyan’s wildly shaking golden eyes.

The situation was amusing, but she seemed genuinely curious, as if truly wondering.

That remark finally caused MacRyan’s pent-up anger to explode.

“Hey. Are you crazy?”

MacRyan spat out each word, fiercer and rougher than ever.

It wasn’t intentional, but Grace had somehow found out. If so, instead of acting so brazenly, she should have at least explained the reason and apologized.

But what was this attitude? What was she so confident about?

She was so calm and natural that MacRyan even thought it was normal for him to be under black magic.

Black magic was strictly illegal in the Empire. The Emperor had forbidden it long ago, and anyone caught secretly practicing it would face the annihilation of their entire family.

“That can’t be.”

Grace shrugged with her usual carefree expression.

“You really want to die. You’re openly begging me to kill you right now.”

MacRyan, clenching his fists, approached Grace with angry steps. Blue veins pulsed on his trembling hands.

In this situation, where he might not even accept an apology, Grace was consistently acting shamelessly.

Driven by uncontrollable emotions, blue energy swirled around his body like a heat haze.

“But how did it really get released? It would be hard to undo under normal circumstances.”

However, unlike MacRyan, who was furious, Grace tilted her head with an innocent expression, as if genuinely curious about that alone.

“Do you think I’ll just let this go? I will uncover every detail of your true nature and report everything to His Majesty.”

“MacRyan, you’re the one who was foolishly deceived.”

“Shut your mouth!”

MacRyan unleashed his murderous intent and reached out his angry hand towards Grace.

But he couldn’t even touch the tip of Grace’s finger. Some force was forcibly binding and imprisoning his entire body.

“What is this……!”

MacRyan was flustered and looked down at the strong force shackling his arms as if they were chained.

Then, in an instant, his golden eyes shook like a ship caught in a storm. A dark red magic circle had appeared beneath his feet.

“Gale, it would be better to make him kneel, if possible.”

“Yes.”

MacRyan’s gaze snapped to the side at the unfamiliar voice.

*When and how did he get there?* There were clearly only two of them, but a man was standing beside them.

The green-haired man, cloaked in black, muttered something, and in an instant, both of MacRyan’s knees were forced to the floor.

“Keuk……!”

He tried to get up, but it was no use. His body was firmly bound by the black magic the man had activated.

“Stop it right now?!”

MacRyan shouted, enraged to the point where the blood vessels on his forehead stood out.

These knees, which had never knelt before anyone, were kneeling before Grace. Moreover, they were openly using black magic in front of him.

*Damn it, damn it……! If only I had the heart, if only I had the heart……!*

“MacRyan.”

Grace raised one corner of her mouth, amused to see MacRyan trembling and blushing red with shame.

Then, she lowered her posture and met MacRyan’s gaze.

“Did you run straight to that woman as soon as the magic was released?”

“I will cut off your head. I will kill you with my own hands without even needing to report to His Majesty.”

His eyes, burning with anger towards Grace, were fierce.

“I really don’t understand. Why are you so angry?”

Grace frowned as if she didn’t know the reason.

“Are you asking that now? Ha, what a shameless woman. Because of your trickery, I betrayed Celonia and stayed by your disgusting side all along. Forcibly stealing people’s hearts, and what about it?”

“So.”

Grace’s expression momentarily distorted at the word ‘disgusting,’ but she smiled again as if it hadn’t happened and continued.

“You should be thanking me. Because I made you stand where you were originally supposed to be.”

“Shut up!”

MacRyan gritted his teeth at Grace, who was spouting nonsense, wishing he could undo this trick.

“I’m just taking back what I deserve to have.”

Grace’s eyes flashed as she looked at MacRyan, who was raising his voice without understanding the situation.

She glared at MacRyan with green eyes filled with twisted madness before opening her lips again.

“Gale, proceed.”

Soon, MacRyan’s head drooped forward powerlessly. A huge darkness covered him in an instant.

* * *

Celonia and Tan, guided by the flames, descended the damp stairs to the basement.

They had finally entered the basement of Baron Bennett’s mansion, which they had only heard rumors about.

“How is it? Do you feel anything?”

Celonia, staying close to Tan, spoke carefully.

“I think there’s something inside.”

Tan’s eyes narrowed as he looked into the depths, which were as dark as pitch because the light didn’t reach. He couldn’t pinpoint it, but he felt a strange energy.

“I knew it.”

Celonia stepped forward with a delighted expression.

Her heart was pounding.

She felt fear about what lay ahead, but also anticipation that she could get one step closer to the truth.

It had been quite a while since she realized Grace’s trickery and started collecting information, but nothing had been clear so far.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was trapped in a thick fog, constantly spinning around in the same place.

But today, if she confirmed something inside, she might be able to piece together the scattered puzzle.

“Be careful not to fall.”

At Tan’s concern, Celonia nodded and ventured deeper into the basement.

Every step echoed like thunder in the dark, confined space. The silence amplified their footsteps.

How long had they walked?

She seemed to have gone quite far, but unlike her expectations, all she could see was a gray wall.

*What is it?*

She expected to find Darjeeling leaves [a type of tea], traces of black magic, or even victims…….

“Come to think of it, it doesn’t smell bad.”

Celonia muttered, realizing something.

The stench of Darjeeling that permeated the side room was absent here. She thought it was being made in the basement, but that wasn’t the case?

*Then what is this basement?*

Questions arose, but since she hadn’t explored the entire space, Celonia decided to go further inside.

It was then.

“Gasp! Tan, over there……!”

Celonia exclaimed in surprise.

At the end, where the faint light reached, something black lay on the floor.

“Stay behind me.”

Tan moved Celonia behind him, fearing a potential threat.

She followed Tan with a nervous face.

As they approached the object, the black mass became clearer.

Finally, when Tan, standing in front of it, illuminated the floor with the fire in his hand, Celonia covered her mouth in shock.

Revealed in the light was the body of a woman, her ankles and wrists bound by shackles.

A woman wearing a shabby, thin dress. Next to her was a half-filled water bowl and a piece of dry bread.

“Really…….”

Celonia couldn’t continue speaking. A wave of misery washed over her, and goosebumps rose on her arms.

What she had heard about victims being needed for black magic was real. *What on earth are you doing? What on earth…….*

“Wait.”

Then Tan, examining the body with the light, spoke.

“What’s wrong?”

“Celonia.”

Tan turned to Celonia, his expression serious.

“She’s alive. This woman.”

“Sa, save me…….”

At the same time, a faint voice emerged from the woman’s mouth, who they thought was a corpse.

“…….”

It was true that people were often speechless when surprised.

Celonia completely froze at the voice, her heart pounding in her ears.

“Please save me……. Please get me out…….”

The woman, emaciated to the bone, lay weakly on the floor, muttering without opening her eyes.

How long had she been trapped here? Her hoarse voice was as thin as a dying flame, filled with desperation.

“Are you someone who used to work at this mansion? Did Grace trap you?”

Surprise was fleeting, and Celonia immediately squatted down and asked the woman.

The woman barely opened her trembling, bluish eyelids.

“Sob…….”

Large teardrops began to flow from her eyes, a sight that even moved the observer to sadness.

Celonia, touched by the woman’s emotions, choked up and asked calmly, as if soothing her.

“It’s okay. I’ll help you. Tell me, did Grace trap you?”

“Hic, no…… it’s not…….”

The woman denied.

*No?* Celonia opened her mouth to ask again.

But she couldn’t form the words. All her thought processes had shut down due to the shock.

Because of the words the woman then uttered.

“Grace Bennett is me……. That woman stole my body…….”