The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 128

Taking the carriage back to the Duke’s mansion, Selonia stared silently out the window. Her fists were clenched tightly on her lap, hidden beneath a dress with a hint of light sky-blue.

‘So, they’ve already made their move.’

I had a hunch, and it turned out to be true.

Galloway’s charity work was ultimately a sham, a disguise. It was a means to gather materials needed for black magic.

“They said they couldn’t accommodate many people, so the initial thirty selected entered the building, and they vanished without a trace… Benjamin, too,” Henrik had told me.

“If something had happened that made him disappear, he would have told me beforehand, but he vanished without a word…”

Benjamin, Henrik’s acquaintance, disappeared, along with everyone else in the building. And in less than half a day, the building was filled with thirty new people.

Henrik, who had been receiving food from Benjamin, came to the building every day, so he was the first to notice this situation.

Originally, the place was meant to house the poor, and naturally, no one but Henrik noticed their disappearance, as they had no connections.

Moreover, when Henrik reported the mass disappearance to the patrol, they dismissed him, saying they were already aware of the matter.

Selonia recalled her conversation with Henrik.

“The patrol was already aware?”

“Yes… Duke Vesin’s side had already informed the patrol… Apparently, they said that because there were too many people to accommodate, they moved the people in the existing temporary building to another location and accepted additional people. They told them not to be surprised if someone reported it without knowing…”

“Ha…”

“They kicked me out, saying I shouldn’t interfere with the righteous work of a high-ranking person… Lady Selonia, is it true? Did Benjamin really move somewhere else?”

“…No.”

“I knew it. I had a bad feeling from the start… Then where did Benjamin go…”

Seeing Henrik in despair, Selonia couldn’t say anything.

How could they do this?

Are they confident they won’t get caught?

Even if they are the poor, the disappearance of several people would raise suspicion.

Especially now that the revival of black magic is known, and the Emperor is conducting a large-scale investigation, how could they make things so big?

If the tail is too long, it will get stepped on [meaning, if they overextend themselves, they will be caught].

No matter how powerful Duke Vesin is, he won’t be safe dabbling in black magic, which has been taboo for so long.

Besides, with dozens of people already missing, it’s at least a life sentence or the death penalty.

Yet they continue to proceed with this, like someone who doesn’t worry about the consequences.

‘Is there another scheme?’

In any case, we must find the traces of the people who have disappeared.

“What did he say at the end?”

Then, Tan’s voice was heard, along with a cool touch covering the back of my hand.

“Oh, it wasn’t anything special. Just asking me to find his brother. Begging me to help.”

Selonia, realizing what he was asking, answered naturally.

At the end, Henrik asked Tan to leave them alone for a moment because he had something to say. Selonia nodded to Tan, asking him to do so, and lent her ear to Henrik.

“Lady Selonia… I couldn’t convey what Grandfather Wicklander said about you…”

“What is it?”

“…Since *he* is not here, you must be careful.”

She couldn’t help but be surprised to hear that.

He was a sage, indeed. Wicklander really saw through everything.

Moreover, Wicklander’s words, conveyed by Henrik, were close to the answer she wanted to know.

If that’s true, I have to endure, no matter what.

If I reveal everything and just endure, I can eventually be with Tan.

“It’s true.”

Selonia smiled softly, adding to Tan’s doubtful gaze.

It wasn’t certain yet, so she decided to keep it buried for now. She didn’t want him to be disappointed by unnecessary excitement.

“Selonia. No, Eun-yeong.”

Tan called Selonia, then quickly corrected himself.

Selonia felt incredibly happy that he called her by her real name, but she shook her head and said,

“Not yet. No one else should know.”

“Then when will you be called by your name?”

Tan looked at Selonia with a dissatisfied gaze and reached out his hand.

His long, cold fingers, as always, cupped her soft cheeks.

His expression was so grumpy, but his touch was so gentle that Selonia couldn’t help but smile.

“When it’s all over. When it’s all over, then. You know it, right? That’s enough for now.”

It was really okay just that he, an alien from a distant world, knew her, her real name that she had hidden so deeply.

“Come to think of it, Tan, you have a real name too.”

Tan pinched Selonia’s cheek slightly at her skillful way of changing the subject, and eventually burst out laughing.

“I do. But call me Tan. I like the name you gave me better.”

“Still, I want to know your real name.”

“Leonhardt Cabellenus.”

“Oh…”

Selonia exclaimed, feeling the majesty of the Demon King in the name.

In the original story, the Demon King was always referred to only as the Demon King without a name, so this was the first time she had learned it.

“There must be others besides me who know your real name, right?”

“Maybe. I’ve lived quite a long time, so if those who knew me passed it on to their descendants, they might know.”

“I see…”

Selonia nodded slightly at Tan’s answer. But her eyes drooped with disappointment.

“What’s wrong?”

Tan, who keenly noticed this, gently stroked her drooping eyes with his thumb and asked.

“It’s just that, like you were the first to know my real name, I wish I had been the first to know your real name. I’m just a little sad.”

It was a small desire to share each other’s beginnings.

But after saying it, Selonia blushed and turned her gaze away.

“…”

Tan was momentarily stunned by her unexpected answer, but soon raised the corners of his mouth as if he felt good.

It couldn’t help but be seen as an adorable grumble. He was so annoyed that he couldn’t fulfill that regret that he wanted to get rid of all those who knew his name.

“Look at me.”

“I’m too embarrassed to look at you right now…”

Selonia tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible, but his hand forced her head back into place.

Still, she was too embarrassed to make eye contact right away, so she tried to lower only her pupils as much as possible, but she couldn’t because of the red eyes in front of her.

She had just said it jokingly, but his eyes were serious.

“The beginning has passed, but you will be the last to know my real name. From now on, I will only live by the name you gave me. Is that not enough to relieve your regret?”

Selonia’s fingertips tingled at his resolute expression, as if he were proposing or reciting an oath to a god.

It was a small regret that even Tan couldn’t help and could have just passed by.

She liked him so much, she was so grateful that he revealed his heart so sincerely.

“It’s enough.”

A beautiful smile bloomed on her lips.

“That’s a relief.”

Tan smiled along with her smile and lowered his lips.

As their lips met, their hot breaths intertwined between their parted lips, as if neither had initiated it first.

Squeak.

“Haa…”

Not long after they kissed, the carriage stopped, signaling their arrival.

Selonia took her lips off Tan’s and gasped for breath. Then, she ran her finger over his glistening lips.

Tan opened his red eyes, still filled with desire, and took Selonia’s hand that touched his lips.

“Don’t do this, let’s go to my house.”

He still didn’t feel comfortable sending Selonia to that den [referring to the Duke’s mansion].

“There’s still something to find out. And moving at midnight is good for avoiding surveillance.”

Selonia reassured him, telling him not to worry.

Now that she knew everything, the reason she hadn’t left the Duke’s mansion yet was because she thought all the clues would be here.

The disappearance of the thirty people she learned about today. She had to return to the mansion to find out about it.

“Don’t worry. Then I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Okay.”

Tan watched the mansion as he saw Selonia off, smiling and turning around.

He didn’t sense any particular danger. Still, just in case, he watched the Duke’s mansion from the window of the parked carriage.

After watching for a while, Tan pulled the string. Soon, the carriage began to roll again to leave the Duke’s mansion.

“…”

Then, from the second floor of the mansion, as if waiting for the carriage to leave, a black silhouette hidden behind the curtain slid out in front of the window. It was Galloway.

He stood there as if nailed in place until the carriage Tan was riding in disappeared into a dot.

Next to him was the Memory Jar, emitting illusions.

* * *

“Oh, Lady!”

Selonia, who had entered the mansion and was about to climb the central staircase, turned her head at Ella’s voice.

“Y-you’re just arriving?”

Ella said, panting heavily as if she had been running, without even catching her breath.

“Yeah. I’ll go up.”

“Th-that…! Lady!”

Selonia had to turn her head because Ella was holding her back.

Ella fidgeted with her fingers, her face dark as if she had something to say.

“What’s wrong?”

At that question, Ella hesitated and couldn’t speak easily.

As a few seconds of silence filled the space between them, Ella opened her mouth.

“…It’s Lady Grace Bennett.”