The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 153

“Eugene!”

A lively, excited voice called out and someone came running.

“Jenny! How many times have I told you not to run!”

“Hehehe. Just this once!”

Despite her mother’s scolding, Jenny winked playfully and hurried on.

Jenny ran purposefully, heading straight for a half-open door at the end of the hallway, slipping inside.

“Eugene! I’m here!”

“Oh my, Miss. You’ll hurt yourself if you fall like that.”

Eugene, sitting in a rocking chair in the middle of the room, watched Jenny rush in and spoke with concern.

“Hurt myself? Does Eugene still think I’m a baby? I’m seven years old now!”

Jenny puffed out her chest proudly.

Eugene, who was now 87 years old, couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

Seven years old, not seventeen, was still a young age to her.

“Eugene, I want to hear the story again. Continue from where you left off yesterday!”

How quick.

Jenny swiftly dragged her personal chair from the side of the room and sat in front of Eugene like a little squirrel.

Her big, clear eyes sparkled with anticipation on her small face.

Like stars plucked from the night sky and planted, like the shimmering sunlight on the river.

Eugene gazed quietly into Jenny’s deep brown eyes.

Though still a child, Jenny’s eye color and face greatly resembled someone she missed.

“Miss, have I told you this before?”

“That I look like Grandma? Phew. Eugene tells me that every time I see you.”

“Hehehe. This old woman is getting more forgetful these days.”

“But do I really look that much like her? I’ve seen her in pictures, but…”

Jenny scratched her chubby cheek with a puzzled expression.

The portraits of the late Grand Duke and his wife hung in the widest main hallway on the first floor of the Grand Ducal Residence.
The Grand Duke with hair as black as the darkest night and eyes as red as blood, and the Grand Duchess with similar black hair and brown eyes.

Tan Husseybrook and Euna Young Husseybrook.

The Grand Duke and Duchess, who had greatly contributed to the prosperity and peace of the North, were still talked about even after the Grand Ducal Residence had changed hands three times.

“…Of course. Miss, you resemble Euna Young more than anyone else.”

Looking at Jenny with affectionate eyes, Eugene carefully stroked her cheek with her wrinkled old hand.

Jenny’s eyes softened as if she felt good.

Jenny Husseybrook.

The precious only daughter cherished by everyone in the Grand Ducal Residence, and the first precious daughter of the Grand Duke’s family, which had only produced sons until now.

Jenny, who was seven years old this year, was Euna Young’s great-granddaughter.

“Eugene seems to really like Grandma. When did you first meet her?”

Jenny, leaning on Eugene’s lap, looked up with round eyes.

“When I was nine years old, I came to the Grand Ducal Residence with my mother to see their wedding.”

“And you came to our house when you were ten, right?”

“That’s right. The memories of that time were so warm and lovely that I wanted to be by their side.”

A gentle smile appeared on Eugene’s lips as if she was reminded of the old days.

Euna Young was so vividly remembered by Eugene at their first meeting that she mistook her for a fairy, not a human.

There was no way she could forget.
The sight of a huge, fearsome man with dry, red eyes that seemed indifferent to everything, looking at only one person with such warmth that flowers bloomed.

The love between the two was conveyed to even young her.
The following year, Eugene entered the Grand Ducal Residence as a maid at the young age of 10.

She wanted to watch over them, even from afar.

If she was by the side of the two who cherished and loved each other so much, she felt like she could become such a person too.

77 years had passed since she entered the Grand Ducal Residence.

Until the mistress she served gave birth to a son, and that son had another son, and then another son, and then finally Jenny.

Eugene had been with them through all of history.

Before she knew it, Eugene, who had become the oldest servant in the residence, no longer had the person who warmly looked at her and called her name by her side.

She only existed in memories that became clearer day by day.

“Before I knew it, time has passed, and now only the two of us remember Euna Young here.”

“…Eugene. Are you crying?”

Jenny’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit.

Clear tears welled up in Eugene’s wrinkled eyes.

“Don’t cry… Don’t cry, Eugene.”

Jenny, already tearful herself, hugged Eugene’s lap tightly.

It was heartbreaking for young Jenny to see Eugene, whom she loved as much as her parents, crying.

“Miss. I will tell you stories as long as I can, so can I ask you just one thing?”

Eugene said, wiping away Jenny’s tears that were falling.

“Of course! Just say the word! I’ll grant any request from Eugene!”

Jenny, who had been crying, clenched her fists and showed her resolve.

Eugene chuckled at the sight of such a lovely Jenny. Even this kindness was just like that person.

“Miss. If I ever leave, then…”

* * *

“What are you doing!”

“Oh, no, I was…”

A maid who was about to go up the stairs was startled and dropped her rag.

“I told you that the 5th floor is off-limits! Why are you trying to go in there on your own!”

“I just thought I should clean it…”

The shoulders of the servant who was about to go up the stairs drooped at the continued scolding from her colleague.

“Have you forgotten the taboo? I told you not to clean it without permission.”

“But there’s dust…”

“What’s going on?”

It was then.

Another voice was heard besides the two’s voices.

“Ah, Eugene.”

The two were surprised, turned their heads, and quickly bowed.

The person coming towards them with a cane was Eugene. It had been a long time since she had stepped down as the head maid, but she was someone no one in the Grand Ducal Residence could ignore. The current Grand Duke and Duchess also respected Eugene, who was like a long-time resident.

“Don’t make a fuss here.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

The servant who was about to clean trembled.

She hadn’t met Eugene many times since she had arrived, but she always had a kind impression whenever she saw her.

But now, Eugene’s eyes looking at her were cold without a hint of a smile. They were sharp as if she was seeing through everything.

“Kill that curiosity that will harm you.”

And that feeling hit the mark.

“Eugene! I have committed a truly unforgivable sin. Please, just once, please forgive me…!”

Her face completely drained of blood and trembling, she quickly knelt down and begged with both hands.

It was a direct hit.

She wanted to secretly go to the 5th floor to see the rumors surrounding the Grand Ducal Residence with her own eyes.

Even though she had heard the taboo that the 5th floor was off-limits since she first came here.

“You will help with the stables for the time being.”

“Yes… I understand. Thank you.”

It was a demotion to the stables instead of taking care of the residence, but since it wasn’t a dismissal, the servant repeatedly bowed to Eugene.

After they disappeared, Eugene headed to the stairs leading to the 5th floor, where no one was allowed to enter.

Eugene, who climbed the stairs without rest despite her slower pace than before, walked along the hallway for a while and stood in front of a large door.

“Come in.”

She was about to knock, but a voice was heard from inside the door as if he knew everything.

Eugene turned the doorknob and entered the room.

The scenery of the room, which had not changed for 30 years since that person had left, came into Eugene’s eyes.

A bed that had never been slept in with not a single wrinkle and a cold meal placed on the table that had not been touched.

“You should eat at least a little.”

“Aren’t you tired of saying that?”

“Because I promised the mistress. She would be upset if she knew you hadn’t even taken a bite.”

“…”

At her words, the back view sitting on the one-person sofa in front of the window wavered slightly.

Only Eugene could talk about Euna Young in front of him here.

And only Eugene could make these words work.

The back view, which seemed like an impregnable fortress that would never show its face, finally turned around.

Eugene smiled softly and looked at Tan’s approaching figure.

He was the same face that Eugene had first encountered when she was 9 years old.

Unlike her, who had aged over the decades, her back bent, leaning on a cane, her wrinkles lined, and her eyesight no longer good, his face had not aged at all, and there was not a single strand of faded hair.

A strong, wall-like body that had not collapsed even when the mistress had passed away.

Nothing had changed from 77 years ago.

Still, even now, he did not allow anyone to approach him except for one person. Not even his dead children or grandchildren were exceptions.

However, Eugene was an exception.

Because Euna Young had asked Tan to take care of Eugene, whom she had loved when she was alive.

Eugene still didn’t know what her master’s identity was. She knew he wasn’t human because she had seen it by his side, but she didn’t ask.

Because that wasn’t important when serving the two of them.

“I’ll bring a new one right away.”

“It’s okay.”

Tan refused and sat at the table where the cold meal was placed.

Although he had an unpleasant expression, he faithfully put the soup in his mouth.

On the ring finger of his left hand placed on the table, he still wore a ring with a ruby embedded in it.

Eugene turned her gaze away, remembering that the same ring was worn on the mistress’s finger until the last moment of her life.

“The garden must also prepare to welcome spring.”

As winter passed and spring came, they had to dismantle the winter preparations that had been made in the garden to withstand the harsh winter of the North.

“I’ll do it.”

“Yes. I’ll prepare it.”

Eugene immediately bowed her head because it was an expected remark.

Her master did not allow anyone to touch the Grand Ducal Residence’s garden and cultivated it himself.

Thus, the thirtieth spring without the mistress came to the Grand Ducal Residence.

‘Please, this year…’

Eugene prayed.

For the end of her master’s long wait to come.

For spring to come to her master too.