The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 159

Under the tree on the hill, Eun-yeong, embraced by Tan, asked about the things she was curious about.

How he had been, if anything special had happened, how his son Kalantz and grandson Hereace were doing, and even how Eugene was doing.

Kalantz and Eugene had already passed away.

Hereace had passed the Grand Duke title to his son and was living on a rural estate.

Hearing that, she realized how much time had passed since she died—probably more than 30 years.

For over 30 years, Tan had been alone…

“Stop crying now. It stings your eyes.”

“I’m not crying.”

Eun-yeong shook her head, her gaze fixed on the bottom of the hill.

*Surely, he couldn’t see her face since he was hugging her from behind, so how did he know…?*

Because he still knew everything about her, tears welled up even more.

But she didn’t wipe away the pooling tears. She didn’t want to show that she was crying.

Just then.

He gently lifted her chin.

Her head tilted back naturally.

In an instant, her vision flipped, and she saw the sky, the trees, and Tan’s face.

“Liar.”

His crimson eyes checked her teary ones.

Perhaps because he had cried with her earlier, the corners of his eyes were also tinged red.

“Ah…”

She was flustered at being caught, and his face came closer.

Eun-yeong’s trembling left eye closed. Tan’s lips briefly touched and fell away from her reddened eyes, as if wiping away the tears.

When she slowly opened her eyes, still warmed by his breath, she saw eyes warmer than the spring sunlight holding her gaze.

“Don’t cry.”

“Okay. I won’t cry.”

She smiled, turned, and hugged his neck. She liked feeling his solid body in her arms and rubbed her face against his chest, leaning on him.

A pleasant, low laugh rumbled from above her head.

“You seem to have become more spoiled.”

At that, she raised her head and looked up at Tan’s face.

If she had become more spoiled, then she had.

When she closed her eyes in his arms, she was an old woman over 80 years old—an age where she had built a family and experienced more of the world.

She *was* more composed and relaxed than she was now.

Even with all her memories from being reborn, she was only 24 years old. She was different from the last version of her that Tan remembered.

“So, do you not like it?”

She asked, even though she knew what answer would come. Foolishly, she wanted to hear it directly from his mouth and confirm it.

As if reading her mind, he smiled, the corners of his mouth lifting.

“There’s no way I wouldn’t.”

Soon, small kisses landed all over her face.

Receiving his affection as it was, she laughed, her lips trembling, and then closed her eyes.

His lips met hers.

Their heated breaths intertwined.

Just as she was about to struggle for breath from the deep, intense kiss, his lips moved back, as if he knew.

When she opened her dazed eyes, she saw his red eyes, still full of heat, right in front of her.

“I am lucky. I can meet your past, which I love, as the present now.”

He ran his finger over her wet lips and hugged her waist tightly.

Her 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond.

He was already talking about how lucky he was, imagining the time he would spend with her again, even though he had already experienced it.

Eun-yeong couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed, feeling his love once again in his immeasurable heart.

But on the other hand, she couldn’t help but feel sad.

She would grow old alone again.

Someday, he would be alone again, waiting for her.

But she decided not to be sad in advance. The present with him, whom she had met again, was too precious.

She thought that she should regain her memories faster next time and do more things together with him in order to return to him without regrets.

As she made that resolution, something suddenly came to her mind.

“Tan, I have a favor to ask.”

* * *

Eun-yeong couldn’t close her mouth at the sight before her eyes.

“…Nothing has changed.”

The garden she had seen in her dreams was exactly as she remembered it last.

Tan had sent everyone in the Grand Duke’s castle out because of her request to see the garden, which she felt sorry for, but she didn’t regret it.

This was where they first came to the North and cultivated the land by hand, where their time was most deeply embedded.

So much time had passed, but the garden remained the same, as if time hadn’t flowed.

The garden was neatly trimmed, without a single stray branch or overgrown weed.

Eun-yeong couldn’t help but picture him tending the garden.

Waiting for her to come someday, cutting off the protruding branches, pulling out the weeds that inevitably grew, and watering the plants.

“…”

Tan silently watched her as she stood in the garden again.

Her eyes, which had experienced the scene she had only imagined, were filled with overwhelming emotion, as if she was filled with new feelings.

“You’ve been managing it all this time, right? Alone.”

Eun-yeong quickly turned her head to look at Tan.

Even the bench under the Lewin tree, which she and he had often visited when she was an old woman, was still there.

The unchanging appearance brought her back to those old days. The memories that came to mind were precious.

“Because it’s our garden.”

He replied.

It was the same thought as her.

She realized once again: they would always have the same thoughts and the same heart.

So there was no need to delay.

“Tan.”

She approached Tan, who was a few steps away, and reached out her hand.

She took his hand, which still wore the ring he would never have taken off.

She caressed the ring, her eyes reddening, and then raised her head to look at him.

“Marry me. Let’s get married.”

“…What?”

Tan, who had been gently watching her actions and the gaze that met his, was momentarily taken aback.

He thought it was a matter of course that would happen someday, but he didn’t expect it to be so soon.

“Father, Mother, this is the person—the person I’m going to marry.”

Eun-yeong calmly introduced him to the middle-aged man and woman standing next to her.

They were also looking at Tan with their mouths wide open at the story they were hearing for the first time.

“Tan, let me introduce you. These are my father and mother.”

Regardless, she introduced him to her parents.

The meeting between the families started without warning.