The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 34

* * *

“Did you call for me, milady?”

The shadow, appearing without a sound, bowed before the curtains.

“Gale, have you heard anything?”

“No, milady.”

“Ha, really!”

Grace shot up from her seat, sweeping the teacup and pot off the table.

The white tablecloth was stained a vivid pink with the spilled tea.

“Argh!”

Grace, writhing in a surge of irritation, suddenly glared at the man with wild eyes.

“How long do I have to watch that arrogant display! Tell them I can’t wait any longer! Immediately!”

At her urging, Gale tore the scroll he had been holding without a moment’s hesitation.

A magic circle appeared beneath his feet, and he vanished in a flash of blue light.

The spot where Gale had stood was now clean. Only the curtains swayed gently in the breeze from the open window.

As if no one had ever visited the room.

“Is anyone out there!”

Left alone, Grace hissed and shouted at the door. It was as if she hadn’t kept her distance from Gale before summoning him.

Always so slow.

There’s nothing I like about them, not a single thing.

“Yes, yes! Milady! Did you call?”

At the thunderous summons, a servant opened the door and rushed in, breathless.

“Are your eyes just for show? Can’t you see this? Clean it up now!”

Grace looked down at the servant as if she were a bug and gestured with her chin.

The servant, with a youthful face, moved quickly, trying to avoid giving the young lady any reason to find fault.

Her attitude and handling of the situation were skillful, as if it wasn’t her first time.

“Ha, how dare she…”

Grace recalled Celonia from yesterday, gnawing at her lip.

Having everything stolen and possessing nothing, yet still so full of herself.

“By the way, who is that man?”

Hissing, she recalled the face of the man beside her.

A large man with black hair and red eyes.

It was the first time she had seen a man with more striking features than Ian.

His name was Tan, wasn’t it? And he easily dealt with MacRyan?

I should find out more about him.

Interest sparked in her green eyes.

“Milady, Duke Cherbil has arrived.”

“What?”

Grace, who had been monitoring the servant with her arms crossed, looked surprised at the news from beyond the door.

It was a sudden visit without any prior notice.

Grace quickly summoned the servants and sat before the vanity.

“Faster, faster!”

At the young lady’s urging, they carefully and quickly helped with her preparations.

Grace was impatient. Ian was a man who didn’t understand waiting, so she had to finish as quickly as possible.

“Grace.”

It was then.

Ian, without patience, burst into the room.

“Duke, I would have come to you if you had waited in the drawing-room.”

Even if he was her fiancé, it was rude to enter a woman’s room without permission.

Grace suppressed the frown that threatened to form and offered a kind smile at his arrogant and rude behavior.

“I missed you so much I couldn’t wait.”

Ian walked straight to Grace and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

At the unexpected skinship [physical contact], her light body was pulled into his arms.

Grace, held by Ian, gestured to the servants with her eyes.

At the signal to leave, everyone scurried out in perfect order, leaving only the two of them in the room.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to pay attention to you because of work.”

Ian looked at Grace with a pitiful expression.

His fiancée’s face looked a little thinner since he had last seen her two days ago, due to his busy schedule with the Knights.

“There have been endless missing person reports from the patrol station lately, so it’s been difficult to find time while investigating the situation. Did you enjoy your outing with MacRyan yesterday?”

“Yes, of course. I had a good time.”

Grace smiled, her eyes crinkling.

“I heard you ran into Lady Besin?”

“Ah… nothing much happened. Really.”

Grace lowered her gaze with a pitiful expression that evoked sympathy.

Then Ian pulled Grace closer, hugging her tightly, and said firmly,

“Grace, don’t worry. Even if she is a Princess of Besin, she can’t treat my fiancée carelessly.”

“Of course. I am the Empire’s savior, the Duke’s fiancée, no matter what anyone says.”

For a moment, Grace’s eyes twisted as if to say, ‘how absurd,’ but it was only for a fleeting moment.

She still wore a flower-like smile, and Ian only saw that smile.

“Yes. You only need to trust me.”

Ian liked this fragile body that fit perfectly in his arms.

This body that followed his gestures and actions without complaint.

“But your room seems to change every time I come.”

“Oh my. The season is changing soon, so I changed the curtains. That must be why it looks different.”

“Hmm.”

Ian looked around the room with suspicious eyes.

The curtains were indeed different, as Grace said, but more than just the curtains had changed.

There was no way he, with his good memory, wouldn’t notice.

Even the chandelier on the ceiling was different from the last time.

Moreover, the changed chandelier was a limited edition item from Classy Workshop, famous for supplying the Imperial Palace.

It seemed that Grace’s spending was increasing day by day.

Ian, who knew that the Bennet baronet family’s financial situation wasn’t very good, was displeased but held his tongue.

He could control her spending after the marriage, and she could learn household management at the Duke’s residence.

“More than that, Grace, shouldn’t we set a date soon?”

“A date…?”

Grace raised her eyes, which were faintly trembling with anticipation.

“For the wedding. I want you to be my wife as soon as possible.”

Now that they had officially announced their engagement, there was no reason to delay.

“First, when you come to the Duke’s residence, you should visit my father and mother more often. They must be lonely after relinquishing the Duke’s title, so if you become their companion, they will surely like you.”

Grace couldn’t possibly misunderstand the meaning of those words.

The former Duke and Duchess of Cherbil had never liked Grace from the start.

There was only one reason: she was the daughter of an insignificant baronet family.

So Ian was indirectly telling her to try to win over his parents after the marriage.

“Instead, let’s have a cup of tea and talk. Duke, you like our family’s Darjeeling tea, don’t you?”

Grace skillfully brushed off Ian’s words and led him to the window.

Then, she ordered the servant to bring the Darjeeling tea that he always drank here.

* * *

The Duke’s residence was in an uproar.

Celonia realized for the first time how many servants worked at the Duke’s residence.

“Oh my, he looked this way!”

The servants, like students giggling at the sight of rolling leaves, were flushed and excited.

“He’s so popular…”

Celonia scoffed and looked at the man in front of her.

Tan, whether he knew that people were gathering because of him or not, was engrossed in reading his book without paying any attention.

‘Why did Ella give him that book anyway?’

That book was lent to him by Ella.

Ella and Tan had been talking since yesterday, and then she suddenly lent him that book.

It was impossible to guess what their conversation was about just by looking at the book.

The cover of the book in Tan’s hand had the words written in large letters.

Seeing a huge man sitting at a tea table, reading a romance novel, was quite embarrassing and a strange sight.

Even though the book selection was questionable, he was wearing the clothes he received from Verondi and had his hair neatly styled, sitting with his legs crossed while reading the book, creating an illusion that made him look like a gentleman reading a current affairs magazine.

“Do you understand it?”

“Sort of.”

Tan said that without taking his eyes off the book.

Even though he had lost his memory, he seemed to be able to read, and he had been seriously engrossed in the book for several tens of minutes.

At this point, Celonia began to suspect that Tan was enjoying the attention of the people.

The outdoor garden where they were sitting was surrounded by servants.

They were hiding behind trees or bushes at a distance, but they were all visible.

They were all watching Tan.

She had heard that there was a commotion among the servants two days ago because of Tan, who had undergone a transformation.

He had thrown away his old clothes and dressed neatly, and his appearance, which had been hidden by his shaggy hair, was now fully revealed, causing his popularity to skyrocket.

Moreover, rumors had spread that he had the power to defeat Lubeus, the commander of the Knights, so even the knights were curious about him.

Frankly speaking, it might be better for both of them to live like this as long as he didn’t regain his memory.

If he were an ordinary man, he would have been successful and lived well, making a name for himself with his handsome face and excellent swordsmanship skills.

“What is this?”

Then Tan pointed to the page he was reading and asked.

“What is it?”

Celonia, brought back to reality from her imagination, wondered if there was a word he didn’t know and read the page he was pointing to.

[As his hard thing penetrated her, Siela’s eyes welled up with tears from the dizzying sensation that made her vision blur…!]

“Ugh!”

Surprised, Celonia slammed the book shut.

Why did Ella give him this book!