The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 4

The four of them stood on a sloping hill, just beyond a thicket of prickly thorns.

The ground, muddy from days of rain, gave way with every step, making it easy to slip if one wasn’t careful.

“Ah…….”

How many times had this happened now?

Celonia wore a dismayed expression as she looked at her right foot, which had once again sunk into the mud despite her best efforts.

“Young lady, this way.”

“Lady Celonia, the terrain is rough; please take my hand.”

“Seli, should I give you a piggyback ride?”

At that moment, three voices spoke at once. They were Ian, Reyev, and MacRyan, in that order.

Looking up, Celonia saw all three men reaching out their hands to her.

Like white clouds floating in a clear sky, they gazed at her with innocent and bright smiles.

The smiles were so dazzling they outshone the sun.

“Thank you, everyone.”

Celonia smiled prettily and reached out her hand. Naturally, she took Ian’s hand.

The two held hands and walked forward together, smiling brightly like flowers in full bloom.

Behind them, Reyev and MacRyan followed, masking their bitterness.

Their empty hands felt as cold as if they had been caressing ice, but it was alright. Just being able to be near her like this was enough.

* * *

“Miss. Miss.”

“…….”

Celonia, who had dozed off, slowly opened her eyes at Ella’s voice.

Then it dawned on her.

She had dreamt of a day filled with countless brilliant moments, a day she had spent with them during her time in the Demon Subjugation Party.

She had tried so hard the entire time she was with them.

Knowing that their romantic partners were already decided [in the original story], she worked tirelessly to avoid giving Reyev and MacRyan any false hope.

She couldn’t help it, even if it seemed cruel. She didn’t want to hurt them with ambiguous behavior.

To her, they were precious comrades and friends.

Now, they were just useless memories and futile relationships.

“Miss, the Duke is looking for you.”

“Father?”

“Yes. He knows you skipped dinner and said he would be waiting in the dining room.”

At Ella’s words, Celonia rose from the bed where she had been curled up and looked out the window.

It was so dark outside that the garden was no longer visible; she hadn’t noticed when the sun had set.

She had a headache after Reyev and MacRyan left, so she had closed her eyes for a moment, and it seemed she had fallen asleep.

Celonia immediately sat in front of the mirror. She had to go see her father right away.

Galloway Bessin, the Duke.

In the original story, he was a father who cherished his only daughter.

He had loved his wife very much, and after the Duchess passed away early, he cherished his daughter even more.

Celonia was the proof and result of his and the Duchess’s love.

That was why her father had strongly opposed her decision to join the Demon Subjugation Party.

But, as the saying goes, parents can’t win against their children, and in the end, he gave in to her stubbornness.

But that daughter had failed to return safely and had been bedridden for three months…….

Celonia understood why her father visited her dozens of times a day after she regained consciousness.

‘Celonia, are you alright? Are you in pain anywhere?’

She understood everything, including the worried and anxious expression he wore as he asked the same questions every day.

Ella had told her that while she was unconscious, doctors and healers from all over the country, as well as priests, had visited the mansion.

It was her father’s love, trying to save his daughter who had collapsed for an unknown reason.

‘I’ll kill that bastard right now……!’

‘Father, please calm down.’

‘How can I calm down now! That son of a bitch! I allowed that unwanted engagement, and now what?’

A few days ago, her father had been furious when he heard that Ian had visited to break off their engagement.

Celonia had broken a sweat trying to stop her father, who was holding a sword at the time.

From the start, Duke Bessin had been unhappy with this engagement.

He said that the male protagonist, Ian, looked too much like a gigolo and was too sly.

This engagement had been arranged by Celonia’s grandfather, the previous Duke, with the Cherbil Dukedom without her father’s knowledge.

Because of this, her father had repeatedly told her that she didn’t have to go through with the engagement if she didn’t want to, but Celonia had not refused.

As the daughter of a Duke, a political marriage for the prosperity of the family was natural for Celonia.

The meeting of the Bessin family, which held a tight grip on commerce, trade, and mining, and the Cherbil family, which controlled the political world, was a constant topic of conversation.

The Bessin family, the golden family said to possess more gold than the imperial treasury, and the Cherbil family, which could manipulate the officials.

If the two families were to unite through marriage, they would hold wealth and power that surpassed even the imperial family.

Naturally, it was a marriage that even the Emperor had to be wary of.

In the end, it didn’t happen though.

“Thinking about it, maybe Father sensed something…….”

Celonia muttered as she was getting her hair brushed.

She had thought that her father’s opposition to Ian was just a minor conflict element in the original story, but suddenly she thought that might not be the case.

They always say that adults’ eyes are accurate, don’t they?

It seemed like her father might have sensed something from Ian.

Like this betrayal, which was different from the original story.

“Miss, all done.”

At Ella’s words, Celonia checked the mirror in front of her.

In the mirror was her neatly adorned face.

Although she was a little thinner than before, her skin was as clean as a blank canvas, and her sky-blue eyes shone beneath her long, straight eyelashes.

Below that, her slightly short but straight and high nose harmonized with her uniquely small face, her cheeks were as fresh as freshly harvested apples, and her red lips were full.

In addition, there was her thick, wavy, abundant lavender hair.

Her face was the spitting image of her mother, who had been praised in high society.

She was quite famous in the Flanagan Empire, with many saying that she had even surpassed her deceased mother.

It was a beauty that made it immediately clear why she was the female lead. It was hard to believe that she had been bedridden for months.

That was thanks to the preservation magic potion, packed with nutrients, that her father had fed her every day without fail.

Thanks to that, she had little muscle loss and was able to walk around well right away.

“Let’s go. Father must be waiting.”

She headed to the dining room, her glossy, lavender hair fluttering.

* * *

“I heard. You requested information about that woman from Finest.”

“Yes, Father.”

Celonia replied, cutting the well-cooked veal in front of her.

The Finest Guild was an information guild run by her father, Duke Bessin.

Finest, the largest information guild in the Flanagan Empire, was created during the time of the first head of the family and has been one of the businesses they have been running ever since.

This was thanks to the Bessin family’s creed that information is power and money.

That’s why she had commissioned the work.

Since it was a guild run by her family, she would be able to obtain transparent information that had not been manipulated.

“Seli, do you perhaps have lingering feelings? If so, I will speak to Duke Cherbil…….”

“No. No, Father.”

Celonia hurriedly raised her head at her father’s unexpected words.

“Absolutely not. Please don’t misunderstand.”

She shook her hands and denied it, but her father’s eyes were full of suspicion.

“Is that really the case? If you’re saying that because of me…….”

“Father, I’m just trying to find out.”

“Find out?”

“Yes. As you know, Father, even Reyev and MacRyan visited today. And as if by coincidence, they confessed that they liked Lady Bennett too.”

She shrugged with an indifferent expression, trying to show her father that she was okay.

She didn’t want her father, who had been worried sick while she was unconscious for three months, to worry about her again.

But that didn’t mean that she was okay with their betrayal.

Even if she wanted to dismiss their betrayal as a speck of dust, she couldn’t.

They were friends with whom she thought she had shared sincerity and feelings beyond just being comrades.

Their sudden change of heart was a major shock to her.

The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she became, and she even blamed herself, wondering if she had done something wrong.

‘Was their affection for me for the sake of the original story…….’

She even started to think that way.

The request for information about Grace Bennett was also because she didn’t want to blame herself.

It didn’t matter whether Grace was suspicious or not.

If she was suspicious, then they had changed because of that, and if she wasn’t, then people’s hearts had simply changed.

Perhaps she simply wanted to find the problem externally and confirm that it wasn’t her fault.

“What? I won’t let those scoundrels get away with this!”

Duke Bessin threw down the knife he was holding and stood up abruptly.

He exuded a terrifying aura, saying that he would not let those who had hurt his daughter live.

“Father, I’m fine, so please finish your meal. I’m still hungry.”

“What? Then that won’t do. Rvel! Bring out more meat quickly! Quickly!”

Duke Galloway Bessin, forgetting his dignity as the head of the family, hurriedly ordered the chef at his daughter’s words that she was hungry.

Celonia smiled faintly at the affection she felt from her father.

She was so glad that she had a family who always took her side so reliably in times like these.

“Seli, I heard from the servants that you seem to have less energy than before these days. You need to eat well, especially at times like these. Don’t skip meals just because you don’t have an appetite.”

“Yes. I’ll take good care of myself. Anyway, it’s just that the timing was so perfect, like it was planned, so I was curious and wanted to find out.”

“Yes. It’s definitely a bit strange. I’ll tell them to find out as soon as possible.”

“Thank you, Father.”

Feeling once again that it was reassuring to have her father as the head of the information guild, Celonia put the tender meat in her mouth and chewed.

As her father said, she needed to eat well, especially at times like these. There was no point in starving herself.

“Seli, how about resting a little longer from work? There’s still time left on your leave of absence. Maybe you should just quit altogether…….”

“I’ll rest as much as I’ve taken leave for now. I’ll think about quitting a little more.”

She flatly refused her father’s recommendation to resign.

She originally worked at a healing center run by the imperial family to utilize her innate healing abilities.

Originally, she was supposed to return to the healing center after the Demon King subjugation, but she had collapsed, so her father had taken a leave of absence for her.

Moreover, it was the longest possible period of six months, which would never be allowed without the Emperor’s approval.

As expected, she was born with a diamond spoon in her mouth [meaning she was born into wealth and privilege].

“Alright. I understand. And also, His Majesty wants to hold a congratulatory banquet for you.”

The Duke, nodding as if to say that his determined daughter must have her reasons, opened his mouth.

“A congratulatory banquet?”

“Yes. Since you couldn’t attend the victory ceremony, he wants to commend your efforts separately, even in this way.”

The victory ceremony.

She had heard about it.

When they killed the Demon King and returned to the capital, the Emperor held a grand victory ceremony.

The victory ceremony, which lasted for a week, was said to be as big and splendid as the Emperor’s birthday banquet.

She hadn’t been able to attend because she had collapsed and was hovering between life and death.

She had heard that Ian, Reyev, and MacRyan had attended the victory ceremony.

“If your body is too tired, I’ll talk to His Majesty.”

“No. He’s acknowledging my efforts and congratulating me on my recovery, so I can’t refuse.”

There was no reason to refuse since he was offering.

“Alright. I’ll tell His Majesty. By the way, what are you going to do about that Ian? I heard you received a written oath when you broke off the engagement.”

“Ah, that?”

Celonia smiled as she took a piece of the freshly baked meat that Chef Rvel had brought out.

“I have a plan.”