The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 47

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“But are you sure these are really Darjeeling leaves?”

A new maid, who was piling a mountain of dried tea leaves into a luxurious case at Grace’s command, voiced her doubt.

“Of course. You’re new, so you don’t know. The young lady always orders us to serve only Darjeeling tea, saying it’s precious, whenever guests come.”

Another maid, packing alongside her, spoke as if sharing insider knowledge, telling her to remember it.

“Really? But looking at the dried leaves and smelling them, it doesn’t seem like Darjeeling at all…”

Despite the explanation, the new maid’s doubts lingered.

The maid’s name was Jamie. She was a rookie, having worked at Baron Bennett’s residence for only a week.

She had lived her whole life in Dentios, a southern region with a perpetually warm climate, and had only recently come to the capital.

Perhaps due to the favorable weather, Dentios boasted superior quality and production of tea leaves compared to other regions. As a result, 60 percent of the tea leaves consumed in the capital originated from Dentios.

Most people in Dentios made their living cultivating tea leaves, leading to a particularly developed tea culture compared to other regions.

Even commoners regularly brewed and drank tea as part of their daily lives, not just nobles.

Jamie had grown up tasting countless varieties of tea since childhood, making her more knowledgeable about tea than most.

But why were they insisting that the tea leaves they were packing were Darjeeling when they clearly weren’t?

“Stop talking nonsense and pack faster. The young lady wants to send this as a gift to Duke Cherbil, Count Ford, and Knight Commander Reyev today. If it’s late…! Move it, if you don’t want to get punished.”

“O-okay…”

The other maid urged her on, increasing her packing speed.

Jamie remained doubtful but, like her colleague, focused on packing the tea leaves.

Otherwise, she might be beaten by the young lady and dragged to the basement, like that maid who made a mistake yesterday.

She never wanted to go to that terrifying basement where she had heard groans.

There was even a rumor that once you went down to the basement, you never came back up.

* * *

“My name is Henrik. My grandfather took me in a year ago, when I was 16, after I was a wandering orphan.”

Henrik began to speak, finally calmed down after crying.

In Henrik’s hand, his eyes swollen like a goldfish, was the handkerchief Selonia had given him. The handkerchief was soaked with Henrik’s tears.

Not far from where Selonia and Henrik were standing, Tan and Ella kept watch.

At Selonia’s request, the two were glaring at Henrik from a distance.

They were ready to rush over immediately if Henrik did anything suspicious.

“My grandfather was a sage.”

“A sage?”

“Yes. He lived as a sage when he was young.”

Selonia listened attentively to Henrik’s words.

Henrik explained that Wiklander had taken him in and raised him as a disciple and grandson.

He mainly did chores and cleaning in the store, helped Wiklander with his work, and lived with him in the room behind the store.

Wiklander had been a sage in his younger days but retired early to quietly run a store.

It was said that sages could perceive the deep inner workings of people and sometimes glimpse the distant future of the world.

No wonder. From the first time I met him, I felt that he had an unusual aura.

“Were you there when the fire broke out?”

“No… I went out on an errand for my grandfather and came back to find it already on fire…”

“I see.”

“If, if I had come back sooner, my grandfather wouldn’t have died so pointlessly…”

“It’s not your fault.”

Looking at Henrik, whose eyes were filling with tears again, Selonia patted him on the shoulder. She sensed the sadness and self-blame of a disciple who had lost his teacher so suddenly.

Moreover, Selonia didn’t believe it was a simple accident.

She felt sorry for Henrik because it seemed like a deliberate act caused by her presence.

“But why did you run away when you saw me?”

“That’s… because I didn’t know you were the Princess.”

“Didn’t know? Why were you hiding there?”

“Actually, my grandfather told me to be careful. I think he foresaw this accident. I think he sent me on an errand on purpose, too.”

“…What?”

Surprised by this revelation, Selonia listened intently to Henrik’s explanation.

Henrik continued, his youthful face still bearing traces of baby fat.

“My grandfather said that he had felt a threatening aura around him for the past few days. And then, suddenly, last night, he urgently sent me on an errand.”

“…”

“I was scared and hiding earlier, but the Princess was staring at me so intensely, so I ran away.”

I understand a little better now. Why Henrik was so startled and ran away.

Henrik believed that the threatening aura Wiklander mentioned had caused the fire.

Not knowing who was responsible, he was frightened and ran as soon as he made eye contact with me, who was staring at him so intently.

“You don’t think it was a simple accident either, do you?”

Henrik nodded, his eyes still teary. His head bobbed, and his dry, ashen hair moved with it.

This made things clearer.

The knights saw it as a simple fire, but someone had done this on purpose.

Wiklander foresaw it and made sure only Henrik was away from the store in advance.

“Why didn’t Wiklander get out of the store?”

Selonia muttered to herself, wondering what had suddenly occurred to her.

“My grandfather always said that everything should flow according to the order of things. If you change that, the present will be distorted…”

Henrik replied in a somber voice.

In other words, Wiklander’s death was fate, part of the natural order.

“I’m sorry about Wiklander’s death.”

Selonia didn’t fully understand Wiklander’s intentions, but she comforted Henrik by patting him on the shoulder.

He had lost his grandfather and teacher in an instant, so Henrik’s devastation must have been immense.

“We have to hold a funeral for grandfather. I’ll help. I promise.”

Selonia promised Henrik without hesitation.

She didn’t see it as something that had nothing to do with her, so she wanted to do this much for him.

“…Thank you.”

“You said you lived in the store? Do you have a place to stay?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Henrik nodded as if to reassure her, his face naive and innocent, as if he didn’t know anything about the world.

But I couldn’t help but worry.

Selonia took out all the money she had in her bag and handed it to Henrik.

“No! I have money too.”

Henrik was startled and refused, but Selonia stubbornly pressed the money into his hand.

Fortunately, she had brought enough money with her because she was planning to stop by the store today. With this much money, he should be able to manage for a few months.

“Henrik, if you’re lying about having no place to go, I’ll…”

“No. I really have a place to go. I can go to my brother’s place. This money… thank you.”

Selonia had been about to offer to find Henrik a place to stay.

But Henrik refused so strongly, as if he couldn’t accept that.

“Come find me anytime if you need help.”

“Yes, thank you. Um, Princess.”

“Yeah?”

“This.”

Henrik took out something he had been hiding in his cloak.

It was a thick, palm-sized notebook with a black cover.

“Grandfather said he would find the book for you, right? I used to read and record in that book. He told me to take the notebook with me when I went on an errand, so I wondered what it was… I guess it meant to give it to the Princess like this.”

“You recorded in it?”

“Yes. I studied magic and read that book, so I recorded my notes. I hope it will be helpful.”

I heard that everything in the store had burned down, so the notebook was a godsend.

“Thank you.”

“Yes. And please take care of yourself.”

As Selonia expressed her gratitude sincerely, Henrik left with a request that sounded like a concern and left the alley.

Henrik disappeared quickly before she could ask what he meant.

Take care of myself? Is it because of the fire today?

Why does Henrik say the same thing as Wiklander?

“Did we just get scammed?”

While she was lost in thought, Tan approached her from behind and said.

“Where did you learn to say such things…? I gave it to him out of kindness.”

Selonia retorted gruffly and carefully tucked the notebook into her arms.

She had no intention of letting the matter rest here.