The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 74

<74>

“No. Miss Bennett is not at fault. Just as nothing is eternal in this world, it’s not wrong for a person’s heart to change.”

“My lady… What if you collapse again…”

Ella worried, sympathizing with Celonia, who was murmuring self-deprecatingly, as if in deep sorrow.

*Um? Have I ever collapsed because of a broken heart?*

Celonia glanced at Ella. Ella winked, as if she knew everything.

Suppressing a laugh at the sight, Celonia drove the final nail.

“I don’t resent Miss Bennett. So, now that you’ve come all this way, please enjoy yourselves. And you too.”

With a magnanimous and gentle smile, Celonia headed to the terrace, feigning dizziness and holding her head.

That sight left everyone around her in complete shock.

Because it looked like she couldn’t handle the blow.

“Hmph.”

Pellein and Able glared fiercely at Grace and followed Celonia.

As Celonia walked away, the people who had gathered began to whisper about Grace.

“It seems the rumors that the Duchess has changed are true.”

“The wound is so deep, she has no choice but to change. Let’s not do this and go somewhere else to talk. I don’t want to be in the same place as a shameless person.”

“Tsk tsk. No matter how good youth is, there are things you shouldn’t do.”

“Ladies, let’s move. It’s beneath us.”

The nobles all glared at Grace and the ‘saviors’ [those who supported her] and began to leave.

“……”

Grace’s lips trembled.

The bright smile was gone, and her expression was frozen. She was caught off guard and couldn’t come to her senses after being hit by such a strong counterattack.

“Miss Bessin, let’s talk.”

In the meantime, Ian, who was next to her, followed Celonia.

Grace bit her lip, looking blankly at Ian’s retreating figure.

*His fiancée is being insulted, but instead of defending her, he protects himself, and to top it off, he leaves her alone and follows that woman?*

Her venomous green eyes glared at Celonia, Ian, Pellein, and Able, who were acting like friends.

“You didn’t even break even.”

“I know, right?”

The nobles sneered at Grace with sullen eyes as they passed by.

Grace clenched her fists tightly.

Her hands trembled. This was a completely unexpected situation.

“Grace.”

“Grace.”

Rayev and MacRyan, who were standing behind her, called out to Grace.

They frowned as if they knew this would happen. They were the two who had opposed Grace from the beginning when she said she would go to the celebration.

In the end, she attended and suffered such harsh treatment.

“Rayev, MacRyan.”

Grace, who had been grinding her teeth, quickly relaxed her expression and called them.

She had received a signal from the green hair in the distance.

“Speak.”

“Tell us.”

The two replied, watching Grace’s expression.

“I’m so thirsty. Could you bring me a glass of champagne? Both of you.”

“Wait a moment.”

“Okay.”

Rayev and MacRyan, understanding Grace’s desire to be alone for a moment, began to move.

As soon as the two disappeared from sight, Grace left the hall with a very angry expression.

* * *

“Why are you following me?”

Celonia snapped at Ian, who had followed her to the terrace.

Because of Ian, who kept following her, she had no choice but to leave Pellein, Able, and Ella behind for a while.

“Let’s talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

The tragic heroine act was long over.

“Ha. Don’t be like that, let’s talk.”

Ian swept back his hair with an annoyed expression.

Then, he closed the curtains, looking at the minor figures lingering in front of the terrace door as if they were annoying.

“Ha.”

*Is this how someone who wants to talk acts?*

Celonia didn’t want Ian to escape Grace’s manipulations.

It would be beneficial to many people if they got along well and lived well together.

“Speak quickly. I get annoyed just looking at your face.”

“Let’s start over.”

At those words, Celonia, who hadn’t even looked at his face, turned her head.

*What the hell is this bastard saying?*

But the following words were even more shocking.

“I can’t give up Grace. So I’m thinking of taking her as a concubine.”

Celonia looked at Ian as if he were out of his mind.

She was horrified by the shameless and vicious statement that he was going to take his current fiancée as a concubine.

“I made this decision considering your status. Shouldn’t the Duchess still be the Duchess?”

Ian spoke smoothly, raising the corners of his mouth with an arrogant look, about the decision he had made after careful consideration.

He still loved Grace.

His heart was still only for Grace. But he couldn’t let go of Celonia.

Especially ‘us,’ who were called the couple of the century and were the envy of everyone.

But another guy, a commoner who wasn’t even worthy of comparison, was taking her side, and people were whispering that they were a good match?

That was a compliment that could only come when *I* was next to Celonia.

He felt sorry for Grace, but objectively speaking, Celonia was a flawless woman.

Even if she was the main character in this world, he would accept it without complaint.

The same was true for him. He was the image of a prince that everyone yearned for, who had jumped out of a fairy tale, so in a way, Celonia and he were a pair of male and female protagonists.

Besides, Ian and Celonia were the meeting of a Duke and a Duchess.

We had a status that no one dared to ignore, and we had beautiful appearances that anyone could see, so there was no couple that could surpass us.

Ian scanned Celonia from head to toe with sinister eyes.

She was beautiful. As expected, this was the woman who suited him when she stood next to him.

Grace was also pretty, but Celonia had a different aura. She made him shine even more when she was next to him.

His mind had become firm since that day he had visited the Denroha Marquis.

Originally, drinking a cup of tea would calm him down, but now it didn’t.

“What are you talking about? Who wants to take your wife’s place?”

Celonia glared at Ian with a crumpled expression as if she were looking at a piece of human trash.

“Ha. Stop being upset now. When the Duchess was collapsed for three months, didn’t you ever think about how hard it was for me in that despair, not knowing when she would wake up?”

Ian frowned and stroked his forehead as if asking her to understand his feelings.

“Are you kidding me right now?”

Celonia faced Ian with an even colder expression.

Her head went cold.

She knew that his heart had suddenly changed because of Grace’s manipulations, but now he was blaming her, the victim.

*‘It’s justified that I cheated. Didn’t your collapse provide such an excuse? I couldn’t just wait for you when I didn’t know when you would die.’*

*I don’t think Grace’s manipulations are encouraging such absurd justification. This is just that human’s true nature.*

“Put yourself in the Duchess’s shoes. If I had collapsed and not woken up for three months, can you guarantee that the Duchess wouldn’t have done the same?”

“Okay, so I cleanly broke off the engagement. I didn’t make an issue of it.”

“That’s right. But I know that the Duchess still has feelings for me. So you were trying to provoke my jealousy.”

“I wasn’t. Does Miss Bennett know about this? That disgusting thought of taking her as a concubine.”

“Was Grace the problem? I can explain it well. So don’t worry and you……”

“Ah, you don’t understand. Really.”

A voice that had sunk as low as it could, so eerie, flowed from her red and plump lips.

Celonia, who roughly swept back her hair as if annoyed, had eyes that burned like blue flames, filled with hatred.

“Stop misunderstanding. I don’t have any intention of forgiving you. I never loved you in the first place, so what.”