The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 97

<97>

“I-I’m sorry, Your Highness the Crown Prince…”

Thor, a knight of the Imperial Guard, bowed deeply, his face as pale as a sheet.

The trembling of his body clearly showed the tension and fear he was experiencing.

“Ha… It escaped?”

Helios let out a disbelieving laugh and swept his hair back.

Guided by the forest keeper, they had entered the depths of the forest, only to find severed shackles where the magical beast should have been.

“It happened so fast…! We checked the shackles multiple times and secured them tightly. But suddenly, it gained some unknown strength, broke the shackles, and escaped…”

Thor recounted the story, feeling utterly without excuse.

The Griffin hadn’t been able to break free from its shackles while being captured in the Monster Forest, during transport to the capital, or while being kept in the Mirnar Forest.

How it suddenly managed to break free and escape was beyond comprehension.

“Are you calling that an excuse?”

Helios’s eyes, now coldly hardened, glared at the knights as if he could kill them.

Things had gone terribly wrong.

All he had to do was behead the captured magical beast and proudly win the hunting festival. It was supposed to be a simple, guaranteed victory, but they had ruined it.

“Sorry… Ugh!”

“Do. You. Even. Know. What. You’ve. Done?!”

Filled with rage, Helios kicked the shins of the knights who were lined up and bowing their heads.

The knights endured the sharp pain, bowing even lower.

“Agh!”

Still unable to contain his anger, Helios screamed and kicked the discarded shackles.

If someone else found and killed the escaped Griffin first, it would only benefit them.

If that happened, his father would never let this go. Even if it was the fault of the Imperial Guard for not properly managing the magical beast, he would surely be blamed for failing to secure the easy win that had been arranged for him.

Moreover, if Duke Cherbil or Grand Duke Hushbrook were to kill the Griffin, it would be an even bigger problem. His father had prepared the magical beast specifically to compete against them.

“If, by any chance, someone else beheads the creature you lost…”

“……”

The knights swallowed hard, their breaths ragged with fear at the Crown Prince’s chilling words.

“Then your heads will roll as well.”

Helios gnashed his teeth, glaring at the knights with bloodshot eyes.

“Yes, yes!”

The knights, chilled to the bone by the warning, hurriedly braced themselves.

They had to recapture the Griffin no matter what. Otherwise, their heads would truly be taken by the Crown Prince.

Just then.

A massive roar echoed through the entire forest. It was the Griffin’s roar.

“T-That way!”

A low-ranking knight pointed in the direction with a startled expression.

“Damn it! Search the forest like you’re catching rats, and bring it back immediately before someone else finds it!”

Helios roared, his face full of anger.

They couldn’t be the only ones who heard this roar. All the hunting festival participants in the forest must have heard it.

In the end, it was a race against time. It was a matter of who found the Griffin first.

He led the knights back along the forest path they had come.

He had to capture the magical beast before the Duke and Grand Duke, no matter what. It was unacceptable for him, the Crown Prince second only to the Emperor, to lose to anyone.

Helios’s eyes blazed fiercely.

* * *

A few tens of minutes earlier.

“……Magical beast.”

Celonia murmured with a dazed expression, a dark shadow cast over her face.

The enormous wings filled the space above the densely packed trees. The blue sky was obscured by the massive body and wings.

She immediately recognized what the dark creature floating in the sky was.

Griffin.

In the past six months, she had only encountered a Griffin twice in the Monster Forest.

Each time, she had struggled because of those wings.

It wasn’t easy for a human on the ground to deal with a magical beast that could freely fly in the sky.

The fact that such a Griffin was now in the Mirnar Forest within the Imperial City could only mean one thing.

Since it couldn’t have flown directly into the warded forest [a forest protected by magical barriers], it must have been captured for today’s hunting festival.

“This year, we have prepared something special to match the skills of the outstanding participants, so I hope everyone returns safely.”

That the Emperor’s special preparation was a magical beast.

She had heard that Marquis Denroha was summoned by the Emperor and paid a huge fine for bringing the magical beast Garum into his mansion.

To impose such a penalty and then capture magical beasts for the hunting festival himself…

“He’s insane.”

Celonia felt disillusioned by the Emperor’s actions. Besides, even if they were magical beasts, it was too much to forcibly capture them from the Monster Forest.

Just then.

The Griffin flying in the sky suddenly let out a loud roar.

The roar was like a giant whistle cutting through the sky, or a thunderclap shaking the heavens and the earth.

Everyone attending the hunting festival today must have heard this sound.

Soon, the Griffin, which had been circling overhead, descended. Directly towards her and Tan.

“Celonia, step back just in case.”

Tan, already holding his sword, hid Celonia behind him.

She couldn’t just stand by and watch, so she drew the sword from the scabbard at her waist.

If it tried to attack, she would have to swing her sword. She couldn’t just be a victim.

The two of them remained on guard, never taking their eyes off the Griffin as it flapped its wings and lowered its feet to land on the ground.

Thud!

Soon, with the flapping of wings, the Griffin landed softly with a heavy sound that shook the ground.

Celonia and Tan’s hair fluttered backward in the wind.

Although her eyes stung from the sandstorm, Celonia focused her strength, keeping her eyes wide open and gripping her sword even tighter.

She was nervous. Facing the Griffin on the ground after seeing it in the sky made its size seem even more imposing.

If she were kicked by those large, heavy front paws, it would be at least a five-week injury.

“Purrr.”

Perhaps sensing the two people’s hostility.

The Griffin made a scratching sound in its throat and tilted its head several times with wide eyes, as if to say it wouldn’t harm them.

“You……”

Suddenly, Tan stared intently into the Griffin’s large eyes and slowly began to lower the sword he was holding.

“……Are you okay?”

Celonia swallowed hard. The Griffin hadn’t attacked, but she couldn’t let her guard down.

Then, the Griffin began to walk closer to the two of them, making a thumping sound.

Startled, Celonia flinched and took a step back. But Tan completely sheathed his sword and turned to Celonia.

“It’s okay. It likes you.”

He smiled, extending his hand as if to reassure her.

Celonia looked back and forth between Tan and the Griffin with trembling blue eyes. The four red eyes, devoid of any threat, were fixed on her.

“……”

At that moment, she realized for sure.

She already knew, but she truly understood who she was and who she loved now.

She was the lover of the Demon King, known as the King of Magical Beasts. And she was also a human who possessed his energy.

“It wants to greet you.”

Tan said kindly with a smile.

Encouraged by the smile, Celonia put her sword back into its scabbard and placed her hand on his.

With the warmth of Tan’s hand gently enveloping hers, she slowly took a step forward.

As she approached, the Griffin lowered its head as if to match her eye level, repeatedly opening and closing its eyes slowly.

It seemed like it was greeting her, so she also bowed her head slightly.

“Purr.”

Then, the Griffin raised its beak, made a pleasant sound, and stomped its four feet in place, as if it was happy.

“Wow… Amazing.”

Celonia murmured with a slightly dumbfounded expression.

Until now, she only had memories of desperately fighting magical beasts with a sword in the Monster Forest…

So it was possible to exchange greetings like this.

Then, the Garum she had seen at Marquis Denroha’s mansion wasn’t trying to attack. It seemed like it was trying to greet her like the Griffin, out of joy.

She felt sorry. If the Marquis hadn’t captured Garum in the first place, it wouldn’t have had to face such a death.

Just then.

The Griffin lowered its head towards Celonia this time, showing its crown [the top of its head]. The pure white fur filled her vision.

“It really likes you.”

“It wants to be petted, right?”

Tan nodded.

With no reason to hesitate after exchanging greetings, Celonia confidently reached out and stroked the Griffin’s head.

“It’s soft.”

The sensation was so smooth that it felt like she was touching silk, and a faint smile formed on her lips.

The Griffin was making a rumbling sound, shaking its thick neck as if it liked her touch.

The Griffin in front of her now was not the ferocious and violent magical beast she had fought during subjugation. It was just an animal happy to meet their king.

Truly a strange and unfamiliar experience, Celonia gently stroked the Griffin’s soft head and lowered her gaze, noticing something.

“Tan, the Griffin’s ankles…”

“Right. It seems it was captured and flew here after sensing our energy.”

The skin on the Griffin’s four ankles was peeled off, revealing red flesh. It seemed to be caused by forcibly breaking the shackles.

Celonia frowned at the painful-looking wounds.

Why would they bring magical beasts to the hunting festival…!

Anger surged to her head, but there was something even more important now.

“You can win the hunting festival by catching the Griffin. If we leave it like this, someone will kill it.”

But Celonia couldn’t kill the Griffin. Even if Tan tried to kill it, she would have to stop him.

Even though it was a short moment, how could she behead a creature that had exchanged greetings and was so eager to connect by offering its head? A Griffin that had broken its shackles, even injuring itself, and flown to see her and Tan.

Just then.

Tan suddenly exuded a chilling aura that Celonia could feel beside him, and pulled out the dagger hanging from his hip, throwing it towards something.

“Tan!”

Celonia cried out in surprise at the sudden event.

The dagger, flying as fast as an arrow with a sound of cutting through the wind, accurately hit a tree.

Tan narrowed his eyes, staring with a murderous expression at the back of the tree where the dagger was embedded.

“Don’t peek like a rat and come out.”

“Krrr……!”

The Griffin, which had been docile until now, also puffed up its chest threateningly and raised its front paws, as if sensing something.

“What is this……”

Celonia looked in the direction that the Griffin and Tan were staring at.

Then, someone hiding behind the tree revealed themselves.

Cold silver hair that hadn’t lost its color even in the shadows, and golden eyes like the sun beneath it.

“Celonia. You……!”

It was Mac라이언 [Mac, in Hangul].

His eyes were filled with great shock, as if he had seen an unbelievable scene.