The Male Leads Were Stolen by the Extra

 

“But are these really darjeeling leaves?”

 

The new maid, who was packing the piled up dried darjeeling leaves into a luxurious case at Grace’s command, expressed her doubts.

 

“Of course. You came in recently, so you don’t know much. The Miss always orders us to serve only darjeeling tea whenever guests come.”

 

Then another maid, who was packing with her, said kindly, telling her to keep in mind.

 

“Really? But judging from the dried form and scent, it definitely doesn’t seem like darjeeling…”

 

Even so, the new maid’s doubts didn’t go away.

 

The maid’s name was Jamie. She had been a maid at Baron Bennett’s for a week.

 

She had been born and raised in Dentios, a southern region known for its warm weather all year round, and had just come to the island. Perhaps because of the good weather, the quality and production of tea leaves in the Dentios region were far superior to other regions, and as a result, 60 percent of the tea leaves consumed in the islands came from Dentios.

 

Most people living in Dentios made a living by producing tea leaves, and as a result, tea culture was particularly developed compared to other regions.

 

Even for the commoners, not just nobles, drinking tea was a way of life.

 

Jamie also tasted countless tea leaves since she was young, so she was more knowledgeable about tea than anyone else.

 

However, the tea leaves she was wrapping now weren’t darjeeling, no matter how she looked at them, so why did they keep calling them darjeeling?

 

“Stop talking nonsense and wrap them up. The Miss said that this had to be sent as a gift to Duke Cherville, Count Ford, and Paladin Reyev today. If it’s going to be late…! If you don’t want to get hit, move quickly.”

 

“Y-Yeah…”

 

The maid urged her to speed up the tea-making process.

 

Jamie was still suspicious, but she was just as engrossed in making tea as her colleague.

 

Otherwise, she might get beaten by the Miss and dragged to the basement like the maid who made a mistake yesterday.

 

She didn’t want to go to that scary basement where the sound of crying was heard.

 

Because it was said that if one goes down there, they can never come back up.

 

***

 

“I’m Henrik. Grandfather took me in a year ago, when I was 16, when I was a wandering orphan.”

 

Henrik finally calmed down after crying a lot and opened his mouth.

 

Henrik’s eyes were swollen like a carp and he was holding the handkerchief that Sellonia had given him. The handkerchief was soaked with his tears.

 

Not far from where Sellonia and Henrik were standing, Tan and Ella were standing. The two were glaring at Henrik from a distance at Sellonia’s request.

 

They were ready to come running if Henrik did anything even a little bit reckless.

 

“Grandfather was a sageg.”

 

“A wise man?”

 

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

 

Sellonia listened to Henrik’s continued words.

 

He said that he was taken in by Wicklander and grew up like a disciple and grandson.

 

He mostly did odd jobs and cleaning at the store, helped Wicklander with his work, and lived with him in a room behind the store.

 

She heard that Wicklander was a sage when he was young, but retired early and quietly ran the store.

 

Wicklander was known to see the deep inner self of people, and sometimes the distant future of the world.

 

No wonder. From the moment they first met, she felt that he wasn’t ordinary.

 

“Were you there when the fire broke out?”

 

“No… Grandfather sent me out on an errand, and when I came back, the fire was already there…”

 

“I see.” 

 

“If I had come back sooner, Grandfather wouldn’t have so vainly…”

 

“It’s not your fault.”

 

Looking at Henrik with tears welling up in his eyes again, Sellonia patted his shoulder. She could feel the sorrow and self-reproach of a disciple who had lost his master in an instant.

 

Furthermore, Sellonia didn’t think that it was a simple accident.

 

She felt sorry for Henrik for it seemed to have been intentional.

 

“But why did you run away after seeing me?”

 

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

 

“You didn’t know? Why were you hiding there?”

 

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

 

“…What?”

 

Sellonia listened to his words at the unexpected story.

 

Henrik continued speaking with a young face that still had baby fat.

 

“Grandfather said he felt a threatening atmosphere around him for the past few days. And then he suddenly sent me on an urgent errand last night.”

 

“…”

 

“I was hiding in fear earlier, yet the Princess looked at me so frighteningly, so I ran away.”

 

Now she understood. Why Henrik was so startled and ran away.

 

Henrik thought that the threatening atmosphere that Wicklander had been talking about had caused the fire.

 

He ran away in fear as soon as his eyes met hers, not knowing who she was.

 

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

 

Henrik nodded with watery eyes. His shaggy gray hair shook along with his head.

 

That made it clear.

 

The knights thought it was a simple fire, but someone had set this up on purpose.

 

Wicklander had foreseen it and had at least gotten Henrik out of there in advance.

 

“Why didn’t Wicklander leave the store?”

 

Sellonia muttered to herself the question that suddenly occurred to her.

 

“There’s something Grandfather used to say over and over again. Everything should flow as it should. If you change that, the present will be distorted…”

 

Henrik answered in a gloomy voice.

 

In other words, it was fate and natural order for Wicklander to die.

 

“I’m sorry about Wicklander.”

 

Although Sellonia didn’t fully understand Wicklander’s intentions, she comforted Henrik by patting his shoulder.

 

Henrik must have been devastated to lose his grandfather and teacher in an instant.

 

“You have to hold your grandfather’s funeral. I’ll help you. I promise.”

 

She promised him without hesitation.

 

She didn’t think it was something unrelated to her, so she wanted to do at least this.

 

“…Thank you.” 

 

“You said you were staying at the store? Do you have a place to stay?”

 

“Yes. Of course.”

 

With a face that looked innocent and naive as if he didn’t know anything about the world, Henrik nodded as if to tell her not to worry.

 

However, she couldn’t help but feel worried.

 

Sellonia took out all the money she was holding from her bag and handed it to Henrik.

 

“No! I have money too.”

 

Henrik was startled and refused, yet she insisted on putting the money in his hand.

 

Still, it was fortunate that she had brought enough money since he had planned to stop by the store today. This amount of money would be enough to live on for a few months.

 

“Henrik, if you’re lying and have nowhere to go, I…”

 

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

 

Sellonia tried to find a place for Henrik to stay.

 

However, he refused firmly as if that much won’t do.

 

“Come to me whenever you need help.”

 

“Yes, thank you. Excuse me, Princess.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Here.”

 

Henrik took out something he had hidden in his cloak.

 

It was a thick notebook the size of a palm with a black cover.

 

“Grandpa said he would find the book for you, right? I read that book and wrote about it before. He told me to take the notebook with me when I went on errands, so I wondered what it was… I guess he meant for me to give it to you, Princess.”

 

“You wrote it down?”

 

“Yes. I read that book while I was studying magic. I wrote it down, so I hope it helps.”

 

The notebook was like a shower to her, after hearing that everything in the store had burned down.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Yes. And please take care of your body.”

 

When Sellonia thanked him sincerely, Henrik left a note that sounded like concern and left the alley.

 

Before she could even ask what it meant, Henrik quickly disappeared. 

 

Take care of her body? Is it because of the fire incident today?

 

Why is Henrik saying the same thing as Wicklander?

 

“Are you being ripped off just now?”

 

While she was lost in thought, Tan came up behind her and said.

 

“Where did you learn that kind of talk… I gave it to him.”

 

Sellonia replied curtly and carefully held the notebook in her arms.

 

She had absolutely no intention of ending the incident like this.

 this chapter is sponsored by Skunkette (1/3)