I Became A Wretched Extra In A Healing Story - Chapter 7

…How long had he been there?

‘Did he… did he see?’

Of course he must have seen! He’s looking like that because he saw!

Overcome with embarrassment, Reibella’s head turned away involuntarily. And biting her lip, she regretted her carelessness from moments ago.

I must never do that again.

Repeating this to herself several times, she glanced at the child again. The child’s gaze was still fixed on her.

“…Oh? There was someone here?”

Even to herself, her act of pretending to have just noticed someone was extremely awkward. But Reibella smiled shamelessly. What can you do about something that’s already happened!

“Ah, hello?”

She greeted the child with a friendly smile. The child just looked at her indifferently.

‘A child who doesn’t speak much.’

Yes, being quiet is good. At least he won’t unnecessarily mock people.

‘But who is this child?’

The young boy, roughly between seven and eight years old, had deep black hair that seemed to swallow all colors and two red eyes that glowed eerily.

Moreover, his skin was so white and fair that it seemed to glow transparently even in the shade. The tear mole under his left eye stood out clearly as if it had been carefully placed on a blank white canvas.

Overall, he was a child with an elegant and beautiful impression. To be honest, he was comparable even to Erina, who was said to be the prettiest and loveliest in this novel.

…Who are you to look so much like a protagonist?

‘But his clothes are shabby.’

Although it was noble attire, it was quite out of fashion, and the sleeves were stained and worn. Moreover, the thread used to sew the buttons was subtly different in color from the rest.

He seemed like a noble child from a province with tight finances.

‘He looks just like the Northern Grand Duke.’

Black hair and red eyes. Isn’t that pretty face the characteristic appearance of the Northern Grand Duke, a romance fantasy novel cliché?

Could he be a character from the novel?

‘…But he’s not.’

Even thinking back, there was no one with these colors.

She remembered that because of this, it wasn’t easy to guess the male lead, and the comments section was bustling with male lead stock trading during the novel’s serialization.

‘…Is he from the imperial family?’

Come to think of it, red eyes were a characteristic of the imperial family. It was a color that only descended to those qualified to sit on the throne, and as such, it exuded an intimidating and noble atmosphere.

But according to Reibella’s memory, the only imperial family members in the story were the Emperor and his daughter, Erina. The novel also explicitly stated that Erina was the only remaining bloodline of the imperial family.

“What’s your name?”

She asked carefully, unable to contain her curiosity. But the child turned his gaze away without giving any answer.

‘He seems like a lethargic child.’

There was no vitality visible in his doll-like pretty face. The way he blinked slowly while facing the gentle breeze made him look like an old man on the brink of death.

Perhaps that’s why. The way he leaned against the tree somehow looked so droopy that it created an illusion that he might breathe his last gasp at any moment.

‘Is it because I just saw the princess…’

Perhaps because she had seen a child with a dazzlingly bright smile, a deep sense of melancholy emanated from the boy.

‘Did something happen?’

She wondered if it was unnecessary to have spoken to him.

Reibella sighed with regret. As she naturally lowered her gaze, she saw something on the ground she was standing on.

…Stones?

Looking closely, there was also a well-tended flower placed next to each stone.

It was someone’s grave.

‘Gasp!’

Startled, Reibella immediately stepped back a few steps. Now she fully understood the child’s empty gaze. He must have been looking at this grave. She felt sorry for the child who had clearly come to pay his respects to this grave.

“I’m sorry.”

She bowed her head deeply to apologize to him. But there was no response. When she slightly raised her head to look, the child’s gaze had already moved elsewhere.

Reibella quickly lowered her posture and carefully patted the place where she had stepped. She erased the traces of her footprints with her hand and plucked some weeds to neatly trim the flat area.

Finally, she carefully arranged the small flowers that were placed in front of the two tombstones.

‘Still, I feel sorry.’

What should I do? After pondering for a moment, Reibella looked around continuously. Although it was a forest densely packed with large trees, there was occasional light penetrating through the lush leaves.

Beneath it, colorful and beautiful flowers caught her eye. Reibella picked out the most beautiful and fragrant ones among them and carefully groomed them.

After completing two bouquets, she asked the child,

“Who are they?”

At her question, the boy’s gaze slowly returned to Reibella. His silent stare contained a question of why she was asking that.

Reibella answered as if it were obvious.

“I need to know who they are to apologize properly.”

“…My parents.”

The child’s voice, answering as if bothered, was low and sunken. It sounded like a voice that hadn’t spoken for a long time.

‘So they were his parents.’

Reibella nodded and approached the graves, placing a bouquet in front of each tombstone.

Then she clasped her hands together and prayed.

‘I’m sorry for stepping on your resting place with my heavy body. Please forgive me.’

Although her small body probably wasn’t very heavy, she was truly sorry. After conveying her apologies several times, she turned her head to find the child looking at her with an expressionless face.

Reibella said cunningly,

“I think your parents have forgiven me. They must be very kind people.”

He remained silent at Reibella’s words.

‘Was he not on good terms with his parents?’

The indifferent atmosphere around the child noticeably turned chilly.

Along with a faint curiosity, she sympathized with his feelings a little. Reibella also felt resentment when she thought of her father, Duke Felicity.

Was this child the same? She recalled the time when she had lamented her situation in front of her father’s grave before being dragged to the imperial palace.

Somehow, Reibella felt like telling him.

“From now on, only good things will happen.”

The words she wished someone had said to her.

“This week will pass peacefully, and next week you’ll have things to laugh about all week. After another week, the things you were worried about will be resolved, and when another new week starts, you’ll be so happy that you won’t even remember all the concerns you’ve had until now.”

The child, who had been listening quietly, furrowed his brow and his eyes sharpened. As if saying, what do you know to say such things?

It was like a stray cat raising its back warily when receiving a human’s gaze.

Reibella answered readily,

“I just feel like it will be that way. That you’ll become happy from now on.”

“……”

“I’m good at predicting these things. So try to believe it.”

“…Says the one who claims to be unhappy herself.”

The child, who had been consistently silent, spoke coldly. His words were full of mockery.

Reibella nodded obediently.

“That’s true for now. It seems like everyone in the world is happy except for me.”

“……”

“But I’ll become happy too.”

Although she was teetering on the brink of life and death every day now, she believed that if she endured, she would become happy.

Because…

“I’m confident about that.”

Confident that she could escape this goddamn absurd world.

Shrugging her shoulders as she finished speaking, Reibella stood up from her crouched position in front of the grave.
Then she approached the child and held his hand tightly. The child tried to pull his hand away roughly, but Reibella held on firmly and closed her eyes.

“I’m sharing my power with you. So you can see a happy future.”

“……”

“I hope you become happy.”

Reibella opened her eyes, smiled brightly, and let go of his hand. The child’s appearance up close was truly breathtakingly beautiful.

Especially the tear mole under his left eye. It’s truly artistic.

‘To think he’s not the protagonist.’

Then what do the male leads look like?

As she stared at him, sticking out her tongue, his gaze turned towards Reibella. Their eyes met directly, and his gaze was cold.

He seemed to be trying to intimidate her, but perhaps because of his pretty face, he only looked prim. He was just adorable.

So she playfully gave a final greeting.

“Are you grateful? If you are, do you know about the manish tree? There’s a purple flower that only blooms around it, with six petals and a sweet scent. If you see that flower, let me know.”

“……”

“I’m looking for that flower. I have a… no, I have an illness, and I really need that flower.”

Although he didn’t seem grateful at all, Reibella finished speaking and stood up.

“Well then, goodbye.”

With a bright farewell, she turned around. It was time for the princess’s playtime to end.

Worried that she might be late, she hurriedly ran out of the forest, but fortunately, the princess was still enjoying a pleasant time with her people while eating dessert.

It was truly a peaceful scene under the blue sky.

Reibella stretched out fully once and then started walking again.

It was time to return to her intense daily life.