I'm A Sucker For Extras - Chapter 52

Chapter 52

What? What is this? Is she blaming Jax for sending Brody into enemy territory, and the princess herself disagrees?
 
Brody was puzzled.
 
Aside from her dislike of the novel, Jax and the princess were genuinely in love. Yet here was the princess, speaking ill of Jax to Brody.
 
“Are you blaming Lord Jax?”
 
“No, how can I? I know what he did was for me and the empire, but it wasn’t really my intention.”
 
Oh really? With that, Brody changed her expression and gave her a wry smile.
 
Mylara, on the other hand, seemed to think, ‘My sincerity got through to her,’ with a face full of emotion.
 
But the words that came out of Brody’s mouth after that were dry and sharp.
 
“Then who was it that tried to take over my will in the south and kidnap me?”
 
The power itself belongs to the princess, so how could she deny that it wasn’t her will?
 
But even at the sharp rebuke, the princess looked innocently surprised, which surprised Brody even more.
 
“Oh, well, I knew you’d care about that,” she said. “You won’t believe me, of course, but I really didn’t think it would come to that. Lord Jax said he’d use it as a last  resort, so I had no choice but to give it to you. If that’s too much trouble, then I apologize, I’m sorry.”
 
“…….”
 
Brody was speechless.
 
What the hell was this? personality……, was this an act?
 
The princess really did look innocent.
 
‘No, an innocent person wouldn’t hold a crossbow to threaten someone.’
 
Brody gathered her wits at her words.
 
The brutal, passionate side of her as she chased Brody in front of the fortress, and the picturesque side of her.
 
There was a mixture of things that couldn’t be mixed, like hot and cold water.
 
‘It was all sunshine and rainbows in the novel.’
 
I wondered if it was because Brody’s intervention had twisted the plot. So many things seemed out of place in the novel.
 
Brody asked.
 
“If you’re sorry, will you stop targeting me?”
 
“Uhm, I can’t promise that, because I’m still interested in you, and it’s really a shame that I missed you by a stupid mistake.”
 
The princess replied with a bright smile, then gracefully reached out and pointed to the gemstone on Brody’s skirt.
 
“So I’m giving it to you to convince you to reconsider, because you are always welcome in the Empire, and if you come back this time, I promise you the best treatment, and if you don’t mind, I’d love for you to live in the palace and be friends with me.”
 
The princess brightened up and spoke, gracefully pointing out a gemstone that had fallen on Brody’s skirt.
 
Then she tossed it back to the princess.
 
“I won’t consider it. I’m already the Duchess of the North.”
 
But the princess didn’t catch the gem. It went right through the holographic empress, bounced off the wall of the carriage, and rolled to the floor.
 
Mylara smirked, not even looking at the gem.
 
“Brody. You’re trusting Duke Aidan, I know.”
 
“…….”
 
Brody gave her a nonchalant look as if she were stating the obvious, and then Mylara spoke, her eyes full of regret.
 
“But don’t trust him completely. He’s probably not going to tell you everything, not ever.”
 
“…….”
 
What a load of bullshit! Who the hell is she for telling her not to trust anyone? Brody was dumbfounded, but she managed to keep her face expressionless. For some reason, she didn’t want to look disheveled in front of her right now.
 
The eyes of the woman across from her deepened. She lowered her gaze. With her gaze, the crossbow pointed at the front of the carriage dropped.
 
She wonders if she trusts Brody and if she doesn’t mind being caught.
 
Brody busily assessed the situation, tempted to scream now.
 
The princess spoke slowly, not sensing the slightest crisis.
 
“The truth is harsher than you think, and the North is a dangerous place for you, far more so than you realize.”
 
A moment of silence.
 
Just when she thought she heard the sound of snow falling, the princess lifted her gaze again.
 
She looked at Brody with a slight frown tinged with melancholy and wistfulness.
 
“The day will come when you realize that you’re going to need it.”
 
As she spoke, Mylara’s vision began to crackle and shake.
 
“If you need help, come to me. Don’t forget that.”
 
With those last words, her vision faded.
 
Brody stared in disbelief at her disappearance.
 
‘This can’t be a dream.’
 
Brody looked out the window again, trying to get a sense of reality.
 
She looked out the window to her right and saw Aidan still there, peeking through the lace curtains.
 
She wondered if she was the only one who saw the princess or if no one else did.
 
Outside, the scenery was eerily familiar.
 
‘Isn’t it just a dream after all? ‘
 
She turned her head again to see Kaius’s hooves leaving tracks in the snow.
 
But there, on the floor of the carriage, was an orange gemstone, proving that what had just happened was real.
 
Luckily, she realized that the princess’s disappearance was due to some sort of limitation.
 
Is it a distance limit or a time limit that needs to be sustained?
 
‘No, it’s probably the distance.’
 
Before she traveled any further north, the only time for the princess to reach her was now, so maybe she had no choice but to show up now, and that meant she wouldn’t show up like this again.
 
Brody stared at the teleportation stone, organizing her thoughts.
 
“Hah…….”
 
Then she sighed heavily.
 
‘What should I do with that?  ‘
 
Was it even a teleportation gem?
 
She didn’t want to have it, and it felt uncomfortable having it, but she couldn’t just leave it here. What if someone else picked it up and activated it?
 
‘It’s not funny. No matter how difficult it is to live in the north, I wouldn’t go there. Why did I come to the North in the first place?  ‘
 
Brody shuddered.
 
She had already experienced something too horrifying. The memories and sensations from that time were still vivid. How could she possibly reconsider it? She couldn’t understand why someone would appear before her with such confidence and audacity.
 
If she had tried to persuade her from the beginning, it might have been different.
 
‘Because in the novel, Mylara was truly like an angel.’
 
Maybe if she’d met her when she was new to this world, she might have been persuaded.
 
Once again, Brody thought of the image of Mylara that had just appeared before her.
 
‘I wonder if this is what a heroine should look like.’
 
She was flawless in every way. And such a gorgeous blonde, it was a novel that could have been titled Blonde as the Sun.
 
Wasn’t there a research result that stated that beautiful looks make a person more genuine to others?
 
She remembered reading something similar on social media in her previous life.
 
‘A decent-looking man enters a 15-story office without an employee ID,’ the post said. People around him vouched for him.
 
“…….”
 
Brody shook her head to clear her thoughts.
 
No, she couldn’t stop thinking about her.
 
She felt a little pathetic as she kept rewinding the image of the princess and admiring it in her mind.
 
‘Am I that weak on looks? That’s how my entanglement with Aidan began…….’
 
‘Well, if Aidan hadn’t been my favorite, I wouldn’t have done such a thing on the first day I came here.’
 
If she hadn’t kissed him, there would have been no change in his headache, and he wouldn’t have come to get her the next day.
 
‘No, you didn’t do that in your previous life; I mean, you didn’t have all these celebrity looks around, so it can’t be just any looks. No, I mean, maybe it’s her looks, but she’s so beautiful, but she’s a fraud! ’
 
Anyway, it was really dangerous. If the moment of possession had been a little earlier or later…, she might have been helpless and entangled with the princess.
 
Either way, Brody, without Aidan, was likely to be in danger. Ironically enough
 
“Brody.”
 
“Whoa!!”
 
Brody was startled to see a man’s face in the window at the sound of a knock.
 
Fortunately, she didn’t scream due to the sudden call. It would be strange to be surprised by a sudden call like that.
 
The face belonged to the man Brody had been thinking about just a moment ago, Aidan.
 
After a second or two of silence, Brody said, “Yes?
 
But Brody’s gaze wasn’t on Aidan. No, not exactly.
 
Her eyes shifted in surprise, and she spotted the stone lying on the floor of the carriage.
 
‘Oh! Right! The stone!’
 
Brody broke off and moved her gaze to the other side of the stone, which seemed to be avoiding Aidan’s face.
 
“…….”
 
Aidan stared wordlessly at Brody, who had turned her head away.
 
‘I guess she was very angry last night.’
 
Unrelenting regret swirled inside him.
 
If he could have some time alone in a quiet, secret place right now, he would have smacked himself on the head.
 
‘I’m crazy. I’m really crazy.’
 
Thinking about yesterday, he had no words to say.
 
Brody, being Brody, had a lot on her mind.
 
‘Why? Why isn’t he saying anything? Did he notice something? Did he come to interrogate me? ‘
 
Her embarrassment stemmed from something completely different than Aidan’s.
 
It wasn’t that she shouldn’t tell Aidan what had just happened with the princess, but it wasn’t the best time to tell him.
 
If she was surprised by the appearance of the princess, shouldn’t she have alerted him by shouting or something? Why engage in a calm conversation and receive the teleportation stone? After all, the princess was the most threatening person to Brody.
 
There was a reason for the late response, but it was difficult to explain. If she was dazed and thought it was a dream, how many people would believe her?
 
With Brody’s background, it wouldn’t take long for the seeds of doubt to sprout.
 
‘Aidan would probably believe me, but…’
 
Currently, it wasn’t a situation where he could secretly talk to Aidan about this.
 
Brody, with her complicated emotions, glanced sideways. She looked at Aidan to discern her intentions as the silence prolonged.
 
Fortunately, his stoic expression didn’t seem to change.
 
When Brody looked back at him, Aidan spoke.
 
“It’s about to get dark, and the snow is blocking the road, so we’re going to camp for the night.”
 
“Ah, I see. Yes? Wait, camping?”
 
Brody’s bunny eyes widened as she realized he wasn’t talking about the princess; he was talking about the campsite, and she was relieved.
 
Camping? While it was snowing like this. Is he talking about camping outside?
 
Aidan nodded heavily, looking uncomfortable.
 
If that was how he reacted, there was probably no other way.
 
“Yeah, I understand. Thanks for letting me know.”
 
If there was no other way, it couldn’t be helped. It was a problem she had to endure.
 
Brody slowly opened her surprised eyes again and nodded.
 
Aidan hesitated for a moment, then nodded as well, then stepped away from the carriage, keeping his distance.
 
As Aidan moved away from the carriage, Brody quickly stretched out her foot. Tsk. She tugged at the amber gemstone in the corner of the carriage with her toe.
 
She rolled her eyes and peered around the corner, then leaned over at a slight angle.
 
She felt the stone through her handkerchief. Fortunately, grabbing it didn’t seem to do anything.
 
It couldn’t be triggered just by touching the stone, or else Brody would have been transported to the Imperial City when the princess threw it at her in the first place.
 
Brody wrapped the gem in her handkerchief and slipped it into the pouch on her belt.
 
“Phew.
 
Luckily, the inside and outside of the carriage were quiet. Brody breathed a short sigh of relief, feeling safe knowing that she hadn’t been caught.
 
Until the moment she could have a secret conversation with Aidan, she decided to keep the stone with her.