I'm A Sucker For Extras - Chapter 72

Chapter 72

“If you’re worried about me, do whatever you want.”

Brody pouted at Aidan, who had dragged her into the next room, his quarters.

Her cheek bore a small scratch from where she’d just fended off Caleb.

“…….”

The meaning behind Brody’s actions was evident.

She wanted him to lick it for a cure, which would make Aidan’s headache go away.

Aidan silently picked up the medicine box and held it out to Brody.

“Cure it ……, make sure you do it.”

Brody stared at Aidan, not taking the box.

Then he averted his gaze.

“I knew it would be like this.”

It wasn’t as if Brody thought he’d give in.

“It’s okay. This is just a scratch or two.”

Brody turned her head briskly and attempted to leave the room again.

Aidan blocked the door and shook his head.

“Brody…… please.”

Aidan said it with a pleading look.

“…….”

Brody’s heart sank at the look on his face.

Because… Over the past few days, while the two of them had been together, Aidan continued to feel downcast.

To others, he might have appeared as a stern Northern Ice Duke, but Brody saw everything. His constant vigilance and awkwardness were evident.

‘Ah, what should I do? I’m really weak against that face.’

With that sentiment, Brody gave him another chance. It was an opportunity to treat the headache and break through the stiffness.

They couldn’t become lovers, but they had to become partners at work.

For the sake of the North, they couldn’t afford to continue this awkwardness.

So she swallowed her pride and stuck her cheek out…….

But once again, Aidan took a step back.

‘Haha, stubborn, if that’s the case, then don’t pay attention to me, why do you keep coming into my line of sight? ’

While they were apart, she was going about her daily routine when she felt a gaze on her and looked up to see Aidan.

As they distanced themselves, Brody occasionally felt his gaze. He would appear at the corners of buildings, behind pillars, or under trees. He seemed to be observing Brody from time to time.

So, when something goes wrong, he appears in front of Brody from the east to the west.

“That’s kind of weird,” she thought. Even if she is being watched, the timing is odd. If they’re watching her, they should at least have time to report back.

Brody stared at Aidan, thinking.

Aidan was blocking the door with the medicine box, his gaze slanting down, avoiding eye contact, and he broke out in a cold sweat at Brody’s hard stare.

“Your Grace.”

Brody called Aidan in a voice full of doubt.

Aidan nodded with a scowl. It was a sign to speak.

“How did you know?”

Suddenly, Aidan’s grip on the doorknob tightened at her question from behind.

“Hmm?

Brody prodded him, sensing his uncharacteristic reaction.

“I knew you were watching me. Don’t pretend. You don’t know how many times our eyes have met? But just because you’re watching doesn’t mean you know everything inside the building. Don’t you agree?”

Something twitched in Aidan’s mouth, and he clamped it shut again. Brody continued.

“Did you put a watch on me? The timing is too perfect for that. You’ll need at least enough time to report it. But you showed up right away, today, and again the other day in the kitchen where the Chief of Staff was attacked, and of course you knew exactly where to look. You came right to the kitchen then, and today you even broke in through a second-story window.”

“…….”

“What is it? Is there something to it? Is this another one of the Ice Sperit’s abilities…….”

“Hmm, cough, cough.”

Aidan finally coughed in embarrassment.

Brody arched an eyebrow and took a step closer to Aidan.

“I have a feeling this is going to be a really important point, so go ahead and tell me.”

Aidan looked down at her with a puzzled expression, sandwiched between Brody and the door.

“If you don’t tell me, I’m not going to…”

Brody reached out and grabbed the hem of Aidan’s cloak at the base of his neck and pulled him close.

Then they were so close that they could feel each other’s breath.

Aidan stared back at her, her green eyes shining intelligently beneath her sweetly colored lashes.

Brody felt him stiffen with embarrassment and smiled softly. The heat of her lips tickled near his jaw.

“I’m going to put my wounds against your lips.”

“…….”

‘I don’t know what all this threatening is about. It’s for Aidan’s own good, anyway. Oh, and it heals my wound, too. So it was a win-win situation.’

But Aidan was horrified.

“Brody, please…….”
“If you’re going to push me, go ahead. I’ve already been pushed around once, so I’m sure I’ll be more comfortable the second time.”

Eventually, Aidan opened his mouth to Brody’s thrusts.

“Okay, I… … This is because I can track the surroundings under the protection of the ice spirit. This is the north, so the spirit’s power is strong, even if there is no ice… … .”

Sadly, he wasn’t the kind of person who could turn to Brody in this situation. Of course, if he had not wanted to tell, he would have given a different answer, even if it would have seemed like he was lying, but he also had the burden of having to confess this truth someday, so he told the truth.

Brody’s eyebrows furrowed, and her eyes narrowed.

It was as if she was trying to figure out what the hell she had just heard.

“Can you track the surroundings within the protection of the ice spirit?”

Her eyes widened.

“Since it’s the north, you can track it even if there’s no ice? So does that mean the tracking range extends throughout the north?”

This time, she blinked in astonishment, her mouth slightly agape.

Finally, after spending her first night in this world and waking up the next day, she understood how she had been found after escaping.

One question after another began to unravel.

“It’s the North, so this means that it doesn’t matter where there is ice… … ?”

And after uttering the last word, her expression became more subtle.

Brody realized.

How Aidan had found her, in the South.

“Iced coffee…….”

Aidan’s shoulders tensed at her muttering. It was a moment of clarity.

And she could see why he’d apologized.

“You came to the South with Jax.”

If Aidan hadn’t found Brody with his powers, there was a chance Jax hadn’t found her either.

Aidan just stared at her, his face and body frozen in ice, as her guesses rang true.

Despite his outward lack of expression and emotion, a cold sweat trickled down his back.

“Hmm? Come to think of it, is it because of that ability that you were able to follow me when I asked for a moment to think, but instead I ran away…..? That was in the South, too……. what? There wasn’t any ice back then, was there? Ice, ice, uh, so……?”

Aidan watched grimly as her brilliant mind worked out the answer, point by point.

“Ice Crystal?”

Once again, it was the correct answer.

Ice Crystal. The gemstone he’d given Brody the night before, the one that only the Duke of the North could have. He’d given her a bracelet with an ice crystal stone.

One of the vows that now marked their marriage.

It was the one thing that gave Aidan the clue he needed to find Brody, wherever she was.

“What, is this, now. Is this supposed to be some sort of tracking device given as a gift?”

Brody let go of Aidan’s collar, which she’d been tugging at in a threatening manner, and looked at her own wrist.

A beautiful gemstone, a mysterious shade of blue, glittered peacefully.

Brody looked at the gemstone several times, her expression lost.

Thunk. There was a knock from outside.

“Your Grace. Mrs. Connie wants to see if you’re free, as she needs some advice regarding the fence.”

“Oh, I’ll be right out.”

Aidan replied hastily, inwardly glad to turn away.

It seemed better to avoid the situation for now.

“Oh.”

However, before stepping out, he turned back toward Brody.

Still bewildered, with emotions and thoughts not yet sorted, Brody suddenly looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Uh.”

The next moment, Aidan’s lips touched Brody’s cheek.

His lips moved to various places.

A cool sensation spread through her, and the wound disappeared.

He’d been so resistant.

“What’s this? Are you bending your pride just because you’re guilty?”

Although her heart was troubled, the warmth of their contact was too close, and Brody couldn’t say anything, stiffening her body.

After a while, Aidan removed his lips, and Brody looked at him with trembling eyes.

But Aidan didn’t meet her eyes, and he murmured.

“It seems like the bleeding has stopped now.”

“……!”

With that, he finished the treatment and stormed out the door.

The sound of the door slamming shut was eerily familiar.

Left alone behind the door, Brody stroked her cheek idly, unsure of which emotion to choose from the many that were rising.

The smooth, unscarred feel of her skin brought her back to reality.

She sighed and spat out harsh words.

“Now, what am I going to do with this? Since the wounds suddenly disappeared, it’s weird not to think anything strange and the Chief of Staff doesn’t even know!”

With that, she grumbled and applied a band-aid to the presumed wound. Meticulously.

❖ ❖ ❖ ❖

Caleb’s seizures and fainting spells continued repeatedly over time.

During this, River remained undisturbed by the commotion and looked through the documents.

Brody watched River closely and then began to wander around.

“What are you doing?”

River asked, eyeing Brody uneasily. Brody replied questioningly.

“I need you to teach me a lesson, Chief of Staff.”

“What?”

River raised her eyebrows in disbelief. Without thinking twice, he answered.

“I can’t. First of all, you’re not qualified to see these papers yet.”

Although he intended to speak nicely, River’s mention of qualifications made Brody slightly upset.

“What are those ‘qualifications’?”

“You’re not married to the Duke yet.”

“Ah, so you mean qualifications only come after marrying His Grace”

River nodded, his brow furrowing slightly in annoyance. Then Brody lifted her chin and spoke up.

“Oh, come on, I think I already have the qualifications.”

Brody waved her arm between River and the papers.

An ice crystal gemstone swung from her wrist.

“What’s this…”

“It’s exactly what the Chief of Staff is thinking, in the way you’d expect.”

“What? You’ve already……?”

“Yes.”

River sighed heavily and buried his face in a stack of papers. His head swam with panic.

‘No, these people. Handling important affairs without consulting me, as if sweeping them under the rug? Are they crazy? They’re not even a young couple from a modest household. Is this not insane?  ‘

Aidan usually didn’t cause any trouble, so River couldn’t possibly adapt to the national scale disaster he caused.

He was trying to hold back his simmering emotions when Brody swiped the papers from under his face.

“Careful, you’re going to crumple all those papers.”

“That’s not the problem now!”

“That’s the problem now. Isn’t my marriage a matter of the past or the future?”

“…….”

River resisted the urge to punch his chest for the sake of his face.

If it was true that they were already married, then Brody was undoubtedly the duchess, and certainly superior to River. Then he remembered their previous conversation.

“You don’t have to ask so cautiously. I am now the Duchess of the North, and my ability will be used for the good of the North.”

He bit his lip and spoke in a gritted voice.

“You’d better not touch the documents. I’ll check the marriage contract and hear from His Grace…… that child… before I decide.”

The word ‘child’ was slipped into the mix in a very low voice, a sneaky way of holding back the urge to call him an asshole.

Brody shrugged his shoulders as if to say yes.

River decided to have a three-way talk with Aidan right away. He’d put it off, and now he needed to get it off his chest.

Instead of calling for a servant, he called out loudly.

“Ouch! My lady, are you all right after such a big fall? You’re bleeding profusely! Isn’t your forehead all cracked?”

Brody was startled by River’s loud shouting, which was untimely, nonsensical, and a lie, but the next moment the door flew open, and Brody understood his intentions.

“How the hell did you fall and crack your forehead?”

“…….”

Aidan stood in the doorway, scowling.