I'm A Sucker For Extras - Chapter 75

Chapter 75

“What on earth is the Chief of Staff thinking?”

“…….”

Brody said as he tucked Caleb into bed, pulled the covers over her, and picked out pillows.

Perhaps feeling uncomfortable talking while lying down, Caleb sat up, saying her condition was fine.

“Well, I guess I got you in trouble for nothing.”

Brody said apologetically. She had acted as if River punished Caleb for no reason, making Caleb feel guilty.

He didn’t mean to punish her, but he played it off like that. He’s a master manipulator.

Anyway, Brody felt more agitated and worked harder. Moving was better than staying still, as it consumed emotions.

The table was filled with dried herbs. She had been tending to Caleb, concocting various medicines for her.

Though she seemed to move quickly, she looked relaxed, and although her movements seemed careless, her fingertips were nimble.

Caleb watched her movements like flowing water and replied.

“No, my lady. It is only because you have defended me that my punishment has been light; otherwise, why would they show me any kindness?”

“That’s right, I’m that ‘Lady Brody’, ah!”

Brody exclaimed, as if realizing something; she nodded and continued.

“Right. I think they did this to take advantage of me, who is a talented person.”

Brody could feel her energy rising again, and she ground her herbs harder.

The drum-drum of anger filled the room.

Caleb looked at Brody with concern.

“Is it all right with you, my lady, to have me as your maid?”

To which Brody raised her eyebrows and replied. It was a look that said, “Why would you say such an obvious thing?”

“It’s an honor for me. Is there a lady in the capital who doesn’t know Mrs. Caleb?”

“It’s too much.”

“It’s not too much. I was in the same mansion, so I know your abilities.”

“…….”

Caleb stood still, watching Brody move, her movements slow and sure.

Was this woman like this back then?

She thought back to Brody when she was in the Duke’s household.

Before Duke Jax McCarthy received his title,.

A maid was unfairly punished.

Brody timidly took the maid’s side and was expelled from the room by Jax, who told her not to meddle. The maid received more punishment due to Brody’s interference.

That night, Brody went to the maid’s quarters to offer treatment.

When the maid complained that she had been beaten more because of her, Brody went back to her room with a guilty look on her face.

‘She’s such a warm-hearted but fragile lady’

That was the way Caleb looked at Brody back then.

They hadn’t seen each other often enough that the memory had long since been relegated to the back of her mind.

‘Is the lady of that time the same as this lady now? ’

Caleb blinked at Brody, who stood there like a different person.

‘Is she still the same? A warm-hearted but fragile person, unable to handle her own situation’

Caleb sighed involuntarily.

“My lady, you should have let me be punished.”

“What?”

“What would have happened if even your husband became suspicious? ”

Brody replied nonchalantly, her hands slowing down from their furious grinding of herbs.

“Oh, it’s not like we’re both saints. I did it because I thought it would work, so don’t mind me.”

“…….”

Caleb shook his head inwardly.

Again. She might look like she’d gotten a little cocky, but she was still the same.

How could she be so naïve and vulnerable, trying to navigate the harsh north?

Caleb spoke again, her voice serious.

“Why do you believe me and say such things?”

The tone of her voice seemed to sting Brody, and she stopped her hands and turned her slow eyes to look at Caleb questioningly.

When she turned away, Caleb continued.

“As the Chief of Staff said, why do you trust me? What do you know about me? But we were never close enough to share a trust, were we? Reputation is often only skin deep. You may as well not know me at all.”

Brody did not reply. No, she couldn’t reply.

She was right.

If Brody hadn’t read it in the novel, she wouldn’t have trusted Caleb. There would be no reason to trust her.

But ‘I know her from the novel.’ -there was no other way to explain it.

“Could it be because of empathy?”

“That’s a reason for kindness, not trust, isn’t it?”

“Kindness is the beginning of trust.”

Brody’s words made Caleb sigh. She didn’t seem to like Brody’s answer.

Brody thought for a moment, then spoke again with a slow smile.

“Okay. I can’t think of a reason to trust you either, so I’ll just make one up.”

“You’re going to make up a reason to trust me?”

“Yes, a very traditional method indeed. I treated you, defended you, and showed you kindness. After all that, would you still betray me?”

“……You mean you’ll believe me when I say I won’t betray you?”

“Of course, that’s not all. What I’m about to offer you is ongoing, and I think that should be enough to make it attractive to you.”

“…….”

Caleb looked puzzled, wondering what the hell she was talking about.

Brody took a breath, then spoke, her voice lower, quieter, and more deliberate than it had been a moment ago.

“I’m going to find your daughter.”

“……!”

Caleb’s eyes fluttered wide. Her breathing began to quicken, hardly the same as the reticent, serious woman of a few moments ago.

She clutched the covers with trembling hands and pushed herself up involuntarily.

She turned to Brody, almost crawling, and asked in a voice that cracked as if it might break at any moment.

“I want my daughter…… My daughter!”

“Calm down, Mrs. Caleb. I waited until you calmed down before finally bringing this up. If you seem to get excited again, I’ll give you a sedative and put you back to sleep. Do you understand me?”

Brody explained firmly to the trembling Caleb.

Thankfully, Caleb was able to regain control of herself.

Brody nodded in satisfaction, sensing that her mental state had improved significantly.

Caleb eventually shifted to sitting upright on the edge of the bed and facing Brody.

Her knuckles were still white from gripping the sheets so hard, but at least she seemed to be able to talk.

With her eyes urging him to speak, Brody began to explain.

“How and why did I, the duke’s relative, come to the North? ”

This time, Caleb’s lips began to quiver.

“Ah, are you saying that the young lady is a spy? ”

“Um, Mrs. Caleb. First of all, I’m not his sister, so please don’t call me ‘young lady’ again.”

Caleb nodded eagerly. Perhaps she’d been calling Brody by her old title because she felt she was a young lady in the Duke’s household.

But to Caleb, Brody no longer felt like a fragile young lady.

“And I’m not a spy.”

Caleb let out a visible sigh of relief. After the mention of her daughter, she seemed to unintentionally reveal her inner thoughts.

She thought to herself, What if she thinks I’m a real spy? Brody inwardly smiled wryly.

Originally, Brody was indeed a spy. She was a spy who infiltrated as a prisoner to assassinate the Northern Duke. Of course, it wasn’t the current Brody, but the original Brody, who received such training so that she could infiltrate the North. The current Brody remembered that training.

Brody wiped her lips with the side of his index finger.

“I know their roots. It’s quite a bit of information.”

“Y-you mean… You can use the empire’s intelligence network? “

“Without realizing it, subtly, I have to.”

“Aww…….”

Caleb covered her face with both hands. She looked like she was about to cry out of control.

Brody crossed her arms and patted her arm.

Then she spoke somewhat coercively.

“This is confidential. You know it, but… even so, if I try to approach the empire, you wouldn’t like it, would you? Do you know what I mean?”

Caleb said, removing the hand that covered her face and looking Brody straight in the eye.

Though tears were streaming down her face, her eyes were determined.

“Yes, yes. Of course, May Lady. I’ll never oppose it. If I do, how can I find my daughter? I absolutely won’t oppose it.”

Brody nodded.

“Very well, then, is that settled?”

“What?”

“I’m asking if I can trust you now.”

With that, Brody pulled out her handkerchief and held it out.

Caleb tried to smile goofily at Brody’s words, but then buried her face in the handkerchief and sobbed.

Despite her cheerfulness, Brody’s heart ached for Caleb.

In Brody’s memory, Caleb was as elegant as any noblewoman. She served the Duchess and was a well-known handmaiden. Caleb the Handmaid was the Duchess’s much-coveted boast, and the Duchess had taken great care of her appearance.

But now, what has become of her? A face marred by anguish and rough hands boasts protruding bones. Though she had read about it and heard about it from Caleb, she couldn’t easily imagine the hardships this woman had endured.

“Can I… can I meet my daughter? Will she… will she be safe?”

Caleb asked, her voice trembling. She didn’t ask for an answer. But it was a question she must have asked herself countless times.

‘Is my daughter okay? How is she doing? Is she alive ……?’

Normally, it’s hard to say hope out loud, but Brody had an answer. In the original story, the mother and daughter were reunited by the princess, and Brody even knew where to find her.

So, there was no need to utilize the empire’s information network or anything; it was simply a matter of waiting for an appropriate amount of time before retrieving her daughter.

Brody gently grasped her shoulders and reassured her.

“We’ll find her.”

At Brody’s calm words, Caleb’s pupils trembled. ‘How could she speak of hope? How could she dare to? ’ Her gaze seemed to question her so.

Caleb hesitated in the face of hope. She hoped she was alive, but if she was dead, she wasn’t sure she could bear to live again beyond the hope she dared to hold.

Brody read her thoughts and put a firm hand on her shoulder.

“Even if we don’t…”

‘Even if I don’t…? You mean, if she’s dead? ’

Brody bit his lip once, then released it, seeing the horror in Caleb’s eyes. As much as it pained her, she had to finish the sentence.

“We must find out what happened. So, stay strong.”

“…….”

A tear finally fell from Caleb’s eye, which had been fixedly staring and blinking.

That’s it. She doesn’t know whether to embrace hope or despair.

For Caleb, what she needed now was ‘that’.

An ending that was still on hold.

Not necessarily a promised hope, but a life that must somehow be survived to know that ending.

Only with such a goal could she endure the present and maintain her sanity.

The struggle to accept the ending itself would keep her alive.

Caleb clenched her lips so tightly that they turned white.

The eyes that met Brody’s now held determination along with pain.

Brody nodded vigorously, as if in agreement.