An Extra Who Wants To Escape The Obsessive Male Lead - Chapter 111.2
Chapter 111.2
“Does Lord Redias take care of it himself?”
As if to prove my point, a plush armchair sat in the middle of the garden.
In front of it were a table and a reading stand, and above it was a large canopy to block the rain or sunlight. It was clearly a spot for Yuria. I could easily picture her smiling as she watched Redias tending the garden.
“I thought he was busy at the mansion, too.”
Redias was also the commander of a section of the Endless Sea. I couldn’t imagine when he found the time to come to the residence and shower his wife with such affection.
Next to it, on the pillar supporting the canopy, were strange marks—horizontal lines, gradually rising, as if a growing child had repeatedly measured their height.
A child… Diello must not have visited often, as the gaps between the dark lines were quite wide.
The last line ended at about my height.
Just then, I noticed one of the house servants observing me from a distance before discreetly retreating.
‘…There was no need to be so cautious.’
Scratching my cheek, I shifted my gaze to a corner of the garden.
Perhaps because of yesterday’s rain, parts of the garden were still damp, which I found comforting.
But then… I noticed something peculiar. Water seemed to be collecting in one particular spot. More precisely, it felt like the water was flowing down into that spot. It wasn’t an unnatural flow; rather, it was as if someone had intentionally dug a hole there.
Curious, I approached the spot, growing more puzzled as I drew closer.
Since it was an area overgrown with thick bushes, I began parting the branches. They had been growing for quite some time, their stems tightly intertwined. After some effort, I managed to clear the way, revealing a small pit.
Inside the neatly dug-out space, complete with a drain for the water, were…
“Is this some kind of secret storage?”
I crouched down in front of it. Inside the secret space, which would seem quite large to a six- or seven-year-old child, were items that seemed more like junk than treasure.
“This is…”
A piece of a half-burnt fence…
“[ …became his wife ]”
“[ My beloved Duke… ]”
“…Novels?”
There were also several books which appeared to be romance novels. There were other things as well, but they all had one thing in common: ‘Burnt…’
They were partially burnt.
But who would read books like these?
As I was turning the books over, someone’s hands suddenly covered my eyes. It wasn’t a touch with malicious intent. A warm, familiar warmth blocked my vision.
“You shouldn’t be looking at these.”
The sweet voice that reached me was, of course, Diello’s.
“Is it a secret space?”
For a secret space, it was rather poorly hidden.
I stood and turned to face him.
Diello wore a very troubled expression. As he held the bushes back, I slipped out from behind them, dusting off my clothes before meeting his gaze.
He narrowed his eyes and let out a short sigh.
“I suppose I can’t hide it from Krua now.”
After muttering those words as if embarrassed, he continued.
“These are things I burned when I was young.”
“Burned… things?”
I blinked.
“Yes. When I wasn’t very good at controlling fire.”
He then pointed inside the bushes.
“Ah…”
Now, the burnt and mismatched items made sense.
“You hid them here?”
“Yes.”
Diello smiled, his cheeks slightly flushed as if embarrassed.
“Why did you hide them?”
Reports of fires caused by poor control over abilities were a common occurrence in the Shadow reports. It was usually children who did such things—children born with powers.
Diello could’ve been one of them. So why…
“Back then, I thought I had to hide them.”
He looked back at the bushes.
“I thought the head of the family had to be perfect.”
He smiled faintly.
He didn’t seem to be burdened by such compulsions now. The bushes, which would have been less dense when he was young, were now thick enough to partially conceal the secret space even after we’d pushed them aside.
“Do Lord Redias or Lady Yuria know?”
At my question, Diello paused and touched his lips.
“I thought they wouldn’t know when I was young, but now that I think about it, there’s no way they wouldn’t have noticed things disappearing from the house.”
He chuckled softly.
“But I felt like I shouldn’t get caught, so…”
His hand brushed over mine, which was still holding back the bushes, and made me let go. The bushes rustled as they closed again, hiding his secret space once more.
He smiled.
“I learned how to conceal things.”
His words suddenly made me wonder.
“Wouldn’t it have been better to burn them completely… to get rid of the evidence?”
The items were already half-burnt and unusable. Besides, judging by the fact that he had hidden them, it seemed he never intended to return them.
Diello was silent for a moment before finally speaking.
“In case they looked for them.”
It was an uncharacteristically timid answer, though it was also an answer that suited him. I smiled as if I could see a younger version of him.
“It seems they pretended not to know.”
“Most likely.”
We both chuckled softly.
“Lord! Madam!”
Just then, Rick came running from afar. He looked even more cheerful than usual, perhaps from whatever he’d been doing.
He called out,
“Dinner is ready!”
★ support nana on ko-fi!
≪ Discord ≫
≪ Novel Updates ≫
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
