It’s Been 500 Years as an Extra, and the Original Story Still Hasn’t Begun - Chapter 61

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

500 Years as Just an Extra,

The Original Story Still Won’t Begin

Episode 061

Several days had passed since completing the monster subjugation and safely returning from the Gardbale Mountains.

Today was December 23rd. It was the day when the ten-day Holy Night Festival week began.

Despite the rather bitter cold, the castle grounds were overflowing with vitality in broad daylight.

There were people who had come out for family outings, and young couples whispering sweet words of love while drinking warm tea.

Among them, there was one group that was particularly actively wandering around the streets.

A young girl wearing a bright ivory fur coat held tightly to the hand of the only man in the group and cheerfully shouted.

“Uncle! I want to try that too!”

“If you eat too much, you won’t be able to eat dinner later, you know?”

“Then let’s buy one and share it between Uncle and me!”

“…Do you know how many times you’ve said that already?”

“Eeeeing!”

At Elenora’s aegyo as she grabbed his sleeve and stamped her feet, Termion finally pretended to give in and headed toward the street vendor.

“Five bungeoppang, please.”

“Not five, six!”

Just as Termion was about to order bread according to the number of people, Elenora quickly interjected and added one more. The sight was so adorable that the people around couldn’t hide their warm gazes.

“Oh my, thank you! Your younger sister is so bright and pretty!”

“She’s not my sister, she’s my niece.”

“What uncle is this young? I thought for sure you were her older brother, hahaha!”

Termion secretly swallowed a bitter smile as he paid the shop owner who was making a fuss.

Unless he had a more mature face, it was more natural to see a teenage boy and a five-year-old child as siblings.

“Teacher! Sister Hilda! Sister Rebecca! Let’s eat bungeoppang!”

Elenora opened the steaming envelope and held it out to Ailesia. She tilted her head as she counted the number of bread inside.

“There are five people, so why are there six pieces of bread?”

“Elly gets half! Uncle gets one and a half! Sister Rebecca gets two! Teacher and Sister Hilda get one each!”

Listening to it, it seemed she had distributed them according to their body sizes.

Still, Termion also got one and a half, but only Rebecca got two?

Is this the dignity of the original story’s popularity vote winner? Ailesia narrowed her eyes as subtle jealousy arose.

“Wow… Rebecca. You must be happy to be loved by Elly.”

“Wh-what are you saying? How could I dare.”

“So you won’t eat it? The Grand Duchess bought it for you.”

“…That’s not it.”

Rebecca, who took two pieces of bread from the envelope, glanced at Hilda who had scolded her.

Jealousy or whatever, Ailesia covered her mouth with her hand and let out a quiet chuckle.

‘It’s a bit unexpected how she’s strangely weak only toward Hilda.’

Even in the original story, they used formal speech with each other, but there was no scene where Rebecca was so submissive.

It was more like they respected each other’s domains, but now anyone could see that Hilda had the upper hand.

“It’s delicious?”

Ailesia, who had split the bread in half and taken a bite, widened her eyes.

She wondered if it was the bungeoppang she knew, and it really was. The red bean paste packed tightly inside the crispy shell was exactly the same taste she had eaten in Korea.

If you ask why bungeoppang is being sold in the middle of the fantasy continent, well. Maybe it’s the author’s convenient setting.

“Delicious!”

Elenora, whose cheeks were puffed out, moved her lips with a bright expression.

While Termion hesitated for a moment looking down at the remaining half in his hand, Ailesia approached the child first.

“Is it that delicious? Should Teacher give you hers too?”

“…Is that okay?”

“Teacher is happy just watching Elly eat deliciously. Ah.”

“Aah!”

“Hehe.”

As she wiped the red bean paste from Elenora’s lips with her finger and sucked it, she felt a strange gaze from somewhere.

When she turned her head, Hilda and Rebecca were glancing this way with meaningful looks.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“No, nothing at all.”

Those two aside, why was Termion looking at her with that expression? Unlike his smiling eyes, his lips seemed to be trembling.

“Doesn’t the bread suit your taste? Why do you look like that?”

“…Never mind.”

Termion answered in a rather sullen voice and swallowed the bread he was holding in one bite.

‘What, he’s eating it just fine.’

Maybe he didn’t like that she gave Elenora more bread without permission?

Judging from his earlier mention of dinner, he might not be pleased with his niece filling up on snacks.

“There, let’s go there!”

Elenora, who had finished eating her bread, pulled Ailesia’s hand. She seemed to want to look at the snowmen gathered in one corner of the plaza.

“Uncle, Uncle!”

“Yeah?”

“Elly’s hand!”

“Oh…”

Suddenly, Termion and Ailesia found themselves standing side by side with Elenora between them.

Termion hesitated in his steps, caught in an unnecessarily awkward feeling, but the child pulled both Teacher’s and Uncle’s hands simultaneously as she moved forward.

“Hurry, hurry!”

“Ah, I got it, so walk slowly. You’ll fall at this rate.”

“I won’t fall if Uncle and Teacher hold me together!”

Hilda and Rebecca, who had been quietly watching, smiled warmly without either taking the lead.

“They look good together.”

“They really do look good together.”

From behind, they looked like nothing but a harmonious family. Of course, they probably wouldn’t look much different from the front or side either.

“But Teacher seems to have no particular thoughts about it? Though I wonder how His Highness feels.”

“His Highness probably doesn’t even realize what his own feelings are.”

“…So that means there is something there?”

“Eek?”

Hilda, who had been half-jokingly interrogating, stuck close to Rebecca’s side and firmly linked arms.

The expression that had been smiling warmly until just before had gone somewhere, and her eyes were narrowed like a cat eyeing its prey.

“Could you let go of my arm while we talk?”

“I don’t want to. Did you think I wouldn’t notice how you subtly avoid me whenever I try to talk to you?”

“No, I wasn’t avoiding…”

To someone’s eyes, they might look like quite an affectionate couple, but Rebecca was just troubled.

Having been around rough knights for so long, she felt inwardly uncomfortable dealing with young women.

She couldn’t just shake her off roughly, worried that she might get hurt. She even wondered how those slender arms could lift Elenora.

“Enough, so hurry up and spill it. What happened at the base?”

“…Liriana help me.”

Who would have known she’d be calling on the goddess in broad daylight on the first day of the Holy Night Festival? The official prayer time should be after sunset.

Rebecca shook her head and reluctantly began her story. Being dragged by Hilda toward where the snowmen were was a bonus.

“Wooow….”

Snowmen of all shapes and sizes filled one side of the plaza. Beyond the ordinary shapes, there were various animals crafted like sculptures, making Elenora’s eyes sparkle with wonder.

“There are more varieties than I expected.”

“The residents must be quite skilled? There’s even ice magic cast on them so they won’t melt.”

“I heard there are quite a few residents who know how to use magic. The knights probably volunteered to help as well.”

“They do that kind of thing too?”

“Their families live within the castle, and getting along casually with the residents is the Retis family’s creed. Oh my.”

Suddenly, Termion kicked off the ground.

In an instant, he slipped through the crowd and swiftly caught Elenora around the waist as she lost her footing on the ice.

“You need to be careful, Elly. You could have fallen.”

“But Uncle caught me!”

“…What would you do when Uncle isn’t watching?”

“Then I’d just dust myself off and get up! Elly doesn’t cry over things like that!”

It was truly admirable words, yet somehow a melancholy feeling washed over him.

Termion unconsciously knelt down and gently caressed his young niece’s cheek.

“It’s okay.”

“Hm?”

Was a child who was barely five years old already trying to practice standing on her own? She was still at an age where it would be fine to act more spoiled.

“Our Elly won’t fall. Uncle will always be watching over you.”

No matter how composed one tries to appear, there are emotions that cannot be hidden.

As proof of this, Elenora’s green eyes kept scanning the children playing with their parents.

The surroundings were full of children who had come out to play. Some were held in their father’s arms, reaching out to touch the sculptures, while others played with the snow alongside their mothers.

‘…I didn’t want to resent you over something like this.’

Termion bit his lips tightly as he thought of the former Grand Duke.

Why did he leave the world so irresponsibly like that? Couldn’t he have thought to return alive, even if it meant gritting his teeth?

For the sake of his only daughter, he should have crawled back up even from the depths of hell.

No matter how hard he tried, there was no way he could fill the void left by a father for Elenora.

Perhaps the scene the child was witnessing today would only imprint a lifelong sense of emptiness that could never be erased. With that thought, his heart sank heavily.

“Uncle, are you crying?”

Just as Termion was silently lost in thought, a small hand touched the top of his head.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————