Chapter 10
Chapter 10
The Burden an Extra Must Carry
Love stories.
They are a popular topic among women regardless of country or era.
Who likes whom.
Who confessed to whom.
Who is dating whom.
Who got rejected.
No matter their status or the age they live in, people are ultimately drawn to such stories.
And Angela was no exception.
She had been an ordinary girl who experienced a normal school life.
Chatting with friends about romance at school was completely natural.
But after arriving in this world, she had barely talked about romance at all.
A major reason was that she didn't have any female friends her own age.
She earned money by creating perfumes, soaps, shampoos, and conditioners, but most of the people she met in that process were middle-aged male merchants.
The topics merchants usually discussed were things like products with good sales and products currently trending.
Even when romance came up, the conversation eventually shifted to making money from it.
There was almost no room for actual love stories.
At best, she heard things like:
"My wife was angry when I got home."
"We haven't spoken to each other for several days since our last argument."
None of it was exciting.
And despite finding herself in a romance fantasy world, Angela had barely gotten any opportunities to witness romance firsthand.
Because of her awkward social position, she couldn't fully enter high society.
And she rarely spent time with friends her own age.
So her current situation—
was practically a miracle to her.
The male protagonist of the original story.
Rouang himself.
That incredible Rouang.
Might actually be suffering because of love.
The moment she realized that, Angela's heart began pounding wildly.
It was the scent of a genuine romance story after so long.
The curiosity that had dried up inside her burst into flames all at once.
"If there's something troubling Your Highness, I can listen."
"Hmm... really?"
"Yes!"
Angela answered almost reflexively.
Scenes like this never really appeared in the original novel.
Characters' inner thoughts were only revealed in limited ways.
Usually, the story stayed in the heroine's perspective, or at most two or three perspectives.
Repeating the same scene from everyone's viewpoint would become boring.
Because of that, Rouang's true feelings were mostly seen through the Saintess's eyes.
The villainess would pressure the Saintess.
Rouang would protect her.
Readers empathized with the Saintess.
And how much Rouang suffered, how conflicted he was, could only be guessed through the atmosphere.
In other words—
Angela was standing in front of a scene that had never appeared in the original story.
Rouang's true thoughts.
The male protagonist's real face.
She might be the only one allowed to hear them.
The thought made her breathing grow even heavier.
But people make mistakes when they become too excited.
Just like drunk people start talking without knowing what they're saying, excessive excitement makes words come out before reason can stop them.
Angela understood that intellectually.
The problem was that it was already too late.
Right now, she was intoxicated while completely sober.
'But why would His Highness tell me something like that?'
Even then, her mind worked quickly.
Angela felt a strong sense of familiarity toward Rouang.
After all, he was the male protagonist she'd followed for a long time through the original novel.
But from Rouang's perspective, things were different.
A fan being happy to see a celebrity,
and a celebrity interacting with a complete stranger,
were entirely different matters.
First, she needed to lower his guard.
How?
Simple.
She just needed to make herself seem harmless.
A little clumsy.
Easygoing.
Slightly cute.
Angela immediately played her card.
"I still can't eat carrots very well."
"Pfft...!"
Rouang laughed.
Actually laughed.
It was brief, but unmistakable.
The corners of his mouth rose, and a laugh escaped before he could stop it.
Fireworks exploded inside Angela's head.
'I made him laugh.'
That ruined, sensitive, dangerous male protagonist.
This was a huge achievement.
Usually, protagonists like him only smiled in front of the heroine.
Yet she had done it.
Angela roared in victory inside her heart.
Of course, she didn't realize something.
She had personally broken the very rule that male protagonists only smiled in front of the heroine.
At that moment, only one thing existed inside her mind.
Rouang's love life.
'There's no time. Hurry. Hurry!'
The conversation could end at any moment.
Someone could interrupt at any moment.
That's just how banquets worked.
"Haha. So you had a secret like that. I'll be sure to tell your parents later."
"N-No! They'll make me eat carrots three times a day until I fix the habit!"
Angela looked genuinely horrified.
The carrots in this world tasted awful.
They weren't sweet, crunchy orange vegetables like modern carrots.
Their color was duller.
They were smaller.
And after chewing, an earthy bitterness slowly emerged.
'Someday I'll improve carrots and potatoes too. I'm not giving up vegetable tempura.'
It was a completely inappropriate thought for the atmosphere, but Angela was serious.
More importantly, she felt happy.
Rouang reacted to her words.
His expressions changed.
He even asked her questions.
Even if you paid a fortune for a fan meeting, you usually only got a few seconds of handshakes.
Even when questions were allowed, the answers were often similar.
Fans always felt disappointed, even while understanding why.
But Rouang was different.
He was genuinely focused only on Angela.
"You graduated from school properly, I assume? Being a picky eater would've become a rumor there."
The moment he asked a question, Angela instinctively puffed out her chest.
This was her area of confidence.
For a Korean student, grades were a matter of pride.
Even after the college entrance exams.
Even after entering university.
Even during family gatherings.
The topic followed them everywhere.
Angela also remembered staying late at school in her previous life, enduring endless evening study sessions to improve her grades.
Honestly speaking, the schools in this world were far easier than Korean high schools.
At least for her.
"Of course. I graduated with excellent grades."
"That's surprising. You don't look the type. How highly did you rank?"
Angela answered proudly.
"I was actually in the top grade... Ah, no! I mean, they said they could've employed me as an administrator, but women weren't allowed."
Only after the words escaped did she clamp her mouth shut.
She'd said something strange again.
Naturally, this world didn't have Korean-style grade rankings.
Her face stiffened for a moment.
Fortunately, Rouang didn't immediately react as though something was odd.
Angela hurried to continue.
Just a little more.
Just a little more pressure.
And she might hear Rouang's worries, Rouang's true feelings, maybe even Rouang's romantic troubles.
At that moment—
"Your Highness Rouang, it is time."
An attendant approached and bowed.
Angela's expression froze.
That was far too soon.
"Is that so? Then Lady Goldrun, I hope we can meet and talk again next time."
"Huh? Ah, yes?"
Rouang turned away without hesitation.
As he walked off, Angela felt as though a treasure she had nearly grasped had evaporated into thin air.
If only she'd had a little more time.
It felt like a scene had been cut off right before the most important part.
She stared blankly at Rouang's retreating back.
Then a strange thought occurred to her.
'Manuel and Rouang are meeting? That's a little strange...'
Angela searched through her memories of the original novel.
At this point in the story, neither the villainess nor the Saintess had appeared around Rouang yet.
Their first clash happened later.
The villainess caused trouble first.
Rouang pressured her politically.
Then Manuel intervened.
Manuel spared the villainess and turned her into a mid-story antagonist.
Under the justification of preserving stability within the Imperial Family, he resumed efforts to arrange Rouang's political marriage.
By then, the villainess and Saintess practically clashed every day at banquets.
Rouang constantly followed the Saintess around to protect her.
He rarely left the palace for any other reason.
But now, things were strange.
There was no Saintess.
No villainess.
No possibility of romance blooming yet.
And yet, the woman who had spoken with Rouang the longest—
was Angela herself.
Everyone in the banquet hall knew that.
The only person who didn't was Angela.
To her, she was simply someone who had finally met the protagonist of a novel.
She lacked both the time and the mindset to examine the reality of this world more carefully.
'He said we should meet again next time, right? Then can we really meet again? Or will he send a letter? Actually, wouldn't a letter be better? You can write longer letters. You can explain your feelings more—'
Angela stood there silently, lost in thought.
Perhaps because she was so excited that all her energy had drained away, she didn't notice the gazes around her at all.
The dozens of eyes directed toward her.
The whispers passing between people.
The strangely heated atmosphere.
She missed all of it.
So when someone approached and spoke to her, she jumped in surprise.
"Are you Lady Goldrun?"
"Huh? Ah, yes. That's right. I'm Angela Goldrun. And you are?"
"My name is Bianca Lascacci."
Bianca was smiling.
But it wasn't a friendly smile.
Beneath her polite expression lay obvious curiosity and calculation.
Everyone in the banquet hall wanted to know one thing.
How exactly had that woman managed to approach Rouang?
And what had the two of them discussed?
So Bianca decided to find out personally.
Angela still didn't realize it.
In any romance fantasy novel, the first person to reach out to the protagonist
rarely ends up living an ordinary life.