I Transmigrated as an Extra in a Trashy Dark Romance Game - Chapter 10

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※ This work contains depictions of coercive relationships, explicit language, and other graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

Recognizing him as he approached, Edith was inwardly startled but didn’t show it.

“Oh, I haven’t introduced you!”

Serenity, oblivious to Edith’s mental state, gestured behind her. Carlton, it seemed, had already recognized Edith.

“This is Sir Carlton, a knight His Highness the Crown Prince assigned as my escort.”

Serenity’s expression tightened slightly when mentioning the Crown Prince, but she quickly brightened again to finish the introduction.

‘That’s right. The Crown Prince assigned the knight commander to monitor the Saintess in the beginning.’

And then…

In the game, Knight Commander Carlton was a character assigned by the Crown Prince to watch the Saintess. His storyline involved falling in love with the heroine, rebelling against the Crown Prince to save her, and ultimately meeting his fate at the executioner’s block.

He was the only sane character in this dark genre, but perhaps that’s why he remained more of a passing side character than a legitimate male lead candidate.

“It’s been a while, Miss Moulton. How have you been?”

As soon as the introduction was over, Carlton met Edith’s eyes to greet her and ask after her well-being.

“Yes, just… the usual…” she replied.

Memories of that banquet night flooded back, making her face feel hot. It seemed to affect her response, making it come out rather stiff.

Seeing the two converse like old acquaintances, Serenity, surprised, asked if they knew each other. Edith only forced a smile in response.

‘Is this a world where you have to be crazy to survive?’

The slightly dejected look on Carlton’s face before her overlapped with the scene of his execution in the game. Remembering the atrocities committed by the male leads—each missing a screw or two, unlike a pure side character—she could only sigh.

‘So, perhaps it’s a foregone conclusion in the story for Carlton, a mere side character in the game, to meet his end.’

But perhaps because she had spent a night with him, knowing his fate—something only she knew—left her with an inexplicably heavy heart.

Oblivious to her turmoil, Serenity, beaming brightly, took Edith’s hand and led the way, eager to go get something delicious.

Contrary to expectations of a café or shop, Serenity headed for a market frequented by commoners and handed Edith a skewer of freshly grilled, hot chicken.

“Miss Moulton, you must be trying something this delicious for the first time, right?”

Taking the food from the confident-looking girl, a familiar scent wafted over.

‘So this world has this kind of food too.’

It was a type of food nobles in romance fantasy worlds typically didn’t eat, but Edith was already well acquainted with the taste.

“Yes, it looks delicious. Thank you.”

Then, Edith bought another skewer from the stall and offered it to Carlton.

“Sir Knight, would you like to try one too? Ah, maybe you don’t eat things like this?”

Without a word, Carlton took the food and seemed to stare at it for a long moment.

Knights probably don’t eat street food either, she thought, taking a bite of the tender, seasoned grilled chicken thigh. The sweet and savory teriyaki-like flavor was a familiar taste indeed.

Feeling oddly homesick, Edith was silently counting the days since her transmigration when Carlton spoke.

“It seems the young lady enjoys commoners’ food as well. You are quite different from other nobles…”

“!!”

The sudden comment from Carlton, filled with what seemed like respect, nearly made Edith spit out her food in surprise.

‘What? Did he just say that to me…?’

The reason for her shock was a creeping sense that something was going wrong.

She had seen this scene somewhere before: a noble enjoying commoners’ fare without prejudice, and another character feeling drawn to them for being ‘different.’

‘That’s a definite flag…!’

That line, a classic cliché, was supposed to be directed at the heroine, the Saintess. The fact it was aimed at her instead was staggering.

‘I let my guard down! I thought the knight commander wasn’t a male lead-level character, so clichés wouldn’t trigger for him!’

She regretted agreeing to this outing, but it was too late. The situation had already been triggered, and she could only swallow her tears internally.

After that, she wandered through the shopping district in a daze, led by Serenity’s hand. Suddenly, as if remembering something, Serenity clapped her hands.

“Miss Moulton! They actually sell a very uniquely shaped food here. I almost forgot and would have missed it!”

“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

With that, Carlton and Serenity disappeared to fetch the mysterious food.

It was awkward to be left alone in an unfamiliar place, but given that another event or flag might occur between the two, she decided to wait quietly.

As she waited, looking around, a strangely familiar alleyway caught her eye. Whether it was Edith’s memory or her own was unclear, but her feet seemed to move there on their own.

‘I think this alley ends in a dead end…?’

Following the feeling, Edith went deep into the alley. Just as she thought, a dead-end wall appeared before her, and slumped against it was a person.