Chapter 8: The Extra(4)

What would be the role of an extra? What purpose did they serve in a story? Did anyone care about their backstory?

Nothing.

The author wrote them only for them to push the character development of the novel.

"The game is getting pretty interesting, right...Marinette?" she pushed the pawn chess piece two tiles from where it stood.

The person she called Marinette sat across the chessboard and grabbed the pawn making the same move as her.

"Then why do you even bother creating an extra in the first place?"

Her black hair fell as her hand moved. She brushed it off her shoulder and stared at the 'human' in front of her.

Their form started changing from a goat head into a pretty lady's face. The face that you would see in a museum. With golden leaves on her head, she stood up in her milky white dress.

The scale in the middle of the table started to tile to Marinette's side.

Marinette saw her black eyes and school uniform in the reflection of the scale.

"A paper aeroplane. Do you care about how it became after you flew it? They're no more than a mere enjoyment for me. Something to pass my boring time with."

That lady turned to the screen in front of her showing the scene of Marinette sleeping on Aurora's shoulder.

"You shouldn't be worrying about the extra, Marinette. It looked like you're on the lower scale right now. Aurora already started suspecting you."

"What do you gain from doing this? Making friends killing each other?"

"Now, now, don't make me the villain here. I wasn't the only one who summoned Eun-Kyung into this world."

Marinette tried to get up from the chair but the chain tied her too tight even breathing was difficult for her.

"Then who..."

"The original Aurora Madeline, the extra of the novel."

+++

A week earlier,

"They aren't home today. Maybe I should die."

Aurora stood on the railing of the balcony looking down at the garden. Her eyes were lifeless. She felt hopeless when she saw the height because even if she tried to jump, she still couldn't die because of her superhuman strength.

Her father was the only one who embraced her strength. But since her father died many years ago, she could never be herself.

Picking a spoon might be easy for other people, but to her, it was otherwise. She needed to control her force in everything she did.

To make it worse, the noble's etiquette pressured her even more. Every day, she felt like she walked on a glass that could shatter at any moment. Every time, that glass broke, she would fall into the punishment of the baroness.

She lied and lied, she was never her true self. She started hating herself. The one thing she loved about her, she started calling it a curse.

Aurora descended from the railing and returned inside. She took the rope she snuck into her room to prepare for her suicidal plan.

She tied the room around the wood above the bed. Standing on the chair with her neck around the tie lock she made, she had no sense of regret in life. She had nothing to hold onto. She wanted to die while she still could be herself.

Would you die being yourself? Or would you rather die after pretending to be someone else for your whole life?

Aurora chose the first option.

Meow

But one thing put some sense back into Aurora's mind. The sound of a mere cat she picked on the street was like the scream to stop her from her death.

"If I die, who would feed you?"

She abandoned her third suicide attempt. Aurora patted the cat that gulped down its food.

The cat was her comfort friend. The cat was even better than the other family members in the household she resided in.

The cat would stay beside her when she cried. It would listen to her complain in life. It would listen to how Aurora's days went.

Although it couldn't speak, its presence was enough for Aurora to go through tornadoes and storms in life.

"Eat more, Eun-Kyung."

If the cat was to live for another week, then Aurora wouldn't make a deal with a goat-headed human.

"Pitiful damsel in distress, life had been too hard on you, hadn't it?"

Aurora hugged the cat covered in blood in the middle of the living room. The baroness and the brother who killed the cat in front of Aurora wouldn't stay to send the farewell to the cat.

They killed the cat and still blamed Aurora for its death. Because Aurora couldn't make it to the tea party because the cat was sick, they decided to kill Aurora's excuse.

"I'll do anything. I'll give you anything!!! Bring her back to life...please...whatever you are..."

"You could kill those murderers with your superstrength, you know."

The goat looked at her with curiosity in mind as to why she would never use her power to rebel and avenge her cat.

"But that still didn't bring Eun-Kyung back to me!!!" she yelled in desperation to the length that the vein appeared on her neck.

The lightning flased outside the tall window making the goal's vertical pupil lit up.

"That is why you remain a minor character...however, the price to bring back its life wasn't cheap, you know."

"Tell me the price, I'll do my best to fulfil them."

The goat turned to the lady with the scale. The scale was taller than a person. She grabbed the cat's corpse and put it on one side of the scale.

"I'll let you decide."

When Aurora saw her cat on the other side of the scale, she realized the price she had to pay.

The scale started tilting until it balanced when Aurora stepped on the other side.

[A life for a life. A soul for a soul. Eun-Kyung for Eun-Kyung.]

+++

The party finally ended. After bidding farewell to all my guests, I returned to my room and locked myself in it because I wouldn't want to deal with other people when I was exhausted.

Meow meow

On the other side of the bed, a cat sat there and stared at me.

I couldn't see it very well because it had black fur that blended in with the darkness.

"Come here, cat." she didn't know its name.

Meow

"So what's your name?"

Meow meow

I sighed failing to understand what it was saying.

"I'm sorry but your master isn't here. Are you hungry?"

Meow...

The kitty put its paw below my eyes wiping the little tear on my face. I felt so sleepy when it did that.

"Ahh, you're so cute."

I soon fell asleep as if I hadn't been sleeping for a long time. The last thing I saw was the cat turning its back to the wall.

[Thank you.]

[May you rest in peace, Aurora Madeline. Your Eun-Kyung will perform your role in your stead.]

[Good luck, Eun-Kyung.]

To be continued...!