I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 114

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“This is too difficult. I’m frustrated!”
“Frustrated… you say?”
Yuri was startled. She never expected such words to come from Isabel’s lips.
‘This person who speaks of finding happiness and joy even in a life destined to end…!’
What on earth could possibly frustrate the Princess, radiant as sunlight itself?
Yuri steeled herself to vanquish whatever evil caused this.
It mattered not what that evil was. If it dimmed the luster of that sunlight, Yuri was prepared to stand against it.
“What has troubled the Princess?”
Isabel handed something to Yuri with a disgruntled expression.
What she held in her hands was a small doll.
‘A doll?’
Upon closer inspection, its hair was in terrible condition.
“The hair won’t cooperate. I shampooed it well and conditioned it properly.”
“….”
Isabel was genuinely serious about playing with the doll.
“I braided the hair so carefully, but it’s a complete mess.”
“….”
Yuri could see it too.
Rather than braided, it looked more like the hair had been scorched. Or perhaps it had been struck by a powerful magical explosion.
‘That doll… has some magic woven into it to maintain the hair and automatically keep it in a beautiful form.’
Since the King had personally gifted it after careful consideration, such magical enchantments were naturally included.
Typically, whoever touched it would achieve results as if a first-rate hair designer had worked on it.
As long as one followed the instructions properly.
‘How is that even… possible?’
Yet Isabel’s doll was remarkably, inexplicably ruined.
Despite her obvious effort, it looked worse than if she hadn’t tried at all.
‘It seems the mana leaking out naturally is simply too excessive….’
In any case, it was quite ironic.
The combination of dress and jewels was also somehow off.
The orange-scorched hair and silver tiara clashed like oil and water.
“Let me try touching it.”
After Yuri touched the doll a few times, it became beautiful again.
Certainly, being crafted by master artisans, its restoration ability was exceptional.
“Why can’t I do it?”
Watching Isabel pout, Yuri couldn’t help but laugh lightly.
So even the Princess has things she cannot do.
“With a little practice, you’ll be able to do it. I can do this because I trained hard under Servant Deilsa.”
“If I practice hard, I can do it like you, Yuri?”
“Of course!”
That was a blatant lie.
Isabel possessed a most peculiar talent—the harder she tried to be skillful, the more her competence seemed to evaporate.
The doll deteriorated so badly under her touch that one could only wonder if it was even possible to damage it so thoroughly.
“How frustrating!”
Because her frustration was genuine, it cut all the deeper.
That night, Isabel exhaled a long, weary sigh.
“I suppose I have to accept that I share the same bloodline as Michael.”
She alternated her gaze between the doll, now warped into an oddly distorted shape, and her own hands, releasing another sigh.
“How did it even become like this?”
“…J-just a little more practice, and you’ll improve, I’m sure.”
“The more I practice, the stranger it becomes.”
“…”
Even Yuri found herself unable to offer further comfort or encouragement.
Isabel truly did possess a remarkable talent.
To take a magical doll designed to become more beautiful with every touch and transform it into… that.
She had accomplished something truly extraordinary.
‘But…’
Yuri sensed something peculiar.
‘Her growth seems to have slowed somehow, doesn’t it?’
Villorians typically grew at an extraordinarily rapid pace, yet Isabel appeared to have halted at approximately ten years of development.
It reminded her somewhat of Michael’s situation.
‘Well, it doesn’t really matter. She’s adorable, after all.’
The night deepened further.
“Your Highness, it’s time for you to sleep now.”
“…Mm.”
Yuri tucked the blanket around Isabel and gently patted her chest.
A little time passed.
“Are you unable to sleep tonight?”
“Yeah, I’m frustrated.”
The doll truly delighted her. It was so entertaining that she’d lost all sense of time.
She herself hadn’t expected to become so absorbed in playing with dolls.
Precisely because her passion had been so genuine, discovering her lack of talent in this area brought her sorrow.
“Viscount Biatonn lied to me.”
“Viscount Biatonn lied to you?”
“He told me I had exceptional manual dexterity.”
Long ago, when she had drawn Ron’s portrait, Viscount Biatonn had indeed praised her dexterity lavishly.
Since then, he had always spoken to her in that manner, and so Isabel had mistakenly believed herself to be genuinely skilled with her hands.
It seemed that one truly came to understand oneself only through experiencing a variety of things.
“I suspected it somewhat when my cooking proved disastrous… but I still turned a blind eye to it. Yet today, I finally understood the truth.”
She despised admitting it, yet she did so nonetheless.
“I have completely clumsy hands.”
I pulled the blanket up and draped it over my face.
* * *
“Your Majesty! How can you unilaterally breach a contract like this!”
The one shouting was Reina, the only daughter of the Rosild Duchy.
King Valkio of Zirdel flinched as if startled.
“Goodness, you scared me. I thought you were a whale, a whale indeed.”
“You’re backing out of the deal now?”
“That’s why I’m paying double compensation, isn’t it? I’m taking a loss too.”
The origin of this incident was as follows.
Originally, Zirdel and the Rosild Duchy had concluded a contract regarding diamonds.
A preliminary deposit had already been placed.
Everything had been completed behind the scenes, and today was merely a matter of affixing seals to the documents.
Since it was such a simple task, the Rosild Duchy had deliberately sent Reina.
To give her experience and allow her to build some credible achievements.
“Well, a better business partner came along, didn’t they? Isn’t it specified in the contract? Specifically, it states that this contract may be terminated if diamonds of clearly superior quality can be obtained.”
“….”
Reina trembled visibly.
“These diamonds are the finest products created by the Yurmiel Family!”
“My ears work fine, so you don’t need to shout, Miss Whale.”
“You’ll definitely regret this.”
Valkio laughed—heh heh—at Reina, who was grinding her teeth.
‘I’d already heard rumors that Rosild’s only daughter had terrible manners, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad.’
Rather than anger at her audacity, he felt a bit of pity.
She was so different from Isabel, who had come yesterday.
‘One comes and offers both practical benefit and justification, while the other comes and puts on a whale show. At this rate, it’s not even a proper fight.’
“My business here is finished. You may leave. The ocean is that way.”
“…What are you saying?”
“Because whales live in the ocean.”
Gabrieng, the chief advisor beside Valkio, let out a small cough.
He should have grown accustomed to his king’s rather niche sense of humor by now, but he still found it somewhat embarrassing.
Gabrieng interpreted Valkio’s words.
“The door is that way, Princess Reina.”
It was a clear dismissal.
Reina huffed and stormed out.
Valkio, watching her leave, shrugged his shoulders.
“Isabel is a political asset of the imperial family. This was deliberately rubbing salt in Rosild’s wounds, wasn’t it?”
“I believe so as well.”
“A very strong wind is about to blow across the continent, heh heh.”
After laughing for a while, Valkio suddenly spoke as if remembering something.
“Ah yes, does the Princess like the gift I gave her? I’ve been a bit worried about it.”
“Did I not object to that gift?”
“No, I didn’t realize she was such a mature child.”
“She will certainly think herself disrespected.”
Isabel was a political asset.
Outwardly, merely a young child.
Yet inwardly, she was a seasoned politician who had swallowed three hundred cunning foxes whole.
Giving such a child a doll fit only for infants was a grave mistake indeed.
“Why don’t you go visit her yourself? If she’s upset, try to cheer her up a bit.”
* * *
My heart had grown terribly uneasy.
It weighed on me all the more because I had been sincere about the doll play.
“Yuri, what is the nature of my fashion sense?”
“…”
“Do I even possess such a thing as sense?”
“Y-yes, of course you do.”
Even Yuri, who always spoke to me with such tenderness, was stammering.
See? I’m hopeless with my hands.
“Why does everything turn to rubbish the moment I touch it?”
“Again, rubbish? You have quite a refined eye, and your aesthetic sense is truly outstanding.”
“Right, I do seem to have an eye for beauty. Which is precisely why I understand how the outfits I put together turn to rubbish.”
I seemed to lack the ability to create something from nothing.
I could recognize beauty when I saw it, yet strangely, whenever I tried to create something beautiful, it became rubbish.
“I’m fortunate, though. To have such a capable maid as you, Yuri.”
“I’ll always do my best.”
I stood before the mirror.
Gazing upon my luxuriant golden hair and those jewel-like amber eyes, my heart began to settle.
My pale skin was perfectly matched with the dress that shimmered with a subtle cool blue undertone.
I must be cool-toned.
‘Beautiful.’
It was not merely the beauty of appearance.
There was something beyond beauty. It seemed to be a certain radiance that came from vitality.
‘Truly beautiful.’
I didn’t know how others might perceive me, but I felt this face and body were genuinely beautiful.
Those cheeks, gleaming with healthy vigor, were so different from my previous life.
Back then, I was truly pale and unremarkable, but now they held a peachy flush.
It meant my heart was pumping healthy blood vigorously through every corner of my body.
‘My lips are red too.’
Without thinking, I reached toward the mirror and touched my lips.
There were moments like this—when these red, beautiful lips didn’t feel like my own.
My lips could never have such healthy color. My lips were nearly ashen gray…
‘I’m genuinely grateful for how beautiful this is.’
It’s a bit strange how much I keep emphasizing it, but regardless, it truly was beautiful.
It’s embarrassing and perhaps excessive to say aloud, but to me, this beauty was radiant.
I think perhaps… the very moment itself was beautiful and lovely—standing steadily on two legs, gazing at my reflection in the mirror, and feeling grateful for who I am right now.
Overwhelmed by this sudden gratitude, I reached out to touch my reflection in the mirror, and before I knew it, a bashful smile spread across my face.
Then a voice came from behind me.
“What are you… doing?”
My blood relative, my own brother, had appeared.
Startled, I spun around with a whoosh, and there stood Brother Kaman, regarding me with an expression I had never seen before.
Since acquiring this body, for the first time, I wished I were dead.

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