I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 122

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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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I had spent nearly my entire life in the Hospital.
People who were truly ill carried a peculiar, subtle scent about them.
It wasn’t an actual fragrance, but I had come to call it the “scent of sickness.”
I had mentioned it to others, but it seemed they couldn’t perceive it.
This place too was saturated with that scent of sickness.
As I approached the bed, I found myself unable to move forward.
‘Truly, she looks far too much like me.’
The face I had wanted to forget.
A sickly face, drained of all color, came into view.
General Armitel, who had followed me in, introduced me.
“This is the Princess, Aselia.”
I spoke hastily.
“Don’t get up.”
I didn’t understand.
I truly didn’t understand any of it.
Why she bore that expression, why the original heroine was suffering like this.
Everything was a mystery.
Yet one thing was certain.
If that child truly resembled me, if she was experiencing the same suffering I had endured, then even rising from that bed would be an ordeal for her.
I knew that fact all too well.
‘I truly hated it when the politicians came.’
Whenever politicians visited, I had to force my unmoving body to rise.
People I had met for the first time and would never see again would suddenly pull out handkerchiefs, wipe their tears, and take photographs with me.
Of course, the moment the photograph was taken, those tears vanished without a trace. And beside them, people who looked like secretaries would collect the handkerchiefs.
As if the camera lens held some magic that stopped tears.
“That’s an order. Don’t get up—just stay lying down.”
“….”
At the word “order,” Aselia’s body flinched.
She seemed bewildered by the sudden appearance of the Princess.
“My name is Isabel. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“…It’s an honor, Your Highness. I’m Aselia.”
I could hear it in her voice.
Aselia seemed to lack even the energy to speak.
Her body was one thing, but her heart was another.
‘I think… I understand.’
Perhaps it was because she looked so much like my past self.
I could read that child’s heart with perfect clarity.
Even amidst her pain, she was undoubtedly feeling a small thrill.
‘I was the same way.’
Memories I had forgotten came flooding back.
I hated it most when famous politicians came to visit, and I loved it most when friends my age came to see me.
Those friends never asked me to take photos with them and had genuine conversations with me.
While some children occasionally overwhelmed me with their boundless energy, most of them treated me quite carefully, and they often shared stories about school life, things that happened among friends, and topics I found interesting.
“It’s really nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about General Armitel. He really, truly loves Aselia.”
“My sister?”
Even in her pain, I could see her eyes sparkling.
Aselia seemed to love Armitel just as much as he loved her.
“Yes. He talks about Aselia’s accomplishments so much. I thought he was a stern and frightening person, but whenever Aselia comes up, he becomes incredibly talkative.”
General Armitel’s face flushed slightly.
“Your Highness. I was just….”
I cut off General Armitel’s words.
“General. Would you mind giving us a chance to talk as friends our age?”
“….”
“It’s fine. If anything happens, I’ll call for you.”
“…Understood. Then I’ll go to the shop and buy some beverages.”
“No. Instead, please go shopping with Yuri, who’s waiting outside. Having you there will make her feel more at ease.”
Even if it were a dessert from a famous restaurant, it would be nothing compared to what Yuri made with her own hands.
As far as I knew, Yuri was the finest chef, pastry chef, barista, and tea ceremony master.
General Armitel looked down at Aselia lying in bed with worried eyes.
Aselia shot back sharply.
“Besides, my sister was never by my side anyway. Don’t worry and go.”
* * *
Aselia burst into bright laughter.
“Really? You mean the honey badger can talk?”
At least for this moment, she wasn’t in pain.
“Yeah. Right now it seems to be scurrying around somewhere, but it’ll be back soon. Then I’ll introduce you. Its fur is incredibly soft and its body is incredibly warm.”
“And it smells like sweet honey?”
“Yes!”
“That’s amazing!”
Aselia and Isabel became quite close rather quickly.
“I’d also like to try the ramen that Your Highness developed.”
Aselia’s mouth watered. Then she swallowed hard.
Though she’d never tasted it before, it felt like it would be the most delicious thing in the world.
“Should we sneak one?”
“The physician said absolutely not….”
“Physicians always say that. If we lived the way physicians told us to, we’d only eat green poop.”
“Green poop?”
“Yeah, broccoli.”
“Your Highness doesn’t like broccoli either?”
“I absolutely hate it. I hate it so much. It’s the second thing I hate most in the world.”
Aselia burst into another delighted laugh.
“Then what’s the first one?”
“Cucumber.”
I despise cucumbers.
I apologize to the cucumber, but I hate the smell, the texture—everything about it.
I’m sorry, cucumber.
Isabel apologized to the invisible cucumbers.
“Oh? Me too! I hate cucumbers as well!”
“I hate eating them and I hate putting them on things.”
“Putting them? You put cucumbers on things? Where?”
“On your face—it’s supposed to improve your skin.”
“Good heavens…!”
Aselia’s eyes widened as if she’d received a shocking revelation.
Putting cucumber on your face?
“You do that with food? I was taught never to play around with food.”
“Right. So I won’t do it.”
Isabel spoke with utmost seriousness as if making a grand proclamation, then continued.
“Spicy ramen will probably be difficult for you to eat. Instead, let’s ask for cream ramen flavored with milk cream. Yuri, who came with me, is an exceptionally skilled cook.”
“Is that really okay?”
“I may not trust myself, but I trust Yuri. If she makes it, it won’t be too stimulating and will be fine.”
The two of them exchanged various stories.
The topics shifted constantly, and from a social perspective, there was nothing “nutritionally valuable” about the conversation.
No talk of visions for the future, the direction society should take, discovering one’s inner self and developing character.
Instead, they spoke of tteokbokki, ramen, iced chocolate milk, French toast—and somehow Bumblebee kept appearing in nearly every topic.
“…Now that I think about it, it seems like we’ve only been talking about food?”
“I want to eat everything the Princess mentioned. Will a day like that come for me too someday?”
“Of course! Absolutely!”
Isabel felt a sudden pang in her chest.
Those who eat every day don’t understand.
How desperate that longing truly is.
‘Why does she find joy in such a manner?’
I was convinced that Aselia’s true self, the dragon, must be a pervert.
The current Aselia is completely a “human” Aselia.
She has no awareness of being a dragon and lives as the real Aselia.
So all the pain and suffering she feels now are genuine.
[Kim Beolggwol appears.]
“What have you been up to?”
[Kim Beolggwol is a man of action.]
[He conquered the alley.]
I couldn’t quite understand what or how he’d conquered, but Kim Beolggwol certainly seemed quite proud of himself.
At Kim Beolggwol’s arrival, Aselia forgot her pain and sat up.
Kim Beolggwol was considerably hostile toward others except me, but it was different with Aselia.
[You, be my friend.]
Kim Beolggwol nestled snugly into Aselia’s arms first.
Pleased, she rubbed her head against Aselia’s chest repeatedly.
[Negotiation complete.]
[From now on, friends.]
Aselia burst into bright laughter again.
With Kim Beolggwol’s arrival, the atmosphere became even warmer.
After a brief moment, Aselia opened her mouth.
“Yes. Really, I’m fine. Thank you for worrying about me.”
“….”
I knew the truth.
That Aselia was far from fine.
I knew it better than anyone.
It was a phrase the old Isabel had always kept on her lips.
‘Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for worrying about me.’
For someone in a position of receiving sponsorship, it was an inevitable phrase.
I always had to express gratitude and sincerity to my sponsors.
Before them, I always had to pretend to live with hope.
That was my duty toward them.
So even when things weren’t fine, I had to say they were.
Sometimes I wasn’t grateful, but I had to say I was.
Once, I refused to take a photograph and was scolded by someone for it.
They said I didn’t know how to be grateful.
As a child, I truly believed I was at fault and begged for forgiveness.
I was a sponsored child, and the only emotion permitted to a sponsored child was gratitude.
I sat down on the edge of the bed.
The mattress creaked softly.
“It’s okay even if you’re not okay.”
I decided to start a conversation about something different—not about tteokbokki and ramen.

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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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