I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 125

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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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Rather than securing separate lodging, I settled into the room that General Armitel had shown me to.
The General had fretted over me for quite some time, insisting “We cannot possibly house the Princess in such a shabby place!” and had even tried to surrender his own bed to me, but I couldn’t allow that.
“Just in case—if anything should happen to Aselia, I need to be able to rush to her side immediately. You should rest in the room closest to Ria, General.”
“But still… that room is…”
It was an attic that normally served as a storage space.
Though it felt somewhat cluttered, it was remarkably dust-free and clean.
While not spacious, it was cozy and pleasant.
“The best part is that it has a skylight.”
Without thinking, I clasped my hands together as if in prayer.
“Through this small skylight, thirty-two stars are twinkling.”
“…Pardon? Thirty… two?”
“Ah, well…”
It seemed I’d made a small mistake.
Right, there couldn’t possibly be exactly thirty-two.
“That’s simply what my eyesight can perceive from here.”
The human eye can only see light within the visible spectrum range.
Visible light is electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths perceptible to the eye, and the spectrum of those wavelengths is… —I didn’t elaborate further on such details.
This seemed to fall into the realm of earth science, and I wasn’t particularly confident in that subject, so I might inadvertently convey incorrect information.
There was no need to make unnecessary mistakes.
“With a specially crafted telescope, the universe surely contains far more stars. Hehe.”
“Ah, yes, I suppose so.”
General Armitel’s expression seemed odd somehow, but in any case, the matter was settled with Yuri and me sleeping here.
As time passed and it grew past ten o’clock at night, Yuri, who had been lying down, suddenly bolted upright.
“What are you—!”
“Shh. Keep your voice down. Everyone will hear.”
At my words, Yuri lowered her voice.
“I simply cannot accept this. Your hair is so beautiful, my lady.”
Upon hearing that I wanted to cut my hair and gift it to Aselia, Yuri clenched her lips in clear disapproval.
“…How could I possibly cut the Princess’s hair?”
I had already anticipated Yuri’s reaction.
In truth, in this world, it was common sense that noblewomen kept their hair long.
Since that was the standard of beauty, it was only natural that Yuri would react so dramatically.
“Yuri. Want me to tell you a secret? Come closer.”
At my gesture, Yuri reluctantly crouched down and brought her ear near.
“It’s a secret, you see.”
“…”
“I actually like short hair.”
“Short hair?”
Ah, this world didn’t have a word for short hair.
“Yeah, hair like General Armitel’s. Isn’t it incredibly pretty and cool?”
“General Armitel is a soldier, after all. But the Princess….”
“Yuri, please. Your hands are so skilled—you could cut it beautifully. Even when I’ve ruined Libel, she becomes pretty again the moment you touch her.”
“Even so, how could I possibly cut the Princess’s hair….”
In truth, I could have skipped this tedious back-and-forth by simply commanding, “Cut my hair,” but I didn’t want to.
Yuri and I were friends.
Friends deserved to be spoken to in a way befitting friendship.
I wanted to cherish the first friend I’d ever had in my world.
“Why do you dislike cutting my hair, Yuri?”
“Well, that’s naturally….”
Yuri couldn’t find the words to continue.
Because there was no real reason.
“Why is long hair naturally expected? I want to try a short cut.”
“….”
“I believe I have the freedom to do what I desire. As long as it doesn’t harm others, that is. Don’t you agree?”
“Even so….”
“I want to do so many things I’ve wanted to do. You know this about me, Yuri. I don’t have much time….”
“No, stop! Please stop!”
Yuri’s voice grew louder. Then her face flushed red.
“I’m so sorry for raising my voice. I’m truly sorry. You startled me so much….”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry.”
Had this been a formal occasion, it might have been problematic, but this was private.
I had no intention of blaming Yuri.
If I were in her position, I wouldn’t want to hear my dear friend say, “I don’t have much time left.”
“I’ll do it. I’ll give you the most beautiful short cut in the world. So please, don’t say such frightening things. Please.”
“Hehe.”
“Don’t laugh.”
“Why? Hehehehe.”
“I want to be angry, but I can’t.”
“Then just don’t be angry! Come on? Come on? Don’t be mad, okay? Okay?”
I wiggled all ten fingers and tickled Yuri’s sides.
Yuri finally couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.
I felt guilty for using my terminal condition as a kind of weapon, so I added a bit more logic to my argument.
“I am the Princess of the Empire, and I believe I have a duty to challenge people’s narrow-minded thinking. Nothing in this world is inevitable. At least, it’s not inevitable that I can’t do what I want because of others’ opinions. And it’s not as though my desires harm anyone, is it?”
“…But many people will gossip about it. The world finds it difficult to accept things that are a bit unusual.”
“So?”
I laughed again with a hehe.
“I’m the Princess.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Sometimes, power seemed like a good thing.
I began our beauty salon game.
“Please make it pretty, Teacher. I’d like the length around here. You saw the reference model earlier, right? I want hair like General Armitel’s.”
Snip—
My hair began falling away.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I was still beautiful.
‘What is this?’
If I said I wasn’t terrified, that would be a lie.
But now that I’d actually cut it, this appearance was undeniably fraudulent.
‘It’s a face complete….’
It was the moment I realized once again that the face was the completion of everything.
* * *
Morning had broken.
My lower belly was warm, and I realized Bumblebee had curled up into a ball on my stomach and fallen asleep.
Using the wig that Yuri had made as a blanket.
I carefully lifted myself up.
‘Huh?’
Thump!—
Somehow, Bumblebee tumbled to the side.
But the strange thing was that she didn’t wake up.
‘Well… that thing over there, as long as she’s sleeping well, it’s fine.’
I carefully picked up the wig.
Honestly, it might be a bit presumptuous.
I wasn’t sure if my desire to give Aselia this wig as a gift was truly the right thing.
But if Aselia truly was exactly like the me of the past.
If she possessed the same thoughts I once had, then I felt she would probably like this wig.
Aselia seemed like she’d like it, but General Armitel appeared to be in shock.
“Your Highness!”
“Shh, you’ll wake Aselia.”
“Your Highness. What is th, that exactly….”
“It’s pretty, isn’t it?”
“….”
“It’s not pretty? That’s strange. It has to be pretty.”
“….”
I poked General Armitel with my finger.
“It’s pretty.”
“…It is pretty. Very much so.”
“It suits me well, doesn’t it?”
“It does suit you. But why….”
“I fell for General Armitel’s hairstyle. I’ve decided to call this hairstyle a ‘short cut.’ Later, I’ll tell Viscount Biatonn about it and register it in the dictionary.”
I pulled out the wig I’d been hiding behind my back.
“Yuri made it, so the quality is incredibly good. And while it’s still rough, I’ve cast restoration magic on it in my own way.”
In that process, Libel suffered quite a bit of damage.
I studied the restoration magic inscribed on Libel, touching and examining it from various angles, and in doing so, the restoration magic formula shattered.
That was deeply saddening to me.
I wished I could reapply the restoration magic, but it seemed Libel’s physical durability wouldn’t withstand it.
“I’d like to give this to Ria as a gift. Do you think she’d dislike it?”
“….”
I heard General Armitel muttering something under his breath.
“Pardon? I didn’t quite hear that.”
“Why….”
He clenched his fist tightly.
I wondered if he was angry, but fortunately, it didn’t seem to be the case.
“Why are you doing so much for us?”
“I simply wanted to try a short cut. I was just thinking about what to do with the leftover hair.”
“I don’t understand what we’ve done to deserve this, or why you’re doing so much for us.”
His shoulders were trembling slightly.
It seemed that my cutting his hair was an incredibly shocking thing to him.
By the standards of this era, it must have been quite unconventional.
“Does everything need to be understood?”
“…Yes?”
“I don’t think it’s necessary to understand everything. Besides, it’s not always possible to understand.”
“But there must be a reason….”
There were several reasons, actually.
It was true that I wanted to win over Armitel, who might become a traitor in the future, to our side. It was also true that I cared deeply about Aselia, who looked just like me.
And my attraction to short hair was no lie either.
When I received this new life, I made a promise to myself to try everything I wanted before I left.
This was part of that.
“Because I wanted to be a good friend.”
“….”
“I didn’t have a single friend my own age. But now I do. Her name is Yuri. She’s my closest friend. She’s so, so precious to me.”
“….”
Even in my previous life, there was no one I could truly call a friend.
Whenever I saw my peers building friendships and spending happy times together, I felt such envy.
“Now that I have one, it feels so, so wonderful.”
This was sincere.
Perhaps because I was still young, it felt as though my friend was my entire world.
“I can’t be the only one to experience such great happiness. I’m a Princess. I want to share and teach people the good things I’ve felt.”
Perhaps to a child living a life similar to what I once lived.
“You know Ria best, General, so I’m asking you. Do you think Ria will like this gift?”
“That is….”
And that day, a miracle occurred in the small village of Calphoa.

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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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