I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 166

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

Tentatively called the “Isabellic System.”
It was, in essence, remarkably similar to Earth’s electrical infrastructure.
It was an ambitious plan to establish “mana power plants” throughout the realm and supply mana to ordinary households through mana transmission lines.
“With this approach, wouldn’t the common people who have been deprived of magical civilization’s benefits finally be able to enjoy it as well?”
Magic, centered around the Magical Federation, had developed for hundreds, even thousands of years, yet it remained distant from the ordinary masses.
The Magic Tower’s lights never extinguish, but most commoners sleep when the sun sets.
The benefits of magical civilization had been granted only to nobility and mages.
“Of course, it will require an enormous amount of time and astronomical sums of money.”
“You look reluctant.”
“Extremely reluctant. Introducing something new will inevitably face tremendous opposition. As you witnessed with the Teisabel Teleportation Gate and the ramen incident.”
In truth, Narmore wanted to stop now.
He had accumulated wealth so vast that he could spend lavishly his entire life without depleting it.
Further riches had become meaningless.
“However, I believe the Princess would be delighted. She loves her people more than anyone—she is undoubtedly the Empire’s First Princess.”
For reference, Isabel had once been called the “Fifth Princess.”
Regardless of gender, they were classified as First through Fifth Prince or Princess in order of birth.
However, several years ago, the imperial decree changed the designation.
Now Isabel was the Empire’s “First Princess.”
“I sometimes reminisce about the Princess volunteering in Alpea. I recall the Princess when she discovered the orphanage.”
“….”
“The Princess was truly radiant then. She was worthy of being called the Spring of the Imperial Palace.”
Narmore, now an accomplished young entrepreneur, smiled gently.
“The Princess will surely open her eyes, and I wish to create a world slightly more beautiful for her to see. If His Majesty grants permission, I will construct the Isabellic System beginning with Alpea and Jirdel.”
* * *
“My goodness, look there—Lord Arun is approaching.”
“He radiates light even from that distance.”
The maids of Arena Palace gasped in excitement.
It wasn’t only the maids of Arena Palace who reacted this way.
Arun had never once appeared in society, yet he was already being called the flower of high society.
Countless young noblewomen kept photographs of Arun and would take them out repeatedly—this had become a social phenomenon.
“Do you also stan Lord Arun?”
“You too?”
“Me as well.”
Stan.
It was a neologism born because of Arun.
“H-he’s coming closer. W-what do I do?”
“Calm yourself. Let’s present a composed and courteous appearance.”
“W-what if he speaks to us? What if I have a heart attack?”
“Don’t worry. That won’t happen.”
Arun passed by.
Fortunately(?), nothing like a heart attack occurred.
The maids stared blankly at Arun’s retreating figure.
“Did you see?”
“See what?”
“I think he smiled at me.”
“No, you’re imagining things.”
“I’m serious.”
“You’re still in the early stages of your obsession. Everyone goes through a phase of delusions like that.”
“How can he be so beautiful?”
“I understand that sentiment a hundred times over.”
This phenomenon wasn’t limited to the Imperial Palace alone.
Whenever Arun passed by, a miraculous occurrence took place where the conversation topics of countless noblewomen shifted to Arun.
“Isn’t even that aloof and cool demeanor incredibly charming?”
“I heard there’s not a single noblewoman who’s had a proper conversation with Lord Arun. And none have received replies to their love letters either.”
In reality, thousands of love letters poured into Arun every single day.
Recently, the Imperial Palace’s mail management department had even increased its staff because of Arun.
Meanwhile, Arun showed little interest in the strange phenomena surrounding him.
His only concerns were swordsmanship and Isabel.
“Isabel.”
Arun took the hand of the sleeping Isabel.
Fortunately, Isabel’s hand was warm today as well.
“I’m here.”
Every single day, without missing even one, I visited Isabel’s room and greeted her.
When my sparring with the Emperor ended, I told her it had ended, and when I ate something delicious, I told her about it.
“I tried a new dessert from Yurimor Confectionery the other day, and it was really delicious. It’s so sweet that I think you’d absolutely love it.”
I carefully placed several financiers wrapped in their packaging on the nightstand.
“Eat them when you wake up. They’re incredibly delicious.”
Of course, Isabel didn’t respond.
It was a routine that had repeated for seven years, and not a single movement could be found in Isabel, but I didn’t mind.
This was the best I could do right now.
“Time keeps flowing. The time given to us isn’t that long either. But I hope you’ll open your eyes. We have so much to talk about, and so many memories to build together in the future.”
I squeezed Isabel’s hand even tighter.
“Don’t give up. You can definitely wake up. You’ve changed the world so much. You need to see it with your own eyes. How great the miracles you’ve brought about truly are.”
After several hours passed, Maria arrived.
She was a great woman recently called the “Saint of Miracles.”
While receiving the respect and admiration of all the people in the world, she always felt like a sinner when entering this place.
Maria placed her hand on Isabel’s chest and summoned her holy power.
White light emanated from Maria’s hands, warmly covering Isabel’s body, but Isabel did not open her eyes.
“I’m sorry. My power is still quite insufficient.”
“There is nothing for you to apologize for.”
Maria carefully pushed herself up.
“Will Sir Arun continue to guard this place today as well?”
“It’s what I must do.”
Maria nodded.
Seven years of unwavering consistency meant there was nothing particularly remarkable about it.
“I’ll step outside for a moment.”
“Yes, please do.”
After Maria left, Arun took Isabel’s hand once more.
‘I miss her.’
Even as I gazed upon her, I longed for her.
It was a peculiar emotion difficult to express in words.
‘What is this feeling of mine?’
Yearning for a friend who would not awaken?
Affection for a childhood companion with whom I shared memories?
The profound bond between a Beolkkot and its guardian?
At first, I believed it to be nothing more than that.
But as one month passed, then two, three, and then one year, two years, I gradually came to understand that it was far more than that alone.
‘I miss her so desperately.’
It was far too poignant to be merely longing for a friend.
‘I want to talk with her.’
Friendship was too insufficient a word to describe it.
In Arun’s world, only Isabel remained.
With Isabel alone, I needed nothing else.
She was simply my everything.
‘My throat is parched.’
My heart burned with longing.
No matter how much cold water I drank, my chest remained heavy and suffocating.
It seemed that a single word from Isabel, a glimmer of warmth in her eyes, could quench this thirst.
“Isabel. I’m burning with longing for you.”
Only Isabel, like precious rain, could moisten my parched heart.
When three years had passed and it became four.
Arun could finally understand.
This was not friendship.
This was undoubtedly love.
There existed no other word to explain this emotion.
“For me.”
When it became the fifth year.
He, called a swordmaster rivaling the Emperor and hailed as another absolute being, grasped Isabel’s hand and prayed desperately.
Now I understood precisely what I yearned for.
“I need your love.”
Though I called it love, I hadn’t been asking for anything so grand.
How have you been?
I needed just that one phrase.
But Isabel didn’t offer me those words today either.
* * *
I couldn’t tell how long I had slept.
A very long time must have passed—I could only sense it dimly.
But then, at some point, I began to hear voices.
“I brought some delicious dessert. It’s new. I’ll leave it here, so eat it when you wake up.”
It was an affectionate voice.
But this voice scattered like a phantom without substance, disappearing in an instant.
‘I’m so tired.’
No matter how much I slept, I remained drowsy.
Occasionally, various voices drifted to me like dreams, but they all vanished beyond the reaches of my memory.
“I’m back, Isabel.”
A voice somehow familiar once again.
I would likely forget it once I slept and woke again, but in the moment of hearing that voice, my mood brightened.
I felt as though someone was holding my hand.
This sensation was also quite strange.
It felt like I was touching some rubber arm rather than my own.
“It’s your fifteenth birthday.”
The voices of many people reached me.
I seemed to have spent a warm birthday.
As time passed, the voices became increasingly clearer.
A voice I presumed to be my biological father came through.
He said something like ‘Why do you make me so weary?’—though it sounded as though he might be crying.
‘How sad.’
These warm memories would soon fade away again.
What consoled me was that the affectionate voice continued to reach me.
That voice held my consciousness as it drifted further away.
“Isabel. I’m waiting for you here.”
A parched voice.
A voice desperately wanting me.
‘Again.’
That voice kept waking me.
It kept rousing me as I slipped into the depths of unconsciousness.
If that voice hadn’t existed, I felt I would have fallen into complete darkness.
When that voice reached me and I felt that warm touch, my fading consciousness returned to its place.
I was like someone swimming alone through a very deep and dark tunnel.
“I need your love.”
After that.
A faint glimmer of light began to appear in this endless darkness.
It resembled a distant star from the far reaches of the cosmos, feeling impossibly remote.
‘But…’
Standing at the precipice, waiting for me day after day with the same unwavering expression—for that someone, I had to find strength.
To never forget that tenderness.
For someone who never grew weary, who summoned strength for me without fail, I too had to persevere.
‘I can see the light.’
It was so far away.
It felt as though I was hearing phantom sounds.
No, just rest. Lying still here is easier.
You don’t have many lives left.
Even if you open your eyes, soon enough you’ll inflict great wounds upon others again.
Is that what you desire?
Whenever I wanted to surrender, Arun’s voice echoed through.
A voice that stood beside me in this dark and desolate void.
That unwavering voice was what kept me from collapsing.
“Tomorrow, I’ll come again.”
Someone pressed their lips to my forehead.
Without that voice, I would sink back into slumber.
Without that touch, the light would vanish once more.
Now I should rest too.
I thought so, yet the light did not fade.
‘Why won’t it disappear?’
For some reason, the light appeared to grow tremendously brighter.
I continued swimming toward that luminescence.
A twitch.
I wasn’t entirely certain, but it felt as though my real fingers had moved.

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