I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 172

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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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Though Aselia now lived a life quite different from “After the Doomed Villainess Dies,” her fundamental nature remained that of a heroine from a romantic fantasy novel.
“If I were the Princess, I think I would want to be loved.”
“You wish to be loved?”
“Because she only gives love, never receives it. If I were her, I think I would desperately long for someone’s love.”
Arun flinched for a moment.
He sensed something odd in Aselia’s words.
Isabel was already loved by many people.
So saying she had never received love was clearly incorrect.
Yet regardless of the facts, Arun found himself convinced.
‘That’s right. She has never received love.’
A subtle sense of kinship emerged between Aselia and Arun’s eyes.
It was something like a faint camaraderie.
‘She hasn’t yet received the love that truly suits her.’
Arun began to rationalize.
Isabel was someone who deserved so much love.
Yet the love the world offered was far too meager to fill Isabel, radiant as sunlight.
It would likely remain insufficient her entire life.
So she had never truly received love.
There was some logical contradiction, but Arun chose not to dwell on it.
“Your insight as an advisor is remarkably keen, Aselia.”
“You understand what I’m saying?”
Aselia had spoken similar sentiments many times before.
She had shared many conversations of this nature with her older sister Armitel, who always responded this way.
‘Ria. I don’t think that’s true. She receives so much love.’
Not just Armitel, but many people failed to understand Aselia’s perspective.
But Arun was different.
“Of course I understand. We must give her more love.”
“Oh. For the first time, I’m developing a favorable impression of you, Arun.”
“I feel the same.”
Until now, they had been connected only through work, making it difficult for them to understand each other.
But from today onward, it seemed they might grow somewhat closer.
“You seem like a better person than I thought, Arun.”
“You also seem like a better person than I thought, Aselia.”
“Did you think I was bad before?”
“I thought you were somewhat frightening. A bit of madness showed in your… no, among those who don’t wield a sword, you were the most terrifying.”
“The frightening one isn’t me—it’s you, Arun. People only approach the manageable me with their complaints.”
….
Now that they were connected through work, the distance between them could not grow any closer.
Then suddenly, Arun glanced upward behind him.
‘Hm? I feel like someone’s watching…’
The seventh floor of Arena Palace.
The window of Isabel’s room was open.
* * *
Yuri asked me.
“Princess, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
I was crouched down beneath the window.
To be honest, I wasn’t sitting—I was hiding.
Even I don’t understand why I’m doing this.
Why did I hide? There’s no reason to hide at all.
I could just greet them if our eyes met.
“It’s clearly something! Why are you acting like that? Was there an insect?”
“Ah, yes, that’s right. There was an insect.”
“Oh my. I’ll be more careful with the cleaning. I’m sorry—you must have been quite startled?”
Yuri helped me up.
Then, determined to hunt down the non-existent insect (?), she began searching the surroundings meticulously with fierce determination.
“It must have escaped outside. It startled our Princess, so it deserved to be taught a lesson.”
The way she clenched her fists and huffed indignantly looked so much like a ruffian that I burst out laughing.
She seemed to have become much more spirited over these seven years.
“Yuri, you know what?”
“Yes, what is it?”
“If I were to leave, this world would still flow along its natural course, wouldn’t it?”
“You promised not to say such things.”
Yuri’s expression darkened considerably.
“I won’t be giving you the homemade chocolate I specially developed this time.”
“….”
If I were to leave, then Arun and Aselia would surely love each other and live happily together, right?
That was the story’s premise.
Perhaps an even more powerful setting than the Narbidal Stigma.
The greatest context that runs through this entire novel.
So once the variable that is me disappears, those two would likely return to loving each other naturally.
‘They really do suit each other.’
That was an undeniable fact.
Watching them together felt like spring sunlight.
I could sense a subtle freshness emanating from them.
They were such a perfectly matched pair that merely looking at them brought a contented smile to my face.
“The homemade chocolate. I really won’t give it to you.”
Yuri pouted slightly, so I had to comfort her a bit.
‘It’s right to let things flow according to their natural course.’
I thought there was no need to shake Arun’s heart with a moment of selfishness.
Arun seemed to be growing confused in his heart because of the memories he shared with me.
Once I departed, everything would eventually return to its proper place.
* * *
Aselia had originally evaluated Arun this way.
-A barbaric man who knows nothing except swordsmanship.
More precisely, he was a man who possessed such overwhelming power that he had no need to concern himself with anything else.
After all, most things could be resolved through sheer strength.
To Administrator Aselia’s eyes, that didn’t appear particularly favorable.
But now she had added one more line.
-Yet regarding the Princess, he is wiser than anyone.
Arun possessed exactly two exceptional qualities.
One was swordsmanship, and the other was Isabel.
Arun himself understood that fact well.
‘Isabel was definitely looking at me.’
But she hid.
It was a wonderful opportunity to see Isabel’s face one more time, and it was regrettable.
As several days passed, he came to realize something.
That Isabel was trying to distance herself from him.
‘Why?’
He couldn’t understand the reason.
Part of him wanted to ask her why right this instant, but he couldn’t.
He didn’t want to disturb Isabel’s heart for no reason.
Arun sought out Duke Robena.
“Mother, honestly, you don’t need a VIP waiting pass, do you?”
“It’s not that I don’t need one… but it seems there’s someone who really does need it.”
In the end, Arun half-forcibly took the VIP waiting pass from Robena and arranged a meeting with Isabel, just the two of them.
Arun treated Isabel exactly as he always did.
As if he hadn’t noticed anything.
As if he knew nothing.
“Isabel. Do you remember this?”
Arun pulled out a ring from his pocket.
It was a ring made of flowers.
“Oh, that… looks similar to the flower ring I gave to my Biological Father a long time ago.”
“That’s right.”
“How did you know about that?”
“The Emperor bragged about it to me endlessly.”
“Father did?”
“Yes. I thought I’d die of envy.”
Arun laughed lightly.
“So I tried really hard to make one exactly like it. What do you think?”
“They couldn’t possibly be the same.”
The flower ring Isabel had gifted to Ron was one she’d crafted when she was four years old.
Naturally, it was crude and clumsy.
But the flower ring Arun had made was different.
Whatever method he’d used, the petals overflowed with vitality and lustrous sheen.
At first glance, it resembled a flower-shaped jewel.
On the stem portion, there appeared to be magical inscriptions carved so faintly they were barely visible—he’d clearly applied magical enhancement.
Arun grinned widely.
“I’ve become a master of flower rings now. When I craft them while thinking of Isabel, I’ve somehow reached this level of artistry.”
Musical notes [♪♬] floated above Arun’s head.
Though he acted as if they appeared naturally from his improved mood, this was entirely intentional.
“Would you like me to teach you how to make flower rings?”
“…Flower rings at this age?”
Arun smiled smoothly and slipped the flower ring onto Isabel’s finger.
“How is it? Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is beautiful.”
It resembled a ring polished by a renowned jeweler.
“I really want to find a flower ring that suits you perfectly. Will you come to the Flower Garden with me?”
“…”
Arun gazed at Isabel with earnest eyes.
Just as Bumblebee desperately yearned for his guardian.
“You know I’m using a VIP waiting pass right now, don’t you?”
As Isabel hesitated, Arun dropped to one knee and extended his right hand.
“Let me escort you.”
“…”
Isabel found herself uncertain whether to take that hand.
The Flower Garden of the Imperial Palace was a space brimming with memories of Bumblebee.
If she went there with Arun, so many recollections would surely surface.
Would that truly be good for us?
Her heart felt somewhat conflicted.
“Isabel is always like this.”
Before she knew it, Arun had risen to his feet and lifted Isabel into his arms.
“Put me down.”
“Bumblebee always lives as he pleases.”
“You’re not Bumblebee right now.”
“Bumblebee is me.”
He walked toward the window while holding Isabel close.
“What, what are you doing?”
“Don’t be alarmed. I’m going to make us levitate.”
Arun’s body slowly began to drift upward.
“Did you use magic?”
“Yes. I learned magic while you were sleeping.”
In the novel, Arun was a swordmaster who only wielded the blade.
But he had learned magic.
“I just… kept researching how I could be of help to you, and that’s how I ended up learning magic too.”
Arun moved slowly out the window while cradling Isabel in his arms.
Gradually, so she wouldn’t be too frightened.
“You can read my emotions through my mana, can’t you, Isabel?”
“…Yes.”
“How does it feel?”
Floating gently at a height of seven stories.
Yet Isabel wasn’t afraid.
The emotions and thoughts transmitted through Arun’s mana made her feel completely safe.
“Warm and cozy.”
“Then let’s go to the Flower Garden.”
Arun flew slowly so Isabel wouldn’t be frightened.
And he kept bringing up old memories.
“Do you remember what I said back then?”
“What did you say?”
[Did you see?]
[Call me. Flying Kim Beolggwol.]
Mana letters materialized before Isabel’s eyes.
“Now it’s flying Arun.”
Isabel remembered that time and burst into laughter.
Arun smiled brightly as he recalled those days.
“That day, Kim Beolggwol ate ramen and got terrible indigestion. But I was happy. It felt like I had accomplished something for Isabel.”
Arun, holding Isabel in his embrace, was certain.
This is where I belong.
This moment, holding Isabel in my arms, was when I became complete.
Seeing Isabel smile in my embrace, it felt as though the entire world had become mine.
‘I can’t exist without you.’
But he couldn’t just recklessly shout, “I love you, marry me.”
Kim Beolggwol would have done that, but Arun wouldn’t.
He approached Isabel with a bit more calculation and strategy.
Touching upon the beautiful memories they had built together, one by one.
“Oh right. I’m actually really good at making flower crowns. Want to see?”
He made the flower crown they had created together.
Arun placed the flower crown on his own head and looked at Isabel.
Just as Kim Beolggwol had done back then.
Soon after, he removed the flower crown from his head and placed it on Isabel’s.
“I’ll give this to you as a gift. Will you make one for me too, Isabel?”
“….”
As time passed, Isabel found herself caught in an inexplicable emotion.
She felt as though she shouldn’t be doing this, as though she should maintain greater distance.
Despite these misgivings, the Flower Garden seemed to soften her heart entirely.
‘That’s right. This is just reminiscing about memories.’
She crafted a flower crown as well.
It wasn’t as intricately beautiful as Arun’s creation, yet in his eyes, it was the most exquisite flower crown in all the world.
Arun, as if enchanted by something, found himself murmuring without conscious thought.
“It’s truly beautiful.”
“Hmm?”
“The flowers are beautiful.”
“…Yes.”
“Look around you.”
It was peculiar—suddenly, every flower surrounding them had burst into full bloom.
Amid the radiant blossoms, Arun smiled even more brilliantly than the flowers themselves.
“And there’s a place I really want to go with you, Isabel. Will you come with me?”

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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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