I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 192

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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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My birthday was drawing near—just one month away.
“Mother, Father. I have a request.”
Lately, conversations with my parents had become difficult.
“Again, again. Your eyes are glistening with tears.”
Mother especially was prone to this.
Outside these walls, she was praised as the Benevolent Sovereign, yet before me, she was simply an ordinary mother—emotionally rich and quick to tears.
Mother dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief and forced a radiant smile.
“I was just yawning. Yes, Isabel. What is your request?”
“I would prefer my birthday celebration not be too extravagant.”
This birthday would be my twentieth—and my last.
I didn’t want to conclude my birthday and funeral with excessive grandeur.
“I was already preparing it that way, knowing that’s what you’d want.”
“Truly?”
Mother would have done exactly that.
I shifted my gaze to Father.
Father was suddenly staring at the ceiling, feigning ignorance.
If I knew my father, he was certainly planning the most magnificent party in the world.
He would have believed it was all for my sake.
Mother jabbed Father in the ribs.
“Isn’t that right, dear?”
“O-of course it is.”
This was the first time I’d heard Father stammer.
“I think you and Mother look wonderful together.”
“Do I?”
“Yes. Though you and Mother are called the greatest sovereigns in the world, before me you’re simply a loving couple. That’s what I find most beautiful.”
It was what I had always dreamed of.
Having parents like everyone else did.
The reality that this dream had come true struck me anew.
“I’ve conveyed my wishes, so I’ll return to my room now.”
Father’s voice came softly.
“Is Arun still by your side today?”
“Yes. He’s my betrothed, after all. And the safest guard I have in this world.”
“I’m not certain he’s the safest.”
“But he’s protected me from countless forces that sought to harm me.”
“Yet he might still take you away from me….”
Mother jabbed Father in the ribs again.
Father still seemed displeased with Arun.
I wished he and the people precious to me could get along well.
Mother spoke to me.
“Go rest in your room now. You must be tired. And if there’s anything uncomfortable, tell me.”
Mother drew close to me and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“Sleep well, my little one.”
My forehead tingled.
I trembled for a moment, then broke into a wide smile and pulled Mother into a tight embrace.
“My?”
“It feels strange when you call me your little one.”
I’m all grown up now.
Anyone can see I’m an adult.
If someone else called me that, I’d probably get goosebumps.
But when Mother calls me her little one, my heart somehow swells with emotion.
Perhaps I’ve always wanted to remain a child in Mother’s eyes.
“I’m all grown up, you know.”
Mother stroked my hair.
“In my eyes, you’ll always be my little one.”
Tonight seemed destined to be a pleasant one.

* * *
I haven’t told my Biological Father yet, but I sleep in the same bed as Arun.
Just as I used to sleep cradling Kim Beolggwol when he was a Ratel.
I nestle into Arun’s arms to sleep, and his embrace feels like a cradle.
“Arun’s arms are always warm and comforting.”
On nights when Arun isn’t beside me, I suffer from insomnia.
Arun smiled softly, meeting my gaze as he stroked my hair.
“I felt the same way.”
“Hmm?”
“When I was Kim Beolggwol. Your arms were the most comfortable place in the world.”
When night fell, we would chat like this for a long while before drifting to sleep.
We weren’t even talking about anything special, yet I couldn’t understand what made it so funny and enjoyable.
Tomorrow would come, and night would return again.
I felt such reluctance to let this night pass.
“When I was Kim Beolggwol, my mind was filled with nothing but thoughts of fighting.”
“You certainly were aggressive.”
“How could I defeat the lion that had pummeled me, how could I knock down Teslone with his rough beard that rubbed against my face, how should I fight that bear—my thoughts were consumed by nothing but such things.”
I burst into laughter.
“That’s so like Kim Beolggwol.”
“But when I was nestled in Isabel’s arms, those thoughts would vanish completely.”
“I feel the same way now.”
Kim Beolggwol had been much smaller than me.
But now Arun was far larger than me.
When I’m cradled in Arun’s arms, it feels as though a formidable fortress surrounds and protects me.
It felt like he was shielding me from death creeping ever closer.
“Thank you, Arun. I’m most at peace when I’m held in your arms.”
Magical letters materialized above Arun’s head.
[I’m not at peace, though.]
I lifted my head to check what he’d written, but the letters vanished instantly.
“What letters did you just display?”
“Letters saying I love you.”
“Huh?”
My heart suddenly began to race.
“Don’t joke about something like that.”
“I’m not joking.”
“You know that’s not something to say carelessly.”
“I haven’t said it carelessly. I’ve agonized over these words hundreds of times. Wondering if there might be something more beautiful, something more joyful, something more strengthening.”
“….”
Gulp.
Arun’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
“But no matter how many hundreds of times I thought about it, I couldn’t find words more beautiful than these.”
Arun seemed different today.
His breathing seemed more ragged than usual, and his body felt warm.
Now that I thought about it, his face also seemed redder than normal.
“I simply love you, Isabel.”
Softly,
Arun lowered himself slightly and met my gaze.
I could see his large eyes clearly.
Within those eyes, it seemed the love he spoke of was overflowing.
I found myself averting my gaze without thinking.
“You still have 30 days until your birthday, right?”
“…29 days.”
Since it’s past midnight, 29 is correct.
30 and 29 are quite different.
I spoke nonsense out of sheer embarrassment.
“30 in binary is 11110.”
“Marry me.”
“29 is 11101, so…? Huh?”
“Marry me.”
I snapped back to my senses.
An engagement was one thing.
Marriage was an entirely different matter.
To be honest, the word marriage itself wasn’t without its resonance.
Perhaps I desire marriage with Arun more desperately than anyone else.
But I couldn’t let that show.
‘I’m leaving soon.’
Arun’s destined partner was originally Aselia.
I knew that recently, Arun and Aselia had grown quite close.
Once I, this variable, disappear, perhaps Arun and Aselia will fall in love as the original story intended.
“As you know, I die in a month. I’m sorry, Arun.”
At that very moment, a single tear fell from Arun’s eyes.
The tear touched the pillow, and Arun wept for a long time.
It was a fact we both knew, but this was the first time we’d spoken about it so directly.
After a long while, Arun spoke.
“I’ll obtain a dragon’s heart as a betrothal gift. I’ll be able to cure you.”
What on earth was he trying to do?
“Then you absolutely must marry me at that time.”
Arun rose from the bed.
It was two in the morning.
“Where are you going?”
“Wait just a moment. I won’t be gone too late.”
With those words, Arun vanished somewhere.
And I had to spend the night without him.
‘I’m scared.’
The moment Arun disappeared, the emptiness he left behind felt overwhelming.
Death, which I’d kept at bay because of Arun, now seemed to approach with heavy steps.
“I’m scared.”
I thought if I spoke, Arun would return, but he didn’t.
I pulled the blanket over my head and cried.
I’d tried so hard not to show it to anyone, but being alone terrified me.
The fact that I would die in twenty-nine days was too frightening.
“Your Highness.”
Someone entered my room.
It was Yuri.
“Arun told me to come check on you….”
Yuri was in her nightclothes, as if she’d just woken from sleep.
When I came to my senses, morning had arrived.
I couldn’t quite remember how much I’d cried.
All I remembered was Yuri saying, “It’s okay. I’m right here. You’re not alone,” while patting my back.
Hiccup, hiccup.
I was hiccupping.
“Are you feeling better now?”
Yuri was still wearing her light blue nightclothes, and the front was completely soaked.
“Um….”
“It’s fine. It’ll wash out.”
Yuri pulled out a tissue and held it to my nose.
“Go ahead and blow.”
“….”
Memories from last night began surfacing one by one.
I whined at Yuri like a child.
As if I were drunk, despite not having touched a drop.
“….”
Ugh, I really want to disappear.
The terror of death and the despair of losing Arun had momentarily driven me mad.
“Lord Arun left after promising he would save the Princess.”
“…I wanted to be alone, Yuri.”
I want to hide.
I desperately want to be alone.
It feels like I’ve exhausted a lifetime’s worth of shameful behavior in a single night.
“If you’re alone, you might suddenly become frightened again. Wouldn’t it be better to cry in front of a friend?”
“….”
“Think about it. What would happen if you cried in front of Prince Sermon?”
“What would happen?”
“He’d hunt down whoever made the Princess cry and— well, you know. And if he couldn’t find anyone, he’d create someone to blame.”
The image of my brother Sermon with his crimson eyes gleaming wickedly came to mind.
He’d probably be licking his dagger.
“What about Prince Kaman?”
“He’d mobilize the Knights on a massive scale to find the root cause….”
“What about Prince Michael?”
“I’m not sure, but I think a lot of things would end up broken.”
“Exactly. Lord Biatonn, His Majesty the Emperor, Her Majesty the Empress. Think about all of them.”
“….”
“Isn’t it better to cry in front of me?”
Yuri placed a sweet lemon tea in front of me—apparently prepared beforehand.
Drinking it calmed my mind somewhat.
“I believe Lord Arun has been preparing to save the Princess for a very long time.”
“….”
“At some point, it seemed the Princess stopped trying to live and instead pondered how to depart most gracefully.”
“I thought that was right.”
I would be gone, but those left behind would have to remember me.
My death wasn’t my burden alone—it was theirs to carry.
“That’s why Lord Arun worked tirelessly to find a way to save the Princess without showing it. I trust him. He must have found a way.”
And three weeks passed.
“He promised he’d return soon.”
Arun still hadn’t returned.
I had only one week left to live.

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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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