I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 194
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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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The Empire’s social hierarchy was originally divided into two classes: nobility and commoners.
A tiny fraction of nobles and the vast majority of commoners.
For five hundred years, this distinction had remained unchanged, but now everything was different.
A new class was emerging—the middle class.
In this era of great upheaval, known as the Isabel Revolution or the Isabel Syndrome, there were those who had built stable wealth and assets for themselves.
People who couldn’t quite be called wealthy, but who were no longer impoverished like before.
People who could finally hold dreams and hope.
“That’s Princess Isabel, I hear.”
Lumia, who operated the Lumin Trading Company, had been begging in the slums just ten years ago.
But when the logistics revolution occurred through the Teisabel Teleportation Gate, she had been fortunate enough to seize the opportunity and establish her own respectable trading company.
She had a duty to teach her child.
The reason we could live with such hope.
“Remember this well.”
“Okay, Mama. I’ll remember.”
Ruby was three years old.
Though she could barely speak properly, she listened well to her mother’s words.
Isabel’s voice rang out.
“Beloved citizens of the Empire, I am Isabel.”
Isabel was trembling terribly.
But it was a pleasant kind of trembling.
The fact that so many people had come forward for her was truly something to be grateful for.
“As many of you know, in a few days I will no longer exist in this world. If I said I wasn’t afraid, that would be a lie. A life with death announced beforehand is far more frightening than I imagined.”
A massive crowd had gathered, yet no one opened their mouth.
Some were already wiping their eyes with handkerchiefs.
“If I were only afraid, I could not stand here before you. Fear is real, but something greater than fear—gratitude—has brought me to this place.”
Isabel considered this life a gift.
She should have been dead anyway, yet she had been given twenty-one years of life.
And not just any life, but a healthy one without pain.
A life spent with beloved family.
A life surrounded by precious people.
“Through my predetermined death, I have learned to be grateful for life itself.”
Because I know when I will die.
I had to give my best effort in everything.
The time given to me felt so short that every moment felt precious.
“But everyone, we all die.”
We simply don’t know when it’s scheduled to happen.
Just as Isabel said, everyone faces death.
“Therefore, we must live giving our best effort as if tomorrow were our last day… but I won’t bore you with such trite words.”
Isabel smiled softly.
‘This… isn’t half bad.’
I guess I really am an attention seeker.
The feeling of receiving the attention of so many people was quite pleasant.
At least for this moment, I didn’t feel as afraid.
“I am simply grateful.”
Isabel understood.
The vast crowd offering her tremendous support was the greatest pillar sustaining the Vilotian Royal Family.
An Empire without its people does not exist.
“And I ask of you—though I may depart, please do not withdraw your support for me.”
Those who must leave will leave.
But those who remain must continue to build their lives.
“Please remember me.”
To remember Isabel and honor her memory.
To continue supporting Isabel.
These things would make the Vilotian Royal Family all the more steadfast.
“If many people remember me, I think I would be happy.”
Isabel smiled radiantly.
Whether by chance or fate, the clouds that had filled the sky parted, and bright sunlight began to pour through.
A single ray of light pierced through the clouds, illuminating Isabel brilliantly.
“In truth, I was happy. I believed this life was a gift to me. And this life became my greatest gift. The people of the Empire gathered before me now are vivid proof of that.”
Isabel bowed deeply.
“I am profoundly grateful to all who became this gift.”
“….”
“And I sincerely wish that your lives too become gifts.”
Though it might sound overly idealistic, Isabel wished for a slightly better world.
“I wish for lives where families gather and share meals together every evening.”
“….”
“I wish for lives where on weekends you share small tea times with friends, exchanging the details of your days. I wish for lives where you can eat delicious desserts to your heart’s content. I wish for lives where there is at least one truly precious person. I wish that before sleep, you can think that today was quite pleasant. I wish for lives where you can look forward to opening your eyes in the morning. I wish that no one feels lonely. I wish that everyone can experience love abundantly.”
“….”
“When the time finally comes to depart, I wish for lives where you can leave joyfully, thinking that this world was a gift to me.”
Isabel was still smiling.
“If such a life were mine, departing would be regrettable, but not terrible.”
“….”
“That is my case. I will achieve everything I have spoken of before I go. So please do not grieve too deeply. When I depart, hold a celebration of bread and wine for a week. Remember my death with joy.”
“….”
“I will depart dreaming of a today better than yesterday, and a tomorrow better than today. I am grateful to be able to dream such things. As long as hope exists in this land, we will be able to create a more beautiful tomorrow.”
Isabel bowed once more.
“I offer my deepest respect.”
The speech had ended.
Some began to applaud.
No one made a sound—only the clapping of hands.
The adults simply responded to Isabel’s blessing with applause.
For some reason, opening one’s mouth felt sacrilegious.
But then a young child cried out loudly.
“Your Highness!”
As if by magic, the applause stopped.
In the vast silence, only the child’s voice filled the square like a giant.
“I want to become a beautiful lady like you someday!”
Ruby didn’t fully understand what Isabel was saying.
But to Ruby’s eyes, Isabel looked like a princess from a fairy tale.
She seemed like the greatest princess in the world.
Ruby’s mother, Rubia, felt her face flush deeply.
It felt like she had accidentally stepped into a sacred realm that shouldn’t be violated.
She felt like she had become irreverent.
“Hey, Ruby. Be… be quiet…”
“Thank you so much!”
Ruby didn’t know what Isabel had done or how.
But she had heard the adults constantly expressing their gratitude to Isabel.
Even her own mother, Ruby, always expressed her gratitude to Isabel.
“Thank you so very much!”
Ruby decided to give Isabel the best words she had ever heard from her mother.
“Thank you for being born!”
* * *
Thank you for being born.
I couldn’t begin to describe how much comfort those words gave me.
‘I suppose I’ve lived well.’
I had sensed it before, but now it felt undeniably true.
Having said everything I needed to say, my heart felt unburdened.
The lingering regrets that had clung to me seemed to dissolve completely, leaving my chest refreshingly clear.
I hadn’t said anything particularly remarkable, yet the applause continued without pause, and I found I didn’t mind it at all.
‘Thank goodness I’m a show-off. At least I can find joy in moments like this.’
Since things had come this far.
Should I ramble on a bit more?
When would I ever get another chance like this?
‘Act your age!’
Here, making a graceful exit would be the right thing to do for my family, so I decided to step down.
But then a trumpet fanfare echoed from the sky.
‘Huh? A trumpet?’
Above the sky where all the clouds had parted.
A brilliant light—not from the sun—poured forth and painted the blue sky white.
“Wait, look! Look there!”
“Look! Look up there!”
I tilted my head back to gaze at the sky.
Across the white-bathed heavens stretched a long curtain woven entirely of light.
Parting that curtain, winged angels revealed themselves.
‘What… what is this?’
There were angels in 【The Villainess Dies Within a Time Limit】?
That couldn’t be right.
Between the trumpet-playing angels, a dazzlingly white woman appeared.
She was entirely white from head to toe—a being of pure white.
“I’ve come to take you with me.”
Was she truly an angel?
Was this person some kind of deity?
‘Come to think of it… if the god of death exists, there’s no guarantee other gods don’t.’
Strangely, her voice reached my ears with perfect clarity.
It was a voice that seeped into the ears of everyone present in this place.
“I have loved you and prepared you since before you were ever born.”
The woman in pure white drew closer to me.
Though her face was obscured by the overwhelming brightness, I felt that she was radiantly beautiful.
‘She’s beautiful.’
As if enchanted, I moved closer to the woman.
Strangely, my body began to float.
As if there were stairs in the empty air, I walked upward toward the sky.
“Your Highness!”
I heard Viscount Biatonn’s voice.
In that moment, my senses suddenly sharpened.
“There’s still… still time left.”
I understood instinctively.
Taking that hand would mean my death.
‘Not yet…’
I didn’t refuse death itself, but I still had things left to do.
I needed to say a final goodbye to my beloved family.
I had to eat my fill of Yuri’s desserts one last time.
And tteokbokki and red bean shaved ice too.
I didn’t want to leave yet.
‘But why… can’t I refuse?’
Against my own will, I found myself drawing closer to that woman.
I wanted to hide within that light and rest.
Viscount Biatonn caught me and pulled me into his embrace.
Then he glared at the woman with blazing eyes.
“What are you?”
“One who loves that child.”
The woman waved her hand once, and dozens of beams of light flew forth, binding Viscount Biatonn’s body.
“Rest for a moment.”
Viscount Biatonn fell asleep instantly.
‘What is happening?’
The woman extended her hand to me again.
“Come, child.”
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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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