I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 26

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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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Viscount Biatonn spoke with an expression as though he might cry.
“I was just… happy.”
“Pardon?”
Viscount Biatonn knelt on one knee, bringing his eyes level with mine, and gazed at me with tender eyes.
“I was glad to see the Princess afraid.”
His gaze was so warm and kind that I couldn’t bring myself to be angry.
“But… why would that make you happy?”
“Because the Princess fears nothing in this world.”
“The most terrifying thing?”
“Even before that, you remained so composed that my heart ached terribly.”
Ah, wait a moment.
Don’t look at me like that.
This… this is unfair.
Viscount Biatonn’s gaze was almost pitiful.
I couldn’t tell if it was my imagination, but it seemed as though tears were gathering in his eyes.
‘I must have been mistaken.’
Looking again, there were no tears.
“I was so distressed that I didn’t know what to do.”
“…”
“But you were afraid of dying, weren’t you? You were so terrified that you clung to me. That’s why I felt such boundless joy.”
Though no tears fell, Viscount Biatonn’s expression was so sorrowful.
Without thinking, I reached out and touched his cheek.
I simply wanted to.
Then Viscount Biatonn covered the back of my hand with his own.
My hand was caught between his cheek and his palm.
His cheek was soft and plump, but his hand was large and rough.
Viscount Biatonn continued to gaze at me with tender eyes.
Embarrassed, I opened my mouth.
“My hand is stuck.”
“It is.”
“A sandwich. Hehe.”
Viscount Biatonn stared at me for a long while.
His gaze was clearly warm, yet strangely, my heart began to ache.
“It seems I’m a poor teacher, since I’m pleased by the Princess’s fear.”
“…”
I was left speechless.
I never knew he harbored such thoughts.
“Princess, this is a strange thing to say, but may I speak?”
“Y-yes, please.”
“That moment when the Princess clung to me in fear was a blessing to me. I felt that you were alive beside me.”
“I, I’m alive every single day, you know.”
Suddenly, beneath my raised right hand, I caught sight of the Narbidal Mark.
Sand was still falling from it.
Toward my final twenty-one years.
Viscount Biatonn lowered my hand.
As if to hide the Narbidal Mark from view.
Viscount Biatonn spoke to me gently.
“That’s right. Let’s go eat delicious things every single day. You don’t need to become a great adult. At nineteen, you’re already an adult, so just become one for now.”
“Then I can become an adult!”
Grrrrowl—
My stomach made a sound.
This young body boasted a voracious appetite.
In such a touching(?) situation, I felt quite embarrassed, but this young body could not resist its instincts.
I remembered hearing that there was an incredibly delicious sandwich shop near the Imperial Palace.
“Can you buy me a sandwich?”
“You want me to buy you a sandwich?”
Feeling a bit shy, my voice grew smaller.
“I… don’t have any money.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll pay you back later.”
I was the Princess, and I knew several ways to become wealthy in the future, but I had no cash on hand yet.
* * *
The next day.
Lancer came to Isabel’s room with a storybook tucked under his arm as always.
“Today, instead of storybooks, let’s talk about something else.”
Isabel began to tell me something.
After listening intently to Isabel’s account for quite some time, Lancer let out a small cough.
“…So you’re saying you saw sentries standing guard at the outposts in the Erbe Mountains?”
“Yes. I was very concerned about it. I felt sorry too.”
“What made you feel so sorry?”
“Those people stand guard every day in such a cold place and monitor the invasions of monsters and other races…”
Yet my brother was sledding there and making bets with Bumblebee.
Even amid the fear, I thought I would die of embarrassment.
“The sentries there can’t even use the Portal Gates.”
“Ahem, that’s right. It costs an enormous amount each time one is activated. That’s why the regulations are set so they can only be used during national emergencies.”
It was a very unreasonable world.
Prince Michael, sledding away, used the Portal Gates without hesitation, while the soldiers standing guard had to climb the Erbe Mountains on foot.
“I think, Teacher, that’s not right.”
“Ahem…”
Lancer pondered for a moment.
I couldn’t refute her words, but it felt awkward to teach her that “this is reality.”
Those who typically stood guard in the Erbe Mountains were mostly among the poorest of commoners.
“They are commoners, and you are royalty, Your Highness. They cannot be compared on the same level.”
Isabel instinctively sensed once more that this was a different world.
A world where status and rank were clearly defined.
This was not South Korea.
If such thinking was the common sense and law of this world, then Lancer’s answer couldn’t be considered particularly wrong.
“I believe there must be a reason why the royal family can freely use the transit gate leading to the Erbe Mountains.”
“…Yes?”
This was a world where status and rank were clearly defined.
Therefore, there were actions and thoughts befitting each status and rank.
The royal family enjoyed many privileges, but they also bore many responsibilities.
“It must mean that you should directly experience the Erbe Mountains and learn much by witnessing soldiers who work tirelessly and dedicate themselves in unseen places for the peace and security of the Empire. I don’t think it was created for you to ride sleds like your brother.”
Lancer was left speechless.
‘The Princess is only six years old.’
Isabel was only six years old now.
He had long known she was precocious, but he never expected her to say such things.
“…Your Highness is correct.”
From what he knew, that had indeed been the original intention.
It was the reason the royal family had originally been granted free access to the transit gate leading to the Erbe Mountains.
But much time had passed, and the meaning had faded.
Usually, people learned briefly through books that “the transit gate was installed for such and such reasons” and moved on.
‘She realized this without reading what was in the books.’
Lancer couldn’t help but admire her.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
What came next was truly astonishing.
* * *
Karin, who had departed for the conference, had returned.
“I apologize for being somewhat late.”
She made no particular mention of Wilhelm’s, her adoptive father’s, disappearance.
Karin treated Isabel with her usual cold demeanor.
‘She was always frightening, but today feels even more so.’
Yet Isabel didn’t let it show.
She carefully continued speaking about what she had felt in the meantime.
“You once told me my life was a gift. Do you remember?”
“I do.”
“Well, before I leave, I wanted to leave a gift of my own too.”
“….”
“Or rather, to be more honest, I want to leave something behind that people will remember me by.”
Isabel’s face flushed slightly.
Am I being greedy over something pointless?
“I hope people will remember me with fond memories.”
“….”
Karin’s heart felt as though it might shatter, but she revealed nothing on her face.
I listened to more of what she had to say.
“You see, I went sledding with my brother.”
She told me about seeing soldiers in the Erbe Mountains.
“And because of that, I wanted to make it so those people could use the teleportation gates frequently.”
“Your heart is quite warm, but this is not a realistic proposal.”
If it had been possible, the mages would have done so long ago.
“I thought it might be possible.”
“With current technology and theory, it is impossible.”
“I felt a similar flow of mana to when I cast the interpretation spell on Bumblebee.”
It was ‘intuition’ once again.
A strange power that could be understood without learning.
Isabel withdrew a Siberun magic stone from her embrace.
“So I created this as well. Teacher, could you examine it?”
“A Siberun magic stone. It’s designed to emit cold wind….”
She was startled.
“You’ve incorporated magical engineering theory that I never taught you.”
“Wait, you didn’t teach me that?”
“What I taught you were merely basic concepts and mana theory.”
The Princess had grasped the methods to apply those theories in engineering on her own.
She did not voice this thought.
It seemed wrong to offer praise.
Though she was delighted beyond measure, she became even colder to hide those feelings.
For she herself had never received proper praise or education.
Karin, without realizing it, resembled Wilhelm—the very man she despised.
“Continue with what you were saying.”
“What I was thinking was this.”
Isabel had been accepted to a South Korean university’s mathematical essay program and was scheduled to enroll in the College of Engineering, specifically electrical engineering.
For her, studying was a hobby, and she had already completed her preview of university-level theory.
“I thought about converting the flow of mana from direct current to alternating current.”
“Converting from direct current to alternating current?”
Karin’s brow furrowed slightly without her realizing it.
Fundamentally, all magic operates on linear flow as its basis.
This was common knowledge in the world.
‘Did I, did I make a mistake?’
Karin had furrowed her brow in surprise.
However, Isabel knew that Karin was the true mastermind behind everything, and because of this, she became somewhat frightened by Karin’s expression.
‘She was always intimidating, but I’d rarely seen her furrow her brow quite like this.’
She was far more terrifying than her usual self.
Karin asked in a grave tone.
“What do you mean by converting the flow of a linear path?”
“I… well…”
It was the moment when the history of the Vilotian Sword Empire would change.

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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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