I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 28

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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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Biatone grinned wickedly and spoke.
“The Princess said this to me.”
Biatone mimicked Isabel’s voice like a seasoned actor.
“‘Please don’t let Mr. Woody Cardin go anywhere!’—that’s what she said.”
In truth, Isabel’s pronunciation had become quite accurate by now.
But Biatone’s ears seemed to possess a peculiar ability to hear whatever they wished to hear.
“The Princess said that?”
“Yes. So, if you’ll excuse me for a moment.”
Biatone pulled a rope from his pocket.
It was a flimsy cord too shabby to even be called a proper rope.
It looked as though it would snap with the slightest force.
In any case, Biatone bound Karin’s body with the rope.
Biatone spoke in a remarkably composed voice.
“Now, please help me, Princess. Karin is far too powerful for me to manage alone.”
“M-me too?”
Isabel accepted the bundle of rope without thinking.
“Yes. Please secure her wrists, Your Highness.”
“Understood.”
Contrary to Isabel’s reason, her body began to quicken with excitement once more.
Her body, so earnest in playing house, seemed equally captivated by this kidnapping game.
Isabel unwound the rope with her small hands and bound Karin’s wrists.
Not knowing the proper knot, she tied it with a ribbon instead.
“I tied it with a ribbon.”
“Thus, we have completely subdued her.”
Biatone extended his hand.
The position was slightly too high, so Isabel jumped and met his hand.
Karin, who had remained silent until now, asked.
“What are you doing?”
“I heard everything. You’re going to that awful man Wilhelm.”
Karin shot Biatone a sharp glare.
Her eyes spoke volumes.
What on earth had he told the child?
Biatone hid behind Isabel’s small frame.
“I said nothing much. I merely mentioned that you were going to Wilhelm, a very bad fellow.”
“….”
“And then the Princess said it wouldn’t do.”
Karin shifted her gaze to Isabel. Her eyes remained cold.
“Why not?”
“W-well….”
The Karin that Isabel knew was the final mastermind. And that final mastermind was born beneath Wilhelm.
The details of what relationship she had with Wilhelm or what teachings she received from him were never explicitly stated.
‘Frightening as she may be, keeping her by my side is the safest option.’
Besides, this place was the Imperial Palace with its impenetrable security.
In twenty years, it would be the perfect vantage point to monitor the final mastermind right beside me.
To prevent the birth of the final mastermind, it would be better not to send her to Wilhelm.
“Besides, that awful man has gone missing, they say. He reeks of danger.”
Karin’s gaze turned toward Biatone.
Wilhelm’s disappearance was ultimately Biatone’s doing, after all.
Biatone casually averted his eyes and began humming to himself.
“Reeks of danger, does he~ Reeks, reeks~ Reeks of danger~”
He applied magic to make musical notes [♩♪] bob playfully in the air.
Isabel spoke.
“So Teacher Karin, you can’t go anywhere.”
“…I must go.”
Only then could I help the Princess even a little faster.
I could translate the theory the Princess conceived into engineering applications.
Only then could I fulfill the Princess’s wish.
She said she wanted to leave something behind in this world.
I swallowed those words silently.
“There’s nothing we can do about it.”
Isabel pointed at Karin’s wrist with her finger.
“Look. It’s tied with such a pretty ribbon, isn’t it?”
“….”
The ribbon was unnecessarily intricate and beautiful.
Though slightly crooked, it was unmistakably a ribbon knot.
“Can’t you escape if it’s just a ribbon?”
In truth, I could tear it off with just a little force. But Karin couldn’t bring herself to do so.
“No. I’ve already claimed it as mine.”
* * *
Once in the corridor, Karin carefully unwound the rope.
Using magic, she slipped her wrist free while keeping the ribbon shape Isabel had created intact.
Biatone chuckled.
“I have a meeting with His Majesty the Emperor, so I’ll be going ahead. Think it over carefully. What truly serves the Princess’s interests.”
“….”
“It seems the Princess really dislikes it when you leave.”
Karin returned to her room.
She pulled out a notebook from inside her desk.
The notebook was a diary that Karin had recently begun writing.
[Record of Spring]
Karin layered mana over the ribbon Isabel had tied and cast a preservation spell on it.
And I attached it to the right side of the words “Spring’s Record.”
After gazing at the ribbon for a long time, Karin began writing today’s entry.
[It was a first.]
The Princess needed me.
Not as a tool with utility, but as a person she wished to have by her side.
[Since meeting the Princess, everything has been a first.]
I had never heard the word “jjimkkong” before.
Though it was a new word, I understood its meaning immediately.
I recalled Isabel’s face as she laughed while saying jjimkkong.
Without realizing it, Karin found herself smiling.
I glanced around the surroundings once.
There was no one nearby.
I hastily wrote something down.
[Princess, jjimkkong.]
Then I quickly used magic to conceal the words.
With a solemn expression, I closed the diary and placed it in the desk.
After that, I began today’s ritual.
‘Silence.’
I thoroughly soundproofed the space.
‘Protecting.’
I erected a sturdy barrier to prevent any unexpected intruders.
The doll inside the bed suffered harshly once again today.
* * *
After his meeting with the Emperor concluded, Viscount Biatonn returned to Isabel’s chambers.
Luluka was startled.
‘Why has Viscount Biatonn come again?’
Viscount Biatonn was famous for valuing personal time greatly.
He was one of those people who constantly advocated for work-life balance.
The current time was 5:30 PM.
‘Work should have ended at five….’
Why had he sought out the Princess’s chambers again?
Knowing him as someone who despised overtime intensely, I felt an inexplicable sense of dread.
Yet Viscount Biatonn was smiling brightly.
“Midwife, I brought this. Try some.”
“This is… what?”
“It’s bread shaped like a crucian carp. Hotteok. It has red bean paste and cream filling inside, so it’s incredibly sweet and delicious.”
The Midwife was taken aback.
“H-how could you bring something so precious….”
“I received a business trip bonus. Anyway, you work so hard caring for the Princess every day.”
Viscount Biatonn’s words were nothing but warm.
It was true that Biatone became more lenient in Isabel’s presence.
However, Biatone was originally the Emperor’s aide-de-camp.
He held such a lofty position that others dared not even speak to him, and he was known to be infinitely cold to everyone around him.
Even within the Imperial Palace, there were few who had engaged in direct conversation with Biatone.
Yet here he was, laughing so freely and openly.
With such a warm tone of voice.
“Your Highness, the Midwife is wonderful, isn’t she?”
“Yes!”
“Do you like the Midwife?”
“Of course! I really like Midwife Luluka so much. What about you, Viscount Biatone?”
“I like the Midwife too!”
Biatone smiled broadly.
It was fortunate indeed. She wouldn’t have to die.
Had any unkind words come from Isabel’s lips, the Midwife’s fate would have been tragic.
“Teacher Biatone. But I have something I’m worried about.”
“Something you’re worried about?”
“I don’t like that Teacher Karin is leaving, but I do understand her wishes.”
“I see.”
“So I thought, what if I introduced someone better than Wilhelm?”
“Do you know of such a person?”
“Well, I read about it in a book before. It said there’s an eccentric mage-engineer who was expelled from the Mirotell Magic Federation.”
“Ah, yes.”
His name was Tesleron.
He was an exceptionally talented mage-engineer, and he would later become a colleague of the protagonist Arun.
“I heard that person was banished to the Erbe Mountains.”
Since he was a colleague of the protagonist, his background was quite detailed.
The Mirotell Magic Federation placed a ban on the eccentric and willful Tesleron and expelled him to the Erbe Mountains.
However, in truth, Tesleron was not bound by the ban, and he had gone to the Erbe Mountains of his own volition.
So that he could conduct his research in mage-engineering with peace of mind.
He was a mage-engineer who would later share common goals with the protagonist Arun and work alongside him, becoming of great help to Arun.
“I think that person would be helpful to both me and Teacher Karin.”
“I see.”
Biatone, free of prejudice, asked nothing further.
He simply accepted it as such.
‘Hmm. The Erbe Mountains, then…’
The Erbe Mountains were vast.
Therefore, finding a person there was never an easy task.
But such things were of no concern to Biatone.
“I just need to bring that person here, right?”
“I read in the book that he’s extremely stubborn.”
“I’ve never seen such unwavering stubbornness in the face of genuine friendship.”
“We can’t use bad methods.”
He was the male protagonist’s colleague.
Though eccentric, he was righteous, and never gave his heart to those who strayed from his sense of justice.
“We can’t resort to violence.”
“Ah, I won’t use violence. Genuine friendship and—”
“Threats are off the table too.”
“I’m not such a bad person.”
“Deep, intimate friendship is also not allowed.”
“…Pardon?”
Biatone laughed heartily.
‘I said I’d use euphemisms, but the Princess saw right through me.’
Cold sweat dripped down his face—he felt like he’d become a disreputable adult.
Yet he was fully prepared to become one if necessary. For Isabel’s sake.
His mind was consumed with only one thought: how to capture Tesleron and present him to the Princess.
“You’re a respectable adult, Viscount Biatone.”
“…”
“Aren’t you?”
“Y-yes, of course. Hehehehe!”
“Then promise me.”
“Yes, I promise!”
Biatone linked his pinky finger with Isabel’s.
He had no choice.
He decided not to become a disreputable adult.
‘I’ll have to rule out violent methods.’
Isabel handed him a Siberun Magic Stone.
“And this.”
He walked to the desk and received a sheet of letter paper.
“Please deliver this to Viscount Tesleron.”
“Just trust me.”
Biatone accepted the Siberun Magic Stone inscribed with Isabel’s formula and the letter.
Rather than heading to the Erbe Mountains, he sought out Emperor Ron.
Ron, who was wielding his sword in the training grounds, glanced sideways and looked at Biatone.
“Working late, are we?”
“I have an urgent report that must be delivered.”
Biatone’s expression was extremely serious.
Ron sheathed his sword.
Having spent so many years together, he immediately recognized when Biatone was serious.
“Speak.”
Biatone remained silent for a moment before opening his mouth.
“I’m afraid I must disobey your imperial decree, Your Majesty.”

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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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