I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 44

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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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Clack!
Something flew through the air and struck the club.
It was a fork.
“Ugh!”
Unable to withstand the force of the flying fork, the Guard stumbled backward and fell flat on his back.
“Hey, did you properly verify the identification badge?”
When a woman with long crimson hair tied tightly in a ponytail appeared, all eyes immediately snapped toward her.
This was hardly surprising, given that she stood a towering 180 centimeters tall.
She wore silver armor that gleamed brilliantly, reflecting the sunlight with a lustrous shine.
Her name was Kiruen.
She was the commander of the guard overseeing the defense of the Outer City of the Capital, and the gatekeeper known by the epithet “Iron Wall.”
My aching body.
The Guard who had gotten to his feet cried out in shock.
“C-Commander!”
“Commander or whatever—did you properly verify the identification badge?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Didn’t I tell you that if you’re caught lying, your hands will be severed?”
The Guard assumed a rigid stance of attention.
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
To ordinary citizens, she was a reassuring and trustworthy gatekeeper, but to soldiers, she was the most fearsome superior imaginable.
“I-I’m terribly sorry. I’ll examine it more carefully.”
“Yes. Look closely.”
Where exactly are your eyes placed?
Kiruen had already sensed that Luluka’s status was no ordinary matter.
It wasn’t merely that her clothing was of fine quality, or that her bearing was dignified, or that her skin showed no sun damage, or that her hands were more delicate than those of common citizens—such details were not the crucial factors.
This was Kiruen’s intuition.
And that intuition proved correct.
“It’s-it’s genuine!”
The Guard realized that Luluka was the Midwife who served the Princess.
The identification badge she presented bore the imperial seal symbolizing the royal family.
The trouble stemmed from his failure to properly verify the badge due to recent exhaustion.
After a hundred careful inspections, one careless oversight had caused this disaster.
Kiruen exhaled a deep sigh.
“Sigh.”
She walked closer and gave the Guard’s shoulder a light tug.
Though she didn’t seem to apply much force, his body was pushed backward with a whoosh!
Then Kiruen bowed deeply at the waist.
A subordinate’s mistake is the superior’s mistake.
Therefore, it was right that I apologize—such was Kiruen’s conviction.
“My sincerest apologies, Your Highness. I have inadvertently disregarded your wishes. I shall visit you directly soon to offer my apologies. Please forgive my subordinate’s rudeness.”
“Ah… Ah…!”
Luluka already knew well of this famous captain of the guard.
It was hardly an exaggeration to say that almost no one in the capital was unfamiliar with that red hair and silver armor.
Luluka found herself unable to speak.
Kiruen possessed an indescribable quality that transcended mere words.
‘No, would it be strange to call it elegance?’
Her speech was rough, and her voice carried a husky timbre.
Her mannerisms too held many uncouth qualities.
She differed greatly from the typical noblewoman.
And yet, Kiruen undeniably possessed that quality.
‘Perhaps it would be more accurate to call it an aura.’
An aura.
That was the right expression.
Though she bowed respectfully, she carried an authority that could never be underestimated.
Luluka found herself murmuring without realizing it.
“How cool… you are.”
“Pardon?”
“Oh, it’s nothing at all.”
Startled, Luluka hastily changed the subject.
“I have received the Princess’s orders to take this girl…”
But Luluka could not finish her sentence.
A cloud of dust was rising in the distance.
The soldiers keeping watch from the City Wall began to assume defensive positions and started beating the drums.
Luluka tensed immediately.
‘Could it be a monster attack?’
Having lived her entire life in the Imperial Palace, the safest place in the world, she had never experienced a monster assault.
Fear suddenly welled up within her.
“It’s alright.”
Kiruen had already risen to her feet.
“The City Wall protecting our citizens is stronger than anything.”
Kiruen was aware that Luluka was terrified.
She laughed lightly and reassured her.
“Besides, I’m here.”
In preparation for any potential danger, the soldiers began closing the city gates.
Kiruen infused her voice with mana and shouted.
“Open the gates.”
“B-but Captain!”
“Open them. I take responsibility.”
She had realized it.
What was rushing toward them, kicking up a sandstorm, was not a horde of monsters.
I relaxed my guard.
At least he wasn’t an enemy.
‘Still the same as always.’
Someone with their face caked in soot and ash came bounding toward us.
Like Yuri, their appearance was utterly disheveled, yet somehow they carried an air of nobility.
His name was Michael. He was the Fourth Prince.
“Your Highness Michael, if you make an entrance like that, the guards will be on edge.”
“Kiruen, it’s been forever!”
Michael offered only the briefest of greetings.
It seemed he had little interest in Kiruen.
He showed far more attention to Yuri, whose face was equally grimy.
It was a kind of kinship.
“I know that person. I saw her in a carriage last time! And Luluka is here too? What are you all doing here?”
“Your Highness, th-that is… well… it’s quite a situation.”
After hearing the full story, Michael burst into laughter.
Michael, the strongest of the princes in raw strength, lifted Yuri with just two fingers.
“Come on! Let’s go! To distant worlds! Let’s depart! To the Imperial Palace!”
“Kyaa, kyaaaah!”
Yuri, caught off guard, flailed helplessly in the air.
Kiruen pressed her forehead with her palm.
“Your Highness! Proper procedures and protocols must be followed before granting entry into the Outer Castle…”
“Whehehehe!”
But the prince on horseback was already far away.
Only his hollow laughter remained in the air.
He rode with such passionate intensity that dust clouds billowed up once more.
For reference, the interior of the Outer Castle was paved with well-laid granite.
A guard muttered to himself.
“Dust is rising there too? That’s… possible?”
“Yeah, it’s happening.”
Kiruen exhaled a long sigh.
She asked Luluka.
“You’re certain about that child’s identity, yes?”
“Y-yes, that’s right. She’s a prodigy supported by House of Rosild and recently topped the Olympiad. If you verify it, her identity will be confirmed immediately.”
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
Kiruen let out another deep sigh.
Either way, the Outer Castle’s defenses had been breached.
“I’m going to report this directly to the Imperial Palace.”
“D-directly to the Imperial Palace?”
“The Outer Castle’s defenses were breached. This is a serious matter.”
“…I-I’m terribly sorry.”
The Guard tensed considerably.
After all, he was the one who had set this incident in motion.
Had he handled matters properly from the start, this catastrophe might never have unfolded.
‘Damn it. This is serious.’
The garrison commander was already a terrifying figure.
He worried that if he made a bad impression here, his life would become exhausting.
But then Kiruen tapped the soldier’s shoulder gently.
“Even if it’s bothersome, do your best. That’s our job. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
The soldier straightened to attention.
Kiruen patted his shoulder once more and began walking with a carefree gait.
“Ugh, what a hassle.”
Toward the Imperial Palace where she had once served.
* * *
Thud thud thud!
Michael ran with tremendous clamor.
His mind was consumed only with the thought of reaching Isabel quickly, leaving no consideration for Yuri.
‘Ugh, I’m going to be sick.’
Yuri felt nauseous.
Being jostled about so much in the air made her feel dizzy.
Michael spoke with evident delight.
“Hey. You need to tell her exactly—that I rescued you brilliantly and brought you here this fast.”
He rubbed his nose with one hand.
He grinned widely.
His mouth stretched from ear to ear.
“You’ll praise me, won’t you?”
Michael opened the door to Isabel’s Room.
Brimming with anticipation for praise.
“Isabel! I brought you a present!”
Crash!
The door exploded.
In his excitement, Michael had completely forgotten all the etiquette training he had received.
Isabel, who had been taking a bite of cheesecake inside the room, was startled.
“Oh, oh, Brother!”
A person-shaped hole appeared in the solid wooden door.
“Here, your present.”
“A present, you say?”
Michael suddenly thrust forward the hand he had been holding behind his back.
Even so, he positioned Yuri behind him to protect her from harm.
Having grown close to Isabel, Michael had come to understand that not everyone in the world thought as he did.
It was a blessing in disguise.
“Oh, Your Highness…!”
Ugh, bleeeech!
Yuri finally began expelling the foreign matter.
“Y-Yuri, are you alright?”
Yuri couldn’t calm herself for quite some time.
Only after a considerable stretch of time could she finally catch her breath.
“Why won’t you praise me?”
“Brother, he’s sitting in that chair over there.”
“Why?”
“It’s a thinking chair. It seems you need some time to reflect, Brother.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Think carefully about why I didn’t praise you right away. And consider what emotions I felt in the Erbe Mountains.”
Michael let out a small “hmm” and stroked his chin as if displeased with something.
Though he showed reluctance, he still obeyed my words.
He sat in the chair and began to think for a moment.
The slight smirk at the corner of his mouth suggested he was imagining his victory in the sledding duel(?) against Bumblebee.
Meanwhile, Isabel learned what had happened to Yuri.
“My sponsorship was cut off.”
“They expelled the top student of the Olympiad? That wouldn’t be good for the Rosild Duke either, would it?”
The fact that they had done this to such a gifted prodigy—the top student of the Olympiad—meant that Reina’s influence had been at work.
Yuri’s eyes filled with tears.
In that moment, a deeply ominous thought flashed through Isabel’s mind.
‘Could it be…’
Yuri knelt down and wept bitterly as she spoke.
“I… I truly didn’t steal anything, Your Highness.”
They couldn’t simply expel her, so they had framed her with the false accusation of theft.
“Please believe me. I really didn’t steal anything.”
Yuri’s world was shrouded in darkness.
Plunged into shadows where nothing could be seen, it was difficult to breathe.
The loss of material sponsorship was agonizing enough, but the fact that no one believed in her isolated her in profound loneliness.
‘I can’t breathe, Your Highness.’
The fear that even this Princess before her eyes wouldn’t believe in her gripped her tightly.
Perhaps the facts themselves didn’t matter.
Everyone with common sense knew they should side with Rosilde, not with her.
If the Princess were a sensible person, she would take Rosilde’s side, not hers.
Yet despite this, she had come to the Princess and knelt before her because she was not alone.
She had a mother she needed to care for.
Her mother was gravely ill.
Grasping at straws, she spoke as if exhaling her very breath.
“Please… have mercy on me. Just this once, help me.”
And a response came.
“I know. Sister Yuri didn’t steal anything.”
Yuri looked up in surprise, her eyes meeting Isabel’s.
Remarkably, Isabel was crying too.
“I believe in you, Sister. I believe you did nothing wrong. It must have been so difficult and lonely getting here.”
Isabel embraced Yuri.
She seemed entirely indifferent to her filthy, reeking appearance.
“I’ll help you.”
Light began to seep into the darkness that had consumed Yuri’s world.

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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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