I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 48

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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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“Huh, what?”
Biatone rarely found himself caught off guard. Yet today, he had no choice but to be.
“Kiruen, what are you doing here?”
“Isn’t it normal to ask if someone’s alright first?”
“You look more than alright to me.”
They knew each other from before.
To be precise, they were former lovers.
In their late teens, they had begun dating. Then, as time passed, they naturally drifted apart.
Biatone was busy with his own affairs, and Kiruen with hers.
Neither had needed to speak the words of separation.
At some point, they both recognized they had parted ways, and as more time elapsed, they simply became colleagues.
That had been over ten years ago now.
“So the mad nobleman riding a four-horse carriage down this narrow road is Biatone? I’m rather disappointed.”
“Ah, that was an unavoidable choice.”
Biatone spoke with confidence.
“I want to give the Princess only the very best.”
“Then that means the Princess is riding inside?”
Kiruen’s brow furrowed without her realizing it.
‘A spoiled child raised in the Imperial Palace, no doubt.’
There was no other reason he would ride a four-horse carriage down such a narrow path.
Biatone lowered his voice.
“Don’t hit the Princess.”
Kiruen’s frown deepened.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“You used to beat your superior like catching a rat and got exiled to the Outer Castle.”
Kiruen had originally been the Vice-Captain of the Black Dragon Knights stationed at the Imperial Palace.
One day, she committed the misfortune of assaulting the Captain of the Black Dragon Knights.
Due to the scandal she caused, she had to relinquish her position as Vice-Captain and become the commander of the Outer Castle’s garrison, leaving the Imperial Palace.
“He deserved it, so I hit him.”
“Wow, you say dangerous things without a care in the world.”
Kiruen gazed at Biatone’s face.
Biatone was grinning widely.
Though he had been her lover for a brief time in their youth, she still could not fathom what lay beneath Biatone’s surface.
“Since we’re on the subject, let me ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“About Ramon.”
“Ramon? Ah. That Black Dragon Knights captain who sexually harassed his subordinate knights and got beaten by you?”
Kiruen had endured it for many days. No matter what nonsense Ramon spouted, she accepted it. She even overlooked his subtle, persistent unwanted touches and his filthy gaze.
After all, Ramon was her superior officer.
But when Kiruen discovered the moment Ramon was about to drug a new recruit and bring her to his quarters, she could endure no longer.
In the end, Kiruen staged a rebellion and beat Ramon to a pulp.
From that day forward, Ramon gnashed his teeth, swearing he would kill Kiruen.
“After I had that unpleasant incident with you, he went missing a few days later.”
“Ah, right. That’s how it was. It’s been so long, I can barely remember.”
“Was it you?”
“Me? Why would I?”
Viscount Biatonn’s eyes widened in circles. His expression suggested he was hearing this for the first time.
“Who else could do something like that besides you?”
“I don’t know nothing about it.”
Just as I was about to press further, noticing his speech was rather suspicious, Isabel descended from the carriage.
“Viscount Biatonn, why are you smiling so frightfully?”
“What? Can a smile be frightening?”
“I suppose not?”
Isabel tilted her head in confusion as well.
“Can it really be?”
However, Kiruen, observing Viscount Biatonn from a third party’s perspective, instinctively sensed that his expression had changed.
“She’s right. He’s smiling the same way, but the smile itself is different.”
I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what had shifted, but the atmosphere had definitely changed.
This smile and the previous one were not the same.
The earlier smile felt like ‘the smile of someone who has made another disappear,’ while this one felt like ‘a happy and warm smile.’
“Oh my, what’s wrong with me?”
Kiruen bowed respectfully to Isabel.
“Your Highness, I am Kiruen, Commander of the Outer Castle Guard.”
I offered a simple courtesy.
I had no desire to entangle myself with a foolish princess.
“Then I’ll take my leave.”
Just as I was turning to go, Isabel spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
“Pardon?”
“I heard everything from inside. I didn’t know. I didn’t know what the conditions were like on the Imperial Palace roads, or that the luxuries I enjoy could cause harm to others.”
Kiruen fell silent for a moment.
Viscount Biatonn mouthed ‘no, Kiruen, no,’ but I didn’t hold back.
Since childhood, there was one thing I hated most. It was the excuse of ‘I didn’t know.’
To me, that was nothing but a shield.
“Not knowing does not serve as a shield.”
“I know that too.”
Kiruen honestly found it unexpected.
I naturally expected her to be upset. Even if she didn’t show it outwardly, I thought she would be indignant inside.
Yet I could detect no such sign from Isabel.
“But I’m only six years old now.”
Kiruen felt as though she’d been struck on the head.
She’d forgotten that despite Isabel’s youthful appearance—looking barely in her early teens—the Princess was only six years old.
“That’s why I don’t think it’s shameful not to know things at this age. What I didn’t know, I can learn, and what I did wrong, I can fix, right?”
“….”
“I’ll learn so much more going forward. I want to become a good adult.”
“…I see.”
“So there’s one thing I’d like to ask.”
Kiruen tensed without meaning to.
In truth, Kiruen had never been fond of high-ranking noble children.
In her experience, their words always concealed hidden blades.
Their outer and inner selves were so different that they clashed with her own nature.
So Isabel’s use of the word “request” felt deeply uncomfortable.
“Yes. What is it?”
“Could you sign something for me?”
Isabel’s eyes sparkled brilliantly.
Last time she’d been too flustered to show it, but in truth, Kiruen was a character Isabel adored immensely.
She was barely restraining herself, but her heart was a blooming garden right now.
‘No matter how I look at it, she’s insanely beautiful.’
That tall, commanding frame. An aura that even silver armor couldn’t conceal. Features with an almost androgynous quality. That striking red hair tied back in a ponytail.
From head to toe, she was exactly Isabel’s type.
Seeing her idol in the flesh made her heart race.
“A… signature…?”
“Yes! Please sign for me!”
It had taken a moment to retrieve this from inside the carriage.
Isabel held out a notepad and pen.
“You’re asking for a signature all of a sudden?”
Kiruen was flustered—she’d never expected to receive an autograph request from the Princess.
She glanced at Biatone, who was suddenly helping support the Coachman. Quite some time had passed since the accident, yet here he was doing this now.
For reference, the Coachman was Biatone’s direct subordinate and an elite who absolutely wouldn’t be injured by an accident of this magnitude.
“Since this is a private setting, we can speak more casually, right?”
“That’s entirely your prerogative, Your Highness….”
“I’ve wanted your signature for so long.”
Isabel was sincere.
That sincerity shone in her eyes, and Kiruen felt somewhat bewildered.
‘When did she ever see me?’
As if reading her thoughts, Isabel continued.
“Rumors about you have already spread globally, you know.”
“Globally?”
“It means they’ve spread far and wide—all the way to the Imperial Palace.”
She extended the paper and pen once more.
“Your autograph, please!”
Kiruen found herself signing before she could think twice.
Isabel, clutching the autograph, bounced with delight.
“Wow! I actually got it!”
Isabel radiated such pure happiness that one might wonder how a simple signature could bring such joy.
She truly seemed like a child.
‘Well, she actually is a child, isn’t she?’
Kiruen watched Isabel in silence, struck by the peculiar sensation that light itself seemed to gather around her.
As Kiruen prepared to leave, she asked one more question.
“But why are you heading to the Outer Castle?”
“Oh, I’m going to pick up Sister Yuri.”
“Sister Yuri? You mean that girl from back then…?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Kiruen felt another wave of oddness wash over her.
Calling someone in such a haggard state “sister”—it was strange.
This Princess was definitely peculiar.
“Why go fetch her yourself? And with the Emperor’s aide, no less.”
The Emperor’s aide surely couldn’t be so idle.
She wanted to say as much, but the words wouldn’t come.
Because the supposedly busy Emperor’s aide was currently sitting in the coachman’s seat, whistling without a care.
To look at him now, one would think he was the most carefree person in the world.
“Well, I want to help her.”
“Why are you so determined to help that girl?”
In truth, Kiruen had already guessed the general reason.
‘There was some unpleasant business between Rosilde’s daughter and her.’
Yes, this was a matter of pride. The Princess accepting a child whom Rosilde had cast out.
From Kiruen’s perspective, it was nothing but childish pride at stake.
She was certain of this assessment, yet Isabel’s answer proved somewhat unexpected.
“Does the desire to help someone require a reason?”
“…”
“I’m not entirely sure myself. But somehow, it feels like I should repay her.”
“Repay her for what?”
Isabel glanced back slightly.
“Viscount Biatonn, who is nothing less than the Emperor’s aide, became my teacher and protects me. And I ride in a four-horse carriage that most people could never ride in their entire lives, eat delicious food every single day.”
Isabel bounced in place with vigor, her hair and skirts swaying with the motion.
It felt miraculous anew that her heart didn’t ache even with such exertion.
“I can even run this well now.”
Whoosh!
She puffed out her cheeks and chest, drawing in a deep breath.
Haaaah!
I exhaled long enough for my face to turn bright red.
“I can even breathe like this. I’m so incredibly happy.”
Every day, I encounter brilliant moments I had never experienced before.
Every single day was a gift to her.
“I’m living each day as a gift like this. I’m so grateful for all of it that I feel like I need to repay something in return.”
Isabel’s face flushed slightly as she spoke those words.
“…That’s the official reason, anyway.”
Right. Of course it is.
Kiruen was certain that Isabel had another hidden motive.
“I need a friend.”

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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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