I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 50

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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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Kiruen had possessed a constitution sensitive to various types of ‘aura’ since birth.
That was why she could sense Isabel’s goodwill so acutely just moments ago.
Kiruen, blessed with such a special talent, felt an unusual aura.
‘Why do I sense such desperate resolve coming from within her?’
Kiruen had fought in countless duels.
The fact that she, a commoner by birth, had become the vice-captain of the Black Sword Brigade at such a young age was itself proof of her extensive combat experience.
Typically, such desperate resolve was an aura she sensed from enemies who had resolved to kill their opponent.
‘I must stop this.’
Her body reacted before her mind could process.
Kiruen pushed off the ground and sprinted forward.
In an instant, she closed the distance to the carriage and drew her beloved blade, ‘Spiker’.
The entire sequence of movements, executed in one fluid breath, was swift as light itself.
“Who are you? What is your identity?”
Kiruen’s Spiker pressed against the woman’s throat.
Kiruen’s brow furrowed.
‘What is this?’
The woman was crawling along the ground with agonizing slowness, making her way toward the carriage door.
‘A deception?’
She had encountered assassins of this type before.
They would lower their opponent’s guard with acting refined enough to rival a master performer, then attempt assassination through a sudden strike.
Even skilled martial artists had often fallen victim to such assassins.
The woman slowly lifted her head.
Their eyes met, and Kiruen could discern the truth.
‘She doesn’t seem to be a martial artist…’
No matter how trained an assassin might be, they could not deceive Kiruen’s aura-sensing ability so perfectly.
‘Yet I sense the desperate resolve of a martial artist honed to the extreme. This is not an aura an ordinary person could emit.’
A slight cognitive dissonance arose within her.
An ordinary person could not emit an aura of this magnitude. Especially not one with such an emaciated and damaged body.
Hardened by countless real combat experiences, she remained vigilant.
“I asked what your identity is. Answer me.”
“I… am….”
At that moment, Biatone gently touched Kiruen’s blade with his fingertip and swept it aside.
“Just watch. It’s fine.”
* * *
I walked forward quickly and arrived before the carriage.
There I found an elderly woman crawling out slowly from within.
Yuri spoke to me.
“My mother… she wanted to greet you in person.”
Yuri’s lips were pressed tightly together.
I understood the reason why.
“Mother can’t move, after all.”
It made sense that Yuri was the breadwinner of her household. Yuri’s mother was afflicted with a rare disease that had left her entire body paralyzed.
That was how it had been originally.
But now, she was moving—albeit with agonizing slowness.
Crawling across the floor.
“So you’re doing this to express your gratitude to me?”
Without thinking, I bounded up the carriage steps and helped Yuri’s mother to her feet, supporting her weight.
“I understand your feelings, truly. But there’s no need for this. I hired Yuri because she possesses exceptional abilities. We have a mutually beneficial relationship—you don’t owe me anything like this.”
“Your… Highness…”
Even speaking seemed to exhaust Yuri’s mother.
With tremendous effort, she grasped my hand. Her fingers were skeletal, the skin creased and withered.
I looked at her face.
Dark circles shadowed the hollows beneath her eyes, and her skin was utterly devoid of vitality. Her hair was sparse and brittle, the strands coarse and lifeless.
‘I… I know this face.’
It was an expression I had witnessed countless times in my previous life.
I had looked like this once. Perhaps this woman’s suffering ran even deeper than mine.
For reasons I couldn’t explain, I found myself unable to move.
“Thank… you… so… much.”
Her wrinkled hand covered mine.
It was far colder than I expected.
I simply sat there, numb, staring at that hand.
“I’m… truly… so… grateful…”
Yuri’s mother moved her body again.
I could hear her joints creaking.
‘It must hurt.’
Even the smallest movement had to cause her immense pain.
I knew this all too well.
Because I had been there.
The pain had been so unbearable I’d wished for death.
‘But how can she remain so composed? How can she move at all?’
I too had received help from others.
Without that help, I wouldn’t have survived to twenty.
There were certainly countless kindnesses I owed to people.
Yet sometimes I had been an ungrateful child.
‘I’m in too much pain to move. I’ll thank you later.’
There were many times I had resented the journalists who came seeking me out.
Their gratitude felt like an obligation, and it infuriated me.
On days when the pain was so unbearable I wished for death, I had thought such things.
‘I don’t need your hollow pity.’
‘You show sympathy for my miserable condition just so you can comfort yourselves—telling yourselves how fortunate you are that you’re not like me. You’re all just terrible people.’
Yet at a glance, it seemed this person was suffering as much as I was, if not more.
Her complexion was far worse than mine had been in the hospital.
And yet she moved her body to kneel before me and bow down.
I could dimly understand how she could do such a thing.
‘I don’t fully understand it. But I think I’m beginning to grasp what Mother’s greatness of heart truly means.’
With tremendous effort, she pressed her lips to my shoe.
Drip. Drip.
Her tears were falling onto my shoe.
“….”
Before I knew it, tears welled up in my own eyes. I bit my lips hard, trying to hold them back, but I couldn’t.
If asked why I was crying, it would have been difficult to answer precisely.
The tears simply streamed down my face.
My heart ached so deeply that my body went rigid.
“Thank… you… for… telling… Yuri… that… I’m… not… a… bastard….”
I heard a sniffling sound, and when I looked to the side, I saw Yuri with her head bowed low, weeping.
Her fists were clenched tight, as if she were doing her best to hold back her tears.
Something inside my mind felt like it snapped.
“Waaaaaahhhhh!”
Against my own will, I let out a sorrowful cry.
Since being born in Isabel’s body, I had never cried so much.
I embraced her thin frame.
Even though I was much shorter, I could hold her close.
There was no particular reason.
I simply wanted to embrace her, to help her.
‘That’s it. This was it.’
Only today did I finally understand.
‘This was the desire to help others.’
The countless people who had helped me must have felt the same way. Perhaps they weren’t simply comforting themselves as they looked upon pitiful me.
‘It was just… just that.’
They were simply helping.
Of course, not everyone may have felt the same way. But someone, with a heart identical to mine right now, must have helped the me of my past life.
‘Thank you.’
I am truly grateful.
I swallowed those words down deep.
‘I will never forget what I received. I will remember this day forever.’
I resolved never to forget what I learned today.
* * *
Yuri became Isabel’s official lady’s maid and entered the Arena Palace.
After several days had passed, Yuri spoke.
“Please give me work to do. Your Highness.”
“Sister, you just need to study math diligently, right?”
“But… that can’t really be considered part of a maidservant’s duties, can it?”
The relationship between Isabel and Yuri couldn’t be called a complete friendship. It was unavoidable, given that they were a Princess and her maidservant.
That’s why Isabel spoke in casual speech, while Yuri used formal speech.
“I want to be someone who’s helpful to the Princess too.”
“Hmm…”
Her sincerity was so genuine that Isabel paused to consider.
“Then I have a favor to ask.”
“Just say the word!”
At the mention of a favor, Yuri broke into a bright smile. She was delighted to be given a task of her own.
“In a few days, someone named Narmore will visit Arena Palace.”
“Yes! Yes!”
“He apparently loves sweet desserts. So I’m asking you to prepare something sweet for him.”
“Understood! Thank you! I won’t disappoint your expectations!”
And several more days passed.
Luluka discovered Yuri doing something strange(?)
“Yuri. What on earth are you doing?”
“I’m melting sugar.”
“Why?”
“When sugar is heated to around 200 degrees Celsius, it melts and transforms into a sticky, brownish liquid.”
“Who doesn’t know that?”
“I’m going to mix sodium bicarbonate into it.”
“What, what did you say?”
“Oh, baking soda.”
“Why… why are you doing that?”
“When you add sodium bicarbonate to heated sugar, the sugar breaks down into low-molecular glucose, and the carbon dioxide generated here… that’s how… it works. So I thought of creating a snack like this.”
Two days later again.
Yuri presented a homemade snack she had made herself.
Isabel slapped both her thighs with her fists and jumped to her feet.
“D-don’t tell me… is this… is this… dalgona?!”
Isabel’s eyes sparkled brighter than the most radiant stars in the world.
It was the happiest day she’d had in recent times.
“Mmm, mmmm, mmm, it’s delicious! It’s sweet! So sweet!”
This wasn’t a joke—she was truly happy.
To think I’d get to eat something I never had in my past life here.
With both hands pressed to her cheeks and eyes closed, I rolled my tongue slowly, savoring the dalgona.
I’d made the right choice possessing this body.
A happy life was certain.
‘So this is what it tastes like!’
Drenched in happiness, Isabel pressed her index finger to her forehead.
“The true Dalgona has finally come out! Yuri, you’re the best! I absolutely love this!”
At Isabel’s passionate reaction, Yuri’s face flushed red.
My heart fluttered inexplicably, and my mood brightened.
“I’ll make it for you again.”
“Let’s eat together. Midwife, come here too. Let’s all eat!”
Isabel unleashed a stream of delighted exclamations as she tasted the dalgona for the first time.
“So sweet, so special, incredibly very much so delicious!”
With this, I could surely capture even Narmore’s heart!
That’s what I thought.
But not everything in this world goes according to one’s wishes.
Six months passed without finding Narmore.
Before long, Isabel had turned seven years old.

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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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