I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 53

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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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Narmore, who had been munching on a croffle, tilted his head.
“Nar Coin?”
“….”
I found myself at a loss for words in that moment.
It seemed the name “Nar Coin” hadn’t been finalized yet.
“Ah, I came up with the name on my own. It’s what I proposed to House of Rosild. What Brother is currently conceptualizing.”
“You even know what I proposed?”
“Yes.”
“…How did you find out?”
“Why? Is there a reason I shouldn’t know?”
“I specifically asked House of Rosild to keep it confidential.”
I could see Narmore clenching his teeth tightly.
He seemed somewhat upset that his secret had leaked out.
Though a slight misunderstanding had arisen, there was nothing I could do about it.
‘Since things have come to this, I might as well bluff a little.’
This was the moment when some calculated bluffing was necessary to make Narmore completely my ally.
“I’m the Princess of Villorian, and I’m quite capable—more than Brother might think. You don’t actually believe I sought you out without knowing what happened between you and House of Rosild, or what you proposed, do you?”
Hmm, if I took a piece of croffle with perfect composure at this timing, the picture would be complete.
‘Wine or something like that instead of croffle?’
But I was only seven years old, and I couldn’t very well drink wine.
So instead of wine, I tried to mimic elegant grace with the croffle.
But as the saying goes, people must live according to their nature—I’d put too much force on the fork, and pieces of croffle scattered down.
Embarrassed, I quickly continued speaking.
“I saw your potential. I don’t think there are many people with talent as exceptional as yours.”
“…Do you really think so?”
“Of course.”
“How can you be so certain?”
Because I read it in a novel!
I couldn’t say that.
‘No, how can he pretend to be indifferent while his eyes shine so brightly? What kind of praise would satisfy him?’
Though he appeared indifferent on the surface, it was clear this brother wanted praise.
At this point, I felt somewhat burdened, but a strange stubbornness arose in me.
I was determined to satisfy him!
“You kept going back to Rosilde even after being turned away multiple times, with your idea in hand. I heard that when you were finally driven away, you suffered terribly. I believe that someone so desperate and resolute can accomplish anything.”
“….”
“I have an eye for recognizing desperate people.”
I smiled brightly and showed him the mark of Narbidal.
* * *
“…Ah.”
Narmore had honestly forgotten.
Isabel was so bright and warm like sunlight that I had forgotten she was living a life with an expiration date.
Looking at the hourglass carved on my wrist, I finally realized that Isabel truly was limited in time.
My mind suddenly became clear.
‘So that’s why she came to me with such a precious status and is desperately trying to persuade me like this.’
In fact, I had sensed something odd from the moment Isabel first came to find me.
Though her face was covered in soot, it couldn’t conceal Isabel’s nobility.
Michael’s nobility, on the other hand, was completely hidden.
Isabel herself believed she lacked grace, but from my perspective, that wasn’t true.
Isabel possessed some invisible aura about her.
A kind of nobility hidden behind her cute and clever appearance.
I had no precise words to express it, but I simply thought of it as her ‘Isabel-ness’.
‘So people like that actually exist.’
A person warmer than anyone, despite living a life with an expiration date.
A person more sincere about life than anyone.
A person capable of being more desperate than anyone because of it.
A person who set aside her status as Princess and treated others as one human to another.
‘It’s too unrealistic.’
She was a completely different type of person from those I had experienced.
So unrealistic that she felt like a fictional character.
“I honestly don’t understand why you’re going to such lengths to help me.”
Isabel, who had been exposed to the media multiple times and thus grew up reading the room around countless eyes, was perceptive.
She immediately sensed my feelings.
‘I’ve already done all the rational and logical persuasion. I need to approach this differently.’
So she spoke.
“I want to humble the House of Rosild’s nose.”
“…What?”
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see a young sapling that Rosilde cast out grow into a great tree one day and cast its shadow over Rosilde?”
Thinking of Rosilde, irritation surged through me.
I decided not to dwell on my anger toward Reina, but still—Isabel was human.
I couldn’t view someone who showed me such hostility in only a positive light.
“…If that’s the reason.”
I grinned widely.
I gazed at Isabel for a moment.
‘How human of her.’
I had thought her unrealistic.
She seemed like a fictional character, but that was apparently a misunderstanding.
Now I could see that Isabel was simply a seven-year-old Princess.
Her face had turned slightly red and her cheeks were puffed out.
Thinking of Rosilde brought anger rising to the surface.
‘…How cute.’
Narmore could say with certainty.
He had never seen such an adorable creature in all his life.
It was the first time he’d laid eyes on one today.
He had learned something new.
‘Even with such intelligence and grace, cuteness is still cuteness.’
No amount of dignity could conceal that charm.
Today, that became abundantly clear.
‘And the way she keeps hesitating because she can’t give up on the croffle—it’s like watching a squirrel.’
Narmore popped a piece of croffle into his mouth as well.
A man devoted to sugar and bread, he tasted paradise once more.
“It’s wonderful, Your Highness.”
Narmore had shifted to formal speech.
It was a small signal.
A signal that this moment was no longer merely ‘private’—it had become official.
“What would you like me to do?”
“Since you only live once, give it your all. And if you could earn a lot of money on my behalf, that would be wonderful.”
Narmore was the type who flourished magnificently once given proper direction.
He was merely sealed away for now, but by nature, Narmore was an extraordinary miser.
He possessed the makings of a tycoon who raked in wealth with both hands.
That’s why Isabel didn’t want to meddle unnecessarily. She believed she should simply support him so he could become self-sufficient.
“I was actually planning to live this one life as lazily as possible.”
In truth, that was only because Rosilde had dampened his passion. Originally, he’d intended to live as Isabel described.
The dying embers of his spirit ignited once more.
“I’ll give it my best shot. I won’t let you regret sponsoring me, Your Highness.”
“Thank you!”
Isabel internally screamed, ‘Perfect!’
She was genuinely delighted.
A guaranteed skyrocketing rocket had just been placed on the launch pad.
‘A return rate of 12,345,670,000 percent!’
In truth, the numbers meant nothing.
She’d simply conjured up an impressively large figure.
As someone with a scientific mind through and through, contemplating concrete numbers only deepened her happiness.
Narmore, watching her expression, fell into a profound misunderstanding.
‘Why would someone like me make her this happy?’
That expression was genuine. A real expression that couldn’t be fabricated through artifice or performance.
The bright, radiant aura emanating from Isabel seemed to illuminate the entire room.
Bathed in that glow, Narmore himself felt his spirits lift.
It was as if the fragrance of flowers filled this space, and his mind grew pleasantly hazy as though he’d drunk wine.
Isabel possessed such power.
‘On the surface, she appears to be in her early teens… but the Princess is only seven years old.’
He made a silent vow to himself.
‘I cannot simply rely on a seven-year-old girl.’
The proposal he had made to the Rosild Duke was not enough.
He could not merely receive help from a seven-year-old Princess.
‘I need to earn money.’
In the original story, Narmore had been somewhat laid-back. But now his heart burned with greater urgency.
‘A lot of damn money.’
Narmore had awakened faster than in the original narrative.
* * *
Several days had passed since Narmore accepted my patronage.
I spotted a very welcome face.
Chirp chirp—
There couldn’t be another ratel in the world that made such adorably cute sounds besides Kim Beolkkot.
“Kim Beolkkot! Where have you been all this time!”
Truth be told, I preferred the name ‘Bumblebee,’ but since Bumblebee liked the name ‘Kim Beolkkot’ better, I simply called her that.
Bumblebee’s tail began spinning like a windmill, whoosh whoosh.
‘Huh?’
Without me even casting an interpretation spell, magical characters materialized above Bumblebee’s head.
[Went on a romantic adventure.]
“An adventure?”
Bumblebee puffed out her chest proudly and stood up on her hind legs, hands on her waist.
[Isabel’s joy = money]
[Isabel = miser]
Reading just the words, it seemed like she was insulting me, but that wasn’t it. This was more like an error in the interpretation spell.
Bumblebee wasn’t actually ‘speaking.’
Her thoughts and emotions were being expressed in ‘language’ that humans could understand, so they often came out this bluntly.
…I could believe that, right?
[The romantic Kim Beolkkot went on an adventure.]
[An adventure for the miser.]
It felt like the interpretation spell had evolved somewhat.
In any case, Bumblebee harbored no ill intent.
Her tail was so powerful that even her rear end bounced along as she scurried toward me, chittering away.
“Why, why are you like this?”
On the surface she looked distressed, but the [♩♪] marks above her head never disappeared.
Chit! Chit!
[Bringing joy to the miser.]
Chit! Chit!
Bumblebee coughed something up.
“Huh?”
What Bumblebee had regurgitated were gold ingots.
“W-what is this?”
[Gold, come forth. Clang!]
[Miser. Happy?]
Bumblebee gazed at me with sparkling eyes.
It seemed she was hoping I would dance with unbridled joy.
For some reason, I felt pressured as if I ought to dance.
“But….”
I was genuinely startled. A mark had been left on the gold ingot.
“H-how on earth did you bring this here?”
Cold sweat began trickling down my back.
‘This is… a serious problem!’

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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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