I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 72

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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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Duke Robena and Biatone stood facing each other.
The Volunteers formed a circle around them.
“What’s happening right now?”
“I have no idea.”
Though I couldn’t say for certain, an overwhelming aura emanated from them both.
Swordmasters of Biatone and Duke Robena’s caliber were exceedingly rare, and ordinary people had precious few opportunities to encounter warriors of their stature.
“Is this the aura of swordmasters?”
Everyone swallowed hard.
Though no one had pushed them, they gradually retreated backward.
“I’d only heard rumors, but I never knew something like this actually existed.”
“Y-you’re telling me.”
Simply standing still, yet the atmosphere felt terrifying and chilling.
It was as if an irresistible tidal wave was bearing down upon them.
“Are they going to fight?”
“Surely they’re not actually going to fight?”
Duke Robena smiled wickedly.
“It’s been a while, my student.”
Despite having altered her face with magic, Duke Robena read Biatone’s features with perfect accuracy.
The moment the name “Biatone” was spoken, the crowd began to murmur.
“B-Biatone, you say?”
“Viscount Biatone, the Empire’s Chief Advisor?”
One of the Empire’s ten greatest swordmasters had revealed himself.
The initial chill and fear transformed into admiration.
“But who is that woman speaking so casually to Viscount Biatone?”
“W-wait a moment.”
Someone recognized Duke Robena’s face.
Hair like melting blue glaciers. Eyes as blue as a lake.
A woman of such high station she could address Biatone informally. And a woman whose overwhelming cold aura made one’s body tremble uncontrollably.
“N-no way!”
Biatone’s expression darkened.
“I advised you it would be wise to put the Ratel down, Master.”
Duke Robena of the North was the Duke who ruled the Sky Island, which floated above the Erbe Mountains in the continent’s northern reaches.
Though the Sky Island was technically imperial territory, it functioned as a neutral nation.
Five hundred years ago, the first Emperor had made a covenant, giving birth to the first Duke, and that lineage had continued for five centuries.
However, when Duke Robena of the North disappeared from view ten years ago, all contact had virtually ceased.
“If you refuse?”
Duke Robena rolled up her sleeve.
Bite marks from the Ratel remained on her wrist.
“It bit me.”
In that instant, a cold wind swept through.
The cold wind was so bitter that frost clung to the walls in scattered patches.
Duke Robena’s hair danced in that frigid breeze.
“Biatone. It seems your skills have improved considerably over these ten years? You appear to have forgotten the warning I gave you back then—that I’d kill you if you got cocky with me.”
“I’ll say it once more. Put down that ratel.”
Robena’s eyes curved into crescents.
‘How amusing.’
The Biatone she knew was extraordinarily political and calculating—a child(?) in her eyes.
On the surface, he appeared thoughtless and slick, but in reality, he moved with meticulous calculation of every detail.
Yet today was different.
‘I never thought Biatone would display such profound emotional turmoil.’
The Biatone she remembered would never have reacted this way.
The Biatone she knew should have responded like this instead.
‘I’ll give you 500 rudens, so hand it over. Hehe. What? You refuse? Then I’ll offer 600 rudens. I can’t go higher than that. Take it or leave it.’
He should have engaged in such absurd haggling, but this Biatone was different.
Ten years ago, she had driven Biatone to the brink of death.
Even then, he had been smiling faintly.
‘So he fears what happens to Arun more than the fear of death itself?’
Robena gazed at the nephew held in her grasp.
This brave little nephew hadn’t even recognized his aunt and had charged at her courageously, so she’d had no choice but to knock him unconscious.
“Well, what sin could a voiceless creature possibly have?”
….
Robena found this somewhat puzzling.
He should have attacked again at this timing.
‘That’s right, no sin at all. Master truly knows how to conduct herself, hehe.’
The Biatone she knew and the one before her now were vastly different.
“This creature must have an owner, surely?”
It was about time for her to appear.
If my calculations are correct, in approximately five seconds.
She counted the time silently in her mind.
‘5, 4, 3, 2, 1.’
At that moment, someone pushed through the crowd and came rushing over frantically.
“Beolkkot!”
Robena grinned wickedly once more.
‘There you are, Isabel.’
* * *
The first person my eyes fell upon was Viscount Biatone holding a sword.
The second was a woman, and in her hands lay the unconscious Beolkkot.
An extraordinary presence emanated from that woman.
Even the formidable Viscount Biatone appeared to be tensing up in her presence.
‘Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm.’
This situation was extremely dangerous.
Once my body broke free from my reason’s control and ran wild, there was no stopping it.
Even now, I was barely suppressing the urge to rush toward that woman and cry my heart out.
‘Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm, please, Isabel.’
Fortunately, I had practiced restraining such impulses for a very long time. In my past life and in this one as well.
I grasped my racing heart and tried to view the situation as rationally as possible.
‘Blue hair and blue eyes.’
And just now, as she ran over, I heard her call out “Master.”
There was only one person in this story whom Viscount Biatonn called Master.
‘It must be Duke Robena.’
Robena was a supporting character with little significance in the work.
A supporting character who appeared in the latter half of the story, formed a new covenant with the male lead Arun, and then departed abruptly.
I recalled information about Duke Robena as quickly as possible.
‘Thorough and cold-hearted. Viscount Biatonn is the only person she has ever shown affection toward. She barely appeared in the work.’
Viscount Biatonn hid me behind him.
“Please step back. It could be dangerous.”
Viscount Biatonn’s touch remained gentle, but it felt slightly rougher than usual.
It meant that Viscount Biatonn was also tense.
Duke Robena spoke.
“Are you the master of this insolent creature?”
Viscount Biatonn spoke quickly.
“Don’t answer.”
The reason wasn’t difficult to guess.
It seemed Bumblebee had bitten the Duke’s wrist, and she was trying to hold the owner responsible.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Repaying enemies tenfold and benefactors a hundredfold was Duke Robena’s iron principle.
“No, Viscount Biatonn.”
I moved my feet, which wouldn’t separate from where I stood. It wasn’t just my feelings—my feet literally wouldn’t budge.
‘Why are my feet so heavy?’
It felt as though someone had attached an extremely heavy weight to my ankles.
But I forced myself to move forward.
“I am the Princess of Villorian, and this child is one to whom I personally gave a name.”
I heard people murmuring around me. But I couldn’t hear what they were saying at all.
What mattered to me was bringing Bumblebee to safety.
“So I won’t hide behind Viscount Biatonn. That child’s name is Kim Beolkkot, and I gave her that name. If there is any fault, I will apologize.”
Duke Robena curled the corners of her mouth and laughed.
Her gaze was excessively fierce, and I instinctively averted my eyes slightly.
‘No, no.’
This was not a situation I could handle by backing away in fear.
I gathered my courage and looked back into Duke Robena’s eyes.
‘No, this won’t do.’
I still couldn’t see it.
If I were an ordinary person, perhaps I wouldn’t notice, but I was a Mage capable of wielding mana, and that’s precisely why I could feel Duke Robena’s formidable presence all the more acutely.
“If the world could be resolved through mere words of apology, this world would be far more beautiful, Princess.”
“I’m sorry.”
I gathered my courage and took another step forward.
Viscount Biatonn reached out as if to protect me, but I gently brushed his hand away.
“If you’re sorry? In exchange for my not harming this insignificant creature, what can the Princess offer me?”
“If I apologize properly, you won’t harm Bumblebee, will you?”
“That depends entirely on what you do.”
I paused to think.
The answer was already predetermined.
In this world, any animal that bites a person without just cause is put to death. So even if the Duke killed Bumblebee, I had nothing to say against it.
I had to pay the price of Bumblebee’s life.
“I was taught that the price of life is paid with life.”
“Your Highness!” Viscount Biatonn cried out, but I continued.
“I’ll give you my final year.”
“Your final year? How?”
I rolled up my sleeve to show the Narbidal mark on my wrist.
“I’ve heard that at the Temple, they can extract the lifespan of someone bearing the Narbidal mark using sacred power.”
It’s an impossible procedure for ordinary people. It could only be applied to those bearing the ‘Narbidal mark’.
Those who bore the ‘Narbidal mark’ had their lifespan precisely determined, and that lifespan was marked in ‘sand’.
“They can extract sand that hasn’t fallen yet. When they do, it creates a power that works miracles.”
That was the true reason why the ‘Narbidal mark’ was called a curse.
Since I was born a Princess, it rarely happens to me, but typically those born with the ‘Narbidal mark’ immediately become targets for human trafficking.
They’re consumed and discarded as sacrifices for the ‘miracles’ of wealthy and powerful elites.
That was the fate of those born with the Narbidal mark.
But Duke Robena possessed a formidable temperament.
“You think merely one year of the Princess can substitute for a life? Surely you’re not about to spout some nonsense that your year is worth more than anyone else’s?”
“….”
I was momentarily at a loss for words.
I was living on borrowed time, and I had exactly twenty-one years allotted to me.
On average, I was indeed living a far shorter life than others.
But it felt awkward to claim that my year was more precious than anyone else’s.
Time is precious to everyone.
“Five years.”
Duke Robena twirled a strand of her hair with her index finger as she continued.
“If you give me five years of yours, I’ll spare this insignificant creature. What do you say?”

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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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