I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 73

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Isabel answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“Yes. I agree.”
At least on the surface, Isabel appeared completely unafraid.
But Duke Robena’s eyes saw the truth clearly.
‘Her legs are trembling, aren’t they?’
She was desperately trying to hide it, but it showed anyway.
It was so endearing that I nearly laughed, but I held back.
“Five years.”
“Understood. Five years.”
“Then we’ll go to the Temple. Where is the nearest one from here?”
“But that’s not possible right now.”
“What?”
Robena smiled wickedly. At the same moment, a wind carrying cold intent blew forth.
“It would be wise not to play tricks, Princess.”
“I’m not playing tricks.”
Isabel was terrified beyond measure, but she squeezed out her words, gripping the hem of her dress tightly to keep her fear from showing.
“Right now….”
“What?”
“Right now I’m volunteering, so I can’t leave. These people need me here.”
“What do you mean?”
Isabel still had duties left to fulfill.
“I made a promise with Mister Hector. I promised to enchant the pulleys every day, and to keep the wind from the Siberun mana stones flowing continuously in the Makeshift Kitchen.”
Without Isabel, the work becomes twice as difficult.
The volunteers who toil in the Makeshift Kitchen every day would have to suffer from the heat.
“So please give me a little more time. I will absolutely keep my promises.”
“Hmm, and what of yours should I trust to ensure you keep your promises?”
Unable to bear it any longer, Biatone burst out loudly.
“Teacher! Isn’t that too much?”
“If I went too far, I would have killed this Ratel already.”
“….”
At those words, Biatone fell silent.
Robena was quietly amused.
“So there is a way to shut that glib mouth of yours after all.”
Normally, Biatone never lost a word.
Whether through swordplay or magic, I had never found a way to make that mouth stop through force.
But today, Biatone’s reaction was quite different from before.
“The fact that my irritating student’s weakness is Princess Isabel is quite intriguing.”
“Teacher….”
Isabel extended her arm to block Biatone’s path, cutting off his words.
“Teacher. This is my responsibility. To pay the price of that child’s life, it’s only natural that I stake my own. My position now is one where I must ask, not one where I should raise my voice. So please, let me speak.”
“…Your Highness.”
Biatone clenched his fists tightly.
Over the past decade, he had achieved tremendous growth, yet the moment he stood before Duke Robena, he could feel it.
He remained weak in the presence of his master.
‘I’m still far too weak.’
There was a time when I thought I had become strong. Excluding absolute beings like Ron and Robena, it was true that I had few rivals.
That’s why Biatone’s thirst for strength had nearly vanished.
‘I must grow stronger.’
If only I had been stronger. Then I could have dueled Robena and rejected her demand.
I could have paid the price for Kim Beolggwol’s life in a different way.
He bit his lips hard.
‘I’ve been far too complacent all this time.’
A small yet immense spark of flame began to burn within Biatone’s heart.
In the meantime, Robena asked again.
“I asked how you could prove your promise.”
“I’ll give you this.”
Isabel reached into her bosom.
Within was a small subspace pouch, and from it she withdrew a crudely woven flower crown.
“What is that?”
“It’s a flower crown I made together with Bumblebee. It’s very precious to me.”
“You’re giving that as a token of your promise?”
Robena suppressed the laughter threatening to leak out.
‘Her legs are still trembling.’
Her eyes observed everything about Isabel.
The Dragon’s Eye possessed the authority to intuitively grasp all things and sense what approached truth.
‘She truly treasures it, doesn’t she?’
What was such a flower crown?
She couldn’t understand why she treasured it so much.
‘I don’t know the reason, but it doesn’t feel unpleasant.’
It was about time for Arun, wearing the form of Kim Beolggwol, to awaken.
This situation needed to be wrapped up.
“Very well. Since it’s so precious to you, I’ll take it as a token of your promise. How much time do you need?”
Isabel turned her head to search for someone.
She spotted one person among the crowd—Foreman Hector.
“Foreman, how many more days will I need to work?”
“Th, th, that is….”
Hector’s body trembled uncontrollably.
For a mere foreman like him, the series of events was far too grand to handle.
Each word felt so delicate that he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
Now that Isabel’s status as Princess was officially recognized, she spoke again as the Princess.
“Hector. I asked how many more days of work there would be.”
“W-well, originally it would have taken about a month, but if the P-Princess would work with us, I think it could be done in about 5 days!”
“Thank you.”
Isabel turned her gaze toward Robena.
“Five days. Please just give me five days.”
“Fine, then.”
Robena hurled Kim Beolggwol, whom she’d been holding, through the air with a whoosh.
Isabel threw herself to the ground and caught Kim Beolggwol.
Her clothes became covered in dirt and her knees and elbows scraped, but she didn’t care about such things in the slightest.
‘Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness.’
Kim Beolggwol appeared to simply be asleep, breathing peacefully.
Large tears streamed down Isabel’s eyes.
She was so relieved that Kim Beolggwol was safe.
Isabel’s tears fell drop by drop onto Kim Beolggwol’s body.
Watching this, Biatone clenched his fists until blood came, and Duke Robena suddenly vanished from sight.
* * *
Robena slipped out through the castle gates and walked for a long while.
Her pace was so fast that ordinary people could scarcely imagine it, making it nearly impossible to follow her.
Yet someone had followed her.
“Why not reveal yourself now?”
In the wasteland where no proper roads existed.
In this desert-like place where the recent prolonged dry season had left most vegetation withered and twisted, Robena met someone.
He was completely covered from head to toe in a thick robe.
“What brings the busy Emperor of the Vilotian Empire to such a remote place?”
It was Ron, Emperor of the Vilotian Empire.
He removed the hood of his robe.
“If you wish to take those five years from that child, you must offer your own neck in exchange.”
“Is that so?”
Robena faced off against Ron.
They stood at a distance where a drawn sword would touch, staring at each other.
Robena twisted her blue hair around her index finger.
“Then why didn’t you reveal yourself back there?”
“….”
A clear ring of steel sounded.
“So you’ve finally drawn your blade.”
The smile faded from Robena’s face.
Since the one person who could unsettle Robena had drawn his sword, she too could not afford to play games.
“But Your Majesty is aware that what you’re doing now is shameful, aren’t you? That’s why you didn’t reveal yourself back there and appeared here instead.”
“….”
I don’t see any Korean text to translate in your message. The line you’ve provided contains only ellipsis marks (“….”).
[UNTRANSLATED LINE 121]
Could you please provide the actual Korean text you’d like me to translate?
“This crown is a token of a promise. Since you’ve witnessed it yourself, you know full well it’s no lie.”
A life is paid for with a life.
I saved the life of the ratel that attacked a person, so I must pay a price befitting that deed.
Princess Isabel, the ratel’s owner, even had it officially notarized.
“If Your Majesty acts this way now, what becomes of the Princess’s dignity? The prestige of the Imperial House? The honor and traditions we’ve upheld all this time?”
Everything Robena said was correct.
Moreover, since the Princess had chosen this path and taken responsibility for it, this was truly just a matter of praising the Princess.
Rationally speaking, that was so.
“You’re not the Emperor I knew—one who thought only of the Empire’s prosperity and the Imperial family’s honor. And surely you’re aware that this action of yours could turn me, the Duke of Sky Island, into your enemy?”
“….”
Through her dragon eyes, Robena read Ron’s momentum.
An intensity and murderous aura so fierce it was hard to believe came from a human.
Her dragon eyes stung so sharply her vision blurred.
“You must know how strategically vital Sky Island of Erbe is to the Vilotian Empire.”
“….”
“Was that child’s five years really that important to Your Majesty?”
Robena’s eyes narrowed.
Robena had deliberately revealed her own value and position.
To restore the reason of an Emperor who appeared to have momentarily lost his sanity.
‘Once he thinks a bit more logically, he’ll probably lower that sword. He’ll naturally say no.’
That would be the choice befitting an Emperor.
Robena was certain of it.
Yet that certainty was spectacularly wrong.
“Yes.”
“…I’m sorry? I didn’t catch that. Could you say it again?”
Ron was extremely reluctant to say such things.
It was because he had rarely revealed his true feelings before others, and especially because it concerned Isabel.
“That child’s five years.”
“Yes, that child’s five years.”
“….”
“Say it clearly.”
“That child’s five years are more precious than everything you just mentioned.”
In that moment, Robena sensed something strange.
‘What? What is this?’
Something new was caught in her dragon eyes.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————