I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 84

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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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Isabel couldn’t hear Duke Robena’s voice. No sound reached her ears at all.
She made no noise, only wept.
Her body still wouldn’t obey her properly, but she managed to move her hand just enough to place it on Kim Beolggwol’s hindquarters.
Through her fingertips, she felt the warmth of Kim Beolggwol’s body.
This was the best Isabel could do right now.
‘I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.’
At the terrifying thought that ten years had been stolen from Kim Beolggwol, Isabel continued to cry.
Robena watched Isabel with her draconic eyes, unwavering.
The sorrow and pain Isabel felt transmitted directly to Robena as well.
Its depth was far too profound for a human to bear.
‘What kind of little child feels such thick despair?’
Even the heart of Ravina, the Dragon of Wisdom with her steadfast spirit, tingled with discomfort.
‘For a seven-year-old’s mental world to contain this much darkness… it shouldn’t be easy.’
Only someone who had endured countless hardships and tribulations, who had persevered through long years of suffering, could feel emotions this profound.
‘Not even her own life, but a ratel losing ten years creates this much sorrow?’
The Dragon of Wisdom Ravina tried to understand this situation rationally.
Dragons by nature don’t cling to their lifespans. Some dragons even grew so bored and listless they took their own lives.
‘What does ten years even mean to this child?’
Robena exhaled a long sigh.
‘Why is she crying without making a sound?’
That little child, weeping more sorrowfully than anyone, cried more quietly than anyone else.
Though the Dragon of Wisdom rarely experienced emotional turbulence, her heart inexplicably tingled, and she bit her lip slightly.
She found it impossible to simply stand by and watch.
‘This kind of impulsive action suits Kadelina better. No. It’s fine. I’m not the dragon Ravina right now—I’m Duke Robena of the North. I’m human. Humans are naturally capricious anyway.’
She rationalized it that way.
Robena began acting in ways she hadn’t planned, without even realizing it.
She walked over unsteadily and embraced Isabel tightly.
“I’ll give you the disease and then the cure.”
But wait, Isabel. She’s a dragon.
Ten years taken from her is less than a second by human standards.
And you’re smart anyway.
She doesn’t even have Narbidal’s mark on her—how could we possibly extract a life force from her?
Does that even make sense?
‘Her reason must be shaken so severely that she can’t make even that level of judgment.’
For Ravina the dragon, it was an emotion difficult to comprehend precisely. Yet the reality of that emotion undeniably existed.
“I’ll become your friend too. Stop. No more crying. From now on, call me sister.”
Ravina, who had retired from her role as Duke of the North, decided to return to it once more.
To watch over Isabel and Arun from up close.
Yet Isabel’s tears did not stop.
“What, call you sister? That’s incredibly honorable and noble….”
Isabel burst into loud tears.
“Waaahhhhh!”
“…Child. Really, it’s a lie. She didn’t bring a life force!”
“Waaahhhhh!”
“Think about it. Does she have Narbidal’s mark on her?”
By then, Isabel had regained the ability to move.
Ravina had released the magical power that had been restraining her.
“Waaahhhhh!”
“Without Narbidal’s mark, how could she extract ten years!”
“Hey, stop crying. You look pathetic.”
Once the emotional storm became uncontrollable, it was difficult for Isabel to maintain composure through reason.
“I hate you!”
“…What?”
“I hate you, sister!”
Only after shouting like that did I finally regain my senses.
* * *
‘I’m ruined.’
Very, terribly, considerably ruined.
I actually told that terrifying Duke of the North, Robena, that I hated her.
Hiccup, hiccup.
No, how much longer am I going to keep hiccupping… myself!
I’d barely regained my composure, but my breathing was ragged and I felt slightly dizzy.
I tried to read Duke Robena’s expression, but it was difficult to discern.
“What did you say?”
“That is…”
“It sounded like you said you hate me.”
“Me, me?”
I wasn’t sure. Let me try to play it off.
They say you can’t spit on a smiling face. Let me smile as brightly as possible!
“Smiling with a face covered in tears and snot doesn’t look pretty at all.”
Duke Robena snapped her fingers, and something remarkable happened.
Water spray seemed to rise from thin air, and then transformed into a translucent figure of a boy.
‘A spirit? Wow, what is this? Why is he so handsome?’
Even in this world, spirits were handsome.
My eyes blinked involuntarily.
‘Maybe because he looks around my age, his handsomeness hits so dramatically.’
While marveling at that beauty, I felt a wave of reality check wash over me.
‘So that’s why crying children smile when you give them candy.’
I felt a slight sense of disillusionment, realizing I’d become like a young child who forgets everything else when distracted by one thing.
But even that disillusionment didn’t last long.
The Spirit grinned and rubbed Isabel’s face with his hand.
“That tickles!”
I burst into laughter before I could help myself.
He truly behaved like a child.
I touched my own face with my hand and found my skin incredibly soft and smooth.
Duke Robena’s voice reached my ears.
“Now you look properly clean.”
My mind had cleared, I had washed up. Now my rationality had returned completely.
‘I need to salvage this situation.’
Robena only frightened me, right? She didn’t take my lifespan, did she? This situation must be one I should be grateful for, right?
But I screamed that I hated her, didn’t I?
“Isabel was ungrateful. I’m sorry. Isabel was wrong.”
Duke Robena stared at me for a long while before bursting into laughter.
“I’m someone who despises when people refer to themselves by their own name.”
“Did… did I do that?”
I couldn’t remember.
I hadn’t intended it—I was just trying to say ‘I’—but my mouth seemed to move on its own.
“What I said about becoming your older sister wasn’t a lie.”
Then Grandfather Daesigwan cried out, “Sister!”
His expression seemed somewhat bizarre, so I found myself staring at him.
For some reason I couldn’t quite understand, Grandfather seemed somewhat angry…?
No.
He seemed somewhat jealous…? What…?
Was it my imagination that he seemed displeased with me calling Duke Robena my older sister?
“…Excuse me? Wouldn’t ‘aunt’ be more appropriate?”
Ah, it must just be my mood playing tricks on me.
“There is quite a significant age difference, after all.”
“…What?”
Ah, right, there was quite an age gap.
But it didn’t really matter to me.
“There’s nothing strange about it at all.”
The title of older sister suited her perfectly.
Mana must be quite good for her—she really doesn’t age.
I wasn’t sure exactly how old Duke Robena was, but she appeared to be in her early to mid-twenties.
‘That’s definitely older sister material!’
A soft laugh escaped me.
Bumblebee was fine, I was fine.
Nothing bad had happened, and the Duke of the North had told me to call her sister—the situation couldn’t have been better.
“I’ll give you some dalgona later. Thank you. I’m so happy to have gained a sister.”
I bowed deeply.
“I’ll give you two.”
* * *
Marco Yurmiel.
The continent’s finest appraiser was utterly startled.
“Wh-what?”
The engagement stone was erupting with radiant, multicolored light.
It was a brilliance so dazzling it seemed auspicious.
Yet that auspiciousness swiftly gave way to something ominous.
Crack—
Fractures began spreading across the engagement stone.
“No, no, no, this can’t be happening!!!”
If that were destroyed, he would owe an astronomical sum in compensation.
His entire house would be ruined.
“Wh-what is this…!”
The engagement stone finally shattered.
“Sigh…”
How could he possibly explain this to Servant Deilsa?
He tasted profound despair.
Pop!
It sounded like someone had passed gas, which irritated him.
“Who just farted!”
But the room was empty.
Pop!
“Huh?”
A small magical circle had formed where the engagement stone had shattered.
Pop!
Something began rising from it.
“Glimmering… what?”
It was something that sparkled like a jewel.
But its size was considerable.
“Could that possibly be…?”
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Jewels continued erupting upward.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
A diamond spring had burst forth.
“D-d-diamonds!!!”
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Diamonds continued accumulating.
“Th-these are real diamonds, aren’t they?”
Marco momentarily lost consciousness.
* * *
“I shall escort you to the Alpea Royal Palace.”
I nearly called the gatekeeper mister “Father.”
The presence I felt was unmistakably my biological father, yet something told me I shouldn’t address him as such.
He was clearly my father pretending not to be, which suggested a world where everyone knew the truth but pretended otherwise.
I didn’t quite understand it, but surely the adults had their important reasons!
Being a well-behaved child, I decided to respect their circumstances and play along.
“Really? The gatekeeper will take us there?”
“Yes. I have a carriage waiting.”
Just then, a familiar voice reached my ears.
“A gatekeeper must do a gatekeeper’s job. A gatekeeper’s duty is to guard the gate, gatekeeper.”
“Teacher Biatone!”
“My apologies for being late. I should have come to fetch you myself.”
Viscount Biatonn turned his gaze back to the gatekeeper.
“Why would a gatekeeper try to escort her? Attending to the Princess is my responsibility, so I shall handle it. Don’t concern yourself, gatekeeper.”
Viscount Biatonn knelt down and opened his arms to me.
It was like the north pole of a magnet.
I was the south pole.
It was the law of nature—irresistible.
Before I knew it, I was drawn in and embraced him tightly.
‘I’m safe.’
It seemed I had been far more tense than I realized.
The moment I was held in Viscount Biatonn’s arms, all the tension drained from my body, replaced by profound relief.
The gatekeeper’s voice came again.
“How can you hold the Princess so carelessly?”
Father was staying remarkably committed to his gatekeeper role, and Viscount Biatonn seemed to be playing along with it perfectly.
There was definitely something I didn’t understand about this situation.
If I wanted to make Father happy, I should participate too, shouldn’t I?
“I don’t mind. Viscount Biatonn is a teacher who cares for me greatly.”
“Is it not improper to lay hands upon one of royal blood?”
“But Viscount Biatonn is the Empire’s chief advisor, and he’s like a second father to me.”
Always warm, always kind, always someone I could rely on. Viscount Biatonn was someone I was always grateful for.
Father, playing the gatekeeper, spoke again.
“Does the Princess enjoy being held so much?”
“I do!”
“Why? Do you like Viscount Biatonn that much?”
If I told him that I liked Viscount Biatonn because Father cared for him, wouldn’t Father feel more reassured and pleased?
Was he deliberately acting out this scene to gauge my feelings?
Yes, that seemed to be it.
I answered with a bright smile.
“Yes! I love it! Really, really love it!”
If I say this, Father will feel reassured and be happy, won’t he?
But Father was frowning at that moment.
‘He’s deliberately frowning to hide his true feelings!’
There was no way his mood could actually be bad.
My heart had become so much lighter.

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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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