I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 9

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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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The novel mentioned it directly.
「Karin excels at discerning others’ psychology, grasping their weaknesses, and exploiting them.」
Karin, having noticed that the heroine was somewhat different from ordinary humans, began using that as leverage to bind her.
‘The heroine has suffered through plenty of hardship, but someone like me—a mere extra from the early chapters—….’
Just imagining it made me dizzy.
If my identity as a possessor were exposed, truly irreversible consequences would unfold.
I clenched my lips shut.
My body was already trembling.
Since I had done something suspicious, I decided to abandon any pretense of logic and rationality.
‘The answer is a tantrum!’
Right now, my mind doesn’t work as sharply as an adult’s, and my emotions are laid bare on my face like a child’s.
I chose to act like a child instead.
“I don’t like Viscount Biatonn.”
“Viscount Biatonn and I teach different subjects.”
Unable to hide my hostility toward Karin, I decided to display it openly instead.
“I don’t like him. Viscount Biatonn is the worst!”
….
“Go away!”
I expressed my will through my firmly clenched lips.
“Then does that mean Your Highness cannot acknowledge me as your teacher?”
“Yes. Bring Viscount Biatonn here!”
It wasn’t that I couldn’t throw a tantrum—I simply hadn’t been throwing them.
This body had always craved tantrums, and I had been suppressing it with reason.
Now, tantrum, give me the beat.
“Waaaaaahhhhh!”
I began crying loudly.
My instincts, which had been suppressed all this time, erupted like an active volcano.
Karin simply gazed at me without any particular expression.
Those pink eyes terrified me.
‘Wait, hold on.’
A thought flashed through my mind.
In the original story, it is Arun who stops Karin.
‘For Arun to awaken, doesn’t he need to be tormented by me?’
The original story tells of how the boy Arun, having suffered relentless torment from the villainess Isabel, awakens and becomes the strongest being in the world.
‘But I’m not going to torment him?’
Then the male lead might not awaken at all.
Even if he does awaken, since he would harbor no resentment toward the Sword Art Empire, he would have no reason to invade the imperial palace of Villorian.
‘Then? Arun wouldn’t become emperor?’
Karin opposed Arun because he would later become the emperor of Villorian.
Then there would be no reason for Karin and Arun to fight.
‘So in the end, there’s no male lead to stop the final villain?’
If that were the case, the one who would eventually face this final villain would most likely be my family.
‘I can’t just let her go free like this, can I?’
Just like in the novel, she’ll grow stronger and eventually appear as the final villain.
Karin’s goal is to dominate the entire world, after all.
Whoever becomes the Emperor of Villorian, we’ll eventually clash.
‘Maybe it would actually be safer to keep her by my side… or something?’
There are originally two strongest beings in this world.
One is Father, and one is the male lead.
But Father weakens after losing Mother.
‘If I live virtuously, Father won’t lose Mother, and then Father won’t weaken either, right?’
Father is, aside from the male lead, practically the only person who can stand against the final villain.
A healthy Father won’t overlook Karin’s transgressions.
‘Ugh, what do I do?’
Should I just pretend I don’t know?
Besides, she doesn’t really start her activities until twenty years later anyway.
By then, I’ll probably already be gone from this world….
‘But still….’
I was given twenty-one years.
Even if it’s not something grand, I thought it would be nice to leave something behind in this world.
‘Alright. I’ve decided.’
I need to protect my family before I go.
I thought that might be proof of the gift I received.
It felt like my life would finally have some meaning.
“If things continue like this, education will be difficult. Magic requires deep and intimate exchange between master and student before it can proceed properly….”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I calmly wiped away my tears.
‘Strangely enough, I’m controlling it well.’
Once I decided I needed to protect my family, my control actually improved.
I smiled brightly.
‘A baby just needs to face the final villain in a baby’s way.’
My behavior seemed quite unfamiliar to Karin.
“…Yes?”
“If you like Teacher from the start, Viscount Biatonn might feel left out.”
I laughed brightly.
Looking at myself in the mirror, I was truly beautiful and lovely.
I really was blessed with an incredible face.
“I like pretty Sister.”
I extended my hand.
“Isabel will study hard, Teacher.”
* * *
Biatone, eavesdropping from outside, covered his mouth and laughed.
“Hehehehe.”
Isabel, who rarely threw tantrums, was crying and asking for Viscount Biatonn to come to her.
“How delightful.”
If Isabel had simply welcomed her new teacher without complaint, I might have felt slightly disappointed.
He spoke to a servant who had been doing chores in the corridor.
“Did you see? Did you hear? Do you understand?”
“Pardon?”
“The Princess is throwing a tantrum.”
The servant, lacking Biatone’s keen hearing, failed to comprehend his words.
He merely laughed awkwardly.
“Ha, haha! I, I’m not sure…!”
“The Princess is renowned for never throwing tantrums. Which means I am precisely the person she needs so desperately.”
Biatone withdrew a gold coin from his pocket and handed it to the servant.
It was three days’ worth of his wages.
Though his tattered uniform had been mended, this emotion was a joy of such substance that it demanded expression.
“Take it—this is a momentous day.”
The servant, having tasted capital, immediately perked up his ears and opened his mouth.
“I saw and heard everything clearly.”
“Of course you did?”
“Now that I think about it, I remember the Princess mentioning several times that she wished to see Viscount Biatonn.”
“Hehehehe. Well, that’s only natural.”
Biatone trusted the tongue that had been trained by capital.
He walked away in high spirits.
Biatone waved his hand at the servant as he departed, so he did not hear Isabel’s next words.
“Karin. No matter how brilliant a mage you may be, the Princess’s heart already belongs to me.”
He muttered softly.
“I won’t need to kill you after all.”
Though no one witnessed it, the madness of his sword-demon days flickered in his eyes.
* * *
‘Why am I learning magic?’
I’m not entirely sure of the reason, but Karin said she would teach me magic.
Some carefully selected mage instructor, apparently.
‘Did Isabel learn magic in the original story?’
A Princess of the Sword Art Empire learning magic.
It wasn’t impossible, but it felt unfamiliar.
‘It doesn’t matter, I suppose.’
Over these past few days, I had made a firm decision.
I judged it fundamentally impossible to win the heart of the final villain, Karin.
My default setting is that of a psychopath and sociopath devoid of emotion.
‘At the very least, it makes them lower their guard.’
Fortunately, I was an extremely young child.
Even by my own assessment, I was breathtakingly adorable.
The moment Karin entered, I scurried over and quickly shut the door.
“Your Highness?”
I lowered my voice to barely a whisper.
Glancing around, I pressed my index finger to my lips with a soft “shh.”
“….”
“It’s jelly. I’ve been saving it. Peach flavored.”
I smiled with practiced innocence.
Even I could see that this melting smile was my most powerful weapon.
“I hid it to give to Teacher Shen.”
The saying goes that to win favor, one must give gifts first.
From there, I began asking Karin all sorts of questions.
“How old are you?”
This year, Karin was twenty-two years old.
“Why is your name Karin?”
And such.
“When did you start learning magic?”
And such.
“What kind of food do you like?”
And such.
I asked Karin numerous trivial questions.
In my own way, these were questions designed to gather information about her.
Karin answered all my questions with a warm smile.
Her tone was gentle, and her bearing always carried an air of refinement.
‘Truly, you can’t tell just by looking.’
Who would know if this older sister was the final villain?
I was grateful I had read the novel.
One day, Karin asked me a question.
“By the way, Your Highness, is it true that you know about the Narbidal mark?”
I felt as though the moment I had been waiting for had finally arrived.
Later, Karin would use the “Curse of Narbidal” to push the heroine to the brink of death.
Though not explained in detail, it was said that Karin had conducted extensive research related to Narbidal.
In the process, there were accounts of her using many people as experimental subjects.
Perhaps her approach to me was also for the purpose of researching Narbidal.
I answered with a hint of tension.
“Yes. I know.”
“What exactly is it?”
“When you grow up, you die.”
“Do you understand what death means?”
“It’s saying goodbye to the people you love.”
“Doesn’t that thought frighten or sadden you?”
“Hmm, hmm.”
I shook my head.
After all, this life was given to me for free. It was a gift.
“Isabel is living a gift.”
“….”
“So I’m grateful, and I’m happy.”
Karin’s pink eyes turned toward me.
Wow, just looking at those eyes, you’d think she was a good person.
My heart nearly softened without my realizing it.
“Meeting Teacher Karin is also a gift. So Isabel isn’t sad.”
It was the truth.
The Karin of twenty years from now would be far more terrifying than she is now.
I was fortunate to have met her now.
“But when I leave, will people be sad? Sadness is hard, but I don’t want them to be sad either.”
“….”
“Am I the only child Isabel has?”
“….”
“Huh?”
But something felt wrong.
‘Why is this happening?’
According to the novel’s setting, something impossible was beginning to unfold.

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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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