Limited Extra Time - Chapter 104

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

—— Page 1 ——

Millaiyen Pestellio held Carina Leopold in his arms and made his way silently toward the Encampment.

Cradling her, who had cried herself to exhaustion and finally lost consciousness, left a suffocating heaviness in his chest.

Your Grace, you’ve returned… oh…

Yuri’s voice gradually faded, stretching out with uncertainty.

Millaiyen Pestellio cast him a brief glance before striding purposefully toward the center of the Encampment without another word.

Have you set up the Tent?

Ah, well, we’ve started, but it’s not quite finished yet.

Just prepare the Bed first.

Yes, understood!

Yuri, visibly tense, raised his voice loudly in stiff formality, and Millaiyen Pestellio regarded him silently with a stern gaze.

Yuri belatedly covered his mouth

—— Page 2 ——

and lowered his head.

“This way, sir…”

Yuri spoke, his voice dropping to barely a whisper, smaller than an ant’s, as if reversing his palm.

Millaiyen Pestellio strode toward the Tent. He entered and laid Carina Leopold on the Bed, which at least had some semblance of order.

Tears that had accumulated even as she slept continued to roll down her cheeks. He carefully arranged her hair, which clung to her in places dampened by perspiration.

organized it.

“I’m sorry… for loving you…”

Carina Leopold said nothing more after that, only wept.

How many times had I apologized?

Watching her bury her face against my shoulder, unable even to lift her head as sobs wracked her frame—my heart felt as though it were being torn to shreds.

Millaiyen Pestellio draped a blanket over Carina Leopold, then pressed a kiss to her forehead before turning away. He left the tent at once.

“Ah… is there anything else you require, sir?”

“Bring a cold cloth and drinking water. Leave them inside.”

“Yes, of course, sir!”

“Keep your eyes down when you enter, then leave immediately. If you do anything else, I’ll kill you.”

At Millaiyen Pestellio’s chilling voice, Yuri

went rigid.

It seemed as though his gaze alone could strike a person dead.

“Understood, sir! But where are you going?”

“Nearby.”

Millaiyen Pestellio ventured deeper into the Forbidden Forest.

Once he had distanced himself sufficiently from the Encampment, silence descended upon the surroundings. He withdrew a cigarette from his pocket and placed it between his lips.

—— Page 3 ——

He struck a match, and the flame ignited in an instant, glowing crimson as it blazed. He drew deeply on the cigarette.

‘I had intended not to smoke unless necessary, but without a cigarette, I felt I might throw myself into the Magical Beasts at any moment.

I still hadn’t properly spoken with her. I had only tried to soothe her tears.

Yet the more I tried to comfort her, the more desperately she wept, until finally there was nothing I could do. All I could manage was to hold her as she collapsed and lay her down in the tent.

As Millaiyen drew deeply on the cigarette, smoke curled into the depths of his lungs. His pupils dilated slightly.

Frankly, I was irritated to the point of despising myself.

Because I could sense how much she had suppressed her emotions. How, with that small frame, that smiling face, that voice claiming indifference, she had endured so much while remaining at my side.

Millaiyen bit down on the cigarette butt and swung his clenched fist. With a dull crack, the solid wooden pillar caved inward.

Thud, thud, thud—! Crack!

Again and again, Millaiyen pummeled the wooden pillar with his fists.

Even as sharp splinters pierced and lacerated his skin, drawing blood, he did not stop. Only when the hole had penetrated deep enough to reveal the wood’s interior did Millaiyen’s arm finally drop limply to his side.

“Damn it.”

He muttered the words through gritted teeth.

Even inhaling the sedative-laced cigarette more deeply than seemed wise could not dispel the suffocating emotion. Millaiyen raised his fist high once more.

“…Carina Leopold.”

What feeling was this, truly? What thoughts occupied her mind?

—— Page 4 ——

With what heart had she grasped his hand and calmly written down all the things she wished to do before death, as though nothing were amiss?

Holding the cigarette down to its final stub, he slowly rose from his seat.

Still, having finished the entire stick, his breathing felt somewhat easier than before.

…What should I even say?

As Millaiyen walked toward the Tent, he paused mid-step.

The Support Unit had already arrived at the Encampment.

The Barracks had taken shape long ago. Beyond that, activity bustled everywhere as preparations for meals were underway.

It all felt like nothing more than a dream. No—everything that had happened with her felt like a dream.

He ran his bloodied hand roughly through his hair.

“I don’t… want to die….”

“I’m sorry… for caring about you….”

What she desired was something so natural to anyone else.

She simply said she didn’t want to die.

She simply said she was sorry for caring about him.

Yes.

Millaiyen, asking for nothing in return, found himself at a loss for words before one who had struggled so painfully to speak those words. His chest felt unbearably tight. Each step forward felt heavy.

“….”

He carefully pushed aside the tent flap

and stepped inside. The doll he had expected to find lying down was sitting upright on the bed.

At his entrance, she startled, her eyes widening round as a rabbit’s as she gazed at Millaiyen. Color seemed to seep into her expressionless face, and emotion bloomed across her features in an instant.

Her eyes, reddened from tears, crinkled at the corners as she smiled, welcoming Millaiyen warmly.

“I was worried you wouldn’t come.”

“…Where would I go, leaving you

—— Page 5 ——

behind.”

Millaiyen approached with long strides, a faint smile playing at his lips. He settled naturally at the foot of the bed. Carina laughed brightly at the sight of him.

“I think I was being presumptuous, acting so childishly toward you. I was worried that perhaps I cried too much and annoyed you.”

“…What.”

“If Millaiyen is uncomfortable, you can forget everything that happened earlier. It was just meaningless talk.”

Millaiyen tried not to show the throbbing ache spreading through his chest.

He didn’t want to be swept away by his own emotions and frighten her with recklessness. He wished she wouldn’t watch his expression so carefully. Yet her words, spoken despite all this, made his heart ache.

Facing this strange pain for the first time in his life, his eyes seemed to burn with an inexplicable heat.

“I think I was too childish with Millaiyen’s kindness. Well, I did cry like that, but honestly, I’m fine.”

“….”

She opened her mouth with a smile, as always.

Millaiyen couldn’t speak at all, struggling to suppress his emotions. He simply listened to her voice, feigning composure.

“But what I said was sincere. Millaiyen, you’re mistaking pity for something else. So I’ll leave as promised.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, as if she had rehearsed it countless times, her expression—bright with a clear smile—remained unshaken.

Millaiyen gazed at her sapphire-blue eyes, constantly searching his face. Then, finally, he lowered his head.

“You know, Millaiyen.”

“….”

“You don’t need to feel guilty toward me.

—— Page 6 ——

You don’t need to apologize. It was I who deceived you. You can resent me, but…”

She carefully reached out her hand. Her thin, cold fingertips gently descended upon his cheek. Following her gesture, Millaiyen lifted his head once more.

“Don’t make that expression.”

“I…”

His voice was so drenched in emotion that it seemed to drown in water, and Carina Leopold fell silent.

“What expression are you making?”

At Millaiyen’s question, she found herself at a loss for words. How could she describe this expression?

If she had to put it into words, it was the face of a child on the verge of tears at any moment. At least, it was a countenance that could never suit him—the Duke of the Northern Territory.

“It’s an expression that doesn’t suit you.”

“I may not know what kind of expression that is, but the fact that I’m making such an expression means… that I’m feeling this kind of

emotion toward you right now.”

“Please don’t.”

“And you—don’t do this to me.”

Millaiyen spoke with a voice thick with emotion, and grasped her hand with the one unmarred by blood. Tenderly, as if watching someone about to depart at any moment.

“Be selfish with me.”

…

I had contemplated countless words. Before I tore open this tent, there were many things

I had considered. Among the many words I had deliberated, some were adorned with flowery language I had never spoken before.

I even had a strategy of sorts to persuade her. If that failed, I would resort to threats.

I was determined to make her live, to instill that will in her by any means necessary.

Yet all of it became useless the moment I stood before her.

—— Page 7 ——

Nothing I had prepared held any value against her resistance.

“Show me your heart without reservation.”

“…”

“Don’t cast me out.”

Millaiyen bent at the waist, bringing his gaze level with hers.

Those crimson eyes—once I had thought them the color of blood—now gleamed like precious rubies.

Carina Leopold held her breath, unable to look away from his face.

“…Don’t die.”

“…”

“Don’t die, Carina Leopold.”

Millaiyen lowered his head. In that same moment, her lips parted.

He could not lift his contorted face, as though bereft of all certainty. Yet his lips would not cease their plea.

“Let me remain at your side.”

“Millaiyen…”

“Tell me you wish to live.”

“…”

“Carina Leopold, please.”

Her eyes flooded with tears in an instant.

What renders you so achingly tender? Why do you wear an expression as though your very breath might abandon you at any moment?

“I love you.”

Among all the words she might have spoken, what escaped her lips was the most unadorned of all.

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