Limited Extra Time - Chapter 105

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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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There was no elegance to it. I had never intended to confess my love in such a shabby place, so crudely. Yet I had no means to hold her back. I could not stop her from belittling herself, from methodically wrapping those thorny armor plates around herself once more.

“…”

She pulled Millaiyen Pestellio into her embrace without a word. She refused to let the tears that had gathered in her eyes fall. She simply held that person called Millaiyen Pes

tellio with all her strength. No answer ever came back.

“There has been a peculiar rumor circulating in the Capital lately.”

“A peculiar rumor?”

At Infrick’s words, Count Leopold furrowed his brow. With the household already in such disarray, what could this be about,

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he wondered.

Carina Leopold’s letter was delivered to all family members except the twins.

The Countess Leopold took to her bed immediately upon hearing the news. For days she wept ceaselessly, and now she seemed to have lost her appetite entirely, refusing to eat. At least the twins took turns staying by her side, which was a small mercy.

Yes, it concerns a rather famous painter.

Infrick, why speak of such things at a time like this?

But that painter’s name is quite unusual.

At Infrick’s calm voice, Count Leopold lifted his head.

He knew well that his son was not the sort to speak frivolously without reason.

What is it?

Carina… they say.

What?

The painter’s name is Carina Leopold. Just… Carina.

Infrick spoke in a low voice. The cheerful expression that usually graced his face had vanished entirely, leaving it dark and shadowed. It had been this way ever since he received Carina Leopold’s letter.

Could it not be a case of mistaken identity?

No, there was no surname Leopold. Just as Carina Leopold said in her letter.

That’s too much of a leap.

At Count Leopold’s words, Infrick’s

face contorted sharply.

He stared at his father, who shook his head in denial. It seemed he still did not understand that such an attitude had driven her away.

When Periel Kalos told you that Carina Leopold had fallen ill, did you not say the same thing then, Father?

Infrick.

Was it not written in that girl’s letter? That she would become famous not as Carina Leopold, but as ‘Carina’—

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…

Do you not find the timing suspicious?

Do you truly intend to leave Carina Leopold in the care of the Duke of the Northern Territory as things stand?

Infrick raised his head, his fists clenched.

Beneath his eyes lay deep shadows born of exhaustion. Count Leopold’s face grew clouded with frustration.

I harbor no intention to disparage the Northern Territory, but medicine has not flourished there! There is scarcely any medical knowledge to speak of! And if it truly is an Art Affliction as Periel Kalos claims…!

I have no intention of disparaging the Northern Territory, but medicine there is underdeveloped! There is virtually no medical knowledge at all! And if that really is some kind of artistic illness as Periel Kalos says…!

If that were the case, it should have been corrected in the Capital.

Fortunately, Periel Kalos seemed to regard her favorably. The Art House, led by the Kalos Family, were the most knowledgeable about art in this nation.

Count Leopold dipped the pen he’d been holding back into the inkwell and pressed his fingers to his forehead.

[Perhaps my name will echo from this distant Northern Territory all the way to where you are.]

A single line from the letter surfaced in my mind.

Could it really be her?

Since receiving that letter, I had been searching for any means to enter the Northern Territory. If not that, then I had to recover Carina Leopold at the very least. That was why I had already requested a separate audience with His Majesty the Emperor.

Have you seen the painting?

Someone obtained a painting at an auction about a month ago and put it on display at the shop. I was planning to go see it today.

I see. Yes, let us go now.

Count Leopold shuffled through the documents

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and rose from his seat.

If that painter was truly Carina Leopold, there was nothing for it but to investigate the auction’s background. The two of them quickly departed the Leopold Manor.

The massive building in the heart of the Capital that Infrick had mentioned was a Bank.

The Bank had separate buildings for nobles and commoners. The painting was said to be in the commoners’ building.

When the two of them stepped inside, the place was packed with crowds. Commoners and nobles alike mingled together, craning their necks to see the painting.

Their necks stretched long in anticipation.

Count Leopold clicked his tongue.

“What on earth is this…?”

“This artist has become quite famous in the Capital, I hear. Only ten of her works have been put up for auction for the first time, and their prices are skyrocketing beyond all expectations.”

Infrick quietly relayed the information he had gathered beforehand.

Count Leopold, standing at the very end of the line, wore an expression of considerable

displeasure.

Standing in line among commoners. Was there anything that wouldn’t sell?

“Who do we think we are, having to stand in line here?”

“They’ve made it so that neither nobility nor commoners can view the works without waiting in line. I’ve heard security is quite strict.”

“Hmph…”

Count Leopold let out a sigh. He couldn’t fathom why he was subjecting himself to this.

It wasn’t there.

Observing the line that showed no signs of shortening, he spoke to Infrick.

“Infrick, I find it hard to believe that this famous painter could possibly be Carina Leopold.”

“Hasn’t Periel Kalos himself acknowledged her paintings?”

“He merely said they were intriguing—he said nothing of the sort. Besides, Carina Leopold never received proper training in the first place. How could she possibly produce paintings of such caliber?”

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Count Leopold shook his head in disbelief, unable to make sense of it no matter how he tried.

“This is a waste of time. Standing here like this is foolish. Let’s leave.”

Count Leopold turned to exit the line. Already, many more people had formed another long queue behind them.

Count Leopold’s face darkened with displeasure.

“Father, are you about to repeat the same mistake again?”

“What?”

“Father’s indifference drove that child to such extremes. We—our family—made her sever ties with us by always saying everything was fine when she said it was fine.”

When Infrick heard that Carina Leopold had left home, he couldn’t fathom the depth of his regret.

If only I had spoken to her then, even if it felt awkward. If only I had said something—anything—other than that she was fine.

Belated regrets crashed through his mind like a tempest. A single kind word. That was all it would have taken.

He had thought it would be all right because they were family. That even if she were wounded, she would have nowhere else to go. That someday she would return.

Blood runs thicker than water, after all. Kinship binds stronger than anything else.

He had believed such small wounds could be soothed later, that they were inconsequential.

There would be another chance someday. Then he could open his heart to her. A mere scratch—nothing to worry about.

That was what he had thought.

‘How many times did I do that?’

How many times had he seen her retreating figure, sensed her unspoken pain, and yet turned away?

He couldn’t count them. There were far too many even to recall.

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He had thought it would be fine. She had said she was fine, after all. A little disappointment would fade quickly. Days later, she would smile as though nothing had happened.

But at some point, the smiles vanished. Her face grew expressionless more often than not.

He had simply thought she was maturing.

He had believed she no longer took small matters to heart.

He never imagined that what was happening was the slow closing of her heart’s door,

the turning of its lock.

…I thought that because we were family, everything could be forgiven.

“Did you know? Outside of here, there existed a world where I was the protagonist—not Abelia, not Ferden, not my brother.”

“I didn’t remain silent. I simply gave up on sharing my story with all of you.”

So I never realized it. That she had never once been the protagonist. At least, that’s what Carina Leopold had come to believe.

Now that I thought about it, it was truly the case. There was nothing for Carina Leopold. Her birthdays were always overshadowed by other matters or family events.

When she began painting, my parents dismissed it without concern. My sister never even held a single tea party in her honor.

I myself had never given her a proper gift.

All of it had been accumulating, layer upon layer, and now I understood that it had brought about this end.

[This time, I ask of you. Please, do not tarnish my name as it echoes forth in the future.]

[You may declare me dead whenever it suits you.]

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Carina Leopold had drawn a line. Drew it perfectly.

I could not tear my eyes from that single sentence asking us to treat her as though she were dead. It struck me then—to her, we had been the ‘protagonists.’

Upon reading those words, only one question arose.

‘Then, what was she?’

Carina Leopold, who had always regarded us as shining protagonists—what on earth had she thought of herself?

“What on earth are you saying?”

“I’m telling you that there’s not a single thing wrong with what Carina Leopold wrote in her letter. Father, Mother, and I… we were all too indifferent to that child.”

“What do you mean I was indifferent?!”

Count Leopold, who had been raising his voice, hurriedly closed his mouth while glancing around nervously.

He furrowed his brow and lifted his head. Then, lowering his voice, he spoke again.

“I feel the same way. In what manner was I truly indifferent? If she had wished for conversation, I would have engaged with her. I ensured her needs were met without lack—food, shelter, and allowance alike.”

“Then Carina Leopold took that allowance and left with it?”

Infrick shot back.

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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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