Limited Extra Time - Chapter 116

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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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I wonder if he realizes that for the first time in my life, someone moved for me alone.

I have no idea what thoughts occupy his mind.

Perhaps he was concerned about bringing shame upon the Leopold Family, or maybe he had heard of my abilities.

But regardless of his thoughts, he must have left the Southern Domain solely because of the person called Carina Leopold. A person who had never once visited my room for my sake was coming.

I couldn’t tell whether I should laugh or cry. I couldn’t comprehend the meaning of the emptiness welling up from within.

Neither joy nor sorrow. My mind was simply blank.

“I miss Millaiyen Pestellio.”

He said he’d come quickly, but when exactly did he plan to arrive?

Muttering complaints under my breath, I gazed down at my bucket list. There were many things I couldn’t do before, but there were also many things I could

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do.

My bucket list had quite a few items crossed out with lines. Holding hands and kissing Millaiyen Pestellio in the same bed was long since completed.

Though it wasn’t far, I accomplished visiting the Forbidden Forest. Beyond that, I had also been to the End of Winter.

The desire to travel had already been fulfilled abundantly.

And what of the gold coins piled high enough to fill a warehouse bearing my name? I could

easily spend an entire day squandering money.

I could order various types of cake I wanted and taste each one just a bite.

‘Ah, but carrying an easel up a mountain peak would be impossible, wouldn’t it?’

Beyond that, bearing a child, keeping a pet, getting married—all would be impossible. Seeing the sea, visiting a coastal town—those too would be impossible.

Perhaps I could still manage cooking or baking cookies.

I wanted to go on a picnic with everyone. Sitting beneath a great tree and sharing a meal seemed like it would be happiness itself.

Even after completing something I desired and crossing it out repeatedly, I would turn around only to discover new wants emerging. I hadn’t even known such desires existed within me.

What I most wanted recently was to sever my ties with the Leopold Family.

It was a settlement of accounts with the clan.

“The more I think about it, the more greedy I become.”

Still, I had already accomplished what I wanted most—confessing my love. I had become his lover.

My desires only grew larger. Even if I filled the warehouse with gold coins and left them all to him, I could never repay what Millaiyen Pestellio had given me.

I set down my pen and let my body collapse onto the bed.

“Haron….”

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Rolling onto my side, I breathed his name like a sigh.

What I had heard from Periel Kalos recently was quite shocking. What were the odds of success if I executed Periel Kalos’s hypothesis? If it succeeded, what changes would occur to me? What were the chances I would live normally?

‘If I might die anyway, perhaps now would be better.’

If it were now, I would know the end and could prepare for it.

But if I followed Periel Kalos’s words, I might not be able to prepare for my final moment.

Even if it succeeded, there were many concerns. What if there were aftereffects? What if I could no longer paint? What if I could never witness that miracle again?

Countless questions filled my mind. It was truly a gamble. A gamble where no one could predict the outcome, where neither victor nor loser could be inferred.

“I cannot guarantee with certainty that this method will succeed. I have conducted successful experiments using beasts and animals, but I have never tested this on humans before.”

Periel Kalos’s voice echoed in my memory—he had come to find me alone late one night several days ago.

He explained everything he couldn’t have said in front of Millaiyen Pestellio without omission—the dangers, the probability of success, and several alternative methods.

“So I’m thinking, what if we attempt this just before Carina Leopold’s time runs out?”

“Just before it ends?”

“Yes, truthfully, if Carina Leopold were a magical beast, I’d tell her to chew up Harun as a meal instead, but we’re human, after all.”

Periel Kalos looked utterly haggard, as if he’d been wrestling with this decision from every angle.

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He was so different from when I first saw him. The brilliance that had shone in those early days was gone. The relentless exhaustion had worn him down visibly.

My mind was tangled with conflicting thoughts.

“Then I’ll sketch for a bit.”

I exhaled a sigh and rose from my seat.

Drawing was always the best way to clear my head. I stood unsteadily and made my way toward the Paint Shop.

“Carina Leopold?”

“Periel Kalos, where are you going?”

“Where are you going, Carina Leopold?”

At his question, my lips pressed shut. Periel Kalos read the answer easily from my expression and let out a short sigh.

He pressed his eyelids firmly with the heel of his hand.

“If you’re going to the Paint Shop, let’s go together. I’ll stay by your side.”

“Even if I say it’s fine, you won’t let me go alone, will you?”

“No.”

His answer came without hesitation, resolute and unwavering—as firm as Millaiyen Pestellio’s own conviction.

I pouted slightly but didn’t press Periel Kalos further, seeing how exhausted he looked.

“I should mention upfront—it won’t be finished.”

“…I understand.”

“What are you planning to paint?”

“I want to see an aurora spreading across the End of Winter. It would be absolutely beautiful.”

Periel Kalos fell silent at my answer.

I always shattered his common sense. Whether it was an aurora or the End of Winter, my perspective differed entirely from his straightforward way of thinking.

“Periel Kalos, there’s so much money in the Warehouse that it frightens me.”

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“It’s all your money. Spend as much as you wish.”

“Still, I’d like to give some to you as well.”

“The Kalos Family took a considerable amount in auction fees and such. You needn’t concern yourself with providing for me.”

He drew a clean line. I pressed my lips shut. Once he said something was not to be, he would never retract it—he seemed to have his own strict boundaries.

“Carina Leopold.”

Periel Kalos called to me as he opened the door to the Paint Shop.

“Yes?”

“Have you given it any thought?”

“…”

I fell silent for a moment. After breathing quietly for some time without speaking, I sat at the easel and picked up my brush.

“I’ve thought about it deeply. I believe I must. That’s your best path forward, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I apologize.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for. But I’m still afraid. Stepping into an unknown world I’ve never tested… it terrifies me.”

I felt as though I were standing alone in pitch-black darkness.

Even knowing this was the result of his best efforts, was the reason I feared it because I didn’t want to die?

“Either way, death is death, isn’t it? I might as well gamble on the small hope Periel Kalos gave me.”

“I see. Have you had any episodes today?”

“Once in the morning, twice during the day. They’re becoming… more frequent.”

Even I could sense they were becoming far too frequent. Fortunately, whenever the pain struck, the medicine Periel Kalos gave me provided considerable relief, so recently it hadn’t been unbearably torturous.

“Periel Kalos’s medicine works so well that even when episodes occur, they’re not as agonizing.”

“But the pain itself hasn’t changed

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has it.”

Periel Kalos’s words struck at the heart of the matter, and my lips pressed shut.

I offered an awkward, strained smile. Periel Kalos exhaled softly and settled into a seat near me.

“Still, it’s far better than having nothing at all. Better than those nights when I had to hold my breath alone every evening.”

“…”

“Now that I think about it, Father seems to be coming here.”

At my words, Periel Kalos’s brow furrowed.

It wasn’t difficult for him to understand whom I was speaking of. There was only one person I would call Father.

“Is Count Leopold in the Northern Territory?”

“Yes, it seems he asked me to let him pass through the Checkpoint. Peng asked me earlier how to handle it, so I told him to let him through.”

Carina Leopold spoke matter-of-factly as she picked up her brush. Her hand moved with fluid grace across the pristine canvas.

Watching her paint without hesitation, Periel Kalos clicked his tongue in admiration.

‘…I truly regret not meeting her sooner.’

What she had accomplished through self-teaching alone was already this remarkable. Had she received proper instruction and encountered more of the world earlier, had she experienced a wider range of emotions in her youth, the paintings she created would have transformed the world itself.

Many possessed talent, yet their gifts withered without ever blooming.

Countless commoners lived their entire lives performing menial tasks, never even knowing what seeds they carried within them, before fading away.

Wanting to support those who abandoned their dreams to worry about survival, the Kalos Family spared no effort in aiding artists of any kind.

Whenever Periel Kalos looked at her, he felt only regret.

Had she been watered at the right time and basked in sunlight,

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had she received even the smallest measure of attention, she would have grown more brilliant and magnificent than any flower or any tree.

‘…Count Leopold is coming, and given Millaiyen’s temperament, he certainly won’t simply let it pass.’

The people of the Northern Territory were aggressive by nature. They lacked patience as well. Toward enemies, they showed neither consideration nor hesitation. The same applied to their servants.

Periel Kalos’s lips twisted slightly.

‘She’s going to have quite the ordeal.’

There was no one in this manor who didn’t know Carina Leopold’s situation. Many were already aware that she was afflicted with an illness.

Without Millaiyen even needing to command it, they would willingly treat the Southern nobility with hostility for her sake.

Millaiyen stood behind them, and if necessary, Periel Kalos was equally willing to lend his hand.

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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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