Limited Extra Time - Chapter 120

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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 Countdown of an Extra

A Novel by Ja Eun-hyang

The Countdown of an Extra

Chapter 120

The first figure visible through the crack of the opening door was Peng, his expression composed and measured.

Following him came Count Leopold with a rigid expression, and Infrick, who appeared exhausted.

As if sensing Carina’s hesitation about whether to rise, Millaiyen squeezed the hand he held, and she abandoned the thought of standing.

She drew a sharp breath as the visitors entered the room.

The sensation drained from her skin as though blood were pouring from her entire body. Her heart raced so violently that a ringing echoed in her ears.

She closed her eyes slowly, then opened them. Gradually, she turned her head.

Count Leopold had been watching her since entering the reception room, and the moment she turned her head, their eyes met.

He was somewhat gaunt, yet he differed little from the image she held in her memory.

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That.

Carina’s fists clenched. Millaiyen, sensing her tension, patted her thigh twice before rising in her stead.

“It has been some time, Duke Pestellio. I was unaware that Duke Periel Kalos would be present as well.”

“Ah, I happened to be here on business.”

Periel Kalos replied with a faint smile, his tone unchanged.

Periel Kalos’s behavior—receiving greetings while seated on the sofa—was remarkably arrogant and discourteous. Yet he seemed to have no intention of correcting such an impression.

Millaiyen subtly shifted his body, blocking Count Leopold’s gaze directed toward Carina Leopold.

“You must be exhausted from your long journey. There’s no need to stand and talk at length—please, have a seat.”

“…Very well.”

Count Leopold’s expression had soured from the unpleasant experiences along the way. His face was rigidly set, making it painfully obvious he had lost control of his composure.

And with good reason. The three of them had wasted a full thirty minutes outside this manor because of a Soldier who leisurely departed after requesting permission.

That was only the beginning. Once inside the manor, the Head Butler and servants held their chins so stiffly aloft it was almost comical.

“I must apologize for this sudden visit. When I heard that my daughter was causing trouble here, I couldn’t remain idle.”

“Trouble?”

Millaiyen’s eyes filled with bewilderment.

At his expression of complete incomprehension—his head even tilting slightly—Count Leopold’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.

Surely an apology was warranted when one’s own child had committed an offense.

“Carina Leopold hasn’t caused any trouble, so there’s no need for concern. That being said, Count, what brings you all the way to the Northern Territory without so much as a

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word of notice?”

Millaiyen was more courteous than expected.

A satisfied smile bloomed at the corners of Carina Leopold’s mouth—she had half-worried he might suddenly draw his sword.

‘What a hypocrite.’

Of course, Periel Kalos, seated beside her, clicked his tongue.

A man who had never properly used formal speech with anyone in his life, now speaking with such courtesy.

And to none other than Count Leopold himself.

At this point, Millaiyen would rather hire an assassin.

‘In a way, Carina Leopold’s illness worsened due to neglect.’

Yet seeing him suppress all those emotions and maintain his composure filled me with an indescribable feeling.

“I’ve come to take my daughter back. No matter how engaged we are, we haven’t married yet—cohabitation is absolutely out of the question.”

“….”

Millaiyen’s lips twitched slightly.

‘He’s angry.’

Periel Kalos tilted his teacup and thought leisurely.

If Carina Leopold hadn’t been present, he likely would have locked every window and door, then drawn his sword.

Millaiyen glanced at Carina Leopold’s expression, then released a heavy sigh.

“Would marriage resolve this?”

“…What did you just say?”

“Millaiyen?”

Count Leopold and Carina Leopold questioned simultaneously.

Millaiyen, who had been regarding Count Leopold with a cold gaze, suddenly shifted his expression to tender warmth as he looked at Carina Leopold and spoke.

“If the issue you’ve raised is the problem, I believe it could be resolved by marrying Carina Leopold.”

“…Even if we were to marry, there are procedures to follow. More importantly, I’ve heard that Carina Leopold’s health

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is not good. For now, I intend to take her to the Capital residence rather than the Count’s Territory for treatment.”

Though she was the subject of discussion, Carina Leopold’s brow furrowed as the conversation continued without her.

Count Leopold was not asking for her opinion—it was simply beneath his consideration.

Nothing had changed. Not truly, not in any way that mattered.

Apart from the fact that he had ridden all this distance to reach her, there was nothing different about him.

He still did not see her. He still asked for no opinions.

I had not expected some touching reunion. Or rather, I suppose I had harbored a small, foolish hope—that perhaps, in coming all this way, he might have changed, even slightly.

‘There are so many ways to shatter a person’s heart.’

But my father had not changed.

The moment I understood this, the tension I had been holding

dissolved in an instant. There was nothing left to worry about, nothing left to hope for. My eyes grew cold and clear.

After sitting in silence for a long while, Carina Leopold spoke.

“I have no intention of returning to the Capital or the Count’s Territory.”

“…What?”

She straightened her chin and met Count Leopold’s gaze directly.

Count Leopold’s eyes turned slowly toward her, his expression one of disbelief

that she had dared to speak such words.

“Did you not hear me? I said I have no intention of returning to the Leopold Family Estate or the Capital residence.”

“…Carina, what manner of tone is this to use with your father!”

“Tone? I am speaking with perfect courtesy. I have no intention of going. I am simply expressing my own opinion.”

At the steel in Carina Leopold’s voice, Count Leopold’s eyes hardened. The fist resting on his knee clenched with force

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Her trembling body made Carina Leopold draw in a sharp breath.

“You…!”

“I told Peng to let Father through the Northern Checkpoint. I originally planned to send him back.”

“What did you say?”

“I let him through because I knew you wouldn’t believe me unless you saw it with your own eyes. If I didn’t explain properly, you’d just think whatever you wanted. I hated that.”

Count Leopold raised his hand to grip the back of his neck, which ached with tension. Infrick couldn’t hide his shocked expression either.

Carina Leopold was not this kind of girl. Until now, she had been the sort to nod at whatever was said and never offer serious resistance.

She had never raised her voice, never asserted her own opinions, and certainly never looked anyone directly in the eye like this.

Both men felt as though they had somehow descended to a lower rank than her.

Her gaze carried the weight of someone speaking from above—slightly oppressive, distinctly commanding.

“So you’ve become arrogant and presumptuous!”

“Father.”

Count Leopold’s voice rang loudly through the Reception Room. Millaiyen’s eyebrows twitched. Infrick quickly seized Count Leopold’s wrist.

Periel Kalos, who had been watching Millaiyen’s restraint, extended his hand behind Carina Leopold and tapped his shoulder lightly with his fingertips.

It was a signal to hold back.

Millaiyen glanced at Periel Kalos, then clenched his teeth and straightened his posture.

“Did you come all this way because you had something to tell me? It seemed like you wrote in your letter that I should come if you had something to say.”

“How dare you write to your father in such a tone! No matter how

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angry you are, how could you tell your parents to treat their child as if they were dead!”

Count Leopold brushed aside Infrick’s restraining hand and abruptly rose from his seat.

At his raised voice, Carina lifted her head in silence and met his gaze.

“How can you speak such cutting words so casually! Without even attempting a conversation, how could you simply leave home like that!”

“You….”

Carina Leopold’s lips trembled.

Whatever words she might speak would be pathetic and foolish, but there was no helping it. After a brief hesitation, she found her voice.

“I wished you had been hurt.”

“…What?”

“I wished you had suffered because of me. At least the blade grazed you, so I suppose that’s fortunate.”

“Carina, I understand you’re angry, but your words to your father are rather harsh. Let’s not do this—let’s have a proper conversation. I came here to talk with you.”

As she spoke such venom with a composed expression, Infrick, who had only been listening until now, gently admonished her.

At his measured tone, Carina’s gaze shifted toward him.

“I think I’ve already said what I needed to say dozens of times before. Honestly, I have nothing more to say.”

“Both Father and Mother have been very worried about you.”

“And?”

Carina Leopold asked in response to Infrick’s words. She had wanted to receive that concern long ago.

Whether it was trivial worry or less affection than her other siblings or a warm touch—there was much she had wished to receive.

“And so….”

“Without Millaiyen’s permission, you arbitrarily ordered the checkpoint opened for

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I was going to give it to you.”

Carina Leopold’s gaze held neither warmth nor affection anymore.

Even the faint heat that lingered had vanished. She looked like an abandoned oasis in a desert—parched and desiccated, unable to yield even a single drop of water.

Infrick’s lips trembled before he clenched his fists tightly.

“Carina, I’m sorry. I should have paid more attention to you. I didn’t realize… I think you must have been so very lonely. I….”

“I think. I…”

“Brother.”

Carina Leopold cut off Infrick’s words.

“Didn’t I tell you before I left that place? That there’s a finger that hurts when you bite it.”

“Yes, and I told you that wasn’t the case for you.”

Infrick answered, recalling the conversation about the picnic. At his response, Carina Leopold’s face twisted. A faint irritation flickered across her distorted expression.

It came to mind.

“You wouldn’t understand because you were there. You were so far above me. That’s why you could answer so casually that it wasn’t the case.”

“…Carina?”

“If you truly understood me, you couldn’t have said that. How could you understand without experiencing it yourself? Why do you speak as if it’s so obvious?”

“That’s because… when I thought about your situation….”

Infrick stammered, his words faltering. Confusion bloomed across his face.

Carina Leopold pressed her palm against her eyes as heat threatened to rise within them.

“Regardless, that was my reality. In the world I saw, I was the painless finger of the Leopold Family—a foreign object.”

“…That’s not true.”

“You’ve always been like that, brother. Pretending not to see what you saw, acting mature while claiming you didn’t understand. You don’t even realize that’s your greatest cowardice.”

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“Yeah. And the most cowardly thing is that you don’t even realize it.”

He turned his back even as he watched me being scolded.

He didn’t know how to comfort me when I cried. He would approach from a distance, only to turn back the way he came. As an adult, that retreat became disguised as mature persuasion.

It was agonizing to witness.

Carina Leopold, watching Infrick fall silent with his mouth sealed shut, turned her head to gaze at Count Leopold.

That.

“Father, did you ever love me?”

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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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