Limited Extra Time - Chapter 121

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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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—— Page 1 ——

At her sudden question, Count Leopold’s stern expression softened slightly.

What on earth are you thinking? You’re my child too. Even if I’ve been somewhat neglectful, what parent doesn’t love their own child?

His voice had grown gentler. Carina opened her mouth before he could finish.

Then how many days passed before you even realized I was gone? How long did it take before you actually began searching for me properly? What did you do to bring me back? What did you say when you heard I was ill?

That was a mistake.

Count Leopold, who had remained silent for a long moment as if at a loss for words, finally answered. Carina let out a hollow laugh, as if she’d expected exactly this.

Is it also a mistake that you raised your hand against me whenever I talked back?

What?

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Was it anger when I said the room in the corner frightened me?

What are you even talking about?

Was it disapproval when I asked to have a birthday party with friends my own age?

When exactly did I ever… No, even if I had, why are you bringing up something from so long ago?

His response was exactly as she’d anticipated.

Carina’s lips crumpled with despair.

She hadn’t expected much, yet she was disappointed far more than she’d imagined.

She moistened her throat with the cold tea from her cup.

If Abelia or Ferden had left home without a word, or if you’d heard they were somewhere dying of illness, would you have done exactly the same?

Of course…

“You doubted the same pain, took a long time to find it properly, and the moment we met, you made a decision without even greeting me or asking for my opinion?”

“….”

Count Leopold could not open his mouth further. His insides churned. He felt deeply displeased.

Yet he could say nothing. If Abelia or Ferden had disappeared, what would he have done?

At least… he would not have tried to quarrel with her the way he had with Carina Leopold. The twins were, after all, nothing but children in his mind.

“You would not have done the same.”

Carina Leopold spoke with certainty.

“Admit it. Father, you discriminated against me and my other siblings.”

“As one grows older, there are things one cannot see. And you speak to your parent in this manner…!”

Carina Leopold exhaled a short breath.

Her heart felt strangely constricted.

—— Page 3 ——

A sensation like the familiar ache of her artistic affliction.

She clenched her fist against the pain that always returned, as if it were an old companion.

“There are three things I wanted to tell you in person.”

As the pain intensified, Carina Leopold unconsciously bit the inside of her cheek.

Fearing the two might notice, she hardened her expression and quickly opened her mouth.

“Take the money as I wrote in the letter. You may take as much as you wish. If you do not take it, I will calculate it myself and have it sent to Leopold Manor.”

Count Leopold’s eyes grew fierce as he listened. His trembling hands seemed ready at any moment to arc through the air in a violent gesture.

“Second, you must either remove me from the family register or have me declared dead. One or the other.

“Please don’t use me to ask Millaiyen for anything.”

Count Leopold’s eyes widened considerably.

Reading words on a page and hearing them spoken aloud were decidedly different experiences.

Millaiyen too couldn’t hide his surprised expression at her unexpected words.

“The third request is… please pretend you don’t know about the painter called ‘Carina.'”

I didn’t want to become entangled with the Leopold Family any further. No matter what happened, I didn’t want them to steal away the precious little time I had left. This was enough. This moment—overwhelming and joyful—was precious to me.

“Father.”

Carina Leopold called out to him while firmly grasping the hands of Millaiyen and Periel Kalos. Both turned their heads in surprise to look at her. Yet Carina kept her gaze fixed ahead.

She lifted her head to meet Count Leopold’s eyes, and then smiled brightly with the corners of her eyes curved upward.

—— Page 4 ——

‘…Had she always made such an expression?’

He was genuinely astonished.

She had always been a child who didn’t openly display her emotions—colorless and neutral. She wasn’t difficult to approach, yet she didn’t cling to him like the twins did, so it wasn’t entirely comfortable either.

‘Infrick isn’t the type to be affectionate either.’

Strangely, his gaze had fallen less on Carina since her childhood. He only realized it after hearing the child’s words, but it seemed that was indeed the case.

Yet raising four children, he couldn’t be equally attentive to all of them.

He couldn’t deny that if his attention fell on one child, it naturally fell less on another.

Now that he understood, he could pay a little more attention. It was never too late. Count Leopold opened his mouth with a slightly subdued expression.

“…What is it.”

“Father, I’m going to stop being your daughter.”

“What?”

Her voice was light, as though she were merely stepping out for a brief errand.

Yet the weight of her words contradicted that tone entirely. Truthfully, it was beyond what I had anticipated.

“Someone once told me that children eventually leave their parents’ embrace to build their own nests.”

Carina Leopold spoke, recalling Winston’s words.

“So I thought I should forge my own path as well.”

It was the best she could do.

To strip them of their parental role. To take from them what they so desperately desired—a perfect family and an unblemished family name.

As Carina Leopold spoke, her face grew increasingly pale.

The pain became unbearable. She could no longer hide it. Her face contorted completely.

“Carina Leopold!”

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“I am Carina Leopold… ah…”

As I responded quietly to Count Leopold’s aged voice, I finally held my breath and curled inward urgently.

The seizure I had thought subdued today tormented me once more, as if reminding me not to forget my condition.

Millaiyen Pestellio hastily embraced me as I clutched at my chest and curled up.

Seeing us together, Periel Kalos reflexively rose from his seat.

“I’ll fetch the medicine.”

“Carina, you’re all right. Breathe.”

Millaiyen Pestellio nodded at Periel Kalos’s words, gently stroking my back as he whispered near my ear.

Carina Leopold clung to Millaiyen Pestellio’s sleeve, cold sweat pouring down her face.

Her back was already damp with perspiration—a testament to how long she had endured the pain.

Millaiyen Pestellio’s face contorted in anguish. He despised himself for being distracted, for failing to notice her condition sooner.

“Carina? Are you alright?”

Count Leopold rose from his seat in alarm, eyes wide with concern.

As he moved toward her with worry etched across his features, Millaiyen Pestellio pulled her into his embrace and fixed him with a piercing glare.

“Get out.”

Millaiyen Pestellio’s words came out like grinding teeth.

He resembled a beast cradling its young—so fierce that Count Leopold’s movements froze instinctively.

“What… what did you just say?”

“I said get out. Damn it, I never meant for you two to meet.”

Millaiyen Pestellio’s eyes gleamed with barely restrained fury, as if he might tear Count Leopold apart at any moment. The chill in his gaze made Count Leopold’s breath catch involuntarily.

“I am Carina’s father. No matter your station as Duke, you have no authority to—

—— Page 6 ——

stop me.”

“Does this sound like a request to you?”

A palpable killing intent rolled toward Count Leopold.

Infrick, observing the situation, stepped in front of his father. The murderous aura was so overwhelming that even his hair stood on end.

Those crimson eyes gleamed as if thirsting for blood. Infrick’s body went rigid.

He himself had been selected for the Imperial Knight Corps—a man of considerable

They were the elite among the elite. Yet experiencing this kind of killing intent for the first time left me shaken.

“Be grateful that Carina Leopold heard your story. Without her, you wouldn’t have set foot on this land.”

“Duke!”

“Of course, you wouldn’t have returned alive with all your limbs intact either.”

Despite Count Leopold’s horrified cry, Millaiyen’s eyes showed no sign of clearing.

At his frigid voice, Infrick’s body trembled as he stood blocking the way.

Primal terror surged from deep within.

“Family matters should be resolved among ourselves! First, Carina Leopold——!”

“Millaiyen.”

Periel Kalos burst through the Reception Room door urgently. Behind him came Winston and Nocton, whose gaze was dark and murky.

“Ahhhhhhh—————!”

Everyone held their breath at the anguished scream.

Only Millaiyen, Periel Kalos, and Winston moved, as if accustomed to this situation.

Nocton stood frozen in place, staring blankly at the scene.

“Carina Leopold, you’ll be fine soon. Periel Kalos!”

“I understand, so stop screaming. Winston, prepare the medicine in a syringe inside.”

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“Understood.”

Tears streamed down Carina Leopold’s face. It was a physiological pain she couldn’t suppress no matter how hard she tried.

No one dared speak easily.

Count Leopold, Infrick, and even Nocton found themselves unable to speak a single word.

The scene before them was far too harrowing, too devastating.

Carina Leopold’s contorted expression was nothing short of horrifying.

They stood frozen, watching helplessly as Millaiyen Pestellio attempted to soothe her frantic struggles.

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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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