Limited Extra Time - Chapter 123

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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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“Carina Leopold’s condition is the worst type of art sickness. Each miracle she performs consumes her very life.”

At Periel Kalos’s explanation, both Infrick and Count Leopold’s faces drained of all color.

Nocton, standing nearby, kept his head bowed with his fists clenched. Winston’s expression darkened as he observed him.

“In truth, the miracle that most reliably reveals the presence of art sickness is usually visible to the eye, so parents typically discover it in the early stages.”

At Periel Kalos’s words, Count Leopold found himself unable to speak.

He had not discovered it.

Periel Kalos continued.

“But she went unnoticed by everyone, and without understanding what it was, she painted endlessly.”

“I… I’ve never heard such a thing…”

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“Have you ever truly looked at her paintings? Have you ever tried to listen to what she had to say? Did you ever ask if she was painting?”

“…”

“Is it not arrogant to expect a child to speak of her own accord when you show no interest and give her no opportunity to do so?”

Periel Kalos posed the question in a measured voice—not the sharp, anger-laden tone of Millaiyen Pestellio, yet not his usual honeyed voice either.

At Periel Kalos’s words, Count Leopold buried his face in his weathered, wrinkled hands.

He had never paid much attention. He remembered Carina Leopold showing him paintings when she was young. But what those paintings looked like, what expression she had worn—he couldn’t quite recall.

The most wretched part was that he could offer no rebuttal to either of them.

He had simply thought everything was going well. Wasn’t theirs a peaceful family?

He slowly lifted his head, having splashed cold water on his face.

“…Parents are human too. We cannot be perfect in all things. Everything was a first for us. Raising children, treating them all fairly—these are not easy tasks.”

“But even if perfection is impossible, you should have made endless efforts.”

“Mistakes can be corrected, even now.”

His problem was that he hadn’t even made the minimum effort.

Every parent in the world experiences their first time raising children. Yet not all of them raise their children poorly.

In fact, hadn’t he raised his other children well, nurturing them with care? He needed to understand that what applied to them did not apply to Carina Leopold.

“People can make mistakes. That—

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—you’re right. Parents are first-time parents too.

But if you make the same mistake three times, it’s no longer a mistake.

Millaiyen Pestellio continued to pour his sharp words upon Count Leopold. The Count’s lips sealed shut once more.

“Does the wound she received disappear just because it was the clumsy mistake of a first-time parent? Then, has she lived as someone’s child multiple times?”

“…”

“It was her first life too. You were her one and only first parent, the only one before whom she could be a child. You took away that entire opportunity.

Count Leopold had nothing left to say.

He was right. Perhaps it was his first time as a father, but for Carina Leopold, it was her first life. It would remain as a past that would never be forgotten.

“The Count can hide behind ‘it was my first time.’ For Carina Leopold, it will be a wound that never heals.”

“I….”

“The Count will have no more chances.”

Count Leopold’s eyes widened.

“Count Leopold, you turned away from that trembling child time and again. You should have looked at her directly and made the effort to atone for your mistakes.

But you didn’t. Not for twenty years!”

At Millaiyen Pestellio’s words, Count Leopold buried his face in his palms.

His expression darkened as he breathed heavily, as though suffocating. No one had ever spoken to him this way before. He had taken everything for granted.

“…That fragile woman, worn down and exhausted, hid even her own death and ultimately turned away from you.”

Millaiyen Pestellio’s face contorted completely.

When he thought of the state of mind with which she had come all this way to the distant Northern Territory, his heart

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shattered.

The image of her speaking of her death so casually, of her weeping with stifled sobs that she didn’t want to die—it lingered before his eyes and would not fade.

“Your Grace!”

In an instant, Millaiyen Pestellio reached out and seized Count Leopold by the collar, dragging him forward.

Infrick quickly grasped his wrist, but Millaiyen Pestellio showed no sign of loosening his grip.

Count Leopold, dragged unceremoniously across the table, gazed silently at Millaiyen Pestellio.

“A woman who had resigned herself even to death. A woman who laughed as though it was something beyond her control. How little attachment to life she must have had…!”

“…Did that child say such things?”

“Yes. She said she was fine. That she had accepted it all, so it didn’t matter.”

Count Leopold did not avert his gaze from Millaiyen Pestellio’s contorted expression. He received those words blankly.

Millaiyen Pestellio was suffering genuinely. He was in love.

Just as he and the woman who became Countess Leopold had been, long ago in a time now forgotten.

“I barely managed to soothe her. Barely… and only then did those words finally escape her lips—that she wanted to live.”

At Millaiyen’s words, Count Leopold swallowed hard.

“Count Leopold, if you truly possess even a shred of parental conscience…”

He clenched and unclenched his fists.

“Apologize to Carina Leopold with genuine sincerity and leave. Do as she wishes. Never raise your voice before her again. If you cannot manage that, get out this instant.”

Dragging Count Leopold by the collar until their faces were mere inches apart, he growled low.

Within those crimson eyes, molten lava burned

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and churned. Just as Infrick moved to wrench free from his grip, Millaiyen released his hold.

Infrick’s head snapped around to face Millaiyen.

“Father is expressing his regrets, yet what gives you the right to speak thus! No matter your station as Duke, such rudeness is inexcusable!”

“Should you wound her even once more… I will consider you all my enemies.”

Millaiyen’s final words swept aside Infrick’s protests entirely.

At that declaration, Infrick’s face went rigid.

To make the Pestellio Ducal House an enemy was to make the entire Northern Territory an enemy.

Even the Emperor himself hesitated to confront him directly.

“Is Carina Leopold’s condition truly so grave?”

“I told you already. She will be dead within a month or two.”

“…Please, allow me to remain at her side.”

“That permission is not mine to grant—it is Carina Leopold’s. Peng, prepare quarters for him.”

“Understood.”

With those words, Millaiyen rose from his seat and left the Reception Room.

Periel Kalos followed suit and stood, as did Winston. Nocton flinched, his body trembling.

“Master Winston…!”

“There’s no need for you to call me master anymore. We’ve spoken, and I’ve been disappointed in you. As I said, you’ll do as you wish and live your life now.”

At Winston’s words, Nocton’s face hardened.

He clenched his fists tightly. As the three men left the Reception Room, the Head Butler Peng approached with a respectful bow.

“I shall guide you to the Annex Building where you’ll be staying.”

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Nocton slowly lowered his head. The conversation he’d had with his master earlier refused to leave his mind.

“It seems you’ve been doing well, which is a relief.”

“Master, you appear to have grown somewhat thinner.”

“I’m getting on in years, so even a little strain shows on the surface.”

Winston smiled faintly, and as he gazed upon the grown young man before him, a bitter smile crossed his lips. When he recalled those distant days of picking up an orphaned child and raising him as his own, it sometimes felt like a dream.

“It’s been about fifteen years since I took you in and raised you as my son.”

“Yes, I regard you as my benefactor.”

“Have you still not forgotten your younger sister?”

At Winston’s question, Nocton’s eyes widened. He struggled to answer and closed his mouth.

And very slowly, he shook his head.

The familiar gentle, affable smile settled upon his lips.

“I have always remembered the words you taught me. I no longer cling to such things. I strive to treat every patient with equal care.”

“Even that patient named Abelia?”

“…I beg your pardon?”

The name that escaped Winston’s lips was one Nocton had never expected. The smile that had been playing on Nocton’s face crumbled away.

Winston lifted his gaze to regard the child who had grown so much taller than him. “I hoped you would change. I thought you had become better.”

“Master…?”

“My boy, Nocton.”

Winston’s eyes were filled with profound sorrow as he extended both hands, placing them against Nocton’s cheeks.

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His weathered palms settled gently against the young man’s face.

Nocton’s eyes widened at the touch of those wrinkled, calloused hands—hands marked by years of labor.

“I wanted you to become a physician worthy of your station. I did not appoint you as the Leopold Estate’s personal physician to indulge your ambitions.”

“No, Master! Whatever Miss Carina Leopold may have said, I—!”

Nocton spoke urgently, placing his own hands over Winston’s as they rested against his cheeks.

Winston’s gaze was filled with compassion as he observed the trembling in the young man’s eyes.

“The young lady’s condition was evident even without examination. You could not have failed to notice. How many times did you examine her?”

“That was because the young lady always said she was fine…!”

“Are you the personal physician to the youngest lady of that household? Or are you the physician to the Leopold Estate?”

At the stern tone of his voice, Nocton’s breath caught. His eyes trembled visibly.

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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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