Limited Extra Time - Chapter 125

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

—— Page 1 ——

This is my first time, but I tried. No one taught me how to make you look at me again, but I did my best to reflect on myself, to worry, and to wait, Count Leopold.

At the cold form of address, Count Leopold’s eyes widened. My child had changed without my noticing. That withered gaze—the way one looks at a stranger—I could never grow accustomed to it.

If you had truly made an effort, if you had tried to make amends even belatedly, if you had done so even a little before I turned my back on that manor, I would have certainly forgiven you.

Carina, your father has regretted this deeply as well. Even if it comes late, he truly apologizes to you.

The moment Infrick interjected, Carina Leopold’s expression turned genuinely fierce. She whipped her head around, glaring at Infrick. More than her twin brother who understood nothing, she despised Infrick far more—he who actually tried to understand her.

—— Page 2 ——

“Please, just stop. Why should I forgive? If I receive an apology, must I unconditionally forgive? Because you’re my father? Then what about my time? My life?”

Carina Leopold breathed heavily, as if agitated. Millaiyen slowly patted her back. Only then did she exhale gradually, lowering her head.

“If I forgive, does that… solve everything? Does it erase what happened all this time, as if it never occurred?”

Carina Leopold pressed her forehead as if it ached, her voice devoid of strength.

Her sharp, cutting voice was more piercing than ever before.

Millaiyen touched her hair soothingly, calming the agitated Carina Leopold, and slowly raised his head.

Those crimson eyes fixed precisely on Infrick. At that piercing gaze, Infrick flinched and fell silent.

“Count Leopold, I did my best. I struggled tirelessly just to receive one glance from you.”

She shook her head. At the sight of her lowering it wearily, Count Leopold found himself unable to speak.

She looked so utterly exhausted—as if she might fall asleep at any moment.

“I’m so tired. Someone might tell me to understand you. Perhaps one day when I become a parent, I will understand you.”

Carina Leopold let out a short sigh.

“But not now.”

“Carina Leopold.”

“I… I don’t have the confidence for that. Right now, just surviving each day feels overwhelming. I don’t want to burden myself with anything more.”

Escaping from the confines of what she called family had never been easy.

With my tattered heart clenched in my fist, I tore away at my own flesh. And so I fled from the only ground I had ever stood upon.

—— Page 3 ——

“I’ll be dead in two months. So just think of me as already gone. I have no desire to go, no intention of going. I never want to see you again.”

“Carina Leopold!”

“That’s all I have to say. I’m too exhausted even to be angry. Let’s end this.”

Carina Leopold lowered her head.

“I’m grateful. I’ll tell Peng, so take the money with you.”

She spoke briefly, then turned away.

I didn’t want to see anymore.

As Carina Leopold turned and buried her face in Millaiyen Pestellio’s chest, Millaiyen Pestellio stroked her back and lifted his head.

“Leave.”

“Carina Leopold, we are…!”

“I warned you just now. Leave.”

At Millaiyen Pestellio’s words, Count Leopold’s face contorted sharply. Unable to do anything, he finally wiped his face.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t love you. It’s just… I think it’s true that I paid less attention to you than to your other siblings. I only realize it now. I’m sorry.”

“…”

Carina Leopold answered nothing, burrowing deeper into Millaiyen Pestellio’s embrace. Millaiyen Pestellio clicked his tongue and glared at them.

Soon, the two of them turned slowly, their heads bowed.

The door closed, and the room fell silent once more. Yet Carina Leopold showed no intention of lifting her face from his embrace.

Millaiyen Pestellio gently patted her back.

“Carina Leopold, how much longer will you stay like this?”

At his tender voice, her shoulders trembled. She burrowed deeper into his arms.

As she pressed against him with enough force to knock him down, a smile played at the corners of Millaiyen Pestellio’s mouth.

—— Page 4 ——

A line was drawn.

“Carina Leopold.”

“In the end, I was just the least painful finger.”

“To me, you’re the most painful finger. All ten of my fingers are you.”

Carina Leopold lifted her head slightly.

Her expression seemed on the verge of tears, and her mouth turned bitter. He pressed his lips gently against hers.

“Don’t make that face. I’ll cast you out tomorrow if you wish.”

“Sometimes I wish those people would suffer, but other times I just hope they’re happy somewhere without me.”

“If that’s what you want, I can make it happen.”

Millaiyen Pestellio gently bit her earlobe.

“Ah…”

At the ticklish sensation, she shot him a glance before suddenly pushing his shoulders hard and toppling him onto the bed.

“Carina Leopold?”

Then he draped a blanket over Millaiyen’s body.

He watched with a puzzled expression as Carina Leopold burrowed beneath the blanket, disappearing entirely under its folds.

She wriggled softly into his embrace, nestling herself between his arms with careful, deliberate movements.

Millaiyen gazed down at Carina Leopold, who had settled comfortably against his chest, suppressing a hollow laugh.

“You’re testing the limits of my patience, aren’t you?”

“…I don’t know. I haven’t slept properly these past few days.”

“Sleep? Why?”

“Because you weren’t here.”

Millaiyen tightened his arms around her, pulling her closer. A curse nearly escaped his lips. He wanted to devour her entirely, right then and there.

“I see…”

—— Page 5 ——

He barely suppressed the rising heat within him as he answered. What good was desire when he could do nothing about it?

A low groan escaped him as Carina Leopold pressed her forehead against his chest. The gesture sent a wave of tension through his lower body—his back stiffened, his muscles coiling taut. No matter how hard he tried to think of something else, her scent crept insidiously into his senses.

…Damn it.

Millaiyen gazed down at her, her eyes already closed in sleep, and swallowed hard. His throat moved visibly. Holding her as they slept was nothing new, yet tonight felt different somehow…

Was it mere frustration? Or was it because she had nestled into his arms of her own accord? The way she wriggled and burrowed into his embrace was impossibly endearing.

He wanted to consume her entirely, from head to toe.

Millaiyen clenched his jaw and buried his face in her shoulder. As he inhaled deeply, her scent intensified. The action meant to calm himself only fueled his desire further. Her fragile body meant he couldn’t progress beyond kisses, yet even that restraint felt unbearable.

…Carina Leopold.

…

He called out to her in a low voice, but no answer came.

Her breathing was steady and even. Millaiyen’s face twisted into an expression of despair.

He opened his mouth carefully, as if he couldn’t believe it. “Carina Leopold, are you really asleep…?”

….

Still no answer. Judging by her even breathing, she was clearly fast asleep. Millaiyen felt the soreness between his own legs and wore an expression thick with disappointment.

—— Page 6 ——

It was truly pathetic that he couldn’t even kiss her. He called out to Carina Leopold a few more times, but she didn’t stir in the slightest.

Millaiyen groaned and agonized for a long while before finally forcing his eyes shut.

Unable to toss and turn while holding her in his arms, and too embarrassed to flee to the Studio, his expression grew darker with each passing moment.

Of course, it was only natural that when he opened his eyes the next morning, his expression was haggard compared to Carina Leopold’s refreshed one.

* * *

The day after finishing their conversation with Carina Leopold, Count Leopold and Infrick were practically expelled from the Northern Territory, loaded into a carriage and sent away.

It happened in the early dawn hours when Carina Leopold was still asleep.

“…So Millaiyen is leaving too?”

“Yes.”

“Already?”

Carina Leopold asked with an expression full of reluctance.

Millaiyen nodded with a bitter smile on his face. Carina Leopold’s brow furrowed. She had never imagined he would leave so soon after just returning.

“…But you said you’d stay for a few more days.”

“…But you said you’d stay for a few more days.”

“I almost had him. I’ll be back soon.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Tonight. I have some things to handle during the day anyway.”

Millaiyen Pestellio spoke while wrapping his arm around Carina Leopold’s shoulders.

Her dejected expression was utterly endearing. Had she possessed rabbit ears atop her head, she would have been nothing short of precious.

Millaiyen Pestellio pressed his lips to her forehead with a soft kiss.

—— Page 7 ——

His eyes grew heavy with sorrow. Witnessing her suffering from the increasingly frequent seizures tormented him.

He feared that one day she might simply fail to open her eyes. The dread of losing her seized him with urgency.

What if that leader, Herta, were to vanish?

Where would he find another way to save her then?

Once such thoughts took root, they spiraled endlessly, one after another. He could not possibly sit idle sorting through documents.

“I understand. Please don’t get hurt.”

“Of course.”

“…And you took their money with you?”

“Don’t worry. I packed the carriage full of it.”

Millaiyen Pestellio answered with a radiant smile.

He had indeed filled the carriage with bundles of gold coins, leaving only enough space for a single passenger. Of course, these were gold coins withdrawn from the Duke’s Household warehouse, not Carina Leopold’s own.

“How long will it take this time? A week?”

“Probably around that long.”

“You know you can’t get hurt, right?”

Millaiyen nodded in agreement.

He lifted her gently into his arms and settled her onto the Bed. Watching the worry etched across his face, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of unease.

“Would you like to visit Periel Kalos?”

“Periel Kalos?”

“You’ve never been there before, have you? I’m talking about the laboratory in the basement. It’s probably surrounded by Haron, so it should be a bit more comfortable for you. I’ll come pick you up once I’m finished.”

After a moment’s consideration, Carina Leopold nodded at Millaiyen’s words.

Carina Leopold and Millaiyen shared a light kiss. Seeing the longing that pooled in Carina Leopold’s eyes, he quickly averted his gaze. It seemed—

—— Page 8 ——

once I started, I wouldn’t be able to stop.

Simply holding her felt like a feast for the senses. My lips curved into a soft, involuntary smile.

“Now that I think about it, that strange doctor named Nocton is still here.”

“…Nocton? He came here too?”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————