Limited Extra Time - Chapter 13

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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 ——

“What are you doing awake at this hour without any sleep?”

“I… well…”

Karina pressed her hand against her chest to calm her frantically racing heart, the one not holding the lamp.

“Your Grace, what brings you to this place at such an hour…?”

“Ah…”

At Karina’s question, Millian rubbed the back of his neck as if troubled. She had appeared so suddenly and then fallen silent, which weighed on his mind. He found himself unable to speak the truth—that he had come here without quite knowing why, drawn by concern for her.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell her that he had found this place for various reasons.

“Now that I think about it, I remember the temperature control device at the Separate Residence was broken, so I came to check on it and get some fresh air.”

Millionaire casually blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“Oh, is that so?”

Normally, Karina would have wondered why the Duke himself had come in person, but she didn’t have the presence of mind to think rationally right now.

—— Page 2 ——

All she could do was nod in response.

Millaion’s brow furrowed as he scanned Karina from head to toe, puzzled by how she kept her distance and didn’t approach him despite standing perfectly fine.

As he took a step forward, Karina took a step back. Millaion was certain that she was hiding something.

He reacted to even the slightest movement of the demon’s hand.

There was no way he could miss her awkward flinching.

There was no way he could have failed to notice her awkward flinching.

“What are you hiding?”

At Millian’s words, Karina took another step back.

Part of her wanted to turn around, dash into her room, and lock the door behind her.

“Young Lady.”

“….”

“If something troubles you, speak of it.”

At Millian’s words, Karina fell silent.

She was the sort of person who could answer “I’m fine” without the slightest change in expression when asked if she was well.

Yet when someone solicited her opinion, she found it nearly impossible to open her mouth about it.

“It’s nothing, really.”

She barely managed to part her lips and respond.

Before her words had even finished, Millian closed the distance between them in just two long strides.

He had immediately noticed that her breathing and voice were not normal.

Karina started in alarm and tried to retreat, but Millian was faster—his hand shot out to seize her wrist.

The moment Millian grasped her hand, his expression hardened.

—— Page 3 ——

He drew her toward the window where moonlight streamed through.

Beneath the soft glow of the moon, his crimson eyes narrowed as they scrutinized her face with meticulous care.

“You’re burning up.”

“…I’m fine. Rest will see me through.”

“…It’s okay. I’ll feel better after I rest.”

“I should have realized it from the moment you said you’d pushed yourself for two whole months.”

Millian muttered softly to himself.

The sharp click of his tongue carried the weight of self-reproach.

Karina regarded him with a puzzled expression, her eyes searching his face.

He had done nothing wrong. If anything, the fault lay with her for not speaking up.

Then Millian’s gaze sharpened as it fixed upon her.

“If your body isn’t well, you should say so instead of stubbornly suffering in silence like a fool. Only a simpleton bears pain without complaint.”

“A simpleton….”

First the squid, now a simpleton. Karina could only gape at him in astonishment.

She stared at Millian with a bewildered expression.

“In war, if you hide an injury and something goes wrong, your head will roll before anyone else’s! If you didn’t intend to make matters worse, you should have spoken up from the start.”

“….”

“Isn’t that right?”

His piercing eyes held her accountable.

She nodded hesitantly, her lips trembling slightly.

She hadn’t intended to escalate matters, and she even had medicine from the Physician, yet somehow she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had become a traitor.

“Did you do wrong or not?”

“I… yes, I did wro—”

—— Page 4 ——

Crushed beneath the weight of his presence, Karina had been about to admit her fault when she suddenly lifted her head.

Why on earth am I being interrogated out of the blue in the middle of the night like this?

My vision, which had been wavering moments before, suddenly sharpened—a testament to how utterly absurd the situation had become.

Millian exhaled a long sigh as he observed Karina’s gaze. A finger suddenly jutted out before her eyes.

It was the sturdy, calloused finger of someone whose strength had been honed through countless battles.

And there were six of them.

“How many fingers do you see?”

Karina narrowed her eyes, straining to focus.

Usually they appeared doubled, so naturally she would divide that number by two.

She opened her mouth with simple logic.

“Three.”

Millian stared at Karina intently. Then he lowered his head to glance at his own fingers before looking back at her.

Tensing her shoulders, wondering if she’d answered correctly, she watched him let out a hollow laugh.

“You should return to the Main Residence at once and get some sleep.”

“What? Why?”

As she lifted her head in bewilderment, Millian had split into three.

Six pairs of alert eyes were fixed upon her. She stared blankly downward, looking at the fingers again.

‘…There were only two.’

Her eyes filled with mortification.

“The fact that you said three, neither two nor four, suggests you were originally seeing six.”

Millian spoke with sharp clarity.

Karina’s lips sealed shut.

—— Page 5 ——

“You certainly are high-maintenance.”

A flinch ran through Karina’s body. Her eyes grew darker still.

“I’m fine, truly.”

The words tumbled from her lips as if by habit.

I didn’t want to be a burden. I simply wished to rest in the quietest, most distant place possible.

A sigh escaped from above her head. Millian, supporting her knees with one hand, steadied her back with the other.

“This place is hardly suitable for someone in your condition to recover. We’re returning to the Main Residence to rest.”

“But….”

“I understand my reluctance is evident, but I’d prefer not to be cast as a villain in all this.”

At Millian’s words, she finally fell silent.

As Karina gazed at Millian intently, he glanced away as if uncomfortable.

“I’ll have someone attend to you. Now rest.”

“…Not the Physician.”

“…What?”

“Not the Physician. Absolutely not. You understand…?”

Karina’s eyelids grew heavy as she asked cautiously, opening and closing in succession.

Millian opened his mouth to speak, but seeing her exhaustion, he closed his lips again.

“Rest for now.”

“…I promised.”

Though she hadn’t properly settled into bed, sleep descended upon her swiftly the moment her body was laid horizontally.

Hearing Millian’s quiet sigh, she slipped once more into deep slumber.

The trembling that had wracked her body eased as the warmth enveloping her seemed to soothe her, leaving her peaceful and still.

—— Page 6 ——

* * *

After the fever had run its course, my head felt somewhat clearer.

I blinked once. The thick fog that had seemed to cloud my mind lifted, and clarity returned.

An unfamiliar ceiling, soft quilts, and a body still trembling with cold—I was still freezing.

The bed was damp from the cold sweat I’d shed.

“Are you coming to your senses?”

“…Your Grace?”

A hoarse voice escaped me.

I hastily covered my mouth with the quilt, but the voice that had already slipped out could not be taken back.

As my eyes rolled, I caught sight of Millian by the window, reading documents by moonlight.

Startled, I turned my head, and the damp cloth that had been resting on my forehead tumbled away.

My eyes widened. As I slowly grasped the situation, I hurried to sit up.

My body, heavy as a water-logged cloth, groaned with effort, and Millian exhaled a short sigh before waving his hand.

“Your fever hasn’t broken at all. You must remain lying down.”

“Why…are you here…?”

“I told you not to call for the Physician, no matter what. And it was too awkward an hour to summon someone else to attend to you. I decided to stay by your side until morning.”

It seemed she hadn’t managed to fall properly asleep again.

As she lay in an awkward position, neither fully reclined nor sitting up, Millian rose from his seat.

He approached with measured steps and gently pressed her shoulders back down onto the bed.

At his touch, her eyelids trembled delicately.

—— Page 7 ——

The truth was, I felt utterly bewildered.

Until now, whenever I’d opened my eyes in pain, only the Maidservant had been there to change my water—I’d scarcely encountered anyone else.

Moreover, from what he was saying, it sounded as though he’d been caring for me.

“…You’ve been here this whole time?”

“Why else would I abandon a perfectly good Study to sit here?”

“But why…?”

Karina asked in a drowsy, sluggish voice.

Watching her roll her eyes while clutching the blanket up to her chin, Millian pulled a nearby chair over and sat beside the bed.

“How could I leave a sick person unwatched when there’s no Physician here?”

“…But aren’t I troubling you?”

“What does it matter if caring for a patient is troublesome? You are a guest, and I am the master. The moment you settled yourself here, the promise you offered was fulfilled—you’re free to conduct yourself as a proper guest.”

“And I’m the owner. The moment you settle down here, the promise you made is fulfilled, so you’re free to behave properly like a guest.”

Karina stared at Millian’s crimson eyes before breaking into a foolish, vacant smile.

Caught between reality and dreams, my relaxed muscles moved of their own accord—but truthfully, simply hearing those words felt wonderful.

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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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