Limited Extra Time - Chapter 139

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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 reason he intended to keep Nocton here was because he acknowledged Winston, the Physician.

It wasn’t Nocton he recognized—it was Winston he saw, and for that reason he granted the Annex of the Mansion.

“What else didn’t you say?”

“Regarding Miss Carina Leopold, whom you commanded me to investigate previously—I’ve gathered the information. It appears that physician Nocton was the one involved.”

“…What?”

“In other words, that Nocton….”

A small curse escaped Millaiyen’s lips.

Why did it have to be him, of all people? A man who wouldn’t spare a second thought even if he himself were dying….

‘Just how starved for affection could she have been….’

Millaiyen pressed his aching heart with the palm of his hand, throbbing with pain.

“Expel him beyond the Northern Territory.”

“Understood.”

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“And handle it quietly. He touched something he shouldn’t have without understanding his place—I doubt he’s foolish enough to expect to live.”

At Millaiyen’s words, Peng’s brow furrowed slightly.

It wasn’t that he opposed killing outright, but Winston was the complication. He would certainly be devastated.

“As for Winston….”

“Tell him he was attacked by bandits or brigands.”

“So I’m to lie to him.”

At Peng’s words, Millaiyen narrowed his brow and came to a halt.

He turned his head slightly toward Peng and opened his mouth with indifference.

“A lie? It seems you’re not inclined to tell one. How unexpected.”

“At this age, the few comrades one acquires become precious. Especially here in the Northern Territory.”

Peng had worked for the Pestellio Family since his youth, for a long time. Running without rest all these years had brought him honor and position, yet there was no one he could truly call a Close Friend to share his heart with.

As he aged, making new acquaintances had become difficult.

Especially in a place like the Northern Territory, people who could understand his delicate sensibilities were exceedingly rare. And then he had met Winston.

For Peng, Winston was a rare person with whom he could truly communicate.

Someone who, when conversing, would listen intently without interrupting mid-sentence—truly one of the few precious people in the Northern Territory.

When we talk, you listen quietly without interrupting… truly one of the rare and precious people in the Northern Territory.

One person.

“Serving a master as headstrong as you, my insides rotting away while I swallowed medicine for my stomach—it was a blessing from heaven.”

Peng spoke while making a gesture of wiping away tears.

Millaiyen closed his mouth with a look of disgust. The older Peng grew, the more Millaiyen perceived in him nothing but cunning.

“…If you’re not inclined, then simply make it a fait accompli.”

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At Millaiyen’s words, Peng lifted his head.

“Whether they’re bandits or thieves, they’re all men starved for coin. Give them enough money. Since it involves killing people, they’ll handle it themselves. Whether they dismember the limbs or cut them up and throw them to beasts as feed.”

Millaiyen continued. I’m sorry, but Nocton has touched the wrong person.

“Matters beyond the Northern Territory are not my concern, so I have no reason to step forward and deal with bandits—

There’s no need to subjugate them. Use what can be used. Go and handle it yourself.”

“Understood.”

Peng bowed at the waist, satisfied to have received the answer he desired.

Though he now carried himself like a toothless tiger, there was a time when he hunged for Magical Beasts more fiercely than any warrior in the Northern Territory.

‘I thought age had made him docile.’

It seemed Winston had captured his affection more than expected.

Since Winston was the type to listen well to others, he might be the perfect companion for Peng, who surprisingly enjoyed conversation.

‘Though it appears he needed an outlet for his stress as well.’

Millaiyen immediately made his way toward Carina’s Room.

I had wondered how remarkable Carina’s first love could be, but of all people—

“She chose poorly, picking such a wretch.”

Of course, had she chosen a proper man, I would have sent him far across the sea by ship anyway.

Perhaps irredeemable trash was the better outcome.

Carina harbored no lingering attachment, and I need not trouble myself with disposing of him.

Millaiyen entered Carina’s Room with careful steps.

He approached her at once and placed his fingers against her wrist. The pulse still beating there, unceasing, told him that her

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life had not ended.

Only then did relief wash across his features as he carefully lay down beside her.

Her breathing was so shallow that one could barely perceive it without drawing near.

I was terrified that she might never open her eyes again. The Dragon had offered no guidance on what preparations should be made for failure.

Millaiyen Pestellio nestled into Carina Leopold’s embrace, clinging to her as though seeking refuge.

There was no hand stroking his back as there always was, no soothing touch to comfort him.

I had never known that the emotion of losing someone could be so terrifying. Until now, I had never experienced the fear of loss. Nothing had ever frightened me to this degree.

“Carina….”

Even my soft call received no answer.

Though I knew she was merely sleeping, terror suddenly seized my body.

An inexplicable dread crept upward from my feet, consuming me entirely.

The death of the former Duke of the Pestellio Family—my father—had been sudden. He had suffered a grave wound from a Magical Beast and slowly weakened until death claimed him.

It would be a lie to say I felt no sorrow, but I had not felt fear.

The grief of losing my father existed, yet it had not terrified or shaken me as it did now.

But now I was afraid, and the dread that consumed me clung like a leech, refusing to release its grip.

“Damn it….”

Sleep seemed impossible.

I wanted to wake her and confirm that she was truly alive.

But I could not. I did not wish to disturb her in any way

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whatsoever.

All I could do was hold her hand in silence, chasing the faint warmth of her presence.

Her gentle warmth enveloped me. The heat of her embrace, childlike in its innocence, was comforting yet tinged with melancholy.

Carina’s fingers twitched. Or rather, she attempted to make them twitch.

“Carina….”

A familiar voice called out to me.

I knew why he was calling. I could sense what troubled him so. I needed to tell him it was alright, but neither my body nor my eyelids would obey.

‘I want to wake up.’

I wanted to rise and embrace him.

I wanted to gently stroke his back, which seemed ready to break into sobs at any moment.

I wanted to tell him that I was fine.

“Damn it….”

I wanted to be at his side.

I wanted to tell him not to cry.

He looked as though he might collapse into tears like a child at any second.

I wanted to hold him close—his throat tight with emotion, his desperate search for warmth.

‘I’m fine.’

I screamed with all my might.

But in this suffocating darkness, my voice emerged not at all, and it never reached him.

I twisted my body with all my strength. I thrashed and struggled, desperate to rise.

It had no effect whatsoever.

‘Just once more….’

I knew now that I had no strength left to wake. My body had reached its limit.

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knew this better than anyone else.

“Tomorrow… morning, let’s see each other. I’ll wait.”

How wonderful it would be if I could see him in the morning as he promised. He said he would wait, but I no longer had the strength to even open my eyes. Now the sand in the hourglass—with only a precious handful remaining—

was falling ceaselessly, faster and faster. “…I never thought I’d have regrets about living.”

My hollow voice echoed through the endless void. I had never once considered it. Throughout this brief yet interminable existence, life had simply been something I endured because I was alive. Unable to die, I had merely drifted along wherever life carried me.

Who could have known that less than half a year would transform me so completely? I never imagined I would come to care for someone, that letting them go would become so difficult. “Just once more….” I wanted to open my eyes one final time.

There were words I needed to tell him, words I was willing to spend every remaining moment to convey, even if this were to be my last.

I had to tell him I couldn’t keep my promise. That being with him brought me joy. That because of him, I finally understood how precious life could be. That I could face my past. “Please, I’m begging you.” I lied to him instead. I answered that we would greet each other in the morning. I realized too late that it was impossible. Standing motionless in the suffocating darkness that surrounded me, I clenched

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my fists tightly.

“You can take everything… please.”

Transparent tears streamed down from her eyes as she bowed her head.

The fallen tears sank deeper and deeper into some unknowable abyss.

Then the ground shook violently.

Carina Leopold squeezed her eyes shut against the sudden brightness flooding her vision.

At the sensation of touch at her fingertips, the familiar scent of his body, and the strange warmth against her skin, she slowly opened her eyes.

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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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