Limited Extra Time - Chapter 141

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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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“Millaiyen, I’ve managed to settle most of the noise. The existence of ‘Carina Leopold’ will disappear just as she wished.”

At Periel’s words, Millaiyen, who had been staring down at Carina Leopold lying pallid on the bed, nodded without conviction.

“I’ve informed them that only the Northern Nobility will be invited to her funeral, and that the Pestellio Ducal House and the Kalos Duchy will jointly oversee the arrangements.”

“I see.”

“And I’ve prepared everything to save her.”

At Millaiyen’s listless voice, Periel withdrew Haron from the jeweled box and displayed it as he spoke.

On the day he heard of Carina Leopold’s death, Millaiyen appeared remarkably composed. At least, that’s how it seemed on the surface.

But one glance at his bloodshot eyes, swollen and inflamed crimson, made such an assessment impossible to maintain.

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but.

It was only because he knew that Haron would breathe life back into her that he could maintain even that measure of reason.

When Periel and Winston arrived in haste after learning the news belatedly, all they could witness was Carina Leopold lying in a deathlike sleep, her gaze vacant and hollow.

Winston, Periel, and Millaiyen gazed upon Carina Leopold in that state for a long while.

The servants who had grown fond of Carina Leopold, whether knowingly or not, as well as the soldiers, could not easily accept the news.

Both the servants who had sensed it and the soldiers alike couldn’t easily believe those words.

She was certainly more delicate than those of the Northern Territory, fragile enough to crumble at the slightest touch, yet just moments ago she had been moving about freely. She was always smiling kindly, always tender toward both the servants and the soldiers.

No one could easily accept the fact of her death.

The shock was especially profound for the soldiers and knights, who had not dared approach her closely, fearing she might scatter away like ash if they breathed too hard.

The bright atmosphere of Leopold Manor transformed in an instant, becoming somber and heavy. Some harbored anger toward Count Leopold, while others mourned her passing.

For four days, Periel Kalos and Millaiyen Pestellio worked tirelessly to spread word of Carina Leopold’s death far and wide. Simultaneously, they expelled Nocton.

When Nocton learned of Carina’s death, he finally erupted in disbelief—but that was all.

Millaiyen had already grown furious with him, and

Nocton was beaten by soldiers, dragged beyond the Territory’s borders, cast out past the Northern Checkpoint, and met his end.

On the surface, it was merely death by bandit attack.

Four days—a precarious window of time during which they could grasp their fractured sanity and move with purpose.

“Then the final task falls to this old man.”

“Are you certain? I could do it instead.”

Periel Kalos handed the box containing Haron to

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Winston as he spoke. Winston nodded silently in acknowledgment. As a commoner far removed from power, Winston could only observe as the two men moved about their tasks. There was little he could offer, and he had suffered greatly because of Nocton’s actions. “I must do this.” He had been the first to discover her illness, and for the first time, he had pursued someone who did not wish to live, moved by pity.

Whether that had truly helped remained uncertain. So at the very least, he wanted to be the one to save her. Periel Kalos feared failing if he laid hands upon Carina Leopold. Millaiyen lacked confidence in his ability to wound her body. Winston was the only one who could cut through her flesh and push Haron into her heart. ‘I am not without fear, but…’ He was better than those young men exhausted by failure.

Those who had lived long could face death with surprising serenity. A tender sapling endures the storms of countless years, becoming a towering ancient tree. Just as an old tree wraps itself in layers of thick bark, age dulls certain sensibilities. Attachment to life, passion, vitality, sensation—all of it dulls. And the most unexpected among these was death itself. The word ‘death,’ unthinkable in youth,

drew ever closer with advancing years. Whether one’s own death or another’s, one gradually learned to face it with equanimity. “I am ready even now. When do you think would be best for the two of you?” “Then right now.” At Millaiyen’s words, Winston smiled faintly and nodded. He withdrew medical instruments from a bag prepared beforehand. As he retrieved a scalpel to cut through human flesh,

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he felt a gaze upon him. Winston’s movements halted.

“If you would not mind, might the two of you step outside, excluding Head Butler Peng?”

“…What are you saying?”

“I feel as though my back might be pierced by holes. At this rate, I shall develop tension that was never there to begin with.”

At Winston’s words, Millaiyen and Periel Kalos pressed their lips firmly shut.

Receiving Winston’s gaze, Peng stirred from his statue-like stillness and moved to position himself between Winston, Millaiyen, and Periel Kalos.

“If you gentlemen would kindly step away for a moment, I’ll call you once I’ve assessed Winston’s progress.”

At Peng’s words, Millaiyen and Periel Kalos’s brows drew together.

More than just their brows—their displeasure was palpable.

“We don’t need to watch, do we?”

“Right, we can simply not watch. Winston.”

“To be frank, you’re already in the way.”

Winston spoke with a smile, yet his words were unyielding. His tone was so sharp that Millaiyen and Periel Kalos found themselves at a loss for words—it felt as though their ears were being cut by the edge of his voice.

“The young lady will be fine. So if you trust me, please leave now.”

Faced with Winston’s insistence and Peng’s urging, Millaiyen and Periel Kalos finally turned to go. Their steps were heavy with reluctance.

Once Millaiyen and Periel Kalos had been ushered out, Peng returned inside.

“You look tense yourself.”

“Who wouldn’t be tense when holding someone’s life in their hands?”

Winston answered Peng’s observation with a dry laugh.

Winston moved slowly yet with purpose. Peng’s perception was so

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keen that he anticipated Winston’s needs without being asked, swiftly producing whatever was required.

“Can you manage this?”

“I must. That’s why I’m here.”

At Winston’s response, Peng nodded and stepped back. The tip of Winston’s scalpel touched her heart.

A sharply honed blade sliced across her skin.

* * *

Peng had escorted them to the Reception Room, but the two of them returned to her door in less than ten minutes.

The room was silent, and the Corridor was even more so. Millaiyen Pestellio and Periel Kalos stood against the railing with rigid expressions.

“It’s quiet.”

Millaiyen Pestellio, who rarely spoke first when alone with Periel Kalos, broke the silence.

Millaiyen Pestellio, who rarely opened his mouth, spoke up.

Periel Kalos, whose face had hardened with visible tension, barely managed to turn his stiff head.

“Yeah, it is quiet.”

“…She should be fine.”

“When you think about it, it’s actually a simple procedure. I couldn’t do it myself—my hands would shake too much.”

Periel Kalos spoke with a bitter smile.

Countless possibilities swirled through his mind,

leaving him utterly without confidence.

Periel Kalos exhaled a short sigh. Yet he couldn’t help but wish he had been the one to do it.

“What will you do when Carina Leopold comes back?”

“Marry her.”

Millaiyen Pestellio answered without the slightest hesitation.

“Millaiyen, are you certain you won’t regret saving her? I can only remain her friend—

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I would be anxious too. Anxious and afraid, without the confidence to treat her as I do now.

Carina Leopold will leave.

Sooner than I will, with absolute certainty and not a shred of hope. Not by her will or ours, but because we chose to save her even while accepting all those conditions.

That was the predetermined time and promise between Carina Leopold and us.

That fact, which surfaces from time to time during our time together, will torment me again and again.

Even now, it hurts and torments me like this. I don’t have the strength to bear this pain twice over.

Knowing that after a brief span of years I will never see her again—can I truly love her as a friend with all my heart?

“I’ll regret it dozens, hundreds of times. And I’ll be afraid when I close my eyes and when I open them.”

Periel Kalos, who had been looking down, lifted his gaze at Millaiyen Pestellio’s words.

Millaiyen Pestellio was still staring at her firmly closed door.

“Until the moment she dies, I won’t be able to let go of even a shred of lingering attachment. I might pour endless amounts of money into research, desperately hoping for a miracle.”

“…Yes.”

“Because I know the sorrow of having experienced it once, that time frightens me all the more. Yet still, I wished I could be by her side. I wished she could live. …I wish her life wouldn’t end in suffering.”

If there are only a handful of memories to recall with closed eyes, if it’s merely half a year—such a brief span of time—how agonizingly must she endure all those long years.

I don’t believe in an afterlife.

I never thought one existed.

Death is death, and ghosts do not exist.

Even thinking that way, the thought of ‘what if

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….’ was something I couldn’t abandon.

There might be a long time before I’m reincarnated, if that even happens.

During those lonely hours, I hoped I could recall happy memories with her—different ones each day, at least once a day.

“There’s so much I never got to do with her.”

I wanted to experience romance. I wanted to kiss her lips every morning and whisper words of love to her.

I wanted to see the day when even the smallest worry would vanish from her expression.

The Sea, the mountains, beyond the Winter Mountain Range—I should have gone everywhere with her.

I wanted to let her do everything she wished to do. I wanted to share love with her and bury myself completely in her warmth.

“The next five years are time earned by my desires and Carina Leopold’s desires. So I’ll live selfishly.”

The gazes of those around me no longer mattered.

All I desired was time with her. Even if the end was predetermined, it was enough. Because I wanted to be with her during that time.

With Millaiyen Pestellio’s words, silence fell once more. Soon the doorknob turned, and the door opened with a soft click.

As if he’d been waiting, Millaiyen Pestellio pushed himself away from the railing.

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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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