Limited Extra Time - Chapter 142

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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 ——

It was Peng who emerged.

Peng stepped aside with a faint smile, and Millaiyen burst into the room as though he might take flight.

“Winston, where is Carina Leopold?”

“Ah, Your Excellency.”

Winston caught sight of Millaiyen and shifted aside slightly.

He reached out urgently and grasped Carina Leopold’s wrist. A faint warmth emanated from her skin. Though faint, her pulse was unmistakably present.

“Is Carina Leopold unharmed?”

“For now… Haron appears to have successfully taken root in her heart. The wound we made to implant Haron has already vanished. However…”

Winston trailed off.

The problem was that while her vital functions and movements had returned to normal, she would not open her eyes.

He had even attempted to rouse her gently, but she showed no response—as though she had become a doll.

“However?”

—— Page 2 ——

“She has not yet regained consciousness, Your Excellency. Yet all her vital functions and responses are entirely normal.”

Her complexion was steadily improving, and the speed of her natural healing was incomparable to that of an ordinary human.

The wound across her body had healed in less than a minute after Haron’s fusion.

Winston wrapped the blood-stained scalpel in cloth and placed it in his bag before speaking again.

“It seems her body may require time to adapt to such an abrupt transformation, so it would be wise to wait.”

“When will she awaken?”

“The exact details… I’m not certain myself. Since it’s an object the Dragon gave, I could ask the Dragon directly, but I don’t know where it is right now.”

At Winston’s words, Millaiyen exhaled a low sigh.

Still, she was breathing. So vividly that the past few days felt like a dream.

Millaiyen grasped her hand firmly and collapsed to his knees beside the bed.

“…Yes, you’ve worked hard. Peng, escort Winston to his room. Let him rest well.”

“Understood.”

“I’ll check on her condition again tomorrow. Please call me if anything goes wrong.”

“Yes.”

Millaiyen answered, resting his forehead against the back of her hand. The mere fact that she was breathing brought him such relief. Peng and Winston, who had been watching him for a moment, slipped out of the room.

As the door closed, Millaiyen, still on his knees, grasped her hand tightly with both of his.

As if trying to warm it, even if only slightly.

Periel Kalos, who had entered following Millaiyen, stared blankly at the scene.

That posture—like a prayer to the gods—was something Periel Kalos had never seen from Millaiyen

—— Page 3 ——

before.

“I love you, Carina Leopold…”

At the soft voice, Periel Kalos quietly turned away.

Leaving the room, Periel Kalos slowly closed the door. He walked toward the Underground Laboratory with a bitter smile playing at his lips.

“What is this nonsense, Cassis Leopold! Carina Leopold is dead—Carina Leopold! What about Carina Leopold?”

“…I apologize, but I’m exhausted, Dalia. I need to rest for a moment.”

Count Leopold answered with evident exhaustion etched across his features.

Count Leopold and Infrick returned to Leopold Manor in less than a month.

The moment they arrived, though Countess Leopold rushed toward him with desperate urgency, Count Leopold simply bowed his head, worn down.

“Cassis! Please, just tell me! That child didn’t really die… did she? Carina, why on earth did she have to die!”

As Countess Leopold clung to him, Count Leopold’s face twisted violently.

Something surged within him, contorting his features, and he lifted his head sharply.

“Didn’t I tell you that Duke Periel Kalos fell ill? He died of artistic fever! I only heard the news on my way back. I was cast out before I could even see his face properly!”

At Count Leopold’s words, Countess Leopold flinched and trembled, her face twisting in anguish.

That couldn’t be right. That child had never been healthy, had she? Until the day I left, she was certainly…

‘Was she healthy?’

—— Page 4 ——

Only then did doubt suddenly arise.

The news she thought was merely a poor appetite, and her meals that ended almost as soon as they began. Her face was rarely seen, and her skin was always pallid.

Was her skin pallid? Or was it sickly pale? Countess Leopold’s face contorted.

“…But Cassis, Carina… I should have at least attended her funeral!”

“That child said she would sever ties with us. She told us to handle her death ourselves. What can we do? It is our fault for not believing her.”

In any case, their limited understanding had been the problem.

Failing to recognize the gravity of the situation, vaguely assuming everything was fine—it was all a mistake.

Nothing could be undone. Even if they apologized, the child would never turn back to face them.

“I have no right to show my face at that funeral.”

Count Leopold spoke with a distorted expression.

Deep weariness emanated from the wrinkles that had grown deeper in the interim. The shock of being treated that way was one thing, but the rumors about Carina Leopold that he’d heard throughout the journey tormented him far more.

“…It is our fault.”

“I… I….”

Countess Leopold lowered her head.

She had never thought of her as anything other than her daughter. If asked whether she had been a daughter to be proud of, she couldn’t even muster the confidence to answer that.

Carina Leopold was certainly her daughter.

Yet, for some reason, her gaze had never rested upon her as often.

Whenever she beheld that gaze, she often felt a sense of unease, and compared to the younger children who were cute and affectionate, her attention had certainly been directed elsewhere.

She had thought there was no particular need to look after her. She managed well on her own, and it wasn’t as though she caused any serious trouble.

Her attention waned. There were other children who needed tending to,

—— Page 5 ——

so she had paid her less mind.

“She filled an entire carriage with gold ingots, saying it was payment for raising her all these years.”

“…That child did?”

“Yes, she had changed greatly. She smiled often….”

Beside Millaiyen Pestellio, she smiled beautifully. She expressed her emotions well and seemed happy in that space. And only then did he realize.

“Dalia, do you remember when that child last smiled brightly before us?”

“…What?”

“I… honestly, I don’t remember.”

Count Leopold brushed past the Countess Leopold without stopping.

His footsteps seemed labored with exhaustion, and his shoulders appeared diminished, as though bearing an invisible weight.

The Head Butler of Count Leopold’s Residence followed in his wake.

“Unless it’s urgent, I’ll hear the reports tomorrow.”

“Well… a few days ago, an official document arrived from the Pestellio Ducal House.”

At the mention of that name—one he had no desire to hear—Count Leopold’s brow furrowed. When he turned to face the butler, the man bowed his head with an expression of discomfort.

“There were several joint ventures we were conducting together. They’re withdrawing from all of them…”

“All of them…?”

“Yes, and that’s not all. Several trading partners deeply connected to the Northern Territory have also stated they will cease deliveries after next month…”

Count Leopold pressed his fingers to his throbbing temples and exhaled sharply.

Ordinarily, he would have addressed these matters immediately, but today—even if a blade were driven through his chest—he lacked the strength to move.

The entire journey had drained him utterly. He had reached his limit, both mentally and physically. Count Leopold gave a perfunctory nod.

—— Page 6 ——

“I’m exhausted. I’ll rest today and review the matter tomorrow.”

“Understood. I shall compile the necessary reports and have them prepared by tomorrow.”

“Very well.”

The conversation ended there.

Rather than retiring to the marital chamber, Count Leopold entered an empty room and collapsed onto the bed. Today, he desired nothing more than to be left undisturbed.

I’m so weary…

The past month had exhausted me completely.

I was already too old and exhausted to bear the crushing tide of guilt, the maelstrom of countless emotions, and the weight of hundreds of regrets.

Count Leopold closed his eyes slowly. Desolate darkness swallowed the world in an instant, plunging him into the bottomless abyss.

“Good morning, Carina Leopold.”

Millaiyen Pestellio greeted her as he always did, settling into the chair beside her bed.

Nearly a month had passed, and still she had not opened her eyes. Winston and countless other physicians had been brought to examine her, yet they found nothing amiss.

Considerable time had elapsed since I began waiting, thinking it merely part of her recovery.

This daily ritual of visiting her, these greetings that never returned—I was growing accustomed to them now.

Millaiyen Pestellio grasped her hand with practiced ease, as if to dispel his anxiety.

The warmth of her fingertips, the faint pulse beneath them, diluted my restlessness from the night before.

“Soon the first ships will depart from the Northern Territory. Marin Aerial wrote to me saying that once you’ve recovered,

—— Page 7 ——

I should bring you to visit her sometime.

Remembering how she once said she wanted to see the sea, I continued speaking quietly.

What had happened in the Northern Territory, what problems arose yesterday, how the weeds had begun to flourish….

Mostly trivial, meaningless matters.

The smile that had graced my lips

gradually faded. I lowered my head.

No matter how much I speak alone, not a single reply ever comes.

“You know, Carina Leopold.”

My voice grew heavy and sank.

“How much longer must I wait before you open your eyes? I wish to see them.”

I longed for her gaze to meet mine.

I wanted to hold her warmth in my arms.

I wanted to hear her cheerful voice.

She was endlessly lovely even in her stillness, yet I preferred her with eyes open, aware and present.

“There I go again, being childish.”

Every day I vowed to wait patiently, yet the moment I stood before her, everything crumbled within me.

I despised how small I became in her presence.

“I’ll be busy today and cannot come during the day.

I’ll visit you tonight. I hope you have pleasant dreams.”

Millaiyen Pestellio sat for a moment as if waiting for a response, then slowly rose from his seat.

He drew his hand slowly across his face.

Carefully slipping his hand beneath her blanket, he gazed down at Carina Leopold’s face, noting how her complexion had improved.

“I believe you’re returning to me slowly. Rest if you must, but do not stop.”

—— Page 8 ——

The door clicked shut.

In the quiet room where Millaiyen Pestellio had vanished, only the soft rhythm of her breathing descended slowly into silence.

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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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