Limited Extra Time - Chapter 16

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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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A Doomed Extra’s Time

A Long Romance Fantasy Novel by Ja Eun-hyang

A Doomed Extra’s Time

Chapter 16

“Tell me honestly. Was your dream to become a snowman?”

“A snowman? What is that?”

“….”

Even the great Milayen found himself at a loss for words when met with such a question in response to his sarcasm.

However, there was an old superstition in the Southern Territory that whenever snow fell, misfortune would befall that year.

Snow fell so rarely in the Southern Territory that it was hardly a concern.

Even on the rare occasions when it did fall, it never accumulated enough to build anything, so the word “snowman”—commonplace in the Northern Territory—was utterly foreign to her.

“In other words, you wanted to freeze to death.”

“No… I just had a feeling about it today….”

She wriggled her hands out from beneath the blanket and rolled up a piece of paper, placing it on the bed.

With arms crossed and a displeased expression,

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Milayen, who had been lecturing her for the past hour, reached out and picked up the paper.

Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he shifted his gaze to Karina, who was peeking out cautiously from beneath the blanket.

“May I take a look?”

“Yes, it’s nothing particularly remarkable.”

Karina spoke with a faint smile.

It wasn’t false modesty—she genuinely believed it was nothing special. At least, that’s what she had always thought.

Infrick, who had joined the Imperial Knight Order at a young age with his exceptional swordsmanship.

Ferden, who could replicate almost anything after seeing it once.

Abelia, whose deft hands wove intricate and beautiful patterns with such grace.

In comparison, the monochrome world she created with her pencil was hopelessly crude.

Her parents had always worn far brighter expressions when praising her siblings than when praising her, so Karina had naturally come to accept this truth.

Milaion’s eyes descended slowly onto the sketch she had brought, his gaze touching the paper with deliberate care.

And he remained there for quite some time.

Karina watched him intently as he examined her drawing with such gravity.

Soon, her face flushed crimson. It felt as though her very soul were being laid bare.

He was studying the artwork with such meticulous attention.

After a long moment, Milaion’s tightly pressed lips finally parted.

“Watching you makes me think that even humility can be an affliction.”

“…I beg your pardon?”

“Though I cannot claim expertise in such matters and cannot offer a professional critique, this ranks among the finest paintings I have ever witnessed in my life.”

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Karina’s eyes widened at his sincere, unadorned words.

With her face flushed scarlet, she gazed up at him in a daze. Milaion had already turned his attention from the sketch to her, his eyes fixed upon her face.

“You possess skill enough to be genuinely confident about. I never imagined the view from the rooftop of Leopold Manor could be this beautiful.”

“….”

“I’m looking forward to seeing it once you add color.”

With no one to compare herself against and too ashamed to show her paintings to anyone,

Karina had even fewer opportunities to evaluate her own work objectively.

“I’ve never heard such words before. I’m delighted, even if you’re simply being kind.”

“I don’t jest about such things. Rather, I would ask whether you shouldn’t abandon this hopeless pursuit and seek something more efficient instead.”

His candid words, delivered with a scoff, drew a silent laugh from her.

“If you truly doubt me, finish the painting and give it to me. I’ll send word to an acquaintance of mine who has some expertise in this field and ask for their assessment.”

Millaion suddenly spoke up.

At his words, Karina laughed and nodded.

“I’ll give it to you once it’s complete. But I don’t need an evaluation—I never sought one in the first place.”

All I truly wanted was

for him to see me.

Painting had become a companion to soothe her loneliness, and in her absorption, she had lost herself so completely that it had caused her downfall.

She wished she had paid more attention to her own body.

She had carelessly attributed her lack of physical improvement to simply not moving about the house enough.

Her breath came hot and heavy. Karina pressed her face against the cool fabric of her quilt, seeking relief. The coolness of the cloth

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only briefly soothed the fever.

Karina genuinely wished to escape from this squid-like state.

“Your Grace… I would like to leave this place now…”

A piercing gaze—*try me if you dare*—fell upon Karina. She promptly closed her mouth again.

He carefully placed her portrait on the table, then gazed at her crimson face and exhaled a sigh.

“Are you perhaps the very incarnation of a squid? Why is your constitution so frail?”

His scolding, which had paused briefly, resumed once more. Karina buried her face sulkily into the blanket.

At the gentle knock on the door, she lifted her head. Milaion’s gaze had already shifted toward the entrance.

“Your Grace, it is Maria.”

“Enter.”

The door opened, and a middle-aged man in a pristine white coat stepped inside.

A muscular man whose physique bore no resemblance whatsoever to his feminine name.

Judging by the coat he wore, he appeared to be a Physician, yet his body resembled that of a seasoned general who had claimed countless enemy commanders’ heads.

Milaion glanced at him briefly, then gestured with a finger toward Karina.

“…Did Your Grace transform this young lady into a squid yourself?”

“Spare me the nonsense. Her constitution weakened from an extended journey. Today, foolishly, she sat all day on the Rooftop with a biting wind. Examine her.”

“All day, you say…”

It had only been four hours.

Exaggerating it sixfold was excessive by any measure.

Karina, her face flushed crimson, blinked her eyes once in protest.

As a shadow fell across her vision, she thought—

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In that instant, Karina ducked her head sharply.

As she grabbed her rear and slipped beneath the blanket, the Physician and Maria’s hands sliced through empty air.

He blinked in bewilderment, his gaze turning toward Millian.

“What are you doing, young lady? Come here and sit down.”

“I told you I dislike the Physician.”

Burning with fever, she could barely stand upright, swaying unsteadily, yet her words came out clear and sharp.

Millian swallowed a hollow laugh.

Millian rose abruptly from his seat.

“I dislike the Physician.”

“Then you shouldn’t have given me reason to summon him. Come here and receive your examination. You’re not a child—what nonsense is this about disliking the Physician?”

“Rest will heal me.”

“Once you can stand properly on your own, then we shall reconsider.”

Millian strode over to Karina and hoisted her by the nape of her neck, dangling her effortlessly.

With the satisfied expression of one who had proudly bagged a rabbit, Millian dropped her back onto the bed with a thud.

“My lord! What are you doing to a noble lady! If you’re going to bring her, at least hold her with proper decorum!”

Maria, his face darkening, draped a blanket over Karina’s shoulders as she lay curled and rigid.

At Maria’s reproachful tone, Millian’s brow furrowed.

“I typically bring them this way.”

“Whom are you referring to?”

Maria naturally grasped her wrist and took her pulse while conversing with Millaion.

It was to avoid showing that Karina seemed to dislike the Physician. Fortunately, Karina, intoxicated by fever, appeared to have dulled sensation in her skin.

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“Disobedient lot.”

“They are soldiers, after all.”

“Is that not acceptable?”

“No.”

Maria answered firmly with a sigh at Millaion’s retort.

The Northern Territory had always been heavily mobilized for monster hunts, so the class system was far weaker there than in other regions, regardless of nobility or commoner status.

They valued proving their strength, and most possessed bold and uninhibited temperaments.

The Duke himself had grown up among mercenaries since childhood, so he differed from ordinary nobles in many ways.

“Please treat them with a gentler hand. The people of the Southern Territory are not as rough as those from the North.”

Millaion, who had been furrowing his brow at Maria’s calm explanation, nodded in understanding.

“I understand. They do seem soft, exactly as you say.”

Yet Maria’s expression hardened as he continued to take her pulse at her wrist.

He raised his index finger in a quiet gesture for silence to Millaion, then gently smiled and pressed Karina’s shoulder to guide her down onto the bed.

“Rest if you are weary, Miss.”

At his tender voice, Karina’s eyes betrayed her will and slowly closed.

‘This won’t do….’

I might be discovered.

Yet the overwhelming exhaustion dragged her into slumber in an instant.

Once Karina fell asleep, Maria settled into a chair and checked her pulse again. His expression darkened considerably.

“Why do you look so troubled?”

He sat in the chair with one leg crossed over his thigh, resting his chin in his hand as he asked lightly.

“Her pulse is far too weak. It seems her body is in poor condition.”

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Maria released her wrist and brought two fingers to the nape of her neck, checking her pulse there.

His expression grew dark. The throbbing pulse was terribly unstable, faint, and weak.

“Forgive my intrusion.”

He draped a thin cloth over her body, then pressed his ear close to her chest near her heart.

The heartbeat sounded distant and muffled.

After palpating several points on her body, Maria’s expression grew even darker.

He rolled up Karina’s sleeve and examined her arm, inspecting her body in various places before his brow furrowed.

‘The blood vessels are thin, and there’s no color to her blood…’

After lifting her eyelids to examine them closely, Maria’s expression darkened further.

“Rare in the Northern Territory, but… this appears to be the Wasting Sickness.”

“The Wasting Sickness?”

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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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