Limited Extra Time - Chapter 169

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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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Mother!

Carina Leopold bent down to embrace the child who came running toward her from afar, pulling him tightly into her arms.

Despite his hands being completely covered in dirt from whatever he had been doing, she did not scold him.

My dear Seren, what have you been up to?

Um, Seren built a castle!

The child tugged at Carina Leopold’s hand. She let out a soft laugh and followed him at a leisurely pace.

Where Serenus had led her, Peng stood nervously, anxious lest the sandcastle the child had built should crumble.

My lady, you have arrived.

You have worked hard, Peng.

Not at all, madam. It is nothing of the sort.

Mother! The castle Seren made!

Carina Leopold crouched down beside the child

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and gently stroked Serenus’s hair.

The sandcastle, clearly built with clumsy hands, bore Peng’s touch throughout. He had reinforced the foundation to keep it from collapsing. True to form, his pristine white gloves bore scattered traces of soil.

Carina Leopold kissed the child’s cheek and deliberately widened her eyes with an exaggerated expression of delight.

My, my! Our little Seren has grown so much—now he can even build castles.

Hehe! Seren and Mother and Father can live in it!

I am delighted to have another home. But it is so small that besides Seren, Father, and myself, I fear Peng and the others would not be able to fit inside.

Gasp!

The child drew in a sharp breath, eyes widening. Pure bewilderment filled those heterochromatic eyes.

The child circled the sandcastle anxiously, letting out small whimpers of distress as I paced around it.

Um… um…, I need to make one more!

But there are so many people already—just one more?

Hmm…

What if we did this instead? Since Seren and I have a home, we could move it over there carefully, and then if it rains and any of our friends don’t have shelter, they can come sleep there. Even ants and butterflies need a place to rest when it rains, don’t they?

At my words, the child’s eyes sparkled.

As I reached my hand toward the empty air, a blue butterfly fluttered down and alighted delicately upon my fingertip.

…My lady.

Peng’s worried voice came from behind me.

I laughed softly and brought my finger to my lips in a gesture for silence. Peng could say nothing more.

See? The butterfly is resting here

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Ah.

My tender voice soothed the child gently.

So they would not be disappointed, so they could still see only beauty in this world.

Sure enough, Serenus lay flat on the ground, watching as the butterfly folded its wings inside the sandcastle, and nodded in satisfaction.

“Wow!”

The child’s mouth fell open in wonder. Seeing their sparkling eyes, I smiled warmly.

She carefully helped the collapsed Serenus to his feet, rising from her seat as well.

“Well, it’s almost time for Father to arrive. Today, our little Seren….”

Carina Leopold’s words caught in her throat. Her eyes narrowed slightly. Her trembling fingers, which had been quivering at their tips, clenched into a fist as her eyelids fluttered downward.

“Mother?”

“…Ah, S-Seren’s favorite food… I’ll m-make it for you….”

She forced the muscles of her face to move, summoning a smile.

She deliberately unclenched the hand she had squeezed tight to endure the pain, gently stroking the child’s hair a few times before wetting her lips again.

“Go wash up quickly, …and come back.”

“Mother too?”

“Mother will… watch the butterflies fly away, …yes… and come back.”

The child’s eyes blinked.

Seeing her own reflection perfectly mirrored in those beautiful eyes that sparkled as they caught the light, Carina Leopold lifted the corners of her mouth a little higher.

“I need to make sure the butterfly rested well.”

“I shall attend to the lady with utmost care, so please return quickly before the master arrives, young lady.”

Peng, who had been nervously watching the situation unfold, hastily interjected.

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Seren nodded brightly with a radiant smile.

“Yes!”

Carina Leopold swallowed hard and smiled at the child.

As she watched the child take the Maidservant’s hand and leave, Carina Leopold staggered, clutching at her chest. The distorted expression on her face betrayed such anguish that anxiety flickered across Peng’s features.

“Let us retire to your room, madam.”

“Peng… I… the medicine…”

“Just a moment, madam. I shall return shortly.”

Peng hurriedly settled her into a Garden chair before turning to leave with urgency.

With all the servants dismissed, Peng had no choice but to run himself. Carina Leopold clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut.

The seizures were accelerating again. I could not shake the feeling of having been transported back several years.

‘Has it been five, six years already…?’

Time had indeed passed swiftly.

My child was already five years old. I myself had lived somewhat longer than anticipated.

It was thanks to Ajidahaka and Periel Kalos, who visited regularly to care for me, developing medicines that alleviated the pain and slowed the disease’s progression.

Yet even that had begun to show its limits of late.

I learned of what transpired after my abduction during the Heretic Sect incident only a year later, through Periel Kalos’s own words. Millaiyen Pestellio had refused to speak of it at all.

From what I heard, the Crown Prince had his limbs severed one by one while still alive.

Millaiyen Pestellio showed no mercy, and Ajidahaka had ensured he remained conscious throughout, sparing no effort to keep him aware.

As for Easter, it was said to be a horrific spectacle. Periel Kalos was truly reluctant to speak of it.

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Only after threatening him multiple times that I would not see Seren did he finally open his mouth with visible reluctance.

The Heretic Sect Cult Leader, Easter, had one eye torn out alive by Millaiyen Pestellio. Though she possessed considerable divine power, she was helpless before Ajidahaka.

In the end, her limbs too were severed and she perished. Her dismembered corpse was not even displayed as a warning—instead, it was fed to starving beasts, and I had no desire to imagine what became of her remains.

No matter how much I pressed him, Millaiyen Pestellio refused to speak of what came after. Soon thereafter, we returned directly to the Northern Territory.

Since then, the Northern Territory has remained closed off.

Only a select few merchants, carefully vetted by the Duke’s Household, were permitted passage through the Northern Territory’s gates.

And even then, they were bound by the condition never to divulge anything about the Northern Territory beyond its borders. Of course, they were being compensated quite generously for their silence.

And then there were Periel Kalos and Ajidahaka. Ajidahaka seemed to wander the world far and wide with Herta. Thanks to Ajidahaka, Herta had even gained the ability to shrink her body.

‘…I heard the Emperor was absolutely furious.’

When the Emperor saw him arrive bearing the Crown Prince’s severed limbs like trophies, his rage knew no bounds.

Had Periel Kalos and several nobles not stepped forward to protect him and persuade the Emperor, the rift between them would have been irreparable.

“The Emperor nearly went mad with fury. Though to be fair, when someone arrives in pieces without a chance for dialogue, it’s hardly surprising he’d react that way.”

“…I see.”

“Do you know what he said at that moment?”

“What did he say?”

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“When severing the limbs, he confessed that he had joined the Heretic Sect out of greed for the throne, seeking to seize it quickly. I believe such an end befits a traitor.”

Periel Kalos spoke with an exhausted expression, shaking his head. Even hearing it secondhand now left me bewildered—I could scarcely imagine how stunned he must have been witnessing it firsthand.

“The Emperor was so shocked that he simply froze in place,

unable to utter a single word.”

As she recalled those past events, she leaned back against her chair, breathing heavily.

Millaiyen Pestellio apparently paid the Emperor a substantial indemnity for the incident, yet he showed no sign of distress whatsoever.

Fortunately, the Emperor had a second son with a more temperate disposition, so four years later, things had settled into a semblance of order.

“Sigh…”

Cold sweat beaded across my skin in thick droplets.

Time was slipping away. That reality became a heavy shackle, constricting my heart with suffocating weight. I had imagined this moment and steeled myself a thousand times over, yet now that it drew near, my heart plummeted into an abyss.

“Hah… hah…”

“My lady! I’ve brought the medicine.”

Peng rushed in with urgency, his expression strained as he hastily placed the medicine in my hand and poured water into a cup.

I placed it in my mouth and swallowed. After about ten minutes, the pain gradually began to subside.

“Are you well?”

“Yes, I’m sorry for worrying you. Don’t tell Millaiyen about this.”

“…”

At my words, Peng fell silent for a moment. He seemed somewhat troubled, his lips pressed together as he averted his gaze.

I realized he would ultimately tell Millaiyen anyway.

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I shrugged my shoulders.

“I’ll go to my room and rest for a while.”

“Yes, I shall attend you.”

“When do you think Millaiyen will arrive?”

“He should be here soon today. Within an hour at the latest.”

I nodded and made my way to my room. After dismissing Peng, I sat wearily on the bed, blinking slowly.

Sitting quietly, I retrieved two thin volumes—no thicker than two fingers—from the very back of the bookshelf

and placed them on the desk.

One book had a striking blue cover, while the other displayed a deeper navy that caught the eye.

Both bore the unmistakable marks of frequent use.

Carina Leopold flipped confidently to the middle of the first book.

She withdrew a pen, dipped it in ink, and began writing slowly and deliberately.

Her hand lacked strength, but she forced herself to press harder, writing without hesitation

in steady strokes down the page. Once she had filled one sheet completely, she blew gently to dry the ink, then opened the second book.

Black ink began to fill the pristine white pages densely. Occasionally she paused, her hand faltering for a moment, but she quickly resumed her writing.

She did not stop writing for a considerable time.

In less than an hour, having filled one page in each book, Carina Leopold blinked slowly.

She blinked her eyes slowly.

After drying the ink and carefully sliding the books back into the shelf, Carina Leopold sat on the bed with a vacant expression.

“My, lost in thought again, are we?”

“…Ajidahaka?”

“Yes.”

“You were just here not long ago—what brings you back?”

Though his arrival was sudden, his voice was utterly familiar,

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and Carina Leopold’s eyes softened with warmth.

Ajidahaka stood silently regarding her for a moment, then let out a deflated laugh before pulling up a chair to the desk with his characteristic boisterous manner.

“…I intend to stay here now. You can arrange a proper place for me, yes? I should see how well our granddaughter is growing.”

“Of course. Many of the servants have been wanting to see Herta, and they would all be delighted….”

I spoke to Ajidahaka, but then my words trailed off. Now that I thought about it, the usual thunderous sounds from outside were conspicuously absent—an eerie silence had settled over everything.

Ajidahaka gazed at me in silence, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

It was warm and affectionate, yet tinged with a sorrow that made my heart ache. My lips pressed shut.

“Has something happened?”

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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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