Limited Extra Time - Chapter 171

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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 ——

“…”

Her confession tumbled out in a trembling voice, and Millaiyen drew in a sharp breath.

He slowly nodded, forcing himself to appear unmoved and indifferent. He tried to coax his lips into a smile, but his cheeks had already grown rigid and refused to soften.

“No, I’m the one who should apologize. I’m sorry.”

Millaiyen finally halted his steps and slowly lowered her to the ground in the Corridor.

Carina Leopold swallowed at his heavy apology, then exhaled. Millaiyen gazed down at her bowed head and smiled.

“I’m fine, truly I am…”

His smile, recited mechanically, slowly crumbled away.

What remained within it was despair and sorrow.

Carina Leopold stared blankly at it for a moment, then slowly drew him into an embrace.

“I’m sorry.”

—— Page 2 ——

“Please, …please, Carina… don’t apologize to me. You have nothing to apologize for. I… it’s all my fault. I’m the one who’s sorry…”

Millaiyen’s expression twisted.

Watching the man crumble, Carina Leopold’s back stiffened. His face pressed tightly into his hands, he contorted his features in anguish.

“If only I had met you sooner, if only I had paid attention to you during the betrothal ceremony…!”

At Millaiyen’s cry, Carina Leopold could only stand there with her mouth agape like a fool.

It felt as though she had finally glimpsed what he had been holding inside for so long. The truth of it was so heartbreaking that her insides twisted.

“I shouldn’t have said it like that. I should have asked if you were alright. Back then, I wish I had offered you my hand. If only I had met you sooner…”

How many times had he blamed himself, dwelling on a past that could never be undone?

Carina Leopold’s lips trembled before she pressed them shut. Her throat ached, as if someone had forced it open violently.

If she spoke, blood might burst forth from within, so she could not easily open her mouth.

Something uncharacteristic—tears—rolled down Millaiyen’s cheeks.

“So I wish I could have… held you close. I wish I could have… I wish I could have…!”

Tears streamed relentlessly from Millaiyen’s eyes. Carina gazed at them in stunned silence.

Words failed her. How long had it been…?

How long had he carried such thoughts alone?

My heart ached. The image of him blaming himself in solitude flickered through my mind, and my chest throbbed with pain.

—— Page 3 ——

I wish I could tell him it’s alright. Why can’t I even say that much to him?

“You didn’t have to carve away at yourself until death’s door, and we could have had more time together, more ways to make this work!”

In that anguished confession—raw as a scream, laid bare as if clawing at his own depths—I felt the weight of his profound regret.

He staggered and leaned against the wall, then drove his head hard against it.

Carina gasped and stepped toward him, and he spoke in a strangled voice.

“How many times have I…?”

Millaiyen fell silent, his voice catching in his throat, before he looked at her again with tears still streaming down his face.

His eyes, wet and glistening, were less clear than usual, their redness more pronounced.

The desire to touch him, to comfort him, surged within her, and her fingers trembled slightly.

“I keep imagining going back to that moment. If I could return to that time, I would do this instead. I wish I had done it differently. Then perhaps things would be different now.”

“Millaiyen, I….”

“But when I open my eyes, it’s all just a dream, just my imagination. I can’t turn back time, and I can’t save you. No matter how hard I try….”

Millaiyen’s expression twisted in anguish.

The rest of his words never came.

He was crying. Like a child unable to stop the tears streaming down his face, he simply broke down.

Seeing him ruined by those flowing tears, my heart ached with a dull throb. The pain was unbearable. I drew in a breath and steeled myself. I couldn’t leave him carrying this burden forever.

I couldn’t let him live with this anguish for the rest of his life.

“You did save me, Millaiyen.”

“I didn’t save you.”

—— Page 4 ——

“I’m alive. I’m here right now, living with Seren and you. We’ve been together all this time.”

At my words, Millaiyen shook his head side to side. That childlike gesture made me want to smile despite everything. It was strange—even in a moment like this, I could feel laughter bubbling up.

“Listen, Millaiyen.”

When I called to him softly, Millaiyen reluctantly met my gaze.

I stepped closer and looked up at him. He flinched slightly but didn’t retreat.

“The truth is, back then, I had no real desire to live. I didn’t want to cling to meaningless hope.”

Millaiyen’s eyes widened.

Watching those wavering eyes, I smiled again. As we talked, I began to understand—we were both afraid. We both carried our own unbearable burdens.

Each of us was suffering from what we were holding onto.

“But you saved me. The truth is, even if I died, I had no regrets about my life. When I left Count Leopold’s Residence, that’s what I thought. Ah, let me leave. Let me settle everything and turn my back on the world.”

“Don’t say that….”

“Of course, not right now.”

Carina responded to Millaiyen’s subdued voice with deliberately brighter tones.

She lifted her pitch intentionally and smiled a little wider.

He said nothing even as he saw my swollen eyes. If he was deliberately pretending not to notice, then he must have spoken with Ajidahaka about something.

Carina reached out and grasped his hand.

‘…They really don’t know how to hide anything, do they.’

Just a little, but I’m dissatisfied. In the end, it made my Millaiyen wear such an expression. I still intended to have a good conversation naturally.

That.

—— Page 5 ——

Yes.

“I never had any lingering attachment to this life, but you became my lingering attachment. You saved me. Millaiyen, you gave me the world. Millaiyen, you were my only world.”

“…I feel the same way.”

Millaiyen added softly to me.

Watching the man who always seemed so strong and protective become this vulnerable, I suddenly realized just how deeply I was loved.

“You gave me life and opportunity and the world. You gave me Seren. You gave me time to spend with Seren.”

Carina answered quietly.

At her calm voice, Millaiyen’s face twisted with even greater anguish.

Carina squeezed the hand she held with Millaiyen a little tighter.

“…That’s enough for me. It would be a lie to say I have no lingering attachments. Truth be told, it would also be a lie to say I’m not afraid. I am afraid, and I do have attachments. I want to watch Seren grow, and I want to stay in your arms a little longer.”

“…I’m sorry. I’m… I’m sorry….”

Millaiyen’s voice wavered with the threat of tears once more.

Carina Leopold simply curved her lips upward in silence. The arc of her smile remained perfectly composed, without the slightest tremor.

“But I wish it had been like this in the past. That none of this had happened. When you think about it, you are my entire life.”

“…Me?”

“Yes. The moment we met, I heard what you said and thought… I want to become like that person too. That’s what I decided.”

Millaiyen turned over his past words in his mind, and his face slowly flushed crimson.

He furrowed his brow as if troubled, pressing the back of his hand firmly against his eyes.

—— Page 6 ——

Carina Leopold smiled softly.

“So don’t apologize. No, let’s both promise not to apologize to each other. We both did our best. You and I both gave everything we had.”

“….”

“Yes, we truly gave our all to each other. So just like our old promise. This time, with smiles on our faces.”

“….”

Unable to respond to her words, Millaiyen’s head drooped.

He had no confidence he could answer with acceptance to her plea to let him go with a smile. He had no such confidence. No confidence that he could remain unmoved.

“Ah. My Millaiyen, past your prime and now a crybaby. Is that what they mean when they say men become crybabies after thirty?”

“…You, what on earth are you——”

Millaiyen’s eyes blinked in bewilderment. Watching him sniffle, Carina Leopold rose slightly onto her toes and gently wiped his cheeks with the back of her hand.

Millaiyen exhaled a low sigh.

“Don’t cry. Seren will tease you for being a crybaby father.”

“…I won’t cry in front of Seren.”

At Millaiyen’s gruff words, Carina Leopold burst into laughter. Seeing her expression, Millaiyen slowly drew in a breath.

He smiled faintly in return. Watching that expression, Carina Leopold pulled him into a tight embrace.

Rising onto her toes, she stretched her arms around his neck and buried her face against his chest. Millaiyen bent down awkwardly but yielded willingly to her embrace.

“Please take care of Seren. With you, I’m certain you’ll always be a wonderful father.”

“Yes.”

“I wish I could stay longer.”

“…Yes.”

“I love you, Millaiyen. I love you….”

—— Page 7 ——

…Yes, I do too.

Carina Leopold held Millaiyen tightly before slowly intertwining their fingers together.

How much time remained? I could sense in my bones that the time allotted was not abundant.

Let’s go have dinner.

Yes.

Hand clasped firmly in hand, the two descended the Staircase slowly toward the Dining Hall. Carina Leopold wore a bittersweet smile.

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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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