Limited Extra Time - Chapter 172

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

—— Page 1 ——

I had lied.

I had replayed the past countless times. I had imagined meeting him ordinarily, again and again. I had recalled moments when I possessed no such ability.

Yet I could not. No matter how much I thought about it, it was not reality but a distant past… and the regrets of what could not be undone coiled within me like serpents, tangled with lingering attachments.

“Did you know Seren has been running through Leopold Manor wielding a wooden sword lately? He says he wants to learn swordplay.”

“I heard from Peng. Apparently his mischievousness knows no bounds.”

“At this rate, he’ll become the greatest swordswoman in the world.”

“If that child desires it, he will surely achieve it. With my strength, yours, and… though it’s irritating, even the Dragon’s power forgotten alongside us.”

Carina Leopold burst into laughter at Millaiyen Pestellio’s gruff voice.

As they headed toward the Dining Hall, a small figure could be seen

—— Page 2 ——

loitering outside. The child spotted them and came scampering over, clinging eagerly to Millaiyen Pestellio’s leg.

Father!

That’s right, my daughter is healthy as always.

Millaiyen Pestellio grasped the child beneath the arms and hoisted him up effortlessly as he spoke.

The child broke into a bright smile and pointed at Carina Leopold with his finger.

Mother! Being late is bad!

I was delayed preparing. Did our Seren wait long?

Um… just a tiny bit?

Carina Leopold gazed at Seren intently before slowly drawing the child into a tight embrace. She steadied her eyes, which threatened to grow warm.

My dear Seren, you’ve grown so much—waiting patiently all by yourself.

….

Seren stared at Carina Leopold in silence for a moment, then slowly lowered his gaze to her chest.

With a pouty expression, he shook his head.

Seren is still a baby.

Suddenly, the child’s words came out with an even more pronounced lisp, his head swaying side to side. Just as Carina Leopold was about to smile and step inside, his words froze her expression solid.

Her footsteps halted, and she fell silent as if she had forgotten how to breathe.

…But to me, our Seren seems all grown up.

No, I’m a baby!

The child shook his head and waved his tiny hands toward Carina Leopold, a gesture asking to be held. Seeing her reach out, Millaiyen Pestellio took a step back.

Mother isn’t as strong as Father, so she can’t.

…Yes.

Watching the child’s head droop dejectedly, Carina Leopold quickly reached out and pressed his cheeks firmly between her palms.

She placed a kiss on his protruding lips as they pouted out—

—— Page 3 ——

—and smiled tenderly.

“I may not be as strong, but I love Seren more than Father does.”

“Now, now, Carina. That makes it sound as though I don’t love Seren at all.”

Millaiyen Pestellio chuckled reproachfully from beside her and pressed a kiss to Seren’s earlobe.

“Father loves you too, Seren.”

“Yes! I love you!”

The child finally burst into bright laughter, pulling both of them into a tight embrace.

Their faces drew so close their breath mingled as the small arms wrapped around them. The sight was so endearing that all three of them broke into laughter.

It was a day of unparalleled peace and happiness.

***

“Mother, what are you doing?”

The child cracked open the door and peeked his head inside with a question.

Carina Leopold folded the notebook she had been writing in against the headboard and set it aside, offering Seren a warm smile.

“I was writing in my diary. Why aren’t you playing outside, our little Seren?”

“…Mother, Seren wants a story!”

Looking closer, the child was clutching an enormous storybook in both hands, nearly as large as his own body.

Carina let out a soft laugh at the sight of the book thrust forward, accepting it from the child’s eager hands. The thin storybook was not very long and was filled with illustrations—perfectly suited to capture a child’s imagination.

Without hesitation, Carina nodded and patted the space beside her on the bed.

—— Page 4 ——

She tapped the mattress invitingly.

Seren’s face brightened instantly, and he scrambled up onto the bed with little grunts, settling snugly against her side.

Carina Leopold’s complexion was pallid, drained of all color, her sickness evident in every line of her face. Her cheeks had hollowed, her bones more prominent than before, and her wrists had grown terribly thin.

In truth, she could no longer leave the bed.

Occasionally Millaiyen Pestellio would carry her in his arms through the Garden, but as the weather grew colder, even that became impossible.

As the weather got cold, that became impossible.

It had been three months since Ajidahaka began staying here. He gently stroked her hair, remarking that he was holding up quite well.

He had grown quite close to Seren as well, and it seemed he was taking the boy around to various places.

“Where is Father?”

“He’s busy for now! He’ll be back soon!”

“Alright, Mother will read it to you.”

Carina Leopold leaned back and slowly began reading the first line aloud.

Seren had now grown quite capable of wielding both divine and magical power. It seemed this was thanks to Ajidahaka patiently teaching him the ways of magic, one step at a time.

He had allowed his knowledge to seep gradually into the child. In truth, the fact that he had endured this long was partly thanks to Seren’s strength as well.

Following Ajidahaka’s guidance, the boy channeled his magical power into her.

That’s it.

But her heart, already filled to its limit with Ajidahaka’s magic, was cracked and fractured in countless places, so no matter how much power was poured in, it could not sustain itself for long.

And now, it was on the verge of shattering completely.

Carina Leopold read the picture book to the child calmly. Seren’s eyes sparkled as he listened to her voice, which carried no particular inflection, and he nodded along.

—— Page 5 ——

Carina found this lamentable.

She wished to infuse more emotion into her words, but the miracle she could no longer control kept trying to devour her life of its own accord, leaving her helpless.

“Seren.”

“Yes?”

“You could bring a thicker picture book, you know. Or if you bring several, Mother will read them all to you.”

Carina found it puzzling that Seren always brought only short, brief fairy tales that were barely twenty pages long.

If he enjoyed it this much, I could have brought several more books or thicker ones instead.

“Mother, it’s heavy!”

“…Are you choosing them on purpose?”

“Hehe.”

Seren broke into a bright smile.

He neither nodded nor answered, but it wasn’t difficult to understand that his silence meant affirmation.

Carina Leopold closed her eyes in pain.

Standing before the Bookshelf lined with countless volumes, wandering back and forth to find thin picture books… and then selecting just one more—I couldn’t begin to fathom what thoughts occupied my child’s heart.

“…Seren, I’m so very sorry.”

“Yes?”

“Mother… I think I’ll be taking a long journey soon.”

“Seren will go too!”

“Neither you nor father can go. Mother must go alone. That’s why… that’s why I’m so sorry, Seren.”

Carina Leopold drew the child sitting beside her into her embrace. His small hands reached up to pat her back, but then his eyes widened and he shook his head.

“Mother will be lonely alone… Seren will go too. Father as well!”

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

“Mother…? Seren is still a baby

—— Page 6 ——

.”

Watching Seren clutch at the hem of my robe, his voice trembling with anxiety, I felt my heart tearing apart as I held it close.

I’m sorry, I’m so sorry….

At the endless murmuring, Seren’s face finally crumpled into tears.

“Mother, Seren wants to go too….”

At the trembling voice, Carina Leopold found herself unable to speak.

All she could do was whisper her apologies endlessly, fearing she might leave without even a proper farewell, not knowing when that moment would arrive.

“I’m coming in.”

As Millaiyen Pestellio entered through the opened door, he momentarily lost his words at the sight before him.

Seeing the tears streaming down Carina Leopold’s cheeks, Millaiyen Pestellio tried to ignore the throbbing in his own chest and

approached slowly. He knelt on one knee and, sitting beneath the bed, gently stroked Seren’s hair.

“Seren, what’s wrong?”

“Father….”

With a tearful expression, Seren twisted his body and reached out his arms toward Millaiyen Pestellio.

Millaiyen Pestellio pulled the child into his embrace and sat on the bed. Carina Leopold hung her head weakly.

With his other hand, he placed it gently on the back of her hand as he settled the child on his lap.

“Mother… Mother is going on a journey…. Mother… is leaving Seren….”

“…I see. Is that why you’re sad?”

“Yes….”

“What should we do, Seren? Mother has to go on a long journey. It seems the angels need Mother.”

At Millaiyen Pestellio’s gentle words, Carina

—— Page 7 ——

Carina finally buried her face in her hands.

She could not breathe. It felt as though the air itself had abandoned her, as if she were drowning alive in dark waters—and yet even that seemed preferable to this suffocating anguish.

Carina could not speak.

“What about Seren…?”

“Seren must live longer and be a good child. It is not a place anyone can go to.”

“…What about Father?”

“Father must stay with Seren. There are still too many wicked people in this world for me to leave just yet—I have more punishing to do.”

Millaiyen whispered to the child, soothing him. His voice had softened to a degree that bore no resemblance to the man he once was. Seren, conflicted, nodded reluctantly, as though unconvinced.

“Um, then… when will Mother come?”

“…”

“…”

At Seren’s question, both Carina and Millaiyen fell silent. Carina swallowed hard.

She slowly clenched her fists. She could not bring herself to make a promise she could not keep.

To think of the child who would wait endlessly, clinging to her words—that would be poison. Because she understood this, her lips would not move.

“…I’m sorry, Seren.”

All she could manage to utter

was an endless stream of apologies.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————