Limited Extra Time - Chapter 20

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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 ——

Carina Leopold had wandered through dreams all day long, and only as dawn broke just before sunrise did she slowly open her eyes.

As she turned her head while lying in a daze, her gaze fell upon the moon retreating far beyond the window, growing hazy, and the sky brightening to rival its luminescence.

Having suffered from fever throughout the night, Carina Leopold felt a burning thirst and rose from her bed as if driven by instinct.

‘I want cold water.’

As she attempted to rise to fetch some water, she discovered a pitcher resting upon the bedside table.

Carina Leopold carefully brought her parched fingertips to the pitcher’s surface.

It had not been long since it was filled, for cool moisture beaded across its exterior.

She drew a breath and slowly withdrew her hand from the pitcher.

—— Page 2 ——

It was unmistakably his thoughtfulness—whether he had commanded the Maidservant or cheerfully fetched it himself, his touch was evident in this gesture.

Millaiyen Pestellio was concerned about her illness.

Upon this realization, Carina Leopold’s expression crumbled.

“…This was not how things were supposed to unfold.”

Drawing her knees close and embracing them, Carina Leopold buried her face between them, murmuring softly.

‘Does he know the truth of my condition?’

Carina Leopold held her knees more tightly.

She wished he would learn everything and tell her he could not bear it, casting her away—but she knew he would not.

Millaiyen Pestellio, despite his harsh manner of speech, was a man of strong responsibility.

“Please, let him never know the truth.”

Carina, seized by dread, whispered softly to herself.

She had no desire to build any bond with him.

She did not wish for him to harbor any feelings toward her.

Whether it was cheap pity or consideration, she wanted neither.

On the day she received her death sentence, what surfaced in her mind was how her family’s reactions would shift moment by moment as her remaining life dwindled away.

Carina knew all too well that if she revealed how little time remained for her, she would receive the affectionate attention she had yearned for so desperately.

He knew better than anyone that he would receive affectionate attention.

Yet simultaneously, the thought of it was so pitiful, so repugnant, that she could not bear to confirm it—and so she wished to turn her back on Leopold Manor.

She could not bear to confirm that everything she had longed for would only arrive when she stood before death itself.

And so she resolved to sever even that slender thread of hope with her own hands.

—— Page 3 ——

She feared that, unable to control herself against time that flowed inexorably like sand pouring through clenched fingers, she might use her own life as bait, wielding it to draw attention and concern.

She needed a place far from Leopold House where she could spend her remaining days in quiet solitude. She needed a place to gather her fractured heart.

She had chosen him because he despised her. The Northern Territory was beyond the Duke’s reach.

There were reasons aplenty if one searched for them. She had clung to these pretexts, hoping to exist here as though she were nothing at all.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

‘No… that’s not it.’

Carina shook her head.

‘That’s not the truth. The real reason is…’

Her expression crumbled slowly.

Like a sandcastle crumbling beneath the tide, Carina Leopold’s carefully composed mask shattered in an instant, her expression dissolving into tears.

‘He was the only person who truly saw me.’

The only one who told me I could say no if I didn’t want to do something.

Whenever I swallowed my own thoughts without protest, even when it was unfair, even when it hurt—I would recall his words and find solace in them.

I hadn’t thought deeply about coming here.

He simply came to mind, and my feet carried me to this place.

I couldn’t deny that it was selfish.

Yet I would have wagered anything that Millaiyen Pestellio would never worry about me.

“How could he possibly care about me…?”

I had long since resigned myself to the distance between my family and me.

—— Page 4 ——

Everyone is selfish.

Everyone has their own tender wounds.

People are not fair.

Everything has its own hierarchy of importance.

Through the years, I had learned such truths.

So I had never once imagined that someone so distant could genuinely care for me.

Yet today, having felt his consideration and tenderness, I became suddenly afraid.

‘I will die.’

And Millaiyen Pestellio will go on living.

Whether pity or concern, he must never harbor any emotion toward her.

‘…Why on earth?’

No one had ever been kind to her. She had not anticipated the attention he would offer.

“My thinking was too shallow.”

She spoke in despair.

‘Should I leave for somewhere else, even now?’

To plant feelings for a dying person in someone who would live on—that was to condemn them to the same barren and sorrowful existence I had endured.

She clutched her head, her face contorting in anguish.

“…I remember seeing something in an old book once—a charm that could erase memories.”

She murmured softly.

In a book titled 【Ancient Artifacts】, she recalled seeing a charm created by some ancient tribe that could erase memories.

‘If such a thing existed, I could erase his memories of me.’

Carina Leopold’s blue eyes flickered with a spark of hope.

‘If I could just find that book, I could do it.’

Carina Leopold possessed the power of creation—she could manifest new things through her paintings and breathe life into them.

—— Page 5 ——

With merely a description and an illustration, she could create any object.

Therefore, whether that charm had truly existed in ancient times was of little consequence.

All that mattered was to see it, feel it, and understand it.

Carina Leopold did not know it, but this was an extraordinarily rare form of ‘miracle’.

Historical accounts of the miracle of creation contained such anecdotes as well.

It was said that artists blessed with the power of creation could, if they wished, paint the stilled heart of the deceased and breathe life into it.

That power could even temporarily resurrect the dead.

Of course, since the power faded with time, complete resurrection was impossible, nor could those long dead be revived.

Yet it was undoubtedly an extraordinary ability—so much so that any prestigious artistic house learning of it would certainly offer to adopt her as a daughter and provide whatever support she needed.

So it was clear that he would stake his neck on offering any kind of support whatsoever.

“…Perhaps I should have entered the Convent instead.”

Lost in thought, I murmured the words like a sigh.

As I turned my head in frustration, the rising sun pushed back the darkness, and sunlight gradually seeped through the window.

Carina Leopold’s mind grew complicated as I felt Millaiyen Pestellio’s kindness and consideration in something as simple as a teapot.

His mind was complicated.

How could he possibly stay by my side all night for someone so rude and troublesome?

I couldn’t comprehend it.

Until now, such things had always been given to others, never to me.

When Abelia developed a fever, the family noticed it as quickly as a skilled physician would, yet they never noticed my suffering.

I had justified the family’s behavior by degrading myself, convincing myself that I was unworthy of such attention.

—— Page 6 ——

She tried to justify her family’s behavior by putting herself down, saying she wasn’t worthy of receiving it.

“What should I do?”

I ran my fingers over the soft blanket and buried my face between my knees again.

While I was deep in thought, the sound of fabric brushing against the doorframe drifted in from outside.

Soon after, the door opened quietly with a soft click.

I reflexively turned my head and locked eyes with the person entering.

Carina Leopold’s eyes widened. The other party, equally unprepared to find her awake, opened their eyes wide as well.

“…You were awake.”

“Your Grace.”

Carina Leopold responded to his words a beat too late.

Millaiyen Pestellio, who had walked over with long strides, pulled the chair beside Carina Leopold and sat down.

His clothes were quite disheveled, as if he had just woken up.

‘Did he come here right after waking up?’

I turned my head toward him while hugging my knees.

“Do you know what an artistic ailment is?”

Millaiyen Pestellio threw a direct question the moment he sat down, and Carina Leopold’s shoulders stiffened rigidly.

Even though Carina Leopold didn’t answer, Millaiyen Pestellio easily found the answer from her reaction.

“What kind is it?”

“…Pardon?”

“According to what Maria told me, there are several types of artistic ailments. I’m asking which type you have.”

His voice was neither mocking nor accusatory.

Millaiyen Pestellio stared at Carina Leopold with his unfathomable crimson eyes. I couldn’t meet his gaze and lowered my head, my pupils trembling.

“…I’m sorry.”

—— Page 7 ——

“Answer the question.”

“I know I’m being selfish and discourteous.”

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

Millaiyen shook his head at Carina Leopold’s evasion.

How desperate must she have been to come alone to the distant Northern Territory, to the home of a fiancé she’d only seen once?

At the very least, Millaiyen had gleaned from the series of events that she hadn’t come here on a whim.

That.

“I’m sorry for coming uninvited. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

Her response bore no relation to his question.

The conversation was misaligned—two grinding gears struggling to turn in the same direction.

Millaiyen’s expression darkened. He couldn’t shake an inexplicable sense of unease and disquiet.

“…If you ask me to forget this ever happened now, I can’t agree to that, can I?”

At Carina Leopold’s hesitant words, spoken with careful uncertainty, Millaiyen’s impassive facade finally crumbled into something far more ominous.

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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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