Limited Extra Time - Chapter 22

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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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The Doomed Extra’s Time, Chapter 22

Before long, my clothes grew damp with tears.

Millaiyen Pestellio, his ears flushed crimson, swept his gaze—now heavier with emotion—across my back.

The small, stifled whimpers that barely escaped my throat were more aching and sorrowful than any cry he had heard before, and yet they carried a profound silence.

‘This will only accumulate more stress.’

She seemed not to know how to cry aloud properly.

After whimpering in his embrace for what felt like an eternity, what came to Carina Leopold was a measure of relief mingled with overwhelming shame. My eyes felt gritty, my entire body burned with heat, and a faint dizziness clouded my mind.

‘How long has it been since I last cried?’

I leaned against Millaiyen Pestellio’s shoulder, lost in thought.

Everything surrounding me

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had become inevitable, and with that acceptance came neither sorrow nor reason to grieve.

So I believed my emotions had dulled, that I could no longer be wounded—yet now I was reminded anew that this was not the case.

“…Have you cried it all out?”

At the voice from directly above, I startled.

Now that I thought about it, throughout my quiet whimpering, his large palm had been awkwardly patting my back in a steady rhythm.

“…I apologize for the trouble.”

“In moments like this, you say thank you for staying by your side.”

“…”

Carina Leopold stared at Millaiyen Pestellio with widened eyes.

With his arms crossed, he sat awkwardly at the edge of the bed, and his gaze held no trace of annoyance or irritation.

“Quickly.”

“…Thank you.”

“Good.”

Millaiyen Pestellio nodded.

“Apologies and acceptance shouldn’t be words you throw around carelessly.”

At his addition, Carina Leopold blinked repeatedly.

She couldn’t easily grasp the meaning behind his words.

As her head tilted slightly, Millaiyen Pestellio seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking again.

“When you habitually utter words that diminish yourself, they become familiar to both the listener and to you. The words grow lighter to them, and they become routine for you.”

Carina Leopold, who had been wearing a bewildered expression, couldn’t hide her shock as though struck by a hammer.

“When that happens, the weight of those words diminishes—the other person dismisses them as trivial, and you shrink further inward. But gratitude, when expressed genuinely, always brings joy to both parties.”

She met Millaiyen Pestellio’s gaze once more.

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He spoke naturally of thoughts she had never entertained before, and she found him oddly fascinating. She gazed at him quietly with a somewhat dazed expression.

“…I suppose that could be true.”

To escape the situation. Because there was no choice. Thinking he would like it if I said this. Because it had become routine. The realization struck her that all those words she had carelessly uttered might have faded in color and lost their worth, just as he said.

The thought came suddenly.

Her initial remorseful expression had gradually transformed into mere hollow apologies. The thought also crossed her mind that perhaps she herself had made all of it seem inevitable.

“Thank you. I… no, Millaiyen. You can just call me Carina.”

Carina Leopold glanced nervously at Millaiyen Pestellio, her lips trembling slightly as she spoke.

“Or… Lina works too.”

Millaiyen Pestellio closed his mouth as he watched her offer her gratitude with a soft smile, her eyes tinged red. Somehow, it felt no different from raising a child.

“And when you cry, cry loudly and openly.”

“…Pardon?”

“Watching you cry nearly stopped my breath. When you cry, destroy things and wail with all your voice.”

I didn’t understand what he meant, but…

what could I do if that’s what he said?

“So let’s continue with what we were discussing.”

“…Ah. So all those accumulated disappointments, and then suddenly hearing about the curse… it frightened me.”

I was terrified that when my remaining time crumbled away, I would still be insisting I was fine, still smiling while pretending everything was alright. So I ran.

“…In the end, I ran away. How cowardly of

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me, isn’t it?”

“Do you know? I once had an Old Acquaintance I trusted, and one day he visited Leopold Manor, drank with me, and then stole a family heirloom and fled.”

“…Really?”

“After a week of pursuit, I finally found him. He claimed he’d done it by accident while drunk. When I drew my sword and told him to stop spouting nonsense, he made excuses that his Lover had threatened to kill him if he didn’t obey her orders.”

“…Good heavens.”

“The problem was that he was still a guy who did mercenary work, so he was good with a sword, and his lover was someone so frail that she looked like she’d collapse just from picking up a sword.”

I easily discerned the truth beneath Millaiyen Pestellio’s words, and my mouth fell open in surprise.

Millaiyen Pestellio watched my expression shift with each passing moment, a subtle shrug lifting his shoulders.

“That person is truly cowardly, isn’t he?”

“Yes, really cowardly, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes, he seems genuinely cowardly.”

“That’s what cowardice is.”

“It’s only natural to fear what one hasn’t experienced.”

Millaiyen Pestellio spoke.

“If your family had shown you trust, would you truly have harbored such thoughts?”

I remained silent.

“Some face their fears head-on, while others need time to think as they flee from them—such is the nature of people.”

I listened quietly to his words.

“If everyone fearlessly confronted the unknown, the world would overflow with courageous souls.”

I said nothing.

“If you call that cowardice, then every soul in this world would fall within that definition—”

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none could escape it.”

He shrugged lightly, his tone unburdened.

Such warm words naturally drew a smile to my lips.

I found myself drawn to Millaiyen Pestellio’s way of thinking.

His tone was rough, but I appreciated how he spoke directly without sugarcoating things.

Millaiyen glanced over Carina Leopold briefly, then after a moment of hesitation, opened his mouth again.

“For what it’s worth, I once ran away from home for a week because I was terrified of accidentally getting Father’s documents wet.”

He shrugged his shoulders with a mischievous glint in his eyes, lowering his voice further.

“Would you call me a coward for that?”

“No, of course not… Being scolded is frightening, so it’s understandable that you’d do something like that.”

“Then it’s the same, isn’t it? I don’t understand why you’re so harsh with yourself.”

It felt as though I’d been struck hard on the back of my head.

Carina Leopold’s eyes widened blankly before her lips trembled and she let out a soft laugh.

“…You’re right. Compared to Millaiyen’s old acquaintance, I suppose I’m not particularly cowardly.”

“Good to hear. Don’t forget this: a coward isn’t someone who runs away knowing the truth—it’s someone who pretends not to know despite understanding.”

His narrowed crimson eyes gleamed with a deeply unpleasant light as if recalling something.

Carina Leopold held back the urge to ask what he was thinking and answered instead with a nod.

“Well… at first, I actually thought I might travel while this artistic affliction consumed me, but my health wasn’t good enough, so it seemed impossible. Then suddenly, you came to mind.”

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“Me?”

“You told me to just say I dislike something if I do.”

Millaiyen recalled a distant memory he barely remembered.

“Why would that matter?”

“It’s embarrassing to admit, but I’ve thought of those words often. They were the kindest words anyone has ever said to me—words that truly saw me for who I am.”

That day was unforgettable for Carina Leopold.

It was the dissatisfied voice she had heard from her Fiancé, whom she had met only once that day.

You know that I’m not all right.

In your eyes, I’m not all right. You know that even if I say I’m fine, I’m not truly fine.

And that made me happy. That’s why I always remembered it. And every time I did, my heart ached.

Why don’t the people I’ve spent my whole life with understand what even a stranger I met for the first time could see?

“I suppose I’m just a troublesome burden that suddenly fell into Millaiyen’s lap.”

“Certainly.”

Millaiyen did not deny it, his voice tinged with amusement.

‘Yet why doesn’t it irritate me much? Is it because she’s my fiancée?’

Millaiyen tilted his head, reflecting on how unbothered he felt by the situation.

Carina Leopold gazed at Millaiyen in silence, her eyes fixed upon him, unable to look away.

He seemed perfectly suited to stand in that vast Field with the gentle breeze rustling around him.

As she watched him, an urge welled up inside her—the desire to capture him in a painting.

‘He’s like the sun itself.’

He was a being capable of radiating his own light. Looking at him made her feel as though she too should be doing something

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meaningful.

A smile spilled forth unbidden, and she traced the curve of her lips with her fingertips.

‘Perhaps I should make a bucket list.’

If I eliminate them one by one, could I eventually break free from those people entirely?

Would that finally allow me to speak my mind without fear of being hurt?

Watching Millaiyen, everything seemed possible.

When Millaiyen turned his head, our eyes met.

Carina Leopold, who had been staring intently at his face, startled and quickly looked away.

She pressed her palms against her cheeks and rolled her eyes frantically.

For some reason, her face felt warm.

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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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