Limited Extra Time - Chapter 41

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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 ——

‘So hot…’ The fever burned relentlessly. It felt as though someone had set my heart ablaze. The fierce, roaring inferno consumed me from within, as if I were molten lava pouring down from my core. ‘So suffocating…’ Suffocating, utterly suffocating!

My heart ached and my breath came in gasps. The torment ran so deep that sleep eluded me entirely. With hot needles pricking every inch of my body, I thrashed endlessly within my own mind. Then—something cool pressed against my head. Heavy and rough, yet blessedly cool. Caught between the suffocation and the relief, I finally forced my heavy eyelids open. My vision swam. I blinked several times to clear it. “…Carina?”

“…Millaiyen.”

Through the haze, Millaiyen came into focus, his hand resting on my forehead. I exhaled deeply, my body as heavy as water-logged cotton. ‘I was just relieved that I wasn’t vomiting up my meals lately, and now I’ve collapsed like this.’ ‘If only this cursed illness would pick one symptom and stick with it.’ Whether it was called an artistic ailment or an incurable disease with no known treatment, did the symptoms have to be so unpredictably violent? “Why did you suddenly collapse?”

“I’m not sure. I just couldn’t breathe properly.”

“That Physician Winston went to prepare medicine. According to him, it’s simply exhaustion accumulating, but…”

Millaiyen’s brow furrowed. There were too many things that didn’t sit right with him. No matter how much exhaustion accumulated, the sudden way I’d collapsed, clutching my heart, left him deeply uneasy. “Is there perhaps something uncomfortable about the manor?”

“No, not at all. Honestly, I never expected you to treat me this well… it’s been quite unexpected.”

I fumbled with my hands, carefully placing them over the back of Millaiyen’s hand that rested on my forehead. It was cool, yes, but more than that—it was reassuring. Being near him seemed to fill me with courage to face anything.

—— Page 2 ——

“I’ve never lived so peacefully in my entire life. If exhaustion has accumulated, it’s probably just because I haven’t been sleeping well at night.”

“Not sleeping well at night? Don’t tell me you’ve been painting?”

“…Mm.”

I let out a small, evasive laugh.

Saying yes felt like lying and pricked my conscience, but admitting the truth—that I couldn’t sleep deeply because of the pain—didn’t feel right either.

“You… are you really going to be like this?”

“I’ll go to bed early.”

“You’re lying.”

Millaiyen’s eyes narrowed as he gazed at me—pale in the bright daylight, my lips drained of all color.

The warmth emanating from her slender hand resting atop mine continued to occupy my thoughts.

“A lie?”

“You always avert your eyes and smile whenever you tell a falsehood.”

“….”

With eyes narrowed to slits, I glanced sideways at Millaiyen, then slowly rolled my gaze away.

Carina Leopold slid her hand down from Millaiyen’s and wriggled her body deeper beneath the blankets with small, fidgeting movements.

“I’m sleepy.”

“So you won’t show your face at all?”

“…Can’t you just let this one slide?”

“No.”

Millaiyen spoke with unwavering firmness. Carina Leopold, her expression sullen, peeked out only her eyes from beneath the covers.

Truly, this man never bent on anything, not even once.

“Not with you, at least.”

“….”

“One moment of carelessness, and you collapse like this.”

“This is a rather exceptional circumstance….”

As I mumbled excuses, I caught sight of Millaiyen’s expression and fell silent.

I had no desire to deceive someone who genuinely cared for me.

“…Just be a little gentle with me.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you’re too kind to me, it will only make parting harder. So let’s just be a little kind to each other, shall we?”

Even if we part someday, I hoped we wouldn’t hurt each other. And if we did hurt, I wanted it to be a fleeting pain we could forget.

Still, I wished we could become good memories for each other.

“To be honest with you….”

At the small voice that reached him, Millaiyen Pestellio, who had been standing with his arms crossed, lowered his gaze to look at Carina Leopold.

“Nights are a bit difficult for me. Even when I sleep, I wake up often. The pain cycles seem to have grown shorter.”

“Is it because of that illness?”

“Probably.”

Carina Leopold nodded.

“But yesterday, I thought because of that stone Millaiyen gave me, I slept without waking even once…. It seems that wasn’t the case.”

Watching Carina Leopold laugh helplessly as she added this, Millaiyen Pestellio fell silent.

Here she was, speaking of her ailing body, yet smiling so brightly. What could possibly be so amusing?

—— Page 3 ——

“What are you smiling about?”

“Because you’re worried about me.”

His reproachful words were met with a carefree answer.

Millaiyen Pestellio regarded her with an incredulous expression.

“…What?”

“I never knew what it felt like to be cared for by someone. From always being the one sitting beside the bed, now I’m the one looking up. It feels nice.”

“You’re ill, so what could possibly be nice about any of this?”

When Millaiyen stifled a hollow laugh, Carina Leopold broke into another smile.

Perhaps he would never understand that I had longed for these ordinary, mundane moments for so long—but that was alright.

“Millaiyen.”

“Yes.”

“Until winter passes and summer arrives… would it be alright if I stayed here like this?”

Carina Leopold asked softly.

Millaiyen gazed at her quietly.

She turned her gaze slowly toward the window, her voice careful and hesitant.

“If I could remain here until the very end, I think I would have no regrets, even in death.”

“You can stay. So don’t say such things.”

At his words, Carina Leopold’s eyes widened. Her pupils trembled with surprise before slowly closing and opening again.

A bittersweet smile lingered at the corners of her mouth.

“…I can stay?”

“Yes.”

She repeated his words like a parrot.

At his immediate affirmation, a faint smile bloomed on her lips.

Words she had never heard from anyone in her entire life resonated in her ears.

The words that entered through her ears descended along her throat and settled gently upon her heart.

“I see. So I am allowed to be here.”

Carina Leopold murmured in a low voice.

I’m allowed to be here.

In twenty years, I had never heard such words spoken, yet here I was in a foreign land I’d never set foot in before, hearing them from someone I’d seen only once, years ago.

“How fortunate.”

She spoke with a smile.

“Nonsense. Once Winston brings the medicine, take it quickly and get some rest.”

“Yes.”

“And when Close Friend arrives, answers will come. I heard he passed through the Checkpoint a few days ago, so you’ll meet him soon.”

“At this time of year?”

“Yes, normally it wouldn’t be allowed, but he’s an exception. That man has spent his entire life researching only this type of ailment, so he’ll provide some answer.”

Millaiyen Pestellio reached out and gently stroked Carina Leopold’s hair.

Carina Leopold let out a soft laugh, glanced at him briefly, then slowly closed her eyes.

Unlike usual, when sleep came only after long hours of tossing and turning, she now drifted slowly into slumber’s embrace.

—— Page 4 ——

This is really tedious.

Do your job properly.

I am doing it—not a single ant in sight. Ah, I really wanted to join the subjugation of demonic beasts this year!

The Soldier sitting atop the Checkpoint stretched languidly and spoke with frustration.

The Knight beside him, maintaining perfect posture and facing forward, cast a sidelong glance at the complaining Soldier.

The Soldier genuinely wanted to join the demonic beast subjugation. He would have wanted it even if he hadn’t lost the wager.

He had lost the bet three years in a row, no less. It was terrible luck, if one could call it that.

Most soldiers from the Northern Territory had aggressive temperaments and enjoyed subjugating magical beasts. Of course, the Knights were no different.

The apostles were no different.

The problem was that someone had to guard the Checkpoint, so they conducted fair selections through various wagers each time. But for the past three years, for some inexplicable reason, luck had abandoned me entirely, and I kept drawing Checkpoint duty.

I cursed my own misfortune in every wager I lost.

But I knew…

The Soldier’s lips protruded in frustration.

I just wish someone would let a magical beast slip through and have it flee all the way here.

During the three-month closure, those assigned to the Checkpoint had to eat and sleep there until the gates reopened.

In other words, with no entertainment, no alcohol, and absolutely nothing interesting to do, it was literally no different from a prison.

How was this any different from exile…

The Soldier rested his chin on the Castle Wall above the Checkpoint and muttered while yawning.

What frustrated me most was that the decision had already been made, and there was no way to overturn it.

It was the most frustrating.

The Soldier’s eyes, which had been gazing into the distance as always, suddenly widened. He raised the monocular telescope he had placed beside him to his eye.

As the Soldier adjusted the lens of the telescope back and forth to focus, he rubbed his narrowed eyes and opened his lips.

Commander?

Stop spouting nonsense.

Irritation was evident in the Knight’s voice.

He too had been assigned here after losing a wager among the Knights. Continuous complaints were hardly welcome.

No, sir—someone is approaching the Checkpoint.

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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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