Limited Extra Time - Chapter 54

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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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I fear there may not be much time left.

Carina Leopold’s lips trembled as she offered a weak smile.

Pallid skin and colorless lips, fingers white as snow. Unlike her bloodless hands, her eyes—those eyes that painted such vivid pictures—always shone with brilliant light.

I should mention this beforehand…

Yes?

I came at Millaiyen’s request to attempt saving you.

Periel Kalos answered slowly, then pressed his lips into a firm line. Carina Leopold blinked once, her lips parting slightly.

His voice crashed against her ears like relentless waves, carrying an unwavering resolve.

Carina Leopold blinked again. Though he had not invoked any technique, his eyes seemed to shimmer with golden light for a fleeting moment.

There is no law stating that simply because history records no precedent, we must not be the first.

Ah…

Humanity thinks and evolves. Without effort, even possible things become impossible.

Periel Kalos’s voice remained honeyed and tender, capable of melting hearts with its gentleness, yet unlike before when it had seemed to waver, it now carried an unshakeable core of determination.

Carina.

Yes…

If you have opened the narrow, confined door that was ours and chosen your own path forward, then Millaiyen and I will gladly walk beside you every step of the way.

At his softly spoken words, Carina Leopold stared blankly, blinking.

They say people of kindred spirit find one another, and Periel Kalos bore such a striking resemblance to Millaiyen.

Suddenly, glimpsing Millaiyen’s resolute expression reflected in his features, a smile bloomed across Carina Leopold’s lips.

I won’t clear away the gravel or filter out the stones for you… but if you stumble, I’ll reach out my hand to help you up, and if you search for a path, I’ll search for it with you.

Carina Leopold listened quietly to Periel Kalos’s words.

Both Millaiyen and Periel Kalos always offered such beautiful words without hesitation.

One who walks forward on their own is beautiful.

Carina Leopold nodded.

She agreed with those words. She still remembered the bird whose injured wing she had once healed, struggling

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to take flight again on its own. That image remained vivid in her memory.

Suddenly, she recalled the unfinished painting—the one she hadn’t colored in, fearing that witnessing that moment again might diminish its beauty.

“And I love beautiful things.”

“Pardon?”

At Periel Kalos’s sudden remark, she tilted her head.

“Right now, you’re shining with a brilliance I’ve never

seen from you before.”

“Ah… yes… thank you…?”

A halo of light seemed to shimmer behind the radiant Periel Kalos.

Hearing such words from someone so beautiful stirred no particular emotion in her. Rather, she wondered if she was being teased.

Yet his words carried an infinite tenderness.

“You resemble Millaiyen, Periel Kalos.”

“…That’s truly a terrible insult.”

“As affectionate as Millaiyen Pestellio?”

At her added remark, Periel Kalos’s face twisted. Carina Leopold laughed at the sight of him. It was an afternoon drowning in sunlight.

“…The Manor seems rather disorganized.”

Count Leopold, who had returned after finishing his business, spoke with a furrowed brow.

From the moment he entered the Leopold Manor’s entrance until he arrived at his Study, he sensed something peculiar—an unsettling disorder permeating the entire estate.

The Head Butler, who had been following Count Leopold, wore an equally bewildered expression as he

lowered his head.

“That is to say, something rather strange occurred during the day, and the staff are still discussing it. I shall reprimand them thoroughly.”

“Something strange?”

Count Leopold opened the Study door and repeated the question. The Head Butler bowed again.

It was an incident he himself could scarcely comprehend, let alone explain. Yet he dared not hesitate when his master commanded an answer.

“Yes, it appears that everyone within the Manor fell asleep for a certain period of time.”

“Everyone?”

“Yes, everyone who was inside the Manor….”

“Including you?”

At Count Leopold’s pointed question, the Head Butler’s lips sealed shut. By an unfortunate coincidence, he too had no memory of that interval.

All he could piece together from various accounts was that a strange flute

melody had been heard from somewhere.

“I regret to say that is the case.”

The Head Butler, head bowed, struggled to open his lips.

What manner of oversight was this?

He was the Head Butler who oversaw the Leopold Manor, responsible for knowing everything that transpired within its walls, and obligated to answer his master’s inquiries at any moment.

Yet all he could report was that he had heard the sound of a flute and that everyone had fallen asleep—nothing more.

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It wounded his pride deeply.

“Explain the situation to me.”

Count Leopold stood motionless before his Study, his gaze fixed upon the desktop as his lips moved with quiet authority.

The Head Butler’s head snapped up in alarm, then slowly his brow furrowed.

The Count’s expression was peculiar—he gazed steadily at the mahogany desk.

His lips remained firmly sealed, his expression inscrutable, his thoughts utterly

unknowable.

The Count lifted his head, his narrowed eyes fixing upon the Head Butler.

“Did you not hear me, Head Butler?”

“My apologies, my lord. I heard the sound of a flute nearby, and after that, I have no memory of anything. I regret that I have nothing more to explain.”

The Head Butler responded swiftly to the displeasure evident in Count Leopold’s voice.

He slowly lowered his gaze back to the desk and extended his hand across its surface.

He grasped a pristine white envelope—utterly devoid of formality—and turned it over in his hands, examining it carefully.

A pure white letter with nothing written upon it—no recipient, no sender, only blank emptiness.

“Did you place this letter upon my desk?”

“…No, my lord. It was not I.”

That would be the case.

Count Leopold’s eyes, murmured in a low voice,

slowly dimmed.

He couldn’t have done it. There was no way he would have brought a letter with unknown sender and recipient without prior permission.

“When did this appear?”

“…I’m not entirely certain, sir.”

“When was the last time you checked my study?”

“Just before the flute music began.”

A deep furrow settled between Count Leopold’s brows.

The goal has been scored.

Combining the Head Butler’s words, the story became simple.

Someone had deliberately orchestrated something. And left this letter behind.

‘Is it someone with malice or enmity toward the Leopold House?’

Who could it be?

What need was there to sneak in and leave only a letter? Unless it were some lovesick letter from fresh-faced youths attending the Academy.

“Are there any missing items, injured persons, or anything unusual?”

“…I checked everything thoroughly until late into the night just to be certain, and found nothing amiss. The warehouse is secure, Miss Abelia is safe, and all the servants are accounted for.”

Nothing was out of place. Count Leopold turned the letter over once more.

There was nothing that could serve as a symbol or mark.

Moreover, the letter bore no seal, which made it appear rather insincere.

“I shall verify it.”

The Head Butler bowed deeply, extending both hands.

Count Leopold shook the letter lightly before shaking his head.

There was no mechanism hidden within. The paper was light, and he felt no trace of any device inside.

Count Leopold flicked the letter with his finger, turning the opening downward.

As if shaking dust from the paper—

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—a single sheet of paper, folded twice in half, tumbled onto the desk with a soft thud.

Only then did Count Leopold reach out and slowly grasp the letter.

He carefully unfolded the creased paper.

As he had initially suspected, there was no mechanism whatsoever. Rather, it unfolded so simply that it was almost laughable.

There had never been anything to stop him.

Count Leopold’s expression hardened as he finally grasped the letter with both hands and opened it fully.

[To His Excellency, Count Leopold.]

Count Leopold’s eyes lingered coldly on the first line of the letter that began with such a formal greeting.

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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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