Limited Extra Time - Chapter 58

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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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Carina Leopold slipped out of the Dining Hall, her hand covering her mouth as she hurried up to the Second Floor. She felt as though her breath might stop entirely. Her heart ached, her stomach churned violently, and she had to fight with all her strength against the urge to retch. ‘Why again, all of a sudden…?’ She had been fine for such a long time.

She rushed into her Room, locked the door, and bolted into the bathroom. Everything she had eaten came back up. After vomiting, her head felt heavy and dull. She finished cleaning up hastily and collapsed onto the bed without strength. Her face had turned deathly pale. The color had drained from her features entirely—she was no longer herself.

“I’m fine.” I’m still fine. Winston and Periel are here. If I rest a little, I’ll be better. Muttering these words to herself over and over, Carina clutched at her chest. “I’m still fine.”

Time remained. Death would approach gradually, but time was still hers. She reached into the drawer beneath the nightstand and pulled out the Haron, gripping it tightly in her hand.

‘Millaiyen…’ Had his tenderness seeped even into stone?

Her heart seemed to ease gradually. As her roiling stomach settled, Carina smiled faintly. It was surely only her own imagination, but even so, it felt as though he were beside her—and that was enough. “I should write down my list of things to do.” She had now accomplished the second one. She had wanted to hold his hand, so she held it, and that had made her happy. But time was running short. She had to do what she wanted to do.

Calmer now, she rose from the bed and sat at her desk. Pen in hand, she drew a long line through the second item on her list. The third and fourth were simple—she had decided on them when writing the letter to be delivered to the Manor.

[Become famous for my work.]

[Repay the Leopold Family Estate.]

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These were decisions she had made selfishly to ease her own heart. Even if someone called it excessive and pointed fingers, there was nothing to be done. It seemed the only way her heart could find peace. Without doing this much, they would spend their entire lives thinking they had given her so much—forgetting entirely that she had been raised in a nursemaid’s hands since childhood.

“What should the fifth one be?”

She pondered carefully.

One by one, how fulfilling it would be to achieve them all. I wanted to become famous, earn money, and give all the remaining money to Millaiyen Pestellio. ‘After all, you can’t take it with you to the grave.’

Even as I smiled softly, the moment I thought of my remaining time, that smile vanished in an instant. No matter how much I accepted it, understood it, and resigned myself to it, I couldn’t help but feel my heart grow heavy. “There’s no chance I’ll get a little more time, is there?”

I want to do more with Millaiyen Pestellio and try various things we haven’t done before. I want to experience it at least once.

She slowly moved the tip of her pen down to the next line, her worries evident on her face.

Making friends.

Periel Kalos offered to be my friend, but I still wished I had a friend who could share various stories with me as someone of the same gender. Of course… I knew it was impossible. ‘Because Periel Kalos knows everything anyway.’

So without much hesitation, I accepted his request as a friend. He knew about my condition. Apart from Winston, he was nearly the only person who did. I slowly moved my eyes to the next line.

[Give a gift to someone I like.]

[Pack a lunch box for someone I like.]

[Try embracing someone I like.]

Suddenly, a flood of desires I wanted to try rushed into my mind all at once. It was almost overwhelming to write them down one by one. I stared blankly at the paper. I hadn’t thought there was much I wanted to do, but now it seemed I could fill the entire page if I tried.

“This is troublesome.”

Everything I wanted to do had become connected to Millaiyen.

At the knock on the door, I startled and quickly shut the notebook, shoving it into the drawer. I carefully opened the locked door. Through the narrow gap, a firm hand pushed through and opened it forcefully. It was Millaiyen.

“Why did you lock the door?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Just for a moment… I was doing something.”

At the sight of Millaiyen, my lips curved into a smile once more.

My eyes crescent with delight, melting into a soft smile—Millaiyen pressed his lips firmly together. ‘That’s definitely different from how he smiles.’

Millaiyen returned a faint smile.

“Is there something you wanted to tell me?”

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Millaiyen silently observed Carina Leopold as she asked with wide eyes.

“She wouldn’t want you to know.”

The cryptic words Periel Kalos had conveyed and this soft-seeming girl didn’t match at all. Yet she had clearly avoided him before.

“No, I’m leaving soon, so I just came to see you once. Your complexion didn’t look good, so I thought I’d check on you.”

At Millaiyen’s words, Carina Leopold laughed.

“I’m fine, really. Besides, I have the necklace Millaiyen gave me.”

Carina Leopold showed me the glimmering necklace around her neck as she spoke.

Watching the sparkle in her eyes, I reached out and brushed back the strands of hair that had fallen across her forehead.

“Don’t overexert yourself. If you need anything, let me know before I go, and don’t hesitate to tell Peng.”

“Yes, I understand. Please be careful on your way.”

“…Yes, I’ll be back soon.”

I never imagined I would receive a farewell like this from anyone other than a servant.

Shaking off the peculiar sensation, I turned to leave.

“Ah, if that fool Periel Kalos tries anything funny, you have my permission to stab him with a blade.”

“…Pardon?”

“Ah. That was rather harsh.”

As Carina Leopold’s eyes widened in bewilderment, I touched my lips awkwardly, feeling a bit troubled.

“Kick him instead.”

“Pardon?”

Where?

At her confused blink, I lowered my gaze and smiled faintly.

My eyes paused briefly between her legs before returning to her face.

“…”

“A strong knee strike there will make him back off.”

Though somewhat reluctant, I knew his words came from concern, so Carina Leopold simply nodded quietly in response.

‘What on earth is this nonsense?’

I couldn’t find a definition for it.

“See you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow—what time will you arrive?”

“At the earliest, evening… no, rather, I should be able to make it around midday.”

The moment Millaiyen saw her lips and eyes droop at the word “evening,” he hastily corrected himself.

‘…I’ve lost my mind.’

I regretted the words even as they left my mouth. Midday—it was an impossible promise.

I should have simply been honest, yet I’d changed my words without even realizing it.

My heart had lurched in that instant, and I’d reflexively altered my response.

He pressed his forehead as though troubled, then lowered his gaze toward Carina Leopold.

“…”

In that moment, all the useless thoughts that had filled Millaiyen’s mind vanished in an instant

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like snow melting in spring. The moment he saw her face brighten as though winter had surrendered to warmth, no other thought crossed his mind.

“I’ll wait for you. Safe travels.”

“…Yes, I’ll be back.”

That he needed to move as swiftly as possible, that there were many variables in finding the Demon Beast—none of it mattered in that moment. As I turned my rigid body and descended the stairs, my brow remained furrowed,

showing no sign of easing.

Carina Leopold watched Millaiyen’s retreating figure intently, then released a long, weary sigh.

I wanted to offer more varied words of comfort, but nothing came to mind.

“If only I had a bit more eloquence.”

Whatever worry weighed on her, by the end it had etched deep furrows between her brows.

“You have plenty of eloquence, Carina Leopold.”

“…Periel Kalos?”

“You were conversing so pleasantly that I couldn’t help but join in.”

Periel Kalos stepped into view from the corner, speaking as he emerged. He must have been standing there all along.

Carina Leopold’s expression flickered with surprise before her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“You could have announced yourself.”

“I was waiting to see when your words would finally run dry.”

“…Please, don’t say such things.”

Carina Leopold pressed her cheeks repeatedly, swallowing a sigh.

She glanced around cautiously, then slipped into her room and looked back at Periel Kalos. The gesture was unmistakably an invitation to enter.

“What’s happened?”

At Periel Kalos’s question, Carina Leopold drew a deep breath.

“My condition…seems to have worsened.”

“What made you feel that way?”

“Just now, everything I ate…well.”

Carina Leopold gestured vaguely toward the bathroom, her words trailing off.

She didn’t want to speak of her illness, but she knew that eventually Winston would hear of it anyway, and perhaps Periel Kalos could offer some assistance.

I did not wish to lie about my physical condition to Periel Kalos and Winston.

“…Does the food not agree with you?”

“It was fine since I arrived, but suddenly it’s happening again today.”

“I should bring Winston, my personal physician, to examine you. As a Physician, he will be better equipped to assess your current condition.”

Carina Leopold nodded at Periel Kalos’s words.

What was fortunate was that I had someone to confide in about my ailments. It was different from when I had been alone at Leopold Manor.

was different.

“Thank you for being honest with me. You must continue to speak without reservation to me from now on.”

“I will.”

“How is your desire to paint?”

“I want to paint.”

I wanted to paint everything visible before my eyes.

The desire to continue painting, again and again, and to lose myself within that miracle was undeniably

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present within me.

Perhaps if I had remained at Count Leopold’s Residence, it would have consumed me entirely.

“And there is something I wish to ask you.”

“Yes.”

“…Is it impossible to control the miracle?”

Carina Leopold asked carefully. At her question, a gentle smile graced Periel Kalos’s lips.

She scratched her cheek and opened her mouth again.

“To make a name for myself through paintings, wouldn’t I need to create works without using miracles?”

“That’s correct.”

“Fundamentally, artistic affliction is an illness, so it cannot be controlled. Whenever I complete a painting, a miracle invariably occurs, and I must pay the price.”

Carina Leopold nodded at Periel Kalos’s explanation.

“However, there is a somewhat cowardly method we could employ.”

“A cowardly method?”

“Yes, to stop just before completing the work.”

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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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