Limited Extra Time - Chapter 68

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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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Cradled in Millaiyen Pestellio’s arms, Carina Leopold couldn’t even cry out in shock. The pain overwhelmed everything else. Having lost her sheet, she gripped the fabric of his shoulder tightly, her body curling inward like a child seeking refuge in some impossible corner. She huddled and huddled still.

Despite having nowhere left to flee, she seemed to be running from the pain itself. This helplessness made Millaiyen Pestellio increasingly anxious. She was a woman who rarely voiced her suffering, who seldom complained of discomfort or difficulty.

Since arriving here, Carina Leopold had never uttered a word of regret. Life was far more inconvenient than in the Capital, yet even after learning of her illness and seeking out her Fiancé—a man she’d seen only once before in a foreign land—she had never shown weakness.

“Carina Leopold, it’s alright.” At the warm whisper against her ear, her body stiffened further. She burrowed deeper into Millaiyen Pestellio, pressing her forehead against his chest. “If it hurts, cry. You can scream that it hurts.”

Millaiyen Pestellio couldn’t bring himself to rush down the stairs for fear of jostling her too roughly, so he descended carefully while continuously stroking her back. “No one will blame you for it.”

Watching her swallow her breath in stifled gasps, Millaiyen Pestellio spoke with aching tenderness. She looked as though she might suffocate, yet she couldn’t even scream. His chest tightened with anguish.

When he had hidden away and witnessed the distance between her and her family, he understood where this habit came from—what thoughts had driven her to cultivate it.

“…You can burden me.” In Millaiyen Pestellio’s embrace, Carina Leopold’s body went rigid, her teeth clenched as ragged breaths escaped her. Her eyes wavered like a ship caught in a tempest. “Let me be involved in your affairs.” “It’s troublesome… hgh…”

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Carina Leopold had barely opened her mouth when another terrible wave of pain crashed over her like a receding tide, swallowing her cry.

“Carina Leopold, don’t mention such things one by one. Just tell Nocton, get medicine from him, and take it—that solves it. Things are hectic because of Lia and Ferden, so once you get the medicine, go to your Room quickly.”

His kindness stirred memories of unkindness instead. Carina Leopold clenched her teeth.

“Shh, it’s alright.”

He whispered tenderly against her ear. The warmth of his hand stroking her back made tears threaten to spill.

“Where are Periel Kalos and Winston?”

“Master Periel Kalos is still in the Reception Room… Goodness, is something wrong with the young lady?”

“It seems like a seizure. Bring Winston.”

Enduring pain with no end in sight was unbearable.

There were many times she would have preferred death.

Yet merely being cradled in his arms made me think this pain was something I could endure.

A breathless laugh escaped between Carina Leopold’s lips before I could stop it. Humans were nothing if not deceitful creatures.

“Periel Kalos!”

“Good heavens, you nearly gave me a heart attack—Carina?”

“It looks like some kind of seizure brought on by art sickness. Take a look at her.”

Millaiyen Pestellio spoke as he laid her down on the Reception Room sofa.

He approached her, her body still curled tight, gasping for breath in shallow, desperate pulls.

“Carina, where does it hurt? How does it hurt?”

“My heart…”

She couldn’t even finish her sentence before her breath caught again.

Whether breathing itself had become difficult, she would draw in deep breaths only to hold them, her face flushing crimson, before finally exhaling—and the cycle repeated.

“…Is it because of Herta?”

“Herta…? You mean the one in the Garden?”

At the sudden mention of Herta’s name, Millaiyen Pestellio’s eyes sharpened. He reached out and gripped Periel Kalos by the shoulder.

“Miracles exact a price. Herta is a tremendous miracle. It must have been a massive painting—one that consumed two entire canvases.”

Periel Kalos tried carefully to straighten her curled form, but the more he did, the more pain she seemed to feel, and Carina Leopold shook her head desperately.

Curled like a fetus in the womb, she raked her nails across the leather sofa, gouging deep furrows.

“…I’ll go kill it.”

Millaiyen Pestellio spoke as he seized a decorative sword placed at one corner of the Reception Room.

Carina Leopold shook her head.

“I’ll be back soon, so look after her.”

“It’s pointless.”

“What?”

“It’s already happened—a miracle beyond undoing. I don’t know how, but that beast has already slipped beyond her control.”

“Damn it! What am I supposed to do?”

Millaiyen, his voice sharp with frustration, drove his clenched fist against the Reception Room wall with brutal force.

The wall fractured with a deafening crack,

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and pulverized bricks cascaded down in a shower.

Knock, knock.

At the sound of the knock, Millaiyen’s face twisted as he granted permission to enter.

Winston rushed through the Reception Room door with urgency.

Winston’s expression darkened with despair as he beheld Carina Leopold on the sofa, struggling to draw breath.

Millaiyen watched Winston, frozen and helpless, and swallowed hard.

Even you cannot do anything about this?

The pain from Art’s Curse is akin to phantom pain.

Phantom pain?

For her, it’s excruciating, but almost no medicine can touch it.

Millaiyen’s face contorted in anguish.

What manner of affliction exists in this world? If no medicine works, then who will ease the suffering she endures now?

What kind of disease is that? It doesn’t exist in this world.

It’s right in front of your eyes.

Do you share the same opinion?

Millaiyen Pestellio fixed Winston with a piercing gaze as he spoke. Winston responded with a bitter smile, bowing at the waist instead of answering.

Madness.

In cases like this, I can only prescribe sedatives… but if the pain is severe, even sedatives lose their effectiveness….

Winston trailed off.

Watching Carina Leopold struggle to breathe properly was agonizing for him as well.

The Art Affliction’s cruelty lay precisely in this.

As a true price, there was nothing human knowledge could do about it.

So at night, he prescribed medication to help her sleep as much as possible.

But when it struck suddenly like this, there was no recourse. Once the pain began, there was nothing that could be done.

Carina, here’s Haron—the one you borrowed.

Periel Kalos drew a small stone suspended from a leather cord out of his pocket and pressed it into her hand.

Carina Leopold’s eyes widened, and she gripped Haron as though it were a lifeline.

…haah…!

Her breath burst forth in a great rush.

Carina Leopold breathed slowly, her respiration easing compared to before.

With her breathing finally opened, her face grew visibly more at peace.

Yet the pain itself had not subsided.

The pain had only diminished slightly compared to before.

Yet even that alone felt like oxygen to her—as though she had been drowning in water.

As expected…

Periel Kalos murmured softly.

Carina Leopold, is the pain a bit more bearable?

She couldn’t bring herself to speak, answering only with a nod of her head.

Periel Kalos then withdrew the flute he had wrapped in cloth.

Ah, for the rest—just cover your ears.

He narrowed his eyes and offered a gentle smile.

The smile of a man with shimmering silver hair and radiant features was utterly lethal.

Winston’s eyes glazed over before he

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I startled and whipped my head around.

Winston covered his ears.

Yet Millaiyen Pestellio stood motionless, his gaze fixed upon Carina Leopold.

Soon after, Periel Kalos began to play slowly.

The music that resonated was serene and beautiful, as though the melody itself danced before one’s eyes. All who heard it would surely think so.

Yet Millaiyen Pestellio had heard this melody countless times before.

‘Still a song that resembles him.’

It was endlessly sweet and refreshing music—the kind of melody that, wherever it goes and to whomever it plays, moves like the tongue within a mouth.

But that didn’t mean he was soft.

If Millaiyen had always relied on a strong presence or physical confrontation to discern others’ true intentions, Periel Kalos was the opposite—he played the gracious host, discarding those who might prove harmful to me.

Carina Leopold, lost in the music, began to slowly close her eyes.

Watching her heavy eyelids drift shut, Millaiyen approached her with measured strides.

“Sleep now, Carina Leopold.”

“…Yes.”

Her voice faded to barely a whisper as Millaiyen brushed away the damp strands of hair clinging to her forehead.

Soon her breathing grew steady and peaceful, and Carina Leopold fell silent, surrendered to sleep.

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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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