Limited Extra Time - Chapter 7

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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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Her sharp gaze hardened further, making her appear even more terrifying.

Countess Leopold regarded Karina with eyes that seemed utterly helpless.

“Please tell Abelia that I apologize for what I’ve done to her. I’m exhausted, so I’ll skip dinner and rest instead.”

Faced with Karina’s unmistakable dismissal, Count Leopold, his wife, and Ferden hesitated before finally leaving the room as she wished.

The moment the door closed, Karina’s rigid expression crumbled, and she buried her face into the pillow.

‘I’m not a bad person….’

I had merely finally spoken words I’d been holding back all this time.

Yet my heart trembled at just that.

‘…Abelia should be fine.’

Though I was worried about Abelia, vomiting and dehydration were symptoms she had been experiencing frequently of late,

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and I knew them well.

Having experienced them myself, I could tell there would be no serious complications.

I clutched the sheets tightly, trying to comfort myself, until the blood drained from the back of my hands.

I had never seen Count Leopold wear such an expression before.

And I had never given such a response to Count Leopold when he wore that expression.

Karina pressed her head repeatedly into the pillow.

Unable to fall asleep easily despite her efforts, she lay in silence on the bed, lost in thought for a long time, before suddenly sitting upright.

At last, she hastily retrieved paper, pencil, and pigments, spreading her tools in the space beneath the window where moonlight shone brightest, and settled down.

I spread the drawing paper across the floor and grasped the pencil with familiar ease, tracing lines across the pristine white surface.

Black lines bloomed in the wake of my hand’s passage, carving pathways across the expanse.

I poured all my frustration onto that paper alone.

I had learned long ago to suppress the words that burned within me, only to release them in torrents across the canvas before me.

The black lines transformed in an instant into the window I gazed upon.

Countless stars scattered across the night sky were scattered upon the window within my drawing, and between them, the moon peeked shyly through

and took its place.

The crisp night air brushed against the tip of my nose. The distinctive scent of grass that could only be felt at night.

Even the clouds that appeared faintly and sparsely between the indigo that filled the sky—I captured them all upon the paper.

It was so intricate and vivid that it seemed impossible it had been drawn with merely a single pencil.

Despite containing nothing but an arrangement of black lines.

Heedless of the numbness creeping through my folded legs,

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I drew with desperate fervor, perspiration beading on my brow. After a long while, I exhaled deeply and set down my pencil.

The drawing paper held the complete scene—a view from below the window, gazing upward through it. The only difference from reality was a single small fairy perched upon the window frame. With wings resembling butterfly wings, the fairy sat upon the frame with a knowing gaze, tenderly watching an unseen someone below the window.

I squeezed several pigments onto my palette and applied color with a light hand. In an instant, the static monochrome world was suffused with glittering stars and the night sky. The fairy suspended between the cascading moonlight and the stars that shimmered in its wake was breathtaking. I set down my brush and palette, exhaling wearily. My deep blue eyes gradually transformed, suffusing with golden light.

Simultaneously, the paper emanated a faint golden glow as the fairy blinked once from within the drawing. Soon the fairy smiled softly and slowly raised her hand. I bowed my head gently toward the small hand extending toward me. Warmth touched my cheek. The pale indigo fairy emerged from the paper, her eyes curved into crescents as she smiled, and she placed her other hand against my opposite cheek.

“…Hello, little fairy.”

My eyes brimming with golden light, I smiled hazily and offered my greeting.

The fairy could not speak, yet she beamed silently.

Embodying her deepest longing, the fairy conjured solely for her sake caressed Karina’s cheek again and again with an ever-gentle, smiling countenance.

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Karina clung to the fairy, clutching it firmly in her grasp as she surrendered herself to its endless caresses.

Even knowing that this very ability had twisted her body into its current state, the suffocation and despair were so overwhelming that I could not survive without painting.

Painting was my life. Simultaneously, it was my only lifeline.

To me, painting was like a narcotic—a poison I knew was destroying my body, something I should abandon.

Yet with nowhere else to pour out my emotions, I inevitably returned to it again and again, enslaved to its pull.

I could never release it from my hands. Not even if it consumed my very existence.

The canvas held no trace of the fairy. Only a landscape cradling the night sky remained.

Karina sat collapsed on the floor, cradling the fairy against her chest for an eternity.

Until at last, the weakened fairy was engulfed in a golden

radiance and vanished from sight once more.

* * *

Thanks to Nocton, who rushed to her side despite the late hour, Abelia swiftly regained her health.

Learning of the incident belatedly, Abelia and Ferden came together to find Karina and offered their apologies.

Since the fault lay not with the children,

Karina accepted their apologies graciously.

In truth, speaking more candidly, I simply wished to say nothing more.

‘Finally, tomorrow.’

And so, throughout the week, my carefully laid plans unfolded flawlessly, and the day of reckoning drew near.

I retrieved the shabby cloth bag I had hidden beneath my bed. Inside, it was filled with a change of clothes and everything I would need.

This morning, I visited the Physician early,

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and he handed me two small bottles along with his usual lectures.

“One bottle lasts a month. Take exactly one pill every twenty-four hours, understood? Never walk more than five hours a day, and avoid taking it on an empty stomach. Dress warmly so your body temperature doesn’t drop.”

“Yes, I understand. Thank you.”

“By the way, what is this art of yours that caused your condition?”

“…Painting. I love to draw what I see. Though no one knows about it.”

I placed the medicine in the deepest corner of my bag.

I also received a memo with several precautions written on it. The Physician’s handwriting, carefully penned so I wouldn’t forget, was quite illegible.

Today was my last day at Count Leopold’s Residence.

Tomorrow, for the first time in my life, I would step forward to a place of my own choosing, guided solely by my own decision and for no one but myself.

Because of this, I had decided to attend the evening dinner, which I had been putting off with various excuses.

I pushed the bag back under the bed once more and headed straight downstairs.

“My, Miss! Are you dining in the Dining Hall this evening?”

“Yes.”

“How wonderful.”

The maid, beaming brightly, hurried forward to open the Dining Hall doors.

Inside, the family sat ready to begin their meal.

Infrick, who made an effort to attend evening dinner whenever possible, was there as well.

She took her designated seat beside Infrick.

“You came today. Has your mood improved somewhat?”

“Yes.”

Karina answered and settled into her chair

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when the meal commenced. Unable to stomach rich foods, I gazed longingly at the easily digestible dishes arranged before Abelia across the table. Before me lay only what could charitably be called simple fare—a meager salad.

“Now that I think of it, your birthday is in two days, Karina.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Indeed it was. I blinked in surprise.

It was a birthday I had scarcely remembered myself. I had rarely celebrated it properly.

There were times when Abelia fell ill, and times when Infrick had his graduation ceremony or commissioning.

Somehow they always seemed to overlap, and once Ferden even broke his arm the day before my birthday.

I could count on one hand the occasions when I received proper birthday wishes on the actual day.

So I too had grown indifferent to my own birthday. I had spent years learning not to hope, lest I be disappointed.

“I was thinking we might all go on a picnic in two days. Infrick says he can take leave then. Would it be alright to postpone your birthday party by a day or two?”

“…”

And today was no different. Though I would not even be able to attend my own birthday

celebration, that did not mean I disliked it. “…As you wish.”

“Come along and enjoy yourself with us. Think of it as both your birthday and our family picnic. We’ll prepare a proper party for you.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to attend the picnic. I have other matters to attend to.”

Karina, who had been fidgeting all along, set down her fork.

“Is it truly so urgent that you cannot attend a family gathering?”

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“Yes, I apologize. Please enjoy yourselves without me.”

She rose from her seat.

“I’ve finished my meal, so I’ll retire now.”

Infrick watched Karina turn to leave and stood as well.

“I shall take my leave as well this evening.”

“Very well, rest yourselves.”

Count Leopold nodded readily, though a puzzled expression crossed his face.

was.

It was not uncommon for Karina to absent herself from family gatherings, so he saw no reason to press for explanations.

Yet an inexplicable unease gnawed at Count Leopold, and he furrowed his brow—but the two had already departed the Dining Hall.

Upon leaving the Dining Hall, Karina made her way directly toward the stairs.

“Karina.”

Infrick, who had followed her out, called to her in a low voice, bringing her to a halt.

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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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