Limited Extra Time - Chapter 71

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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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‘This lunatic bastard.’ The curse slipped out unbidden. Periel had been about to shout that he was looking at her with eyes that seemed ready to melt away, but he closed his mouth instead. There seemed no point in making him aware of that fact. ‘No point at all.’

Periel’s already irritated expression sank further. If he didn’t know, then that was fine. Periel too found Carina Leopold appealing. If her illness improved and she returned to the Capital, he wouldn’t mind offering her a place in his own manor. It seemed better than her returning to that manor she despised so thoroughly. A person who created such beautiful works deserved that much. He had never seen an artist who wrought such vast miracles. He loved beautiful things, and she was beautiful when she painted. Who could have imagined that such a gem lay hidden within her—someone who appeared utterly ordinary, possessing nothing particularly distinctive on the surface? The miracles she created were truly miracles in every sense. ‘Life.’ She was faithfully recreating an ability that only God should possess.

Breathing life into the dead. Periel had decided on that day when he witnessed Carina Leopold’s miracle before his very eyes—the day of the fairy’s wings. He would save her. He understood Millaiyen’s obsession well enough. Though the number of things he became attached to was small, once he set his mind on something, he never let it slip from his grasp. His sword was like that, and so was the Northern Territory he inherited from his predecessor.

There had been a time when he went on an expedition for training at the Academy. When he was away for a moment, thieves stole his sword—a tale still passed around the Academy like a ghost story. Millaiyen alone had completely annihilated the bandit den and recovered his sword. The madness that seized Millaiyen made even Periel’s tongue recoil. ‘It’s better not to speak of this for Millaiyen’s sake either.’ Once he became obsessed to that degree,

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he stops at nothing. And Carina Leopold was living on borrowed time. If he learned that she stood at death’s door, there was no predicting how he would react.

“What were you about to say?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Periel shrugged and fell silent. He chose silence. His personal desire and his concern for Millaiyen provided him with adequate justification.

“But when did you start enjoying dining outside?”

“…”

Millaiyen fell silent.

“Hmm? Normally, except for inspections, you rarely venture out to your Territory.”

“…A change of pace.”

When Periel pressed him, Millaiyen answered coldly and sat on the sofa. After about thirty minutes of silence, Carina Leopold finally reappeared in the Reception Room.

“I’m sorry, have you been waiting long?”

“Not particularly. How are you feeling?”

“I’m in perfect condition.”

Carina Leopold answered quickly, worried Millaiyen might change his mind. Fortunately, Millaiyen, whom she had expected to probe further, said nothing more. He simply put on his coat.

“What do you think about wearing another shawl?”

“…It would feel suffocating.”

“It’s cold outside. And you’re not well.”

“…”

Millaiyen Pestellio tapped Carina Leopold’s reluctant shoulder and gestured to the Head Butler. The experienced servant quickly retrieved a shawl and handed it to him. A winter dress and a shawl on top of it? She didn’t think it was quite that cold yet.

Carina Leopold’s face grew even more pouty.

“Doesn’t it look strange?”

“It’s adorable.”

“…What?”

Carina Leopold stared up at him with a bewildered expression, struggling to comprehend what she’d just heard.

She pressed her palms against her ears and looked up at him again in a daze.

“I mean…”

Millaiyen Pestellio turned his face away with irritation, running a hand across it. He exhaled a short sigh.

“I meant it suits you well.”

After a long pause, his voice considerably lower, Carina Leopold smiled brightly at him, her eyes crinkling into crescents.

“I’m relieved. I was worried it might not suit me.”

These were clothes he had bought for her in abundance. She wondered if she could wear them all before leaving this place. Yet hearing him say they suited her gave her an unexpected courage to try wearing each one.

“Let’s go now, Millaiyen.”

“It seems I have forgotten, Carina.”

“Periel! No, how could I forget about Periel?”

Carina Leopold shook her head vigorously.

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Yet bewilderment flickered unmistakably in her eyes.

She had clearly forgotten. Periel Kalos laughed mischievously, feigning indifference.

“Truly?”

“Truly.”

“You nearly got hurt, you know.”

Periel Kalos approached Carina Leopold’s side as he spoke. Millaiyen Pestellio, watching him draw near with that sly gait, furrowed his brow sharply.

There was no need for deliberation. He acted on pure instinct, inserting himself between Periel Kalos and Carina Leopold.

“Leave.”

Millaiyen Pestellio strode confidently from the Reception Room, his arm encircling her waist.

Periel Kalos swallowed a hollow laugh and followed in his wake.

* * *

The carriage rolled forward.

Carina Leopold could not tear her gaze from the landscape visible through the window left slightly ajar.

Her lips curved softly into a gentle arc.

‘I thought the Northern Territory was nothing but barren wasteland…’

Yet her first impression was that it was beautiful.

Unlike the Southern Territory, where trees were felled and development sprawled everywhere, the Northern Territory remained untouched and whole.

They seemed to contemplate how to live in harmony with nature rather than exploit it.

Rather than shattering the enormous boulder, I chose to find a way to coexist with it.

“There are so many things I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t seen them.”

There were so many landscapes I could never have witnessed without taking those steps. I never imagined that time already passed would leave me with such longing and regret.

‘I thought there would be no more regrets.’

Every landscape Millaiyen showed me seemed destined to become nothing but regret.

All I could do was hold my breath and etch everything into my eyes.

So that it would remain vivid until the moment I closed them.

“By the way, a banquet is scheduled to be held at my manor next week.”

“A banquet? What kind of banquet?”

I widened my eyes and asked in return.

“A celebration before the subjugation campaign—to pray for victory. The Lords gather to share information and make plans.”

“…It seems the Lords are quite close with one another.”

I asked with surprised eyes. In truth, it was not easy for nobles to be friendly with each other.

Especially when they faced each other over the same land. Even I, who knew little about territory management, understood that much.

Older Lords sometimes had good relations with one another, but that was extremely rare. I had never heard of all the Lords in an entire region being on good terms.

Millaiyen spoke of it so matter-of-factly that I found it quite remarkable.

“The Northern Territory is rather unique. After all,

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we have the Magical Beasts as a distinctive focal point.”

“Exactly. Since the entire Northern Territory is a target for Magical Beast attacks, there’s no benefit in fragmenting ourselves. Besides…”

At Millaiyen Pestellio’s addition, Carina Leopold nodded eagerly.

I couldn’t fathom why his low voice sounded so pleasant. His voice had a peculiar way of embedding itself in my ears.

‘…Will I not be able to see him if he goes on the subjugation?’

Time felt precious.

I wanted to spend every single second with him. Yet there was no stopping what must come.

I had no justification to hold him back, and even if I did, I wouldn’t wish to obstruct him from pursuing his righteous cause.

“What are you looking at?”

Millaiyen Pestellio exhaled deeply.

“The people of the Northern Territory are straightforward. Once they acknowledge someone stronger than themselves, they harbor little complaint.”

No lord despised subjugating Magical Beasts.

Curiously, the bellicose people of the Northern Territory relished Magical Beast subjugation. Of course, Millaiyen Pestellio was among those who shared this passion.

“That’s impressive.”

“…Impressive?”

“Yes. I should have said this sooner, but when you drove out Herta, you were truly magnificent.”

Carina Leopold turned her gaze toward the window as she spoke.

There was not a shadow of irony in the smile gracing her lips. It was neither mockery nor flattery laden with ulterior motive.

It was nothing but her genuine sentiment.

Though he had received countless accolades and heard many words of insincere praise, and had endured harsh judgment from those blinded by jealousy, such pure admiration was rare.

Struck unexpectedly, Millaiyen Pestellio’s ears flushed faintly.

It was a change neither he nor Carina Leopold noticed.

He abruptly flung open the window on the opposite side. Periel Kalos watched Millaiyen Pestellio with narrowed eyes.

“…It’s hot.”

As Periel Kalos listened to his excuse, he swallowed back a hollow laugh. Truly, he found himself doubting whether the man before him was the same Close Friend he had known for over a decade.

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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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