Limited Extra Time - Chapter 72

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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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—— Page 1 ——

“You’re thinking of attending the banquet as well, Carina Leopold?”

“Yes, if Millaiyen doesn’t mind… I’d like to try.”

A banquet I’d never attended before. At most, I’d made rare appearances at Imperial Palace galas.

In those venues where others always commanded the spotlight, I remained quietly tucked away in the shadows.

I’d thought that was all a banquet had to offer.

“I have a feeling it would be enjoyable if I were with Millaiyen.”

“If you wish to go, then go. I’ve never forbidden you anything.”

As Carina Leopold’s eyes widened, Millaiyen continued.

“Except for spending hours outside in the dawn wind sketching.”

“We’ve arrived.”

Periel Kalos spoke. The brief carriage journey had come to an end.

The fresh outdoor air felt wonderfully sweet, and my lips curved into an involuntary smile.

“When would you depart for the Subjugation?”

“Usually three to four days after the banquet concludes. Why?”

“I see…”

Could I possibly accompany you?

I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t bring myself to voice it. I already knew all too well what his answer would be.

He would certainly refuse.

“It’s nothing.”

She deliberated for a moment before finally closing her mouth. She didn’t want to become someone he found bothersome.

“You’re quite the jester.”

Millaiyen naturally extended his arm and took Carina Leopold’s hand.

Startled by his touch, she quickly grasped his hand firmly in return.

Periel Kalos genuinely felt like the third wheel caught between a couple.

‘…I should have just stayed with my research.’

I’d followed them on a whim. I never imagined I’d witness such a scene.

“…”

For reasons he couldn’t fathom, this situation displeased him.

—— Page 2 ——

* * *

Time flowed swiftly.

Each morning, Carina Leopold was whisked away by Millaiyen’s hand for breakfast, after which she would ascend to the studio and paint all day long.

Then when noon arrived, she’d be caught by Millaiyen’s hand once more for lunch, and…

‘Isn’t this becoming too repetitive?’

Yet no matter how much I painted, there was always more I wished to create.

As promised to both Millaiyen and Periel Kalos, I was doing my best to avoid completing finished works, but…

The light in my vision brightened.

“Oh no…”

Carina Leopold’s face filled with dismay.

From the lake brimming with butterflies, they came pouring out in abundance. Occasionally, like this… I failed to exercise restraint and ended up completing the entire canvas.

I quickly rose from my seat and locked the studio door first.

The fluttering butterflies, each bearing wings of blue and crimson, danced through the air in graceful undulation.

Though the studio was not particularly cramped, it was woefully inadequate to accommodate such an innumerable multitude of butterflies.

I carefully extended my hand toward the Terrace.

“Since you’ve emerged, you might as well enjoy yourselves.”

I whispered softly and threw the Terrace wide open. The gathered butterflies surged out like a receding tide, sweeping away in a torrent.

It was a magnificent spectacle. A wave of blue and crimson undulated like the sea itself, rippling away into the distance. I stepped onto the Terrace and gazed at the sight in stunned silence.

Whenever the things I created produced such unexpectedly breathtaking vistas, my heart trembled with wonder.

‘How beautiful.’

It was a lake I had painted by consulting various references, having never truly witnessed a real one.

The problem was that it seemed too barren, so what began as adding a few fluttering butterflies had resulted in covering the entire canvas.

My long exhale dispersed into white breath that scattered into the cold air.

As I turned to go back inside, I felt a gaze upon me. I carefully lowered my eyes toward the area beneath the Terrace.

“….”

“….”

Beneath the window was Millaiyen Pestellio, his expression unreadable.

She startled and trembled, hurriedly going back into the studio and locking the window.

“What do I do!”

Anyone could see our eyes met.

Her expression was hidden, but her anger was unmistakable.

Carina Leopold checked the locked studio door once more, then rolled her eyes.

“Hmph!”

She took a step backward.

Someone knocked on the studio door. I couldn’t guess who it was, yet somehow only one person came to mind.

Gulp—as if mocking her nervous swallow, another knock sounded.

—— Page 3 ——

The knocking came again.

“Open the door.”

“…”

As expected, the voice from outside belonged to Millaiyen Pestellio. His tone was quite low.

Carina Leopold racked her brain, but no suitable excuse came to mind.

“…”

“Carina Leopold.”

“Are you angry?”

“Let’s talk once you open it.”

His quiet call and measured tone were far more frightening.

Carina Leopold finally peeled herself away from where she’d been pressed against the side of the Terrace.

A banquet was scheduled for two days later, so I had planned to paint only today and rest a little.

‘Why did he have to stop by today of all days….’

Of all the things that could happen, why did it have to be discovered today?

Carina Leopold, who had been fidgeting beside the easel, finally released a sigh and unlocked the door, opening it.

“…”

Millaiyen Pestellio regarded her in silence.

His expression wasn’t particularly angry, but concern was unmistakably etched across his features.

As Carina Leopold drew a deep breath and stepped aside, Millaiyen Pestellio entered the room.

“You…”

“I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional.

Sometimes when I’m working, I just get carried away without thinking. I suppose I was far too absorbed.”

Before Millaiyen Pestellio could launch into his lecture, Carina Leopold hastened to apologize.

She had been painting recently—works intended for Periel Kalos. She had never realized how exhilarating it was to bring the images from her mind to life, one brushstroke at a time.

This was the method she had chosen to leave her mark during the precious time remaining.

She wanted to be remembered not as Carina Leopold, a name no one would recall as time passed, but as ‘Carina’ the artist.

People say one leaves behind a name through death, but she could not believe in such a thing.

A name endures only when someone remembers it. She wanted to be remembered by the world.

The works she poured her entire soul into would become the foundation for that remembrance.

However, because miracles would manifest like this once completed, Periel Kalos recommended leaving it slightly unfinished, but there were times when greed prevented him from restraining himself.

“I am concerned for you. You understand that, don’t you?”

Millaiyen Pestellio, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, spoke in a low voice.

She held her breath at his tone—she had expected anger or irritation, but this was something else entirely.

“…Yes.”

“If you can no longer hold a brush, you’ll despair. I hope that moment comes as late as possible.”

Millaiyen spoke as though sighing.

At his candid words, Carina Leopold’s eyes widened. A delicate smile bloomed at the corners of her mouth.

I love his tenderness. Even when he appears stern, I know he always yields at the crucial moments.

“So I hope you won’t push yourself too hard.”

“But I know it won’t be fixed.”

—— Page 4 ——

“I mentioned it before, didn’t I? That Haron seems to help with the Artist’s affliction.”

“Yes, whenever I held it during the pain, it seemed less agonizing. So it really was effective.”

When it was the small Haron, the sensation was faint, but the large Haron that Millaiyen brought had a distinctly stronger pain-relieving effect.

Thanks to that, the nights became somewhat less terrifying for me.

“Based on that, Periel Kalos is researching Haron and developing a cure.”

“…Periel Kalos?”

“Yes, so wouldn’t you try to recover as well?”

Can that even restore a life that’s already diminished?

Unable to voice the words that had risen to her throat, Carina Leopold blushed with joy and laughed.

Perhaps what has vanished cannot be restored.

It may become a cure for those who fall ill in the future, but it will not become my cure.

That’s why Periel Kalos, despite meeting me several times, never mentioned such a thing.

“A cure, you say? That’s quite remarkable.”

“Yes, he’s sharp enough that he’ll surely recover.”

“Yes, I’m sure he will.”

Carina Leopold nodded with a smile.

Perhaps this was a truth she would never reveal to him in her lifetime. That this wouldn’t heal. That it wasn’t merely the loss of one limb and nothing more. She simply couldn’t bring herself to tell him.

So this was a lie she was telling him. The very thing she most despised doing—and yet she found herself doing it again, to the person she least wanted to deceive.

But perhaps for those whose lives weren’t forfeit, this cure could still work.

If it wasn’t his life being consumed, but merely the sensation in his arms and legs growing numb, or his vision deteriorating, then perhaps it could be reversed.

“I wish we could see each other for a long time to come.”

Millaiyen reached out and gently caressed Carina Leopold’s cheek with his thumb as he spoke. She smiled at the touch of his rough yet warm hand.

“Do you have paint on your face again today?”

At her playful question, Millaiyen’s expression stiffened in apparent embarrassment.

As his demeanor shifted, the smile gradually faded from Carina Leopold’s face.

“Ah… um…”

Carina Leopold’s eyes darted about. A warm flush crept slowly up her neck.

Faced with his gaze, his lips pressed shut in confusion, she found herself at a loss for words.

She finally lowered her head.

“…There was no paint on my face.”

Millaiyen spoke, his voice subdued.

Carina Leopold’s eyes widened. She lifted her head. Millaiyen was gazing at her intently.

“Ah…, yes….”

Then why? I swallowed the curiosity that had risen to my throat with deliberate effort.

It felt as though I shouldn’t hear his answer. If I did, it seemed I would step together with him onto a path from which there was no return.

—— Page 5 ——

Into darkness and a deep mire. Wasn’t it saying that Millaiyen was entering toward the place where I would one day sink?

I held my breath and quietly turned my head.

Or rather, I tried to.

“I simply wanted to touch you.”

Had it not been for that voice that followed.

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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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