Limited Extra Time - Chapter 77

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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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“It’s not cold. I didn’t expect you to be so startled. I simply wanted to play a little prank.”

At Millaiyen’s explanation, stripped of all levity, Carina Leopold finally staggered as though her legs might give way beneath her.

He reached out urgently, wrapping his arms around her waist and drawing her close.

“…Please don’t play pranks like that.”

Carina Leopold wiped her face with her palms.

“I hate seeing anyone suffer. I don’t want to witness pain.”

I had spent my entire life watching such things.

Crying from illness, growing distant from family, and eventually succumbing to relentless agony each day, unable to find even a moment’s rest at night.

I could not muster an indifferent expression when confronted with the word “suffering.”

“I’m sorry.”

“…Don’t apologize.”

“I promise.”

Carina Leopold’s legs seemed to lose their strength as

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she rested her forehead against Millaiyen’s shoulder.

With the reassurance came a long, weary sigh. I truly thought something terrible had happened.

“I thought Millaiyen had lost his mind.”

“This lake has always been rather peculiar. The outer waters are colder than ice itself, but the inner waters are remarkably warm.”

“…I see.”

It was a warmth that lifted the spirits.

If circumstances permitted, I would have stripped bare and submerged myself entirely in its embrace. Carina Leopold bent at the waist, trailing her fingers through the water with a gentle splash.

“It’s truly warm. And shallower than I expected.”

“Only here. This lake is peculiar—venture deeper and it becomes extraordinarily profound.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes, I ventured in once. The depths seemed bottomless.”

The murky lake floor stretched endlessly deep and vast.

As though an ocean had formed beneath the earth itself.

The darkness was so absolute that I could scarcely see a hand’s breadth ahead, so I dared not venture further and retreated.

“The lake’s interior resembled an ocean.”

“An ocean? How fascinating, truly.”

I had researched extensively about the lake to prepare for this painting.

From lakes where people floated naturally to triangular-shaped

lakes, to those teeming with diverse fish—the variety was remarkable.

But a lake of this nature was unprecedented. An ocean-like lake. It defied belief.

“There are butterflies here?”

“Yes, this region is unusually abundant with them. Blue-winged butterflies, specifically.”

Butterflies fluttered gracefully above the warm lake. Their expansive wings captured the eye. Azure wings shimmered and danced beneath the sunlight

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in brilliant refraction.

…So this is what true beauty looks like.

The Lakeside reflected in the pupils of her azure eyes.

As if painting with her gaze alone, she slowly absorbed the landscape into her vision. Millaiyen stood beside her, his eyes fixed entirely upon Carina.

I’m glad you find it beautiful.

If you don’t mind, I’d truly love to paint here sometime.

If I commit this to memory, I could certainly recreate a similar scene once we return to Leopold Manor.

But if I paint here, I feel certain I could capture not only the emotions of this moment but even the ever-shifting breath of the Forbidden Forest itself within the canvas.

Very well. We’ll return when time permits.

Promise?

At Carina’s words, Millaiyen nodded.

Time was abundantly available.

Whether after completing the Subjugation or during a brief respite for regrouping, there would be ample opportunity to return.

I promise.

At his added words, Carina laughed brightly. Millaiyen could not tear his gaze from that radiant smile.

Something he had long denied crumbled, its sound echoing as it fell.

***

Periel, are you truly refusing to attend the banquet?

Yes. If we’re to make Carina’s name widely known, we must act now—there’s scarcely time to spare. Besides, I’ve never cared for Northern Territory banquets.

Periel shrugged as he answered. In truth, he had little fondness for gatherings that bore the name of banquets but were merely drinking affairs.

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I was even worried that Carina Leopold might be tainted by association.

‘…Though it did seem like Millaiyen was scheming something.’

But what would I know of such matters?

Periel Kalos recalled Carina Leopold from not long ago—she had returned nestled in Millaiyen’s embrace, smiling shyly. With her luminous laughter about having visited the nearby Lakeside, she had appeared utterly content.

Later, upon seeing the painting she had created of the Lakeside scenery, Periel Kalos found himself speechless.

Her emotions poured forth from the canvas in their entirety.

A swelling sense of overwhelming fullness, cascading joy, an excitement beyond restraint.

Countless emotions intertwined and seeped into the work. These were the feelings Carina Leopold had experienced. More precisely, the emotions Millaiyen had awakened within her.

“Carina Leopold.”

“Yes?”

“My urgency in moving forward now is not to align with your plans. I simply wish to present these paintings to the world as swiftly as possible, and I desire only for you to stand independently.”

At Periel Kalos’s quiet words, Carina Leopold fell silent.

She could roughly discern what he meant to convey. The bond between Millaiyen and Periel Kalos suddenly felt unmistakably like friendship.

Neither of them harbored any intention of awaiting my death. From the outset, such a future had never existed in their designs.

Watching Periel Kalos’s face, shadowed by deepening melancholy, Carina Leopold smiled bitterly.

“I understand.”

Perhaps even in the moment before death, they would exhaust themselves in desperate efforts to save me.

The affection received from people I had only recently met was so warm and so heavy that sometimes it left me breathless.

“Will you paint a door for me? So I can go alone—”

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work?”

“Hmm… Perhaps. I suspect it would be fine if the person who opens the door first is the one who created it.”

I had never attempted it myself, but if the principle applied universally, then perhaps that was indeed the case.

I added several more brushstrokes to the sketch Carina Leopold had prepared beforehand, completing it.

As I pressed it against the wall as if affixing it there, a weathered, dilapidated door materialized in an instant.

“…I couldn’t think of anywhere particular within the Capital that stood out to me.”

Carina Leopold spoke with a somewhat embarrassed air, turning her head slightly away.

She had not ventured about the Capital often enough to retain many vivid memories. Among the few places her feet had frequented, she had chosen one that saw sparse foot traffic.

A location where people entering would not seem out of place.

Periel Kalos opened the door while carrying several rather large bundles.

The scent of aged paper and a hint of dust wafted forth. It was a nostalgic fragrance.

A faint smile graced Carina Leopold’s lips.

“Safe travels.”

“Yes, I shall see you later.”

Periel Kalos departed toward the Capital.

She, who had been quietly observing the Studio where Periel Kalos had vanished, now slowly settled into the chair before her.

Gazing absently at the sunlight pouring down,

Carina Leopold let out a bitter laugh.

“It doesn’t feel like much of anything, really.”

No matter how much I exercised my ability, there was no profound sensation.

So there must be a reason why my body has come to this state, and there is only one reason I can think of.

When I was younger, it was still manageable, but it clearly worsened as I grew.

When I was very young, there was one time I performed a miracle and lost consciousness.

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What I had drawn was one of the taboos Periel Kalos had mentioned.

I hadn’t given it much thought. At that young age, it was a way to forget sorrow. A desperate struggle to breathe, to survive. No matter who I am now, I have no right to condemn that choice.

That single moment of desperation created something irreversible. I tell myself I didn’t know any better, that it couldn’t be helped, yet my heart finds no peace in that reasoning.

Of course, I’ve used miracles both great and small many times since, and most of them involved living things, so perhaps my life force has drained faster than others’.

“Just a little more… perhaps.”

I heard the banquet would begin in the evening.

There was still plenty of time, and there was also the unfinished painting. I picked up the brush she had set down. I placed the palette in my other hand, and naturally moved the brush toward the paints.

Huh? Before I could even make a sound, the brush slipped from my fingers and rolled to a stop on the floor. Carina Leopold lowered her head in bewilderment.

‘Just now… for a moment, sensation left my hand…’

I was certain I had been gripping it firmly.

As always, I must have been holding it firmly enough—not too tightly, but certainly not loose enough to drop. Goosebumps rose along my spine as I stared at the brush lying on the floor.

“No, it couldn’t be.”

It’s impossible. I should still be fine. There should still be four months left. Even accounting for all the time I’ve spent here since arriving, there is definitely still time.

“…It won’t be.”

I hastily shook my head and bent down to pick up the brush.

I gripped the brush so tightly that my hand turned pale white, then slowly released the tension.

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With careful deliberation, I dipped the brush into pigment and gently completed the painting that had remained unfinished.

Fortunately, the brush did not slip from my grasp a second time.

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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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