Limited Extra Time - Chapter 89

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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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A Doomed Extra’s Time

Chapter 89

At least it was a small mercy that Carina Leopold hadn’t heard my whisper—if mercy could be found in such a moment.

“Ah, you’ve arrived? Your Grace.”

Baron Cramber, gleaming from head to toe as though he’d just dressed himself, spoke with a smile that had been plastered on his face since who knows when.

I couldn’t fathom how brightly he smiled, his words ending with an accent that felt like gritted teeth.

“…The banquet doesn’t begin for another hour, Baron Cramber.”

“Oh my, I was so eager for tonight’s gathering that I arrived early. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Hardly. Listen here, Your Grace. A vigil? Who in blazes would create a vigil…!”

“Now, Aerial Count. You said something earlier, but it seems you’ve forgotten. Come to think of it, we do need an expedition force centered on Herta.”

“…How underhanded.”

Aerial Count’s lips sealed shut after that single muttered word. Wavy, flowing

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hair belonged to a woman with long locks.

Carina Leopold’s eyes widened. The woman in the form-fitting dress spoke without hesitation.

Carina Leopold carefully raised her hand and gently tugged at Millaiyen Pestellio’s sleeve, worried that he might have forgotten about her while conversing.

She too wanted to join the conversation. As her eyes rolled eagerly, Millaiyen Pestellio turned his head back.

His expression, which had been fierce from the front, softened in an instant.

“What is it? Carina Leopold.”

“No, I was hoping you could introduce me to them as well.”

“…Them?”

“Yes!”

At Carina Leopold’s words, Millaiyen Pestellio’s mouth fell silent.

I did not wish to introduce them. Truly, I did not wish to introduce them. They would taint Carina Leopold in strange ways, and I could not even guess what they might say.

The conversation would be unpredictable.

“…Is it truly necessary?”

“Pardon?”

“Am I not enough for you? If you grow bored, I shall continue our conversation.”

At Millaiyen Pestellio’s words, Carina Leopold’s eyes widened in surprise. It was tempting, but…

Her eyelids lowered in contemplation, and her cheeks flushed a delicate rose. Witnessing this, the corners of Millaiyen Pestellio’s lips curved upward gently, drawing a soft arc.

It softly unfolds and draws a curve.

“….”

“….”

The hall fell silent in an instant.

Who was this person wearing that unsettling, spine-tingling smile?

The assembled Lords rubbed their eyes with the backs of their hands, propriety forgotten.

Baron Cramber, whose eyes had been darting about nervously, wedged himself between Millaiyen Pestellio and Carina Leopold, pushing his own body forward.

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I pushed my body in.

“For the first time!”

A sharp intake of breath.

Carina Leopold’s body trembled visibly. As she turned toward the voice, Baron Cramber stepped close enough to brush her face and seized her hand, his lips parting.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance! I am Baron Cramber, my lady!”

Carina Leopold offered a delicate smile as she watched him press his lips reverently to the back of her hand.

He was a nobleman of her own age, one she might have expected to resemble herself. Yet he already bore a title—how remarkable.

“Oh, how lovely to meet you. I’m Carina Leopold. Please, feel free to call me by my given name.”

“So this is the lady our Duke has been keeping so carefully hidden away.”

“Keeping hidden…?”

Carina Leopold’s lips parted in confusion, and Baron Cramber’s eyes began to dart nervously. Behind her,

Millaiyen Pestellio’s face twisted into something sinister and menacing.

Millaiyen Pestellio raised his thumb, then drew it across his throat in a cutting gesture. The murderous glint in his eyes sent Baron Cramber trembling.

“Yes, yesterday you didn’t even join us for a drink before retiring directly to your chambers. I thought perhaps you were hoarding some treasure.”

“Ah….”

A soft exclamation escaped Carina Leopold’s lips.

She turned her gaze in alarm, then carefully tilted her head to regard Millaiyen Pestellio.

The murderous expression that had threatened to consume Millaiyen Pestellio’s features instantly dissolved into the serene calm of a spring lake.

“Is that truly what happened, Millaiyen?”

“I simply don’t care much for alcohol, so it’s no matter.”

“I see….”

Aerial Count’s curse burst forth, but Millaiyen Pestellio caught it swiftly and lifted his head. His expression wasn’t menacing, but his eyes gleamed with a razor’s edge.

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She snapped her mouth shut immediately. She’d sensed a threat to her life.

“Ahem.”

She offered an innocent cough and quickly turned her head away. Millaiyen Pestellio lowered his gaze again, looking down at Carina Leopold.

“It’s not your concern. I simply wasn’t that hungry.”

“Still… I’m sorry if it’s because of me.”

“Not at all. There are others who should apologize.”

His low murmur sounded desolate to everyone except Carina Leopold. This was a banquet gathering where the Lords and those who had received knighthood were present together.

“You have no need to apologize. As I said, this was something I chose to do.”

“…I understand.”

Carina Leopold lowered her head as if her spirit had wilted. She regretted not attending the eve celebration herself, regretted that Millaiyen Pestellio couldn’t attend because of her.

“Carina Leopold, you can enjoy yourself today.”

“But the eve celebration has its own special charm.”

“I told you—it was just raising glasses. I don’t care for alcohol anyway.”

As the lie seeped out, the faces of everyone except Carina Leopold grew rigid.

The Knights and nobles who had been raising their glasses hastily clamped their mouths shut, as if they might spit out their drinks at any moment.

Some had already begun coughing, having choked. Who wouldn’t clutch the back of their neck at such a statement from Millaiyen Pestellio?

There was no pretense quite like that pretense. How many people in this room were truly heavy drinkers anyway?

There was never such blatant pretense. I wondered how many people here could truly be called heavy drinkers to that extent.

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The only ones capable of matching him drink for drink were Baron Cramber, whose competitive spirit burned fierce, Aerial Count, and Leonhardt Count—a seasoned veteran long accustomed to such drinking customs.

Millaiyen Pestellio didn’t enjoy alcohol! Anyone who knew him would burst into laughter at such a claim.

“Then that’s fortunate.”

Watching Carina Leopold smile warmly, Millaiyen nodded readily.

If he had to quit drinking—or anything else for that matter—he would. As his drooping eyes lifted again, a soft smile played across his lips.

“I was planning to give you a tour of the Banquet Hall, but it seems that won’t be possible.”

Seeing the nobles already gathered in groups throughout the Banquet Hall, it was clearly impossible. Carina shook her head as if to say it was fine.

“It’s alright.”

Carina Leopold carefully gauged the situation.

“Carina Leopold, since His Excellency is occupied with pressing matters, wouldn’t you like to come with me? I can introduce you to the Northern Nobility.”

“Whose heart…!”

“Really?”

Millaiyen and Carina Leopold’s voices overlapped.

Hearing her voice rise an octave, Millaiyen’s face twisted visibly. When Carina Leopold turned to look at him, he struggled to compose his expression despite his evident displeasure.

“Um… would that really be alright while Millaiyen is working?”

“….”

I don’t like this. I hate this. What possessed him to encourage her and simply let her go?

Pressing matters? What pressing matters? Today was a banquet, and all the urgent business had been settled this afternoon during meetings, hadn’t it?

“I—”

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Millaiyen Pestellio closed his mouth, having been about to say he wasn’t busy.

In the Capital, when a banquet was held, it was customary for the host to make the rounds greeting guests. But what courtesy did he owe to these people?

I don’t have much pressing business. I could introduce you instead.

Is that acceptable?

Millaiyen Pestellio?

Yes.

Carina Leopold’s brow furrowed in discomfort.

It wasn’t that she objected, but there was a group standing at a distance shaking their heads as if to say it absolutely would not do.

Millaiyen Pestellio was her superior, and depending on how one looked at it, he might genuinely find this inconvenient.

Hmm…

Had she agreed without hesitation as she normally would, but now her answer wavered, Millaiyen Pestellio’s expression hardened.

As he turned his head, several nobles who had their arms crossed diagonally quickly lowered them and pretended not to notice, tilting their wine glasses.

You truly have no pressing matters…?

Carina Leopold’s gaze turned back to Millaiyen Pestellio. If he said he had no pressing business, it would seem as though he were a man of leisure.

Somehow, it seemed Carina Leopold hoped he would excuse himself from the situation.

…

Millaiyen Pestellio pressed his lips firmly shut.

Soon after, he swallowed a sigh internally and opened his mouth with a reluctant expression.

Now that I think of it, there is something I had forgotten.

Is that so?

Watching her expression brighten noticeably, my mood twisted uncomfortably.

Yet I knew how eagerly she had anticipated this banquet. Because of that, I nodded despite my sullen expression.

It should take about thirty minutes.

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Stay here with me.

Understood. I won’t go anywhere else—I’ll remain right here.

…

I wished I could tell her to go elsewhere instead. Hearing Carina Leopold’s words, I nodded reluctantly.

I lifted my head, intending to turn and leave with reluctant steps.

I saw nobles with lips trembling at the edges.

Seeing even Leonhardt Count laughing, I could only sigh. That cunning fox would smile and brush past whatever threats I made.

If anything troubles you, tell me.

Yes, I’ll be going.

…All right.

At Carina Leopold’s refusal to hold me back, I exhaled a long sigh.

I slowly exited the Banquet Hall. There was truly nothing pressing I needed to attend to.

‘Where on earth should I go?’

Unwillingly cast out, I shook my head as I closed the Banquet Hall door behind me.

I had left, but I had nowhere to go. The cold wind did nothing to clear my muddled thoughts.

It was only after I had stood there like a stone sentinel for a long while that he turned his steps toward the Study.

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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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