Limited Extra Time - Chapter 96

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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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“Are you all right?”

“…I’m fine.”

Carina Leopold lowered her head as she spoke.

In truth, she was far from fine.

The relentless agony that had consumed her had subsided somewhat, yet a dull ache persisted throughout her body.

Her trembling frame betrayed her falsehood, her body quivering with each breath.

“Are you truly all right?”

“…If I’m being honest, no. I’m not all right.”

I had lost count of how many times I’d wished for death mere moments ago.

Periel Kalos surely had no idea that I’d thought death would be a mercy.

I couldn’t bring myself to tell anyone.

“Periel Kalos.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry. Not just to you, but to Millaiyen Pestellio as well. I’m sorry to everyone whose life has become entangled with

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mine.”

Carina Leopold bowed her head deeper.

The burden I carried was immense. What would become of those caught in my wake? What of those already swept into this maelstrom?

I found myself resenting my former self—so naive, so thoughtlessly simple in my understanding of the world.

“There’s nothing to apologize for. At least not to me.”

“Periel Kalos, you’re so kind.”

“I’m not kind. My kindness is…

Only for you—Periel Kalos swallowed the words that had risen to his throat, forcing them back down.

Periel Kalos closed his mouth. Carina Leopold stood with her head bowed, drenched in sweat, her exhaustion evident.

“I feel like I’m committing a grave sin against Millaiyen Pestellio right now. I think it would be right to just leave as things are.”

Periel Kalos, whose lips had been moving to protest such words, ultimately closed his mouth without answering.

Even the foolish thought crossed his mind that perhaps it would be better if she left.

Carina Leopold opened her mouth again, her head still bowed.

“Periel Kalos, I’m dying.”

In a voice heavy with exhaustion, she spoke matter-of-factly. Her own death rolled off her tongue as though it were nothing at all.

How much must one dwell upon and accept such a thing to reach this state?

Periel Kalos could not utter a single word. No words would comfort her, and she would merely smile through whatever he said anyway.

“Day by day, the seizures worsen and the pain intensifies… I can feel the end approaching.”

Her voice, fragile and breaking, pierced his heart.

His heart felt as though it were being torn to shreds. What could he possibly say to someone already waiting for the end?

Click.

At the sound of metal catching, both Carina Leopold and

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Periel Kalos’s body stiffened. The doorknob turning silently was certainly not that of the Maidservants. They always knocked and received permission before entering.

…Millaiyen.

Carina Leopold’s eyes widened at the softly murmured name. She hastily straightened herself, smoothing down her disheveled hair. Millaiyen approached with long strides, lowered his head, and gazed at her intently.

‘Did he hear?’

She held her breath, tense with worry. She thought she’d uttered some meaningless words.

Surely he hadn’t heard.

Carina Leopold’s trembling blue eyes were reflected in Millaiyen’s gaze. Her appearance was disheveled. Despite her hasty attempts to compose herself, she couldn’t conceal the sweat-dampened hair, the ashen pallor of her lips, or the pallid complexion of her face. Seeing the reddened skin beneath her eyes, Millaiyen clenched his fists.

Periel Kalos pressed his forehead in bewilderment. Yet he couldn’t very well turn him away.

Millaiyen carefully extended his arms and drew her into his embrace.

“Your body is burning. Did you have another episode?”

“…Yes.”

Millaiyen forcibly suppressed the emotions rising to his throat. The overwhelming tide of feeling made his throat swell painfully, constricted and aching.

Without a word, Millaiyen held her close in his embrace and gently stroked her back.

“How are you now?”

“I’m better now.”

Millaiyen offered no further response.

He hadn’t heard. Relieved, Carina Leopold answered with noticeably greater ease. He settled onto the bed while cradling her in his arms.

“Periel Kalos.”

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“What is it?”

“Tell Peng to bring the item I ordered from him before.”

Millaiyen Pestellio’s menacing gaze bore into Periel Kalos as though intent on tearing him apart.

Those crimson eyes were utterly unsettling. Periel Kalos fell silent. He couldn’t quite discern what had provoked such fury.

“And you… come see me in a moment.”

Yet observing the current situation, he could hazard a guess—a rather troubling one at that.

Periel Kalos deliberated briefly. Perhaps it wouldn’t be amiss to disappear for a while, vanishing to some distant place before returning.

“You will, won’t you?”

His low voice dripped with lethal intent.

It seemed only Carina Leopold remained oblivious to it all. Periel Kalos swallowed hard and nodded in assent.

‘I’m about to become a mad dog.’

The thought crossed his mind that it had been far too long since he’d engaged in a proper bout.

Millaiyen Pestellio and Periel Kalos had fundamentally different specializations from the outset.

Though they’d studied together at the Academy and received successor training side by side, Millaiyen Pestellio had devoted himself to swordsmanship while Periel Kalos had distinguished himself in the arts.

“Just this once.”

Periel Kalos exhaled deeply and turned to leave.

Here he was, a Duke himself, yet running errands for another Duke.

He released a heavy sigh. Before departing, his gaze lingered briefly on Carina Leopold.

Her trembling had ceased entirely, as though it had never been. Instead, she appeared serene, her face nestled against his chest—something he himself could never have accomplished.

Once Periel Kalos had left, Millaiyen Pestellio gently brushed away the tears beneath her eyes with his thumb.

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“Carina Leopold.”

“Yes.”

“Another sudden episode?”

“…Yes.”

“I see.”

Millaiyen fell silent.

I’d expected him to rage at me when we met. I’d braced myself for accusations—why had I deceived him? My mind had been consumed by that dread.

“Can you manage to keep pace with me like this?”

“I’m fine!”

Carina Leopold startled at the question, answering with hurried urgency.

Watching her lift her gaze, Millaiyen closed his mouth. The reason she’d been so desperate to see everything….

“All right.”

Millaiyen silently smoothed her disheveled hair.

The damp bedding, the tangled strands, the rumpled blankets—all of it bore witness to her struggle.

The hours she’d spent alone, holding her breath.

The time she’d simply endured in darkness, persisting through it all.

Millaiyen pressed his thumb gently against her lower lip, where blood had begun to seep through the torn flesh.

“You’ll hurt yourself biting your lip like that.”

“Ah….”

At his observation, Carina Leopold offered an awkward smile.

Watching her crumbled expression, he smiled bitterly. Millaiyen drew Carina Leopold into his embrace, burying his face against her neck.

She was undoubtedly alive. Yet what must it feel like to speak of death while still drawing breath?

He too had steeled himself for death whenever he ventured into Magical Beast subjugations or marched to war.

But such an end arrives suddenly one day, beyond all control. Perhaps even in the moment of death itself, the

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terror of it would not linger long.

Yet she—since when had she been carrying this terror within her heart?

“To speak plainly, I wish to remain here for roughly six months to ten months. In exchange, when I leave this place, we shall annul our engagement.”

“Before that—what could a sheltered noblewoman possibly know, coming alone down such a treacherous path?”

“…Perhaps because this will be both my first journey and my last.”

The brief, barren exchange from our first meeting surfaced in my mind. Her confident gaze, that expression of profound disbelief.

And those words laden with meaning.

‘…Was it from that moment?’

She had known everything from the moment she arrived here.

Two months ago, when we departed from the Capital, she already knew of death. So when she fell ill, it was only natural that

the Physician made the journey to this place.

Had it been a trivial ailment, he would never have come himself. Death was involved—that was why he came.

The reason she pushed me away, her wish that I become nothing but a passing storm…

All the scattered pieces of the puzzle fell into place in an instant. Carina Leopold—she knew everything.

That she made annulment a condition, that she casually presented the dissolution documents—it all had reason behind it.

Because she already knew her end, already knew her final moments, she had surrendered.

Millaiyen held her close within his embrace, his fists clenching tight.

It was unbearable. His own stupidity, his dullness without equal—it was contemptible, utterly contemptible.

“Millaiyen? Is something wrong?”

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Carina Leopold asked, watching him remain motionless, his face buried against her neck like a child, saying nothing.

His body trembled slightly, but Millaiyen did not lift his head.

What had happened?

Now that he thought about it, he’d returned not long after she’d spoken those words and departed.

Whether he’d come to apologize or simply felt an inexplicable guilt, he couldn’t say.

Carina Leopold reached out and gently stroked

his hair with tender care.

Perhaps the fact that she’d come to see him meant she didn’t dislike him quite so much after all.

“How is your body feeling?”

“Much better, thanks to you holding me.”

“The room… is it not uncomfortable?”

His voice, deeply subdued, carried only weighted questions.

Carina Leopold nodded. There was nothing particularly uncomfortable about it. Millaiyen

pressed his lips against her neck.

“Would you sleep with me tonight?”

“…Pardon?”

“I want to sleep beside you.”

At Millaiyen Pestellio’s words, Carina Leopold finally twisted her body around to face him.

Only then did Millaiyen Pestellio slowly lift his head. She gasped at the sight of his expression—crumpled and devastated.

Carefully, she extended both arms and drew his head into her embrace.

Her twisted spine ached considerably.

“Something happened, didn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“Just….”

Nestled in Carina Leopold’s embrace, Millaiyen Pestellio buried his nose in her scent before drawing his face away. He slowly pressed his lips to the nape of her neck.

“Something terribly sad.”

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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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