I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit – Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Michael seemed to be in a bad mood for a strange reason.

“We-Well……”

I didn’t quite understand why him being excited put him in a bad mood.

“Is it because older brother is stronger than me?”

“……”

Now I understood.

Michael seemed to have hurt his pride.

“That’s not it……”

“What do you mean it’s not that!”

Air puffed out from Michael’s nose.

It was quite strange that the air from his nose was white.

To think that I could see the air coming out of his nose……

‘That’s possible?’

I always felt it, but Michael was the personification of ‘That’s possible?’.

Michael clenched his fists.

“I’ll win this time. Just you wait and see.”

Michael burned with fighting spirit.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

In conclusion, Michael lost again today.

Michael panted and raised his wooden sword, but then collapsed with a thud!

He collapsed from exhaustion.

“Oh, older brother!”

I was startled and ran to Michael.

“Snore- Snort-”

Michael was sound asleep in a messy state.

‘That’s possible……?’

Is it possible to suddenly fall asleep like this after fighting fiercely with all your might just now?

And the people around him just act like it’s normal, as if they’re used to it?

The prince collapsed from exhaustion?

‘Well, I guess that could happen.’

I decided to think about it comfortably.

If I’m surprised by every little thing, my heart will be damaged.

I raised my head and looked at the 3rd Prince, Carman-oppa, in front of me.

‘Michael still seems like a little kid……’

In my mind, Michael was always just Michael.

No matter how much I thought about it, he didn’t feel like an older brother.

The Bilotian body grows much faster than others.

But even though Michael was 12 years old, he still looked like a 10-year-old kid.

This itself was a mystery, so the scholars of the Imperial Palace were researching it or something.

But Carman was different.

‘Wow……!’

He was dazzling.

He must be 15 years old now, but to me, with the body of an 8-year-old, he looked like a complete adult.

The relatively young Carman I saw at the Selection Ceremony was not here.

‘He’s really dazzling.’

His short-trimmed silver hair shimmered as it collided with the sunlight.

That was the 3rd Prince Carman-oppa’s most prominent feature.

Wavy, beautiful silver hair.

It’s a very cliché expression, but his eyes, like a calm lake, were looking down at me.

For a fifteen-year-old, he had a rather languid expression, but even that seemed like a wandering poet full of melancholy.

My eight-year-old body, against my will, blurted out the truth.

“You’re really handsome.”

And I covered my mouth without realizing it.

Ugh, how embarrassing. Why is the child penalty popping up here?

Fortunately, it seemed like oppa didn’t hear me.

“……”

Carman-oppa had a completely opposite personality to Michael.

He was the type who didn’t speak unless it was absolutely necessary, and after staring at me for a moment, he turned around and started to walk away.

No, I can’t let him go like this!

“Older brother!”

“……”

Carman-oppa stopped walking and glanced back.

I’m sorry, but I left Michael behind and ran towards Carman-oppa.

“Do you remember me? My name is Isabel, and I’m your younger sister.”

“……”

An expression that seemed to say, “Why are you saying such obvious things?” greeted me.

His face was full of languor and boredom.

“What do you want?”

“I want to greet you properly because I haven’t been able to do so.”

Carman-oppa seemed unable to understand me.

“Is there a reason why you and I should greet each other?”

“Well, we’re family.”

But there wasn’t much change in Carman-oppa’s expression.

Looking at his face, I could definitely see a resemblance to dad.

It’s random, but I suddenly miss dad.

“……”

As if he had wasted his time for no reason, Carman-oppa turned around again and started to walk away.

I stared at his back and smiled brightly.

‘I did greet him.’

My heart pounded for some reason.

The character I felt the most sorry for in was the 3rd Prince, Carman.

He had very little screen time, but he left a significant impact with his few appearances.

‘I used to cry when Carman appeared.’

Meeting this character in person made me realize that I had actually possessed Isabel’s body.

I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted.

“I’ll visit your barracks later, oppa! Let’s have dinner together!”

✦✦✦✦✦✦

10 years ago.

5-year-old Carman stared blankly at his diary.

『What may be natural for some, may be desperate for others.』

The children of the Bilotian Imperial Family usually grew up fast, but Carman was even faster.

Especially his mental maturity was fast, so his thoughts were much deeper and his vocabulary was much richer than children his age.

『Family was like that to me.』

5-year-old Carman burned all of his diaries.

He watched the diaries turn to ash and disappear with an indifferent gaze, deciding to ignore all of his emotions.

‘Since I was born a Bilotian, this is the right path.’

The world Carman dreamed of was not here.

The Bilotian Imperial Family was not the beautiful place Carman dreamed of. Children were merely tools for succession, and the Imperial Family was merely a means for the prosperity of Bilotian.

The only person who loved him as family was his mother, Serna.

But Serna was too busy.

This was because there was a significant trade conflict with the Mirotel Magic Federation at the time.

Four of the seven kings were involved, and the interests were very complicatedly intertwined.

Serna was away from the Imperial Palace far more often than she was there.

She had never slept for more than 3 hours a day and couldn’t spend time with Carman.

The precocious Carman fully understood his mother’s situation, but apart from understanding, he became increasingly lonely.

Because the time he spent with his mother, however rare, was so sweet.

That happiness was like a mirage, too short, and it only tormented Carman more.

After that, Carman devoted himself solely to swordsmanship and began to achieve rapid progress.

He pushed himself under the stifling norms and discipline and trained in swordsmanship like a machine.

There was only one reason why he trained in swordsmanship.

‘If this is what pleases my mother and father……’

And 10 years passed, and today arrived.

A little kid who talked nonsense appeared.

‘Well, we’re family.’

Is there a more meaningless word than ‘family’ to the Imperial Family?

This little kid seemed to be too inexperienced in the world.

The little kid only spouted useless words.

‘I’ll visit your barracks later, oppa! Let’s have dinner together!’

✦✦✦✦✦✦

As I recall, Carman appeared exactly three times in the novel.

Once was when he burned the diary he had been writing for several years and cried his eyes out.

There’s a key point here, he probably remembered himself staring at the burning diary with an indifferent expression.

And once was when his mother died.

‘Ah, I don’t even want to think about it.’

Ugh.

I shuddered.

The scene where mom, who was always troubled by Isabel, the villainess in the novel, eventually dies young.

It won’t happen now, but it was horrifying just to think about it.

Anyway, in the novel, Carman didn’t say a single word for a year after mom died.

That was Carman’s way of mourning his mother’s death.

‘And the last scene was when the Bilotian Empire was destroyed by the awakened male lead, Arun…… I think?’

At that time, Carman confronts Arun.

For reference, Carman was the last survivor of the Bilotian Imperial Family.

「”Drop your sword and surrender. The Emperor is already dead, and I have finished my revenge. I have no grudge against you, so I will spare your life.”」

Carman does not drop his sword in front of Arun.

Carman approaches his father’s cold corpse and bows twice.

「”I still loved my father.”

After saying those words that he had kept buried in his heart his whole life, Carman committed suicide.」

……That was the content of the novel.

Actually, most of the focus in was on the male lead, Arun, and the female lead, Layla.

Carman, the 3rd Prince of Bilotian, was just a passing supporting character.

Nevertheless, I think the reason why he resonated with me so much was because Carman’s situation was similar to mine.

「What may be natural for some, may be desperate for others.

Family was like that to me.」

I was like that too.

Because I didn’t have a family either.

I recalled the contents of the novel and Carman’s face.

‘I just want to…… comfort him.’

It’s not because he’s handsome, really.

Right now, I really felt like an older sister.

……Really.

I was lying on a cot when I suddenly sat up.

“Where are you going?”

Yuri-unni asked.

“Yeah. I’m going to see Carman-oppa.”

“Didn’t you say you were going in the evening? I haven’t prepared the dessert yet……”

“It’s okay. I’ll be back by dinner, so Yuri, you do your best.”

“Okay.”

I went outside the barracks and looked for Carman-oppa.

‘Why is this place so big?’

This won’t do. I need to ask for directions.

The soldiers walking around were moving with strict discipline, so it was a little scary to talk to them.

Of course, they would listen to me if I spoke, but this was just a matter of feeling.

‘I should ask a nice-looking mister.’

But then, I saw a familiar face.

“Huh? Sergeant Lucain?”

Sergeant Lucain from the 7th Guard Post in the Elbe Mountains.

Sergeant Lucain, who had visited the Imperial Palace before, was here.

“Yo-Your Highness?”

Sergeant Lucain was walking while commanding a squad of about 10 soldiers.

Sergeant Lucain shouted loudly.

“Attention, at ease!”

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The soldiers moved with precision.

‘Oh, no, wait a minute!’

I had a feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong.