I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit – Chapter 132

Chapter 132

Pure favor towards me.

This might be closer to curiosity.

A strange feeling towards the first female sibling born in the Bilotian Imperial Family.

『Not letting it slide.』

『Put me down.』

Honey Badger should be scared, but he was fearless today as well.

I closed my mouth for a moment and asked as calmly as possible.

“Why are you saying you’ll kill my friend?”

“Because that’s the most efficient way.”

“……”

I lost my words for a moment.

I had already read his emotions through mana.

I decided to double-check just in case.

“Can I hold your hand for a second?”

“Go ahead.”

Sermon smiled kindly and offered me his right hand.

I reached out and held his hand.

Sermon’s hand was very warm, and his emotions were the epitome of tranquility.

Sermon’s statement about killing Honey Badger was truly just because it was ‘efficient’.

‘That’s why it’s scary.’

Because this wasn’t just a threat.

Because Sermon was saying those things based on reason, not emotion.

It seemed like he didn’t care about other people’s lives or feelings if he judged it to be efficient and rational.

Just because I said I didn’t want to go to the flower garden with him.

At that moment, a voice rang out.

“Your Highness. It’s alright if you stab me.”

Sir Viaton, who had woken up at some point, was smiling with his eyes narrowed.

“But you can’t stab Kim Beolkkul.”

“Why?”

“That guy, Duchess Rovena cherishes him a lot.”

Duchess Rovena cherishes Honey Badger?

That was news to me too.

Sermon shrugged and said.

“That doesn’t mean you can stop me now.”

“In the future, if Duchess Rovena goes to the Bladock Dukedom and causes a ruckus…… no, a small disturbance, asking why you harmed her friend, it will be quite inconvenient for you.”

“……”

“Furthermore, she’s the type to hold a grudge…… no, she tends to deeply cherish even trivial things, so she might interfere with the First Shadow’s mission. That’s not efficient. Isn’t there a saying that it’s more important to not make enemies than to make allies?”

“Now that I hear it, that’s true.”

Sermon smiled brightly and let go of Honey Badger.

It seemed like Sir Viaton was good at handling Sermon.

I hugged Honey Badger, who was about to jump at Sermon again, to calm him down.

He seemed like he was going to pounce any second, but then he nestled in my arms and rubbed his head against me.

It was fortunate that he had a personality that forgot one thing when he became absorbed in another.

“And Your Highness. There’s something I want to tell you.”

“Go ahead.”

Sir Viaton’s atmosphere changed subtly.

There was no way Sermon couldn’t feel what I felt.

A strange tension flowed between the two.

“Stabbing my neck is a welcome event, but stabbing Her Highness’s heart is something I cannot tolerate.”

“……”

“If Her Highness becomes sad because of any of Your Highness’s actions, I will treat you as Viaton the person, not Viaton the Chief Aide.”

“It sounds like a warning of sorts, am I understanding this correctly? It would be nice if you could explain it a bit more clearly.”

“Chief Aide Viaton cannot harm the First Shadow, but Viaton the person can harm Sermon.”

I gulped.

It felt like a storm of sharp, invisible blades was raging between the two.

I felt like I would get badly cut by those blades if I carelessly intervened.

“What do you gain by saying that to me?”

Sermon didn’t seem particularly offended.

It seemed like the question was filled with pure curiosity.

“There is no gain.”

“Then why?”

“Because gain is not the only reason people live.”

Sermon looked at me and smiled brightly. And he asked, seemingly sincerely.

“But Isabel. Why are you sad if he dies?”

And he asked Viaton as well.

“What is sadness?”

“……”

“I don’t know what that is.”

Sermon was twisted in many ways.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Yuri straightened her back and lifted her chin slightly.

Narmore glared and voiced his displeasure.

“Hey. Do you know how busy I’ve been?”

He launched into a long speech about how busy he had been in the Jirdel Kingdom.

Negotiating with the kingdom’s working-level officials, deciding where to place the TeyIsabel Transfer Gate, what to use as the mana source to operate it, when to introduce Isabel Chain technology, and even a ramen supply contract at the royal level.

“Yeah, yeah, you must have been very busy.”

“Do you know how much I’ve sacrificed for Her Highness?”

“Yes, you must have sacrificed a lot.”

Yuri felt a sense of victory for the first time in a long time.

“You were very busy here, and I was very busy there.”

Yuri pointed her finger in one direction.

She wasn’t sure if that direction was Calfoa Village, but it didn’t really matter.

“I went with Her Highness. I made her the sweetest lemon tea in the world, and we made friends together.”

“……”

“While you were struggling here, I was spending ti.me. with Her Highness.”

“……”

“I even made a secret friend!”

“……”

“Her name is Asellia, she’s very pretty.”

“So what?”

He didn’t really care if it was Asellia or Vasellia.

Realizing this, Yuri changed her strategy a bit.

“We all became friends. We dipped our feet in the stream and had heart-to-heart conversations. It means I shared a lot of good memories with Her Highness.”

The strategy was very effective.

Narmore’s body trembled.

“This isn’t your victory. We won’t know the outcome until it’s over.”

“Yeah.”

Yuri smiled brighter than ever, and seeing that, Narmore felt even more frustrated.

It seemed like he was losing a little.

“Didn’t you say you had another working-level meeting? Mr. CEO of Narmore Corporation?”

“……Yeah, I do. Ah, this is so annoying.”

They didn’t have much time, so they had to move quickly.

He wanted to say goodbye to Isabel before leaving, but he couldn’t because the Second Prince, Sermon, was already there.

Because of this damn work, he had to leave without even seeing Isabel.

What on earth was more important?

“Oh, by the way, do you know?”

“Why are you speaking formally in such an ominous way?”

“Her Highness cut her hair short. Her Highness calls it a short cut.”

“Huh? She cut her hair short?”

Narmore’s eyes widened.

“What’s with that reaction? Is it wrong that Her Highness cut her hair?”

“No?”

Narmore put on a very serious expression.

He was much more serious than when he was in meetings with the royal working-level officials.

Oh my, Her Highness with a short cut. He had never seen that before.

“I think she’ll look very cute.”

It seemed he had made up his mind to finish the working-level meeting quickly and come back.

Before her hair grew even 0.1mm longer.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Yuri, who had seen Narmore off（?） with a smile, was walking towards Isabel’s tent when she ran into Sergeant Lucain.

“Her Highness went that way.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah. Oh, and Yuri. I have a favor to ask.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“We’ve realized the problems with the military song, so this time we’re making an Isabel Anthem, definitely including Her Highness’s name. When it’s finished, will you evaluate it first?”

An Isabel Anthem.

Yuri’s eyes sparkled.

“That’s a good title. I like it. I’ll be waiting at the Arena Palace.”

After parting ways with Sergeant Lucain, Yuri walked in the direction he had indicated.

‘She came quite far, didn’t she?’

In the distance, she could see an open field covered in yellow flowers.

‘Oh! There she is!’

Yuri quickened her pace.

Her Highness playing in a flower field, she felt very happy at the thought of making more memories with her there.

But something was strange.

She could tell as soon as she saw her from afar.

‘Her Highness seems a bit darker than usual?’

That man smiling kindly was undoubtedly the Second Prince, Sermon.

He was wearing a crude flower crown on his head, but even that looked very beautiful on him.

However, his beauty wasn’t that important to Yuri.

Just like Asellia’s beauty was meaningless to Narmore.

‘Her Highness seems uncomfortable somehow.’

Isabel was smiling as usual, but it didn’t seem like a genuine smile.

It was a feeling that was hard to put into words.

Yuri quickened her pace.

‘I’ll help you.’

As a friend.

As her one and only friend in the world, she decided to help Isabel unconditionally.

No matter what kind of difficulty it might be.

“Oh, I’ll teach you how to make a flower crown.”

Yuri made a flower crown with familiar hand movements.

It was much more elaborate and beautiful than the one Isabel had made.

It was hard to believe they were made with the same flowers.

“I heard that Isabel’s maid is very talented in many ways, and the rumors seem to be true. I’ve never seen such a beautiful flower crown.”

“You flatter me.”

Yuri observed Isabel’s expression.

Even though she had helped her make a flower crown, Isabel still seemed to have a gloomy aura about her.

“I’ve made a delicious crepe cake, would you like some?”

“Sure. I like crepe cake too.”

It wasn’t Isabel who answered, but Sermon.

He ended up joining the dessert time as well.

There was no problem until then.

Everyone enjoyed the crepe cake.

The real problem came after that.

“Isabel. I like your maid.”

“……Excuse me?”

“Give her to me. I’ll pay you enough.”

That look was the same as when he said, ‘Let’s go outside together’ earlier.

The same look as when he said he would harm Kim Beolkkul if she didn’t listen.

“What if I don’t want to?”

“You might not see your maid from tomorrow.”

It was hard to understand exactly what he meant.

Whether he was going to kidnap her or what.

Actually, she didn’t want to understand exactly.

Sermon said kindly.

“Wouldn’t it be efficient for both of us if you accept when I make a good offer?”

Isabel sighed deeply.

“Ha.”

Isabel was very angry.

She put down the fork she was holding on the table with a thud.

“Hey, older brother.”