I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit – Chapter 168

Chapter 168

Suddenly, a poem I loved when I was young came to mind.

Before I called his name,

He was merely a gesture.

When I called his name,

He came to me and became a flower.

The Arun I saw was like that.

It was like pouring the elixir of life onto a flower that was losing its vitality and withering away.

‘His face…… has changed a lot, hasn’t it?’

Just how much time has passed?

I could feel Arun’s hand tightly gripping mine.

That hand was as big as my father’s hand that I remember.

It felt like holding the hand of an adult.

“Isabel……”

I could hear his excited breathing.

It seemed as if Arun had forgotten all languages.

He just kept repeating my name, Isabel, Isabel, Isabel, and shedding tears.

‘Ah…… I think this is supposed to be a touching reunion moment.’

I wonder if it’s really okay for me to be like this.

‘He’s really handsome.’

The image of the boy I remembered was completely gone, replaced by a full-fledged man.

The boy’s appearance was also very beautiful, but it couldn’t compare to now.

I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate for this situation, but I sincerely wanted to ask.

‘Are you human?’

No, you’re a dragon.

Anyway, it might not fit this situation, and someone might call it childish, but this is something you have to experience to understand.

This phenomenon where my jaw drops and I can only see his beauty is actually my first time experiencing it.

“Isabel!”

Arun, the male protagonist in the novel who valued composure and elegance, hugged me tightly.

His embrace was very wide and large, but strangely, I felt like Arun was a child.

Unconsciously, I raised my hand and patted Arun’s back.

Arun cried like a real child, shaking his body.

As a little time passed, Arun seemed to regain his composure.

“……Thank you for coming back.”

“Thank you? I’m more thankful.”

I explained what had happened when I lost consciousness.

“It felt like someone was constantly pulling me into a dark and deep place. But then I heard a voice. A voice that didn’t give up on me for a very long time, every day, led me to the light.”

“……”

“I think it was you, Arun.”

If it weren’t for that voice, I would have sunk into the depths of my consciousness and never woken up again.

“How much time has passed?”

“7 years.”

It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t shocked.

Then I only had 3 years left.

“I see.”

However, I didn’t show it on the outside.

I felt like Arun would crumble if I showed any sadness here.

‘In the novel, he’s portrayed as a protagonist with a stronger and tougher spirit than anyone else.’

Why is such a protagonist acting so small in front of me?

Maybe it’s because he has Honey Badger’s ego.

Did his mental maturity not properly catch up with his physical maturity?

Arun then stroked my cheek.

‘Huh?’

It felt like his fingertips had feathers attached to them.

A strange ticklish sensation that started from my cheek seemed to spread throughout my entire body.

“It’s real.”

“Wha, what is?”

“You really woke up.”

Arun pulled his own cheek with his other hand.

It stretched out like a bouncy dough.

I want to bite that…… No, that’s not it.

“It hurts. This isn’t a dream.”

Arun smiled brightly.

His eyes were still bloodshot, but it was a brighter and warmer smile than anyone else’s.

It was like sunlight, making me feel happy for no reason.

Arun got up.

And he bowed and lightly kissed my forehead.

“I don’t want to be apart from you for even a second.”

Ah, but.

Does he have feathers on his lips too?

The ticklish sensation that started from my forehead went past my throat and reached my chest.

My chest felt strangely ticklish.

“But I can’t be the only one who knows this good news.”

“……”

What is this feeling?

I kept glancing at Arun’s lips for some reason.

Arun’s lips were exceptionally red and warm.

I could see an Adam’s apple like an apple seed under his lips.

The Arun in my memory was still a boy and didn’t have an Adam’s apple like that.

His features were definitely more defined than before.

Below his Adam’s apple, I could see his shoulders, which were much wider than before.

“I’ll go and announce that you’ve woken up.”

Arun got up.

Oh my, I thought there was no one in the world with better proportions than my dad.

When did he get so tall?

As if possessed by something, I gazed at Arun’s back.

The expression in the novel, ‘There were many who fell lovesick just by looking at him,’ was not an exaggeration at all, as I was experiencing it in real-time.

“Ah, but I don’t want to go.”

Arun came back to me and held my hand.

“I’ll stay for 30 more seconds.”

I don’t know why, but his hand felt so hot.

I was startled and pulled my hand away.

Text appeared above Arun’s head.

『?』

『Did I hurt you?』

“So, sorry. Your hand felt too hot.”

Arun checked the temperature by putting his hand on his own cheek again.

Actually, my words didn’t make sense.

Arun is currently in human form, and the human body temperature is around 36.5 degrees Celsius.

How hot can 36.5 degrees be?

“It was hot. Sorry.”

It seemed that facts didn’t matter to Arun.

“I’ll be more careful next time.”

“Huh?”

He must have meant careful, right?

Arun looked into my eyes with a strange expression for a long time.

No, Arun’s expression might have been the same as the one I remember.

It’s just that I feel like his eyes are a bit strange.

“Why, why do you keep looking at me like that?”

I couldn’t help but avoid Arun’s gaze.

It felt awkward to make eye contact with someone for so long.

“Just because you’re beautiful.”

Ah, this scene.

I remember it.

Scenes like this often appeared in the novel.

The next line was usually this:

「”Because this time is precious.”」

“Because this time is precious.”

It was a scene that often happened with Lia.

In the novel, Arun was overwhelmed with happiness just by looking at Asellia.

He would stare at her for a long time, feeling happy, and when Asellia asked why he was looking at her like that, he would answer, ‘Just because you’re beautiful, because this time is precious.’

Suddenly, I felt a jolt of realization.

‘I’m…… not the female lead, am I?’

Anxiety rose within me, wondering if I was a variable that had interfered between people who were supposed to truly love each other.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Sermon brought a man bound in ropes.

He smiled lightly, his red eyes gleaming.

“I’ve brought him, Your Majesty.”

One of the miracles Isabel brought about was the ‘Isabelic System.’

This was a massive revolution that generated magic power from magic power plants and sent it all over the world, allowing ordinary people to enjoy the benefits of magic civilization.

It was currently being piloted in Alphea and Jirdel, and the remaining five kings were already practically begging to have the Isabelic System implemented in their kingdoms as well.

However, where there are rights and development, there are bound to be corruption and greed.

“He embezzled the magic power that should have gone to the people and secretly sold it. Moreover, evidence has emerged suggesting he attempted to steal core technologies and sell them to the Magic Federation.”

Sermon didn’t lose his smile.

Seeing that smile, the man prostrated himself on the floor and begged.

For the record, his clothes were originally white, but they were now stained red.

“Plea, plea, please spare my life.”

“What should we do, Your Majesty?”

Sermon continued, smiling brightly.

“Considering that he attempted to insult Isabel’s spirit, his crime is by no means light.”

“Sermon, what do you think we should do?”

Ron and Sermon didn’t have a typical father-son relationship.

In particular, Ron felt a slight sense of debt towards Sermon, but he didn’t know how to ‘properly’ interact with him.

However, over the past 7 years, the two had built a fairly deep bond and sense of camaraderie.

“I don’t think simply killing him will be effective. People with habits like this are like cockroaches; no matter how much you exterminate them, they keep appearing.”

“It seems you have a good idea.”

“I think it would be good to beep- his tongue and beep- and beep- it so that he can beep-.”

For the record, this ‘beep-‘ was a method Sermon devised himself.

It was a way to replace very cruel and horrible words.

The reason Sermon spoke like this was because ‘Isabel might not like it.’

So he was censoring his own words, but strangely, Ron understood everything he said.

This was one way Ron and Sermon communicated.

“I see. Doing that would serve as a warning to others as well.”

“Then I’ll take care of it that way.”

Sermon took out a dagger from his pocket and approached the man.

He licked the dagger slightly, smiling brightly.

“There will be no forgiveness. You committed the act I hate the most. I’ll beep- you in the most beep- way possible.”

But at that moment, Viaton rushed into the room without even knocking.

“Your Majesty!”

“Don’t stop me. This is the bastard who defiled Isabel’s name.”

“No, I don’t care about that!”

That?

Ron frowned.

Viaton had also become too strong over the past 7 years to be dealt with carelessly.

If the two were to fight seriously, the capital might be destroyed, so he hadn’t been able to hit him much lately.

“You haven’t been hit lately……”

“Her Highness has opened her eyes……!”

Whoosh━!

A strong wind blew.

Clang!

The window shattered.

Ron was no longer in his place.

He had thrown himself out the window.

Viaton shouted loudly.

“No, what am I supposed to do now that both of them are gone?!”

The man was clinging to Viaton’s pants, begging for his life.

He pleaded that he wouldn’t commit any more wrongdoings, that he had been shortsighted, and that he would do anything if only his life was spared.

A voice was transmitted through magic power.

『Grant him a special pardon.』

“……Excuse me? Suddenly?”

『In Isabel’s name.』

No further words were heard.