I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit – Chapter 96

Chapter 96

“Then he said he wanted to save Your Highness.”

“Me?”

“I don’t know what he meant by that either. He just said that.”

Kiruen sighed.

In fact, she knew that Viaton was visiting today, and she had deliberately sought out Karin at this time.

‘How can you not know Her Highness better than I do, when I’ve barely seen her?’

Kiruen always felt sorry for Karin.

So, after work, she took care of her in many ways, treating her like a sister. （Of course, Karin felt burdened by such a Kiruen, so it was only from Kiruen’s perspective that they were like sisters, but Kiruen didn’t care about such trivial matters.）

‘Do you think Her Highness would hate you for something like that?’

So, she had to show her.

Why Isabel is called the sunshine of the Empire. Why the people of the Kingdom of Alphea smile brightly when they see Isabel.

‘See for yourself. See what kind of person Her Highness is.’

Kiruen finally spoke.

“In the end, all the attackers were killed. Karin-gyeong judged that it was the best way to ensure safety, and I agree with that decision.”

“Stop……!”

Tears streamed down Karin’s face.

She thought that now that she had told Isabel everything, she could no longer approach her.

Because a murderer with dirty blood on her hands cannot be with Isabel. Because Isabel’s heart, clearer and purer than snow, would be contaminated.

Karin stepped back.

As if fleeing somewhere.

The obsession and compulsion to escape from this place had undone Viaton’s beginner-level Binding Magic.

But then Isabel’s voice was heard.

“Are you not hurt?”

At those words, Karin’s body stopped as if by magic.

“……Yes?”

“Teacher, I asked if you’re not hurt.”

Tears welled up in Isabel’s large eyes.

In fact, Isabel didn’t know her true feelings either.

‘Why am I so sad?’

Karin is the final boss.

All of this could be a trick, an act. But her heart ached so much.

The sight of her trying to run away from her was so upsetting.

‘I don’t know.’

She decided to be true to her current feelings for now.

‘Because I’m a child.’

Children don’t think about things too much. They cry when they want to cry, and laugh when they want to laugh.

That’s the privilege of a child.

Isabel decided to be a child for a while.

“Don’t come near me.”

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

She wondered if Karin was perhaps seriously injured and unable to return to the Imperial Palace. As that thought crossed her mind, she became worried about Karin.

Kiruen answered for her.

“Fortunately, she’s not hurt at all. But it seems her heart is deeply wounded.”

“Because of the assassins?”

“No.”

Kiruen shook her head.

Karin gave her a pleading look.

Please stop talking.

She wanted to shout, but her voice wouldn’t come out.

“Because of Your Highness.”

“Because of me, her heart is wounded?”

“Karin seems to think of herself as unclean. So, she seems to think that she has become someone unworthy of Your Highness, who is pure and spotless.”

Isabel was speechless for a moment.

Countless thoughts flashed through her mind, but Isabel stopped thinking with her head.

“Teacher, you’re not unclean at all.”

“……”

Isabel moved closer to Karin.

Karin’s back touched the wall.

With nowhere left to retreat, Karin forced her mouth open.

“Don’t come any closer.”

My uncleanliness will spread to you. So please, go away.

“I will come closer.”

“……”

Isabel’s steps were faster than expected.

Having lost her mana, Karin was powerless and couldn’t escape from Isabel.

Isabel wrapped her arms around Karin’s waist.

“I’m glad you’re not hurt.”

“……”

“I was worried.”

“……”

Isabel suddenly thought that Karin had become very thin.

She wanted to comfort Karin.

“Teacher, you’re not unclean at all.”

“……”

“Even if you were unclean, it’s okay.”

They attacked first. In other words, Karin was acting in self-defense.

“If that’s being unclean.”

Isabel lifted her face from Karin’s embrace and looked up at her.

Tears were also streaming down Isabel’s face.

“Be as unclean as you want. It’s an order.”

Viaton added from the side.

“You’re going to punish Karin-gyeong if she disobeys Your Highness’s order!”

“That’s right!”

“How are you going to punish her?”

“Very scarily.”

“What would that be?”

How should she punish the final boss?

Isabel didn’t really know.

“I’m going to cry!”

The tears she had been holding back burst out.

When Isabel burst into tears, Karin’s face turned pale.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

In the end, Karin returned to the Imperial Palace.

Over the next few days, Isabel was able to sort out and soothe her own feelings.

‘I need to be wary.’

All of this could be Karin’s scheme, a mask. The ‘final boss setting’ isn’t going anywhere.

The author’s setting is incredibly important in this world. It’s the fate assigned to a character, just like how I can’t overcome my terminal illness.

‘But settings can change sometimes.’

Just like how my father, who only thought of his children as successors, came to love me as his daughter. Just like how I, Isabel, who was set up as a villainess and committed all sorts of evil deeds, am living a different life.

Isabel took a sip of the green tangerine ade that Yuri had made and opened her mouth.

“Teacher, why did you go so far for me?”

“……What are you referring to?”

“You betrayed the Mirotel Magic Federation. You lost all your mana.”

“It wasn’t for Your Highness.”

Karin also took a sip of the green tangerine ade.

Isabel definitely saw it.

‘Karin’s eyes widened!’

Of course, of course.

That ade is made with homemade green tangerine marmalade that Yuri-eonni personally made!

Isabel felt a sense of pride for no reason.

“Then what did you do it for?”

“For the truth.”

Karin drank more green tangerine ade.

One sip, two sips, and the glass was empty.

“……”

“……”

An awkward silence fell between Isabel and Karin.

Meanwhile, Isabel stared intently at Karin. Karin subtly avoided Isabel’s gaze.

“It wasn’t for me?”

Another long moment passed.

After maintaining silence for so long, Karin finally spoke.

“I did it because the green tangerine ade was so delicious.”

“Huh?”

It was a meaningless statement.

Just something she said because she didn’t know what else to say. An excuse blurted out before revealing her true feelings.

“Perhaps it was for Your Highness, maybe, maybe, maybe it was.”

“So, you’re saying it was for me?”

“I think I’m in the process of making a rational judgment that maybe, maybe, maybe it was, maybe.”

Karin’s earlobes were slightly reddened.

Isabel clapped her hands once, and the door opened. Nanny Ruruka entered, carrying two more glasses of green tangerine ade.

Ruruka placed the green tangerine ade on the tray on the table and said in a gentle voice.

“Don’t drink too much, Your Highness. You’ll get a stomachache.”

“Okay. I’ll only drink this much!”

Karin picked up the refilled glass of green tangerine ade and sipped it.

It felt like the refreshingly sweet, carbonated water was soaking her entire body.

Isabel asked.

“Why did you go so far?”

Her mana circuit was closed, and she lost her mana.

For a mage to lose their mana was like a healthy person losing their limbs.

It was something Isabel couldn’t understand.

“I don’t understand.”

Karin is the final boss.

Even if the final boss has some ulterior motive, without mana, she can’t do anything.

Even being a final boss requires mana.

In her current state, she would lose even in a fight against Honey Badger.

“Teacher, you had so much. You were going to have even more.”

Isabel needed to know Karin’s intentions.

Emotionally, she felt sorry, pitiful, and grateful for Karin, but she still had to address what needed to be addressed.

Karin is definitely the awakened final boss, and she even used the secret art of two glasses of refreshing green tangerine ade to figure out the final boss’s intentions.

‘I have to find at least a clue.’

She has to figure out what the final boss Karin is thinking. Only then can she prevent the destruction of the Bilotian Imperial Family.

“I’m curious why you made that choice. I’ll keep it a secret. Just tell me.”

I’m harmless━━━

I’m a harmless creature━━━

I’m like that little doll over there━━━

Isabel smiled brightly as if hypnotizing Karin, trying to sound her out.

Karin stared at that smile for a while.

“That is……”

Karin touched the glass of green tangerine ade in her hand. The glass was still pleasantly cold, and the scent of green tangerine marmalade lingering in her mouth was bittersweet.

Her heart felt strangely warm and fuzzy, as if it would be okay to be honest today.

Perhaps she was slightly hypnotized.

‘It’s just, I’m drunk on green tangerine ade.’

Because the green tangerine ade is so sweet.

Because the green tangerine ade is so delicious.

Because she’s so drunk on green tangerine ade.

So, it seemed like she could be honest today.

“It’s because spring has come for me too.”

“Huh?”

Because the green tangerine ade is so sweet.

Because the green tangerine ade is so refreshing.

It was all the green tangerine ade’s fault.

Because this child in front of her, with whom she is enjoying this green tangerine ade, is so precious.

Because she doesn’t want to miss the spring that has come only once in her life.

Isabel tilted her head.

“……It’s November, though?”

Moreover, today is a day when the temperature is much lower than usual due to the influence of a cold continental high-pressure system…… She didn’t say that part.