How to Save a Time-Limited Heroine

Inside the mansion of Duke Levadine.

Agnes dismounted from Kaltara’s arms and stood upright, saying.

“Thank you for bringing me here.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Kaltara replied with a hearty laugh.

Agnes smiled back at her and pointed towards the inside of the mansion.

“Would you like to have a cup of tea?”

She indicated a reception room in the direction she pointed.

Kaltara blinked, then nodded with the brightest smile she’d shown all day.

“I’ve been waiting for this.”

She said cryptically.

*

The reception room of Duke Levadine’s mansion was spacious.

Not only was it large, but each decoration within it showcased the family’s status.

Rare treasures that could only be acquired through power, not wealth, were arranged behind the seat of honor like a radiant backdrop.

Kaltara smiled wryly at the malevolent arrangement.

“The Princess is quite interesting.”

“How long are you going to pretend to be a fool?”

Agnes asked, pausing from sipping her tea.

She was smiling, but not truly.

To elaborate, though she was smiling, her expression showed no joy.

“It seems like Deltain is tolerating you, but I can’t stand it because I’m not as tolerant.”

She said, demanding Kaltara to reveal her true nature.

Agnes was confident that Kaltara, the masochist, was very clever.

“You’re certainly different.”

Kaltara chuckled.

“Especially because you have some brains.”

Kaltara’s expression changed.

Instead of her previously jovial smile, she now wore a sharp, predatory grin.

Her muscles bulged as she picked up her teacup, a terrifying physique contrasting with her perfect manners, which were almost admirable.

“Do you know? I’ve seen many women like the Princess.”

“Are there others like me? You’re quite the liar.”

“I’ve seen many women who don’t know their place.”

Kaltara said coldly, her smile matching Agnes’s in its chill.

“Women who grew up pampered are usually foolish. They live protected and don’t understand their own insignificance. They don’t realize that they are just as mortal as anyone else when their skulls are cracked.”

“Is there anyone foolish enough not to know that?”

“You, Lady.”

Agnes’s eyebrow twitched.

“I know. People can die quite easily.”

“You’re wrong. If you knew, you wouldn’t hold your head so high in front of me.”

“You can’t kill me.”

“I can. Without even lifting a finger, just by unleashing my mana.”

Kaltara laughed, as if she found this amusing.

“Do you know why I’m telling you this?”

“Are you trying to say I should stay away from Deltain?”

“I’m glad I don’t have to explain it at length.”

Kaltara said, taking a sip of her tea, savoring its refined flavor.

“I hate the weak. They make me want to vomit. That’s why I liked my home in the West. The weak are naturally weeded out and returned to nature.”

“Barbaric.”

“It’s following nature’s order.”

“If you liked it so much, why didn’t you stay there?”

“I’m here because I have a reason to be.”

“Is Deltain that reason? Do you like Deltain?”

“Not in a sexual sense. I like the boss’s strength.”

Kaltara’s smile deepened.

“An opponent you can’t kill no matter what is quite thrilling for a warrior.”

“The term fits you perfectly.”

“Anyway, back to what I was saying.”

Kaltara continued, staring intently at Agnes.

“I can’t stand seeing a weakling like you prancing around like you own the place. It’s infuriating to see someone who should be bowing in submission flapping their tongue arrogantly. But if you’re by the boss’s side, I’ll have to keep seeing that, won’t I?”

“Is that your reason?”

“It’s a very important matter.”

Kaltara replied, setting down her teacup.

The sofa creaked under her weight, but she leaned back into it without concern.

“Princess, I don’t want you hanging around the boss.”

“What if I refuse?”

“Then I’ll have to snap your neck.”

“Deltain wouldn’t like that.”

“You’re mistaken. The boss has always disliked me. He keeps me around because he needs my strength. That won’t change even if I break your neck. The boss can’t afford to let me go.”

“How pitiful. No matter how much you serve like a dog, you won’t be loved.”

“Don’t change the subject. I could snap your neck right here and now. I have little patience.”

Kaltara’s expression turned menacing.

Throughout, Agnes continued to smile serenely.

“You’re also mistaken about something.”

“What is it?”

“Why do you think I’m weak?”

“Because you have such a frail body.”

“Wrong. This body is a handicap.”

Agnes’s smile deepened.

“If I were healthy too, I’d be too perfect. It would be too easy. So, this handicap exists.”

Agnes set down her teacup and crossed her legs.

Interest flickered in Kaltara’s eyes.

“Well, I’ve met someone like that before. A woman intoxicated by authority she didn’t earn, proud of beauty that will fade with age. And trying to crush me with those things. So, what are you going to show me?”

“You’re wrong about everything. And I’m not interested in you at all.”

“You called me here because of the boss, right? It must be annoying to see me close to him.”

“As if I’d see a muscle pig like you as competition.”

Agnes chuckled as if she had heard something amusing.

“It’s the same with you, I just don’t like you. Especially when you touch my things carelessly, despite having nothing but strength.”

“What makes you so confident to say that?”

“I have plenty of reasons. One of them is that I am significant to Deltain just by my existence alone.”

“You said you have a magic flower embedded in your heart. That’s why the boss is looking out for you.”

“That’s part of me too. But even without it, I’m still important to Deltain in a way you can’t imagine.”

Agnes also knew.

How provoking Deltain like this would look to an outsider.

How impudent it would seem.

But what did it matter?

Other people’s opinions were of no importance to her.

What she desired and was obsessed with was one thing.

To forever imprint the existence of Agnes Levadine in Deltain’s heart.

“You’ll be discarded once you outlive your usefulness. But I will be someone Deltain longs for, eternally.”

“Then I must kill you before that happens.”

“Try if you can. It might already be too late.”

Deltain Hebron would come to love her.

No, he probably already had those feelings to some extent.

Therefore, she was so sure of it.

When this insignificant life perished, he would be trapped in a swamp he could never escape from.

Agnes had more than enough ability to make that a reality.

“The reason I brought you here is simple. To tell you to stop interfering arrogantly in my affairs.”

Agnes’s smile was as cold as frost.

Kaltara laughed heartily.

“What, are you planning to sleep with the boss? To tie him down by bearing his child?”

“Yeah, I’ll sleep with Deltain. But I won’t have a child.”

Kaltara’s laughter ceased.

It wasn’t just because of her words.

The moment she spoke, Agnes’s gaze changed, shining with a peculiar light.

Kaltara thought.

Those eyes were like a doll you might find in a store.

“I’ll sleep with Deltain. A lot. In every way imaginable. Day and night, without a break. And every time, I’ll tell him that he can’t sleep with anyone else but me. That even if he does, he’ll think of me at that moment.”

No, it wasn’t fair to call her a doll.

At least the dolls Kaltara knew didn’t have such heat in their eyes.

Even if it was cold, hardened heat.

“It’s not just about sleeping. Every moment he wakes, eats, walks, and stops during the day, and every moment he ends his day and sleeps, I will make Deltain long for me. To do that, I will build memories with him in all those moments.”

It was strange, very strange.

Kaltara had never seen such a peculiar gaze in her life.

This made her curious.

She wanted to understand the source of that gaze and fervor.

“So that’s why you’ll keep flaunting yourself, is that it?”

“Yes, I’ll torment Deltain. The more I do, the more he’ll feel my presence.”

The conversation stopped.

The two women stared directly into each other’s eyes.

Agnes’s gaze was condescending, looking down on something lesser, while Kaltara’s gaze was exploring the unknown.

After a long silence.

“… huh.”

Kaltara let out a hollow laugh.

Only then did she realize.

“Princess, you have no intention of living, do you?”

Kaltara no longer called her woman.

It wasn’t out of respect.

Kaltara didn’t see Agnes as human anymore.

After all, how could something with no will to live be considered a living being?

“Yes, you plan to die. It’s not about the magic flower or your frail body. Even if all that was resolved, you wouldn’t want to live.”

Kaltara chuckled grimly.

This was her reaction to meeting a type of person she had never encountered before.

In hindsight, it was true.

Every living being Kaltara had met fought desperately to survive.

From insignificant weaklings to the emperor of the empire.

Even the demons from another dimension and that Deltain, all of them.

To Kaltara, Agnes, who was obsessed not with her life but with being remembered, was indeed a peculiar creature.

“Kuh, kahahak!”

Kaltara burst into laughter.

Agnes continued to smile quietly.

“What are you laughing at? It’s annoying.”

“Oh, khr…! Keh…!”

Kaltara pounded her knees, laughing.

“You’re broken. Completely broken!”

It was amusing.

Kaltara finally understood everything.

“Yeah, I admit it. I can’t instill any fear in you. My power can break a will, but it can’t straighten a broken will.”

“Now you see? You’re nothing.”

“Yes, I admit it!”

Kaltara laughed coolly.

Agnes just kept her smile.

“I can’t harm the princess. No, I no longer want to. There’s something I want to see!”

“What, do you want to see Deltain crying and longing for me? Congratulations. You’ll definitely see that.”

“No!”

Kaltara’s eyes widened.

Her ash-gray eyes gleamed dazzlingly.

“I want to see the princess begging to live.”

“That won’t happen.”

“We’ll see, I feel like you’ll cling miserably.”

Agnes’s brows furrowed slightly.

It was her first show of displeasure that day.

Kaltara silently observed that expression, then stood up with a satisfied look.

“The boss is persistent. And with that persistence, he always wins.”

With that, she left the reception room.

With a thud, the door closed, and Agnes stared at the door for a long time, her expression unreadable.