Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 1
Prologue
The moment I opened my eyes, I was submerged in a river as dark as ink.
‘Ah, I’ve died again.’
As I exhaled deeply, bubbles rose in a gentle stream. I paddled weakly after the foam drifting toward the surface.
“Gasp.”
I lifted my head above the water, drew in a breath, and glanced around cautiously.
‘There’s no ferry today, it seems.’
Usually there are one or two ferries about, but occasionally there are days like this when none appear.
No choice then—I’ll have to swim to the Riverbank.
By the time I reached the shore and dragged myself up, I collapsed onto the sand without ceremony.
“Ahhhhh….”
‘This gets harder to bear each time.’
Lying there, I caught my breath while gazing up at the crimson sky.
It should be about time for her to arrive.
“Your Highness! Princess! Are you unharmed?!”
That one was never meant for nobility, I thought—and there she was, appearing the moment I thought it.
I waved my hand languidly toward the iridescent bird descending rapidly.
“Your Highness!”
The small bird spotted me and dove down like an arrow. Just before landing, it performed a somersault in mid-air. The moment its feet touched the ground, the bird transformed into a golden-haired girl with a ribbon in her hair, dressed in a colorful hanbok.
This was An-si, my lady-in-waiting and guardian—a young phoenix who had lived for about a hundred and fifty years.
“An-si, what was I doing when I died this time? Was I asleep? I can’t remember.”
“Don’t speak such frightening words! I’ve told you not to! Your Highness has not passed away!”
“If I open my eyes and find myself drowning in the River of Three Paths, what else would you call it?”
At my indifferent response, An-si pressed her lips together firmly.
“Your Highness is merely wandering between life and death, not actually deceased. Absolutely not!”
“It’s all the same thing.”
“It is not! The Yama King is surely rushing here at this very moment, dropping everything else, and then Your Highness will open your eyes again in the Palace in no time!”
“That’s exactly my point—because my father is the Yama King, I always return alive from the River of Three Paths. If I were anyone else, I’d be just as dead.”
“Not everyone who crosses the River of Three Paths dies! Sometimes people return thanks to the blessings of their ancestors!”
An-si let out a sharp cry and threw a blanket over me, as if refusing to hear another word. Only then did I notice her eyes were swollen red from crying.
“…This isn’t something that happens once or twice. Why are you crying again?”
“Because it happens more than once or twice, that is why I cry. *sniffles*.”
An-si sniffled and pulled me into her embrace, blanket and all.
An-si appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen years old if measured by human standards, but I was even smaller than her, so I disappeared entirely into her arms.
“You must be cold, yes? I shall warm you at once, I promise.”
“It’s fine. I’m not that cold.”
“With your lips turning blue, such words are hardly convincing, I must say.”
An-si grumbled petulantly while holding me tight.
“The truth is, I was not the only one crying. The Jade Emperor wept as well.”
“Mother did?”
I could understand Father crying, but Mother rarely shed tears.
“Mother is accustomed to such things. Why would she suddenly weep…?”
“My lady, what parent could grow accustomed to their only child constantly dancing with death’s door?”
“….”
“The Jade Emperor wept out of fear that the Yama King might also fail to save the princess.”
“….”
I had always thought Mother remained composed, but she had merely hidden her pain.
A sadness crept over me, and nestled in An-si’s embrace, I could only fidget with my fingers. An-si wrapped my small hands firmly in the blanket and began to murmur.
“You are different from other deities, and if you were to pass away, we might never meet again… *sobs*.”
My phoenix finally burst into tears. I had nothing to say, so I closed my mouth.
My name is Sang Ra-hee-yo. My title is Princess of Heaven and Underworld.
Mother is the supreme deity of the Heavenly Realm, the Jade Emperor.
Father is the supreme deity of the Underworld, the Yama King.
About a thousand years ago, my parents—the most exalted of all deities—fell in love and conducted an unprecedented marriage that turned heaven and earth upside down.
Around eight hundred years ago, after enjoying their honeymoon, they began to worry when no child came.
From that point onward, they strived to conceive until I was finally born.
Even conception proved difficult, and the birth itself was far more arduous, or so I’ve been told.
In other words, I am the precious only daughter my parents obtained after countless efforts—the sole being ever crowned princess in both the Heavenly Realm and the Underworld simultaneously.
Because I am such a treasured princess, I have been showered with immense love since the moment of my birth. Everyone was devoted to me, and all bowed before me. I lived in constant abundance, able to obtain whatever I desired.
Except for one thing: health.
Though I am two hundred and nine years old, I have spent precious little of that time awake and lucid. I must sleep for long stretches. My body continues to deteriorate even with each breath I take.
I endure until my limit is reached, then must sleep for extended periods to heal my damaged body. Sometimes, when the limit approaches, I do not merely fall asleep—my breath stops entirely.
Each time, Father retrieves my soul and Mother heals my body, bringing me back to life quickly.
‘Had it not been for Mother and Father, I would have died long ago.’
Because of this condition, my body never developed properly, making me even smaller than An-si, my underdeveloped phoenix.
‘When I first met her, An-si was much smaller than me. She surpassed me in an instant.’
Because of my state, my parents could never truly find happiness in the daughter they had longed for. My only child keeps stopping breathing and my soul keeps departing for the River of Three Paths.
‘Perhaps they became unhappier after I was born than before?’
Often—no, frequently—I feel sorry.
My parents ceaselessly search for ways to cure me. They have tried every medicine known to exist in this world and exhausted every treatment available. Yet, to this day, there has been no significant progress.
‘Though I have discovered the root cause of my illness.’
My parents are simply too powerful—that is the source of my affliction.
From birth, I inherited an excessive amount of power. I received all the divine essence of both the Jade Emperor and the Yama King, a burden far too great for an infant’s body to endure.
It is as though a newborn were draped in chains of iron so heavy that even an adult would struggle beneath their weight. Thus, merely breathing causes my body to deteriorate.
If I were to grow into a strong adult, I might eventually bear this immense divine power. But crushed perpetually beneath its weight, I cannot develop properly, and the weaker my body becomes, the less I can withstand the power—a vicious cycle without end.
In truth, the reason my parents were childless for so long stemmed from this very curse. Any child conceived would perish in the womb, so I—not yet born—apparently refused to be designated. It is something I cannot remember myself, but according to Samshin Grandmother, this is what occurred.
‘That I was born at all, rather than stillborn, was called a miracle.’
Just as the union of the Jade Emperor and the Yama King was unprecedented, so too was my birth an event without precedent.
Thus, no one foresaw it. Even Samshin Grandmother only realized how grave my condition was after I had been conceived.
So my parents did not deliberately bring me into the world knowing this would happen, and yet they constantly torment themselves with guilt.
‘It is not wrong that my mother and father are supreme deities, nor that they desired a child.’
Yet every time I fall ill, they tell me to resent them as much as I wish, as though they were criminals when they are not.
‘Truly, would they not have been happier if I had never been born at all?’
If I had to be born, I should have inherited only as much divine power as I could manage.
‘Why was I born so broken?’
I sighed only within my heart. If I sighed aloud, An-si—still sniffling—would only worry more.
She cries far too much. Her eyes will be completely swollen.
“An-si, do not cry, yes?”
I nestled into her embrace and rubbed my cheek against hers.
“Your Highness, *sniff* *sob*…”
My phoenix only sobbed harder instead of ceasing her tears, holding me tightly.
I despise that anyone cries because of me. I wish no one would cry. I wish no one would become unhappy because of my existence.
‘Yet that is so very difficult.’
Being a good child is easy, but why is being a healthy child so impossibly hard?
Cradled in An-si’s arms, I gazed distantly at the River of Three Paths flowing before us.
It will take time before Father arrives. Even the Yama King cannot simply resurrect someone at will when the boundary between life and death wavers so precariously. It is much like ensuring a coin always lands on heads when tossed.
‘At first, it was quick, but as time passes, it takes him longer and longer.’
Now that I think of it, Mother wept anew as well.
‘…Next time, even Mother and Father’s power may not be able to prevent the coin from landing on tails.’
Perhaps that would be a relief.
I could see the Underworld Messengers piloting their ferries laden with the dead across the river in a great procession. It seemed they were arriving in one massive wave due to congestion at the entrance to the Underworld.
Among them, one particular spirit caught my eye.
“An-si, look there.”
As I tugged at her rainbow-hued sleeve, An-si lifted her head, her eyes still glistening with tears.
“Stop crying and look, look.”
I pointed toward the ferry drawing ever closer to our Riverbank. A gaunt girl of perhaps six or seven years old stood with a vacant expression, holding the hand of an Underworld Messenger. Her hair was a striking silver that made her stand out. An-si quickly spotted her as well.
“Do you speak of the Silver-haired Child, Your Highness?”
“Yes, she is far younger than I am, is she not?”
“She does appear similar to you, Your Highness.”
“That’s just because I haven’t fully matured yet. Her actual age is far younger than mine. She’s just a real baby, after all.”
“….”
“Even such a young child has died and come to the Underworld. Watching the River of Three Paths flow by from here, I see so many children younger and more pitiful than me.”
“….”
“In comparison, I’ve lived a truly happy life, and it’s not as though I’m dying this very moment.”
Looking at it objectively, I’m not such a pitiable child. I am Sang Ra-hee-yo, the Heavenly Mandate Princess.
“So now, stop crying….”
“That child might be reborn, or go to paradise, or become an immortal! But Your Majesty cannot!”
An-si let out a sharp cry before bursting into even louder sobs.
“Waaah! Please don’t die, Your Majesty! You mustn’t leave us! Waaah! If Your Highness the Princess passes away, An-si will follow you in death!”
My attempt to comfort her only made things worse.
‘Perhaps it would be better if everyone just accepted it quickly.’
I was born the most precious in the world, showered with abundant love, and lived a life of every conceivable luxury.
Surely this is an excessively blessed existence.
So lacking health is hardly a concern. Even if I were to die this very day, 209 years is hardly a short life.
‘Isn’t my life a good death? I wish my parents would accept it that way too.’
That won’t happen. They love me far too much.
If the coin doesn’t land on heads next time, if I truly do die, what will become of my parents then?
The thought filled me with melancholy.
‘…Should I distance myself from Mother and Father? If they grow accustomed to being apart from me, perhaps they’ll recover more quickly later.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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