Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 10

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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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Chapter 10
The young bride was considerably smaller than the boy. Yet rather than fear the darkness, this tiny child attempted to comfort him instead.
‘So small, and yet when she offered to help, it felt as though I could actually rely on her.’
That couldn’t be. It shouldn’t be.
The boy gazed intently at the sleeping bride’s face.
“I will help you!”
“Your Highness will surely overcome this!”
A miracle.
Since the day two years ago when he became a monster, she was the first person in his darkness to remain whole, the first to grasp his hand and promise to help him.
An indescribable emotion rippled and surged within him—a fleeting illusion that perhaps with her aid, he might truly escape this terrible curse.
‘Yes, it’s merely an illusion.’
Cheon Gyeol-u clenched his teeth firmly.
The Lady was only nine years old at most. Two years younger than him.
A precious child who ate with rice grains clinging to her lips, nodding drowsily mid-meal before falling asleep—an imperial princess abandoned by the empire, a pitiful young bride who had journeyed to a distant foreign land only to be murdered by her own husband.
She was not someone he should depend upon. Rather, it was fitting that he become her support. He was two years her senior, and as of today, he had become her husband.
‘Regardless of circumstances, she is now my Lady. I must protect her by any means necessary.’
Cheon Gyeol-u gently traced the sleeping girl’s face with his fingertips. Soft, delicate cheeks. The warm, faint breath of the child brushing against his skin.
The boy’s gaze hardened with resolve.
‘My Lady, since you saved me when I sought death, I will save you no matter what it takes.’
Even as a miracle had occurred, the perilous reality remained unchanged. There would be no leisurely time for practice as she had suggested. If neither spouse died, chaos would erupt from dawn onward—they had been married specifically to kill one another.
Within that chaos, how could he keep her alive? The young Crown Prince fell into anguish and remained sleepless for hours.
* * *
[Your Highness, Your Highness.]
“Mmm….”
[Your Highness the Princess, please wake up.]
“Mmmm….”
[Your Highness the Princess!]
“Gasp!”
I jolted awake at An-si’s insistent voice ringing in my ears.
It was early dawn. I couldn’t remember when I’d fallen asleep.
‘I remember being disappointed that my stomach was already full when there were still things I wanted to taste….’
Satisfied and exhausted, I must have dozed off at some point.
‘Did I really fall asleep while eating?’
Good heavens. How childish of me. How will I ever face the Crown Prince later?
I grasped my flushed cheeks and sighed, when An-si’s voice came again.
[Your Highness, you are awake?]
[Yes, when did you arrive?]
[I have just arrived, Your Highness.]
[You’re late. Are you well? Are you injured?]
[I am unharmed. That wretched Thousand-Year Fox fled the moment she saw me, so I had to chase her down to capture her, which delayed my return.]
“You’ve worked hard. Do you have Thousand-Year Fox outside right now?”
“Yes, she’s waiting quietly.”
“Wait, I’ll be right out.”
I threw off the blanket and rose, only to find the Crown Prince lying right beside me.
“…!”
I startled at the memory of last night, then relaxed when I realized he was still asleep.
‘But why is he sleeping on the bare floor without any blankets? He’ll catch a cold.’
I didn’t have the heart to move him, so I pulled the blanket I’d been using over him instead.
‘Sleep well.’
Even his sleeping face was composed and clean—somehow more refined than the nobles themselves.
I patted him gently, wishing him peaceful rest, then quietly opened the door. An-si stood waiting on the veranda, and behind her was a beautiful woman with restless, darting eyes. She had a tear mole beneath her eye and a beauty mark at the corner of her mouth.
“You captured her perfectly. Not a scratch on her.”
“This is the phoenix of the Princess, so of course I handled it with ease!”
An-si puffed out her chest proudly. I reached up and stroked her soft golden feathers—standing on the veranda meant I didn’t need to rise on my toes to do so.
“Well done. You’re truly my phoenix.”
“Chirp, chirp. Chirp chirp chirp.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed as she watched us intently.
“…Your Highness? For a phoenix to call someone ‘Princess’….”
I smiled softly and looked at her.
“Do you know who I am?”
“…?”
The woman tilted her head, sniffed the air, then suddenly leaped straight up.
“Yelp! The scent of heavenly peaches!”
Pure white fox ears sprouted from the startled woman’s head. A tail burst from beneath her skirt, and her face elongated into a snout.
The woman who had been wearing servant’s clothes transformed into a white fox standing on hind legs. The tear mole and beauty mark were actually dark fur markings.
“H-heavenly peach scent, jade eyes, and a princess? C-could you possibly be the Celestial Princess?”
Thousand-Year Fox trembled her ears as she asked. An-si glared at her.
“How dare you speak informally to the Princess!”
“Yelp….”
Under that piercing gaze, the white fox’s ears drooped. Thousand-Year Fox whimpered nervously before speaking.
“The scent is there, but the body is just human, so it’s strange. Are you really the Celestial Princess?”
“Would An-si, a phoenix, serve a fake princess? You foolish creature.”
“Yelp, but that aside… why are you in human form? You look delicious….”
Thousand-Year Fox licked her lips. An-si’s eyes blazed with fury as she kicked at the fox’s leg.
“How dare you speak such nonsense to the Princess!”
“Yelp! Why confuse me by taking human form! You’re human but smell like heavenly peaches, so you look so tasty! Slurp.”
“This creature has completely lost its mind!”
An-si, enraged, soared into the air and struck the fox’s head with a powerful blow. The fox yelped and bounced.
“Yowl! Yelp! I’m sorry! I was wrong! I won’t show that I think you look tasty!”
“You shouldn’t even harbor such thoughts! How dare you! I’ll teach you proper manners!”
An-si fluttered about, striking the fox’s head with her dainty fists—thwack, thwack. The fox, shielding its head with its front paws, whimpered apologies in pitiful yelps. I sat perched on the veranda, chin resting in my palm, watching this absurd spectacle unfold.
This fox is not quite what I expected.
‘Thousand-Year Fox shouldn’t be this sloppy. Is it because she’s a white fox?’
White-furred fox demons were indeed considered more auspicious than their counterparts, yet if this creature had become Thousand-Year Fox rather than a Heavenly Fox, she should possess far greater demonic sophistication.
After the commotion subsided, Thousand-Year Fox stood before me with her white ears drooping so severely they’d flattened against her head.
“Your Highness, I was wrong. I’ll behave with proper manners from now on.”
“You should be using formal speech!”
An-si glared at her. The fox hung her head and replied weakly.
“In this form, formal speech is difficult. You see, a fox’s mouth is what it is. I can manage it if I mimic human form. May I transform?”
“What’s so difficult about formal speech? You’re just making excuses…”
“Never mind, let it go.”
I intervened before An-si could flare up in anger.
“Demons born from beasts naturally struggle with human speech.”
“But the Heavenly Foxes spoke perfectly!”
“Those are Heavenly Foxes who cultivated their way to the Heavenly Realm. She’s just Thousand-Year Fox living her life. The fact that she’s a thousand-year-old fox is why she can speak this well at all.”
At my explanation, Thousand-Year Fox clapped her front paws together and nodded vigorously.
“Exactly! Because I’m this old, I can reveal my true form and still speak this well! Your Highness truly understands! You’re indeed a princess of the Heavenly Realm!”
“Flattery won’t help. Now tell me—what’s your purpose for sneaking into the Palace?”
Regardless of how incompetent she appeared, a demon was still a demon. Depending on her answer, I might need to exorcise her. I regarded Thousand-Year Fox with careful scrutiny.
The fox’s eyes curved like crescents as she writhed and answered.
“I came to seduce men.”
“…”
My words caught in my throat before I managed to ask.
“…Men? Which ones?”
“Minister Lee—a middle-aged widower living alone. His seasoned flavor seems promising. Scholar Park from Hongmungwan who passed the state exam last year—so young and delicate. He’d taste sweet. There’s also someone among the Royal Guard I’ve marked. His muscles are magnificent. And then there’s…”
As the list tumbled forth without pause, my head began to spin. I hastily cut her off.
“You’re planning to kill and devour these men?”
“Kill them? Why waste such precious things! Handsome men aren’t common! I’m going to seduce them! One by one, carefully… slurp.”
“…”
“Oh, I suppose devouring them is part of it. Adults always consume each other at night. You’re too young to understand the adult world, little princess.”
“I’m 209 years old! I know everything!”
“Hah, what good is age alone? Everyone knows the Heavenly Princess has been a child for two centuries. You’re still a child, princess—you’re far too young to comprehend the adult world.”
“No, that’s not… never mind. If that’s all your purpose is, do as you wish.”
A sudden exhaustion washed over me. I waved my hand dismissively and broached the real matter.
“By principle, demons who hide among humans and harm them must be exorcised immediately. You understand that, don’t you?”
“Yelp! I haven’t harmed anyone! With so many delicious things in the world, why would I devour humans! I’m a thousand-year-old Thousand-Year Fox—I don’t need human essence!”
“Really? You’ve truly never harmed anyone in your entire life? Ever?”
“…”
Thousand-Year Fox’s eyes shifted away from mine as she whined reluctantly.
“Yes, well… in the old days I may have eaten a few… just a few…”
“I thought so. You deserve to be punished.”
“B-but I only ate the wicked ones! I get indigestion if I try to eat good humans! I can’t eat them!”
“Either way, you still ate them, didn’t you?”
“Mewww….”
The fox drooped her ears and pouted.
I laughed, resting my chin in my palm.
“I won’t exorcise you, so how about you do something for me instead?”
“Meow? What kind of thing?”
Her drooping ears perked up with a flutter, and her tail swayed back and forth. How adorable. Without thinking, I reached out and grasped that fluffy, luxuriant tail. The fox startled.
“Kyehing!”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“N-no! Your Highness smells wonderful, so it’s fine! Please pet me as much as you like and show me some love!”
Thousand-Year Fox hastily shook her head and draped her tail across my lap. It was impossibly soft and fluffy—the texture was exquisite. Entranced, I began stroking the fox’s tail as I spoke.
“First, how long have you been in the Palace?”
“About five years now. My sister said there were lots of handsome men in the royal palace, so I came in. It was exhausting creating a convincing identity, kyehing.”
“You have a sister? Never mind that for now. So you must have known what the Crown Prince was?”
“Of course I knew. I saw him directly.”
“What did you see?”
“The day the Crown Prince became the Dark Daytime Duke, I was performing there.”
“…What happened that day?”
“Kyeaang….”
Thousand-Year Fox flicked her ears and furrowed her brow, then sighed before beginning her tale.

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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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