Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 111

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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 111
I rose quickly, dressed myself, and set out to find the Crown Prince.
Outside of study hours, the Crown Prince typically trained in swordsmanship at the Gyebang Training Grounds or studied in his room at Jamnyong Hall. On rare occasions when he rested, he would read books in the Garden Pavilion or practice archery at the Archery Range.
‘…Now that I think about it, isn’t the Crown Prince such a proper and diligent boy? He’s still young—he should play more.’
Should I invite him to go somewhere and have fun?
Ah, a wonderful idea struck me.
‘Let me ask him to come with me when I go to see the street performance!’
Since I wasn’t going as the Crown Princess but rather in disguise, going together with the Crown Prince would be perfect—I could enjoy myself a little outside the Palace while concealing my identity.
‘Really, I’m not going to play but to gain the concept of “chance encounter”… but opportunities to move about outside the Palace in disguise are rare. I should enjoy this while I can.’
With An-si and Gwang-chul as my escorts, there’s no problem.
‘Good, I should mention going to see the street performance together when I meet the Crown Prince.’
But first, I need to deal with those Empire Envoys’ schemes. I wandered through the places the Crown Prince usually frequented, my mood slightly elevated.
‘Not at the Training Grounds, not at the archery range, not at the Pavilion, not in his room at Jamnyong Hall.’
Then the only place left is….
The backyard of Jamnyong Hall where the red plum blossoms grow. The place where the Crown Prince and I practiced controlling darkness hand in hand, where we carved our growing heights into the wall.
Even after several Palace Staff members began residing in Jamnyong Hall, no one ventured into this backyard. It seemed the Crown Prince had forbidden entry.
‘The Crown Prince suddenly asked me which small flowering tree I liked best, and when I said azaleas, he planted rows of azalea shrubs here to create a hedge.’
He even built a private gate that wasn’t there before, brought in a chair, and hung paper lanterns in various places so it wouldn’t be dark at night.
‘Somehow, the backyard of Jamnyong Hall has become a space just for me and the Crown Prince.’
At some point, I stopped bringing even An-si here. The Crown Prince never explicitly said we should only come together, yet it happened naturally. How should I put it—it feels like a secret garden that the Crown Prince carefully decorated for us… though he’s never said so directly.
“Crown Prince, are you in there?”
“I sense his presence, my lady.”
“I thought so. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Yes, Princess.”
An-si, now accustomed to this, naturally stopped outside the private gate. I’m grateful that Gwang-chul is perched on her wrist, so she won’t be bored waiting alone.
I opened the private gate and stepped between the azalea shrubs that towered above my height.
‘They’re bare now… but when spring comes, they’ll all bloom beautifully.’
As I entered the backyard after passing through the shrubs, I saw the Crown Prince in martial attire. With his long black hair tied tightly, the boy swung his sword through the air. The shadows scattered along the blade spread through the empty space like spilled ink. Perhaps because of that ink-like darkness, the sight of him in martial attire wielding his sword resembled a refined scholar wielding a brush in one sweeping stroke.
I watched him for a moment, entranced. Even at his young age, if he continues like this, how elegant and magnificent will he be when he grows? I look forward to the Crown Prince’s future. Not enormously, but quite a bit.
‘If he grows up like this… I might feel a little flutter. Not much, just a tiny bit.’
If that happens, will it become difficult to treat him as comfortably as I do now? Or perhaps….
“Lady.”
Sensing my presence, the Crown Prince lowered his sword and turned to face me. The boy smiled, breathing lightly.
“You’ve arrived.”
I like that expression on the Crown Prince’s face as he greets me. Is it because it’s an expression I’ve brightened?
To suppress the strange flutter rising in my chest, I deliberately opened my mouth with a slightly sullen tone.
“You said to rest for just a moment, but you put me into a deep sleep and left. Why didn’t you wake me?”
“You were sleeping so peacefully that I was reluctant to disturb you.”
The Crown Prince dropped his Dark Sword into his shadow, making it disappear, then approached the chair beneath the red plum blossom tree and came toward me, picking up a robe he had apparently removed.
“Have you eaten?”
The Crown Prince casually draped his robe around me and asked. The garment hung loosely over my frame like a makeshift shawl.
Had the boy grown taller again? Why did his robe fit so generously?
“Your Highness, why are you suddenly putting a robe on me?”
“I thought you might be cold, my lady.”
“It’s only November. It’s not that cold yet.”
“Even so, please wear it. The wind is sharp.”
The Crown Prince fastened the hem of the robe around me, then led me to a chair and lit a fire in the brazier beside it with flint. Afterward, he unwrapped a paper bundle that had been hanging from a branch and placed it on my lap. Inside lay an array of delicate, bite-sized yaksundang confections arranged in neat rows.
“Since you missed breakfast, please have some sweets. It will be lunchtime soon, so a proper meal would be awkward.”
“…Did you prepare these for me?”
“Yes. I thought you might come looking for me once you woke.”
The boy spoke with a gentle smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners, and sat beside me. As I stared blankly, the Crown Prince wiped his hands with a handkerchief, then picked up one confection and placed it directly into my mouth.
“It’s yaksundang made with sesame. How does it taste?”
Softer and more fragrant than ordinary yaksundang, it tasted more like a proper confection than candy.
‘This is better as a snack.’
I ate slowly and nodded to show my approval, and the young Crown Prince broke into a radiant smile.
“I’m glad.”
Watching that smile, I suddenly came to my senses.
‘Why did I come looking for the Crown Prince again?’
I’d nearly forgotten because of the new confection. Though it seemed my attention had been captured by more than just the sweets.
I quickly swallowed what I was eating and opened my mouth.
“Your Highness.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“This morning… I think I said something strange while half-asleep. Do you remember?”
The Crown Prince remained silent for a moment, his smile unchanged, then suddenly extended his palm toward me.
“Your Highness?”
“Would you touch it?”
“Pardon?”
“Here, I mean.”
The Crown Prince drew my hand forward and placed it on his palm.
What was he suddenly doing?
Startled, I looked up, and the boy’s expression grew slightly downcast.
“Is it not very noticeable?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve developed calluses on my hand.”
“Ah.”
At those words, I traced the area he’d indicated with my fingertips and felt what seemed to be fresh calluses forming.
The boy, his brows slightly furrowed, added as if making an excuse.
“Perhaps because I am still young… at first, no matter how much I trained, calluses wouldn’t form easily and my hands remained smooth. Yet when I continued without rest, they finally began to appear little by little.”
“…You wanted to develop calluses?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to show you, Lady, that I’m working this hard.”
“To me?”
“Yes, well.”
The Crown Prince’s ears flushed slightly as he hesitated. The boy averted his gaze, embarrassed and flustered, and barely managed to continue.
“I was hoping you might come to rely on me more.”
“…?”
“Before, when the matter of my deposition came up and I tried to hide it, you said something, didn’t you? That you disliked not knowing about things that concerned you.”
The Crown Prince took a deep breath and met my gaze again. His dark eyes held a steady light as he looked at me.
“I feel the same way, Lady.”
“…!”
“This morning, you said the Empire’s envoys are plotting against me, but that I needn’t worry. That you would stop them. That I didn’t need to know….”
“That’s….”
“I don’t like that. I don’t want to be someone you protect. I want to be someone you can rely on. I want to….”
The Crown Prince looked away again. His ears completely crimson, the boy declared:
“…I’m your husband, Lady.”
Wow.
Oh.
If he’d just said it plainly, it would’ve been nothing, but seeing him so flustered like that makes me embarrassed too.
I can’t seem to look at the boy properly.
I averted my gaze and reflected on what the Crown Prince had just said. I felt the calluses on his hands where our fingers still touched.
The marks of his effort.
‘…When I said I hated him hiding things related to me, the Crown Prince apologized. So this time, it’s my turn to apologize.’
I had originally planned to handle the envoys’ plot without his knowledge. Just like the Crown Prince had tried to hide the petition about my deposition from me.
‘It’s exactly what they call putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.’
I sighed inwardly in reflection, then opened my mouth.
“I apologize, Your Highness.”
“….”
“I told you I disliked this, yet I was about to do the same thing. From now on, I won’t hide anything concerning you.”
“…Then you’ll discuss these matters with me from now on?”
“Yes.”
I lifted my head and smiled as I added:
“I’ll rely on you, Your Highness.”
The dark eyes meeting mine sparkled like a starlit night sky. The Crown Prince broke into a radiant smile of joy.
“Thank you, Lady.”
I do love that expression on the boy’s face. It stirs something warm and ticklish inside me. Feeling my own expression soften, I deliberately shifted to a more composed tone.
“However, Your Highness.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t deliberately cultivate calluses.”
“Pardon?”
“No matter how much you train, calluses don’t form easily, and your hands remain delicate—that’s an enormous advantage. Why would you want to lose that?”
At my words, the Crown Prince blinked, his expression shifting as if he’d just realized something.
“Does the Lady prefer clean hands?”
“What? Not exactly—”
“I understand.”
The Crown Prince swiftly withdrew the hand he’d been extending toward me and spoke with determination.
“Please wait a moment, Lady. I will maintain them beautifully.”
“No, I wasn’t asking you to maintain them or anything—”
“I’m fortunate to be Eodukseo. Even with training, calluses barely form, scars rarely mark the skin, I perspire hardly at all, and any blemishes fade away cleanly when I spend time beneath the night sky.”
Eodukseo had such characteristics? Since the Crown Prince is my first human Eodukseo, it wasn’t strange for the boy to discover traits I didn’t know about myself.
‘So that’s why he always appeared so immaculate and refined? Now that I think about it, even during training he remained impeccably neat, and I rarely noticed any scent of perspiration….’
While I was processing this, the Crown Prince casually changed the subject.
“By the way, Lady, what exactly are the Ping Empire Envoys trying to do to me?”

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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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