Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 13

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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 13
“Your Majesty, you know of the Xue Tribe, yes? I am of their bloodline.”
“The Xue Tribe.”
Light flickered momentarily in the King’s turbid, bloodshot eyes.
The Xue Tribe were originally a reclusive ethnic minority dwelling in the Snow Plains to the north. They had remained obscure until the Pyeong Empire’s conquest brought them into prominence.
Rumors spread widely that the Empire had forcibly subjugated that barren land because of the threatening abilities the Xue Tribe possessed. Of course, since what those abilities actually were remained classified, speculation ran rampant.
‘Even within the Empire, only a select few, including the Emperor himself, know the truth.’
A descendant of a clan with mysterious powers threatening enough to warrant imperial conquest—such a status was perfectly suited for my purposes in this situation.
‘I cannot very well claim I brought the Queen here because I am the only daughter of the Yama King, who traverses the River of Three Paths as easily as breathing.’
Besides, it was not entirely implausible that the Xue Tribe’s abilities could accomplish such a thing.
“My mother, who is of the Xue Tribe, once told me that if one properly utilizes our tribe’s abilities, even someone who has slept for so long could be awakened.”
“Is that truth?”
A thread of hope kindled across the King’s face.
Seok-ran had told me that the King, driven to madness after his encounter with Darkness, had become obsessed solely with awakening the Queen. Countless physicians, Taoists, and shamans had come and gone, all failing, and it had been quite some time since there was anyone left to summon.
“The Xue Tribe’s abilities, the Xue Tribe’s abilities…”
The King murmured, his anger fading from his face, before asking.
“What exactly are these abilities? Can that power truly heal the Queen?”
“I do not know the details myself. I am still young and cannot yet wield the abilities well. But my mother knows them thoroughly.”
I did not actually need Seol Deung-hwa for this, but this was how I could save Se-ru-hwa’s Mother.
At my response, the King pressed me urgently.
“Who is your mother? Where is she? Is she far? Send a messenger at once to bring her here! As quickly as possible!”
Because the wedding ceremony had taken place yesterday, Seol Deung-hwa was staying in the Guest House within the Palace alongside the Ping Empire Envoys. A residence for honored guests that could not be occupied without the King’s permission.
Yet he asked where she was—he truly knew nothing at all.
‘Once I save the Queen, I must also find a way to heal the King.’
The Flower Keeper of the Western Heaven Flower Field would know. When I asked my mother what became of the immortals who fell into madness through their entanglement with Darkness, she said the Flower Keeper Hal-ak-gung had healed them.
In any case, that was a matter for later. For now, I needed to save the Crown Prince and Se-ru-hwa’s Mother first.
“If Your Majesty would write an edict, I shall bring my mother here.”
At my words, the King immediately summoned the Minister of Royal Decrees and had him write out an edict, which he handed to me.
‘How swift. He does not even know who I truly am, nor has he properly verified whether I am genuinely of the Xue Tribe.’
Observing the King’s state, it seemed the Crown Prince’s wedding had not been decided through normal procedures either.
‘Did he simply affix his seal without even understanding what plan the ministers had proposed?’
There was a vast difference between the King knowingly approving the wedding and merely stamping his seal in ignorance.
‘I should verify this later with the Heavenly Eye.’
If I used the Heavenly Eye now, I could not predict what reaction the already unstable King might have.
In any case, with the Queen asleep for two years and the King in this state, and the Crown Prince being shunned for bearing Darkness—
‘Then who truly holds the reins of power in this kingdom?’
Does that person desire stability in this precarious situation? Or do they wish for it to remain unstable? If the Crown Prince were to be executed smoothly and Wan-eon became the new Crown Prince, how would that person’s power shift?
‘Beyond those allied with the Crown Prince, I should also investigate who might be behind Se-ru-hwa’s assassination.’
* * *
The Crown Prince, Cheon Gyeol-u, suddenly opened his eyes. Bright daylight flooded all around him.
How long had I been asleep?
I hadn’t intended to sleep at all, yet I couldn’t remember when I’d drifted off. I jolted upright in alarm. The blanket draped over me slipped away with a whisper.
This is the blanket I’d covered my lady with…
The Crown Prince looked around in confusion, clutching the blanket. The space where his young bride should have been sleeping lay empty.
My lady was gone.
“…!”
Goosebumps erupted across my entire body.
Was she dead? Had my lady perished and vanished? While I slept without my senses, had the darkness seeping from me killed her? If so, where was her body? Had the attendants already removed her corpse?
Suffocating with terror, Cheon Gyeol-u hurled the blanket aside and bolted from the room in a frenzy. The eunuchs and handmaidens outside nearly collapsed in shock at the sight of the Crown Prince.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Kyaaaah!”
The Crown Prince reflexively raised his sleeve to shield his face, then stopped on the veranda and shouted urgently.
“Where is my lady? Where has the Crown Princess gone?”
“T-the Crown Princess has gone to pay her respects!”
“…She’s gone to pay respects?”
At that answer, the Crown Prince’s heart, which had been pounding with dread, began to settle.
She wasn’t dead. I hadn’t killed her.
He splashed water on his face and asked again.
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“P-please spare us!”
Though he hadn’t spoken harshly, the eunuch trembled as he prostrated himself. The handmaiden beside him squeezed her eyes shut and cried out in a voice like a scream.
“T-the Crown Princess said you must be tired and instructed us not to wake Your Highness before she left!”
“…I see.”
“Th-then we shall take our leave….”
The eunuchs and handmaidens retreated, watching his expression nervously as though fleeing from a monster. The trembling eunuch who had been prostrated couldn’t even rise to his feet—he crawled away, supported by another servant, and disappeared.
The Crown Prince watched them scatter as if they’d glimpsed a beast, then returned to the Bridal Chamber. The blanket that had covered him lay crumpled near the doorway.
Did my lady cover me before she left?
Only now did my mind return to clarity. I stared blankly at the blanket, then slowly sank down before it. Morning sunlight pierced through the paper window, casting its glow upon the boy.
It truly is morning.
The night I’d always dreaded had ended while I slept without awareness. My young bride hadn’t died, and neither had I. The very situation that would have brought false accusations had vanished entirely.
It wasn’t a dream.
Unable to believe it, I stood dazed until I suddenly realized I had slept more peacefully than I had in a long time. I’d slept so deeply that my entire body felt refreshed.
Ever since that day, I haven’t been able to sleep soundly.
The Crown Prince’s nights, devoid of even a glimmer of light, had always been terrible. Afraid that my darkness might harm someone while I slept, or that if I fell asleep my darkness would consume even myself, haunted by memories of people thrashing madly within my darkness before collapsing, I couldn’t fall asleep easily.
Every night I would crouch alone in my chamber, eyes wide open, until exhaustion pushed me to my limit and I would finally collapse into unconsciousness. Even in sleep, I remained so tense that my neck would ache when I awoke.
To sleep so deeply like this.
I, who would jolt awake at the slightest rustling sound, had slept so profoundly that I hadn’t even noticed the person beside me covering me with a blanket before leaving. I hadn’t even dreamed that nightmare I always had. Perhaps, thanks to my lady.
“I’ll help you!”
The image of the girl smiling brightly as she grasped my hand came back to me.
If my lady continues to stay by my side… will I be able to sleep peacefully from now on?
The Crown Prince stared down at my hand for a long moment, then shook his head and abruptly rose from his seat.
‘This cannot be. It is mere greed.’
He understood the truth all too well. The only reason he had not been deposed despite becoming a monster was that Father King had not permitted it. Yet even Father King had now issued him a command to die. For the Crown Prince, this marriage carried that very meaning.
‘If she remains at my side, the Lady will be in danger.’
He could not keep someone he could not protect close to him. As he had resolved the night before, he had to send the Lady out of the Palace. As quickly as possible. Ideally, this very day.
‘First, I must summon Manager Jang….’
He hurried from the Bridal Chamber toward the East Palace.
* * *
The moment I emerged from the Central Palace Hall, my palanquin turned toward the Guest House.
‘Under normal circumstances, the Ping Empire Envoys would have made excuses to prevent me from meeting with Seol Deung-hwa.’
But now I held the King’s edict, written in stern language. With it, I would meet Seol Deung-hwa and buy time by claiming I needed to treat the Queen, preventing the Ping Empire Envoys from taking her away. I had already devised a method to extract her from the Empire’s imperial household during my earlier conversation with Thousand-Year Fox.
‘All I need to do is convince the person involved….’
Could Seol Deung-hwa accept that her daughter was already dead, and that someone else now inhabited Se-ru-hwa’s body?
‘How on earth do I explain this?’
“Your Highness!”
Suddenly, An-si’s sharp voice pierced the air. At the same moment, my palanquin lurched violently and crashed to the ground.
“Ugh!”
The impact of the fall scraped my elbow and forehead. Blood trickled from the wounds.
What in the world was happening?
“My Lady, do not emerge! Assassins!”
Assassins attacking in broad daylight in the heart of the Palace?
‘Security is a complete disaster.’
I clicked my tongue and waited obediently inside the palanquin. I was not particularly worried. An-si could even defeat Thousand-Year Fox, after all.
“Aaaahhh!”
“Grrgh….”
Thunderous crashes and screams erupted outside, followed by groans. Moments later, An-si opened the door.
“Are you unharmed, my… Gasp! There is blood on your forehead! Oh no, a wound upon such a noble countenance, what shall we do!”
An-si fussed over my forehead with exaggerated concern. I glanced past her shoulder at the surroundings.
The area was entirely enclosed by the Bamboo Forest. It appeared to be the promenade between the Central Palace Hall and the Guest House. Four assassins in black garments lay dead on the ground, all bearing the telltale signs of falling from a great height—unmistakably An-si’s handiwork.
An-si was a phoenix. As a divine creature whose name originated the character for wind, she wielded the air as though it were her own limbs.
“Did you get them all?”
“Yes, I have disposed of all the wicked ones. Allow me to treat your wound—please step out for a moment.”
With An-si’s support, I descended from the palanquin only to find both palanquin bearers dead, arrows lodged in their bodies and blood pooling beneath them.
“The assassins targeted the bearers first?”
“They attacked both the bearers and the palanquin simultaneously, but I was focused on protecting Your Highness and could not prevent that.”
“Even so, if you could not stop them simultaneously….”
I crouched down and examined the arrows embedded in the bearers’ bodies carefully.
“As I thought—traces of sorcery remain.”
A malevolent aura emanated from the arrow fletching. Could this be the work of the same person who had shot Se-ru-hwa the night before the wedding?

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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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