Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 143

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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 143
Kim Cho-ryeong withdrew the needle and asked me.
“Does it hurt?”
“Not at all. Thank you!”
“No, Your Highness the Crown Princess, I’m the one honored to be of any help to you.”
“Hmm… It’s already been a month since I became a student at Seongsul Academy like you. Couldn’t you start treating me more comfortably now?”
“How could I ever presume to do such a thing!”
Kim Cho-ryeong objected with a stern expression, then pointed to the Crown Prince sitting quietly beside me.
“Besides, the Crown Prince also speaks formally to you, Your Highness! And you speak formally to the Crown Prince, Your Highness! You’re both fellow students!”
“…!”
I could see the Crown Prince was flustered. I quickly made an excuse.
“W-well, that’s because we’re husband and wife…! It’s true that the status of student takes precedence over other ranks within Seongsul Academy, but being husband and wife isn’t a matter of rank, so it doesn’t apply!”
“But Your Highness the Crown Princess, you call the Crown Prince ‘Your Highness.’ Isn’t that a form of address based on rank?”
“Huh?”
“If you truly respect each other as husband and wife regardless of rank, you should call him something other than ‘Your Highness.'”
Kim Cho-ryeong puffed out her chest confidently and continued with a mysterious smile.
“The Crown Prince must be hoping for that. Your sister said he seems subtly disappointed that you always call him ‘Your Highness’… Oops!”
Kim Cho-ryeong suddenly covered her own mouth and glanced at me with a pained expression, muttering.
“Ugh, this meddlesome tongue of mine….”
When I turned to look beside me, the Crown Prince was gazing at Kim Cho-ryeong with a gentle smile. His face was smiling, so why did it feel like a warning? When did he learn such a skill?
“…Were you disappointed that I call you ‘Your Highness’?”
“What? No! I’m perfectly content with whatever you call me, my lady.”
The Crown Prince replied in startled confusion. Watching his neatly drawn eyes tremble like brushstrokes, I recalled something that had happened when the Crown Prince and I went to South Market together long ago.
‘Back then, the Crown Prince was shy, but… he was definitely happy, wasn’t he?’
I gazed at the flustered boy’s face and opened my mouth.
“My lord.”
“…!”
“From now on, I’ll call you my lord.”
Like watercolor bleeding across rice paper, a blush spread across the Crown Prince’s cheeks. The boy, his ears now crimson as well, hung his head low and murmured.
“Y-you don’t have to go that far….”
His words say one thing, but he seems incredibly happy. Why didn’t I call him that sooner? Come to think of it, it’s been three years since our wedding ceremony, and I’ve only ever called him “Your Highness.” That must feel distant. We’ve grown so close.
‘In truth, we’re a fake couple who never even drank from the wedding cup, and in eight years we might part ways… but the Crown Prince knows nothing of this, so it’s understandable he’d feel hurt.’
And if I successfully achieve my newly established Straw God Plan, we won’t have to part at all. I decided not to fear failure beforehand. We’ll definitely be able to ascend to the Heavenly Realm together.
‘Wait… if… the Crown Prince truly becomes my subordinate god and we ascend to the Heavenly Realm together… what happens to us then?’
Then I would have to reveal that our wedding ceremony wasn’t real, so we wouldn’t be husband and wife anymore. The relationship between a supreme god and a subordinate god is quite close, but it still feels a bit disappointing.
‘The fake wedding ceremony was for the Crown Prince’s sake, so he’ll understand, right? If my connection with Cheongsil-Hongsil deepens, there’s no turning back.’
I hope that even if we’re no longer husband and wife in the future, we can remain as close as we are now.
With such thoughts, I continued speaking.
“Kim Cho-ryeong is right. We agreed not to concern ourselves with rank within Seongsul Academy, so calling you ‘Your Highness’ is strange, isn’t it? Don’t you agree, my lord?”
“…Will you only call me that within Seongsul Academy?”
“What? No, I’ll just keep going….”
“Keep going.”
“Yes, keep going.”
The Crown Prince lifted his head. The boy smiled beautifully, his face flushed crimson.
“Thank you, Lady.”
“…It’s only natural. Why thank me for that?”
“Because I’m happy.”
The Crown Prince spoke with a joyful expression, then suddenly reached out and brushed my temple hair behind my ear with tender affection. His gaze was warm, and his ink-black eyes gazing at me held such light—like a starlit night sky where the Milky Way flowed.
‘Why does this feel so ticklish?’
That strange sensation again. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s odd.
“Ahem, hem.”
As I stared blankly at the Crown Prince, Kim Cho-ryeong made an exaggerated throat-clearing sound and stood up from her seat.
“The ankle treatment is complete! You can walk now! If there’s any discomfort, just call me anytime! But I really need to go—I have urgent business!”
Kim Cho-ryeong rattled off her words rapidly and hurried away, dragging along Choi Hwang-hae, who had been standing blankly at the Wooden Fence entrance. Choi Hwang-hae resisted like a stone monument instead of being pulled along, his brow furrowed.
“What?”
“Oh, um, I’m, I’m scared to go outside the fence alone at night, so escort me!”
“Why go outside the fence in the middle of the night?”
“Business! I need to take care of business! The outhouse! Urgent!”
“…A woman without shame, speaking thus before a man.”
“A fourteen-year-old boy—what man is that! You’re younger than me, so what kind of man are you?”
“Quite the sophist, with merely a year’s difference.”
“Anyway, why do you put on such airs? Is it because you’re Hwarang? I’ve heard Hwarang discipline is that strict….”
“You talk too much. Go.”
I watched Kim Cho-ryeong and Choi Hwang-hae bicker absentmindedly, but the moment they actually tried to leave the Wooden Fence, my senses snapped back into focus.
There were unknown assassins outside—this couldn’t happen!
“Wait…!”
[Princess, can you hear me?]
As I jumped to my feet, Gwang-chul’s telepathy reached me at just that moment. He seemed to be hiding in the trees near the Wooden Fence.
[Yes, I hear you. What is it?]
[Those assassin-like humans—after waiting so long without them appearing, I checked the surroundings and it seems they passed by here and went somewhere else.]
[What? Where did they go?]
[From the direction they headed, there’s a concentration of powerful Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin…it looks like they’re heading toward where the instructors are?]
[The instructors? Why there? I thought they were targeting the Crown Prince?]
[Huh? I only said that if they were assassins, the probability of them targeting the Crown Prince would be high—I never said the Crown Prince was definitely their target?]
Gwang-chul chattered with an annoying tone. I wanted to punch him. I missed An-si.
[…Anyway, if they’re heading toward the instructors, then they really are assassins. Is there a target among the instructors? Or among the assistant instructors?]
[Should I go check?]
[Hmm….]
The cadets were still children, so they’d be in danger, but the instructors should be fine. The Seongsul Academy instructors were all carefully selected experienced Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin from the Jagyogapsa and the Court.
‘But if the assassins came with a specific instructor as their target from the start, they must have some preparation. Perhaps a spy inside coordinating a surprise attack.’
There were too many assassins, and I was also concerned about Baek Tam-sol, who served as an instructor for the Chrysanthemum Class. It would be better to send Gwang-chul as a precaution.
[Yes, follow them and observe. If it looks like people might be in danger, slip in quietly and help them. You can do that without being noticed, right?]
[That’s child’s play for me. I’ll be back!]
An-si would have immediately protested about leaving the Princess alone, but Gwang-chul answered readily and his presence quickly faded into the distance.
‘Gwang-chul is convenient for this sort of thing. No need to coax or persuade him.’
At least the assassins weren’t targeting the Crown Prince—that was a relief. I turned back to the children staring at me in bewilderment, my anxiety easing.
“Lady…?”
“Ah, I was just thinking about something… My ankle has been treated, so I was planning to return to our class now.”
“Do you need an escort?”
The moment Choi Hwang-hae asked bluntly, the Crown Prince hurried to interject.
“Shouldn’t you be escorting Kim Cho-ryeong? Lady, allow me to see you back.”
Cheoyong’s protective charm had proven its worth, and the assassins had gone elsewhere, so an escort wasn’t really necessary. With my Heavenly Eye open, I could read the flow of energy and wouldn’t lose my way.
Still, there was no particular reason to refuse the Crown Prince’s offer to accompany me, so I simply nodded.
“Yes, my lord. Thank you.”
“…”
The Crown Prince’s ears, leading the way ahead, were slightly flushed. The title “my lord” still seemed to embarrass him. How endearing.
‘I should call him that more often so he gets used to it.’
Following the Crown Prince toward the Wooden Fence, we passed by a child who had been sleeping soundly the entire time we were chattering. A glance revealed it was Park Dong-dong.
‘I had my suspicions about the Wooden Fence, but so he really was the Crown Prince’s fourth classmate. A Taoist Priest who had built up wood energy.’
Since our overlapping classes were only in general education, I still didn’t know much about Park Dong-dong. Though the rumor about his extraordinary appetite had spread throughout the academy in just a month.
‘There was talk that the Plum Blossom Class had a Taoist Priest of the Food God. He eats so much but has such a slender frame that people say all that food must be converting to spiritual power…’
Looking at him now, he not only ate well but also seemed to sleep well. Since the assassins had gone elsewhere, there was no need to wake him.
“Lady, which direction should we go?”
Once we were completely outside the Wooden Fence, the Crown Prince asked. I opened my Heavenly Eye and confirmed the direction of the earth energy that had accumulated from Yi Yeon-jo building the Earthen Wall.
“This way.”
“Is your ankle quite all right now?”
“Yes, it’s perfectly fine!”
“If you feel any discomfort at all, please tell me. I’ll have a palanquin brought for you, just as before.”
The Crown Prince, smiling brightly, began walking ahead.
Starlight from the night sky filtered dimly through the leaves. In the forest at night, where only faint outlines were barely visible, the Crown Prince’s figure was strangely distinct.
Looking closely, there was a subtle sense of wrongness. It wasn’t that he shone brightly and stood out—rather, he stood out because the darkness around him was deeper. The night’s shadows that enveloped the Crown Prince were unusually dense.
‘The Crown Prince is a creature of twilight.’

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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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