Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 144

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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 144
By now, the Crown Prince’s control had become nearly flawless, so even at night he moved without concern. Yet there was a time when he feared the darkness and couldn’t sleep, spending his days hiding from people, trapped within shadows.
Thinking of how that shadowy darkness—which devoured light, terrified people, and fed on their fear—had become a convenient and powerful “dark spirit” that served as an extension of the Crown Prince’s will filled me with profound emotion.
‘Come to think of it, the shadow spirit didn’t need to eat anything at all. It recovered simply by existing beneath the night sky.’
It was a fact I’d half-forgotten because the Crown Prince ate like an ordinary person. Perhaps because it was born from the darkness between stars, it regained its strength beneath the night sky?
‘I wonder what it feels like for the shadow spirit to recover. Does it absorb the essence of night? Or does it consume darkness itself? Can the Crown Prince taste distinctions even in darkness? Perhaps a clear night sky tastes better?’
Seized by sudden curiosity, I opened my mouth.
“Your Highness.”
“….”
“Your Highness?”
“…I was told you would call me husband.”
“Oh! I forgot—the habit of calling you ‘Your Highness’ still clings to me.”
It would take time for me to grow accustomed to this new form of address. As I exhaled softly, the Crown Prince spoke first.
“But what brings you all the way out here, my lady?”
“That is….”
I trailed off, hastily constructing an excuse.
‘Since no assassins actually came, there’s no need to mention that I followed a suspicious person.’
What should I say? Ah, never mind.
“…I couldn’t sleep, so I came out for a walk.”
“This far from the palace?”
“Since I was already out, I thought I’d search for where you were, husband.”
“Pardon?”
“I suddenly missed you.”
Since it was true that I’d suddenly wanted to see him, I spoke with confidence. The Crown Prince stopped abruptly and turned to face me.
“You….”
The darkness was too thick to see his refined features clearly. Inside the wooden fence earlier, there had been firelight, and I could see him well.
‘Because I can’t see him now, I want to see him even more. What expression does he have right now?’
As I gazed up at him intently, he brushed his face with his hand and spoke in a subdued voice.
“…You wandered alone through the mountain at night for such a trivial reason? You’ve done something dangerous.”
He must be angry.
I felt somewhat flustered. Yet unlike before, now I could sense why the Crown Prince was upset, and I felt genuinely sorry.
“I’m sorry for worrying you. I didn’t intend to come this far, but somehow I ended up here. Still, nothing happened, so it’s fine.”
“Nothing happened? You were attacked by Choi Hwang-hae, so you were genuinely in danger. You nearly came to great harm. I’ve noticed that you, my lady, are sometimes recklessly fearless. You should exercise more caution―”
“I’ll be more careful from now on, husband.”
“….”
The moment I called him “husband,” the Crown Prince, who had been about to launch into another lecture, clamped his mouth shut and fell silent.
“…Yes, p-please do be careful.”
He stammered out a barely coherent response, then abruptly turned and walked away. I barely managed to suppress the laughter threatening to burst forth, fearing that if I laughed now, I’d hear even more scolding.
‘My husband is so adorable, truly.’
After walking in silence for a while, just as I opened my mouth to ask again about the darkness that had intrigued me earlier.
Suddenly, a blinding light poured forth like the midday sun.
What was this? I reflexively raised my hand to shield my eyes, squinting, but through my fingers I could see the Crown Prince’s condition was wrong.
“Gasp!”
The boy engulfed in light clutched at his chest as if suffocating, curling his body inward. What was happening? Why was he like this? What was this light?
“My lord…!”
I reached toward the Crown Prince’s back right in front of me, and a strange premonition seized me. The same sensation I’d felt moments before. Turbulent waves of energy flowing.
Something was approaching at tremendous speed!
This time it was aimed not at me, but at the Crown Prince. Normally he would have dodged already, but curled as he was, he couldn’t move.
‘No!’
My sluggish body couldn’t react to that. I’d sensed it coming just moments ago and still taken the full impact.
But thanks to that prior experience, and because I’d already begun channeling divine power to use the Heavenly Eye, my swift divine energy responded instead of my slow body.
Wings manifested in an instant, wrapping around the Crown Prince and pulling him toward me. The next moment, an arrow lodged itself where he’d been standing. Immediately after, a pouch hanging from the arrow began to swell.
Through the Heavenly Eye, I saw something like red dye spreading from the pouch. As it swelled, flames leaked through the widening tears. Then fire erupted. Spiraling, exploding.
“…!”
A thought crashed through me in that brief instant. With my reflexes, dodging this together with the Crown Prince was impossible. I’d already used my wings to wrap around and pull him.
The Crown Prince’s condition was abnormal. An Eotguksseoni recovering in the darkness of night. Suddenly, blinding light like midday poured down. In that light, the Crown Prince had curled up as if suffocating.
This was the work of someone who knew the Crown Prince well, who understood Eotguksseoni. Therefore, just as with this light, that fire might contain something dangerous for him.
It was the Crown Prince who was in danger, not me.
If this was a trap designed for an Eotguksseoni, it would have little effect on me. Besides, I had Cheoyong’s protective charm. If it performed even similarly to the previous one, it could shield me from wounds fatal enough to cause death. Though once my divine form shattered from such wounds, I couldn’t protect against injuries after that.
‘This charm is probably better than the last one, so I should endure it fine.’
So it was better that I took the hit. I pulled the Crown Prince further back with my wings and used the recoil to position myself in front. Since I’d gotten him to safety but was too slow to do anything more, I had no choice but to take the explosion head-on with my body.
My vision turned white.
* * *
Ever since the Lady had revealed to him that he was an Eotguksseoni—and an unprecedented human Eotguksseoni at that—Cheon Gyeol-u had carefully observed his own condition and the response of the darkness dwelling within him.
He often felt like a plant basking in sunlight beneath the night sky. Sometimes it was like enjoying a forest bath, and other times it felt refreshing, like drinking cool water when parched.
Conversely, during the day he felt his strength gradually drain. It wasn’t painful or difficult, but rather like the slow onset of hunger as food digested in a satisfied stomach.
Since becoming an Eotguksseoni, he’d never experienced true hunger or thirst, but lingering long under the scorching summer sun would drain his energy and occasionally bring a sensation similar to hunger.
Yet his ‘dark spirit’ didn’t weaken under the light. It was more that during the day, darkness was consumed without being replenished, so his stamina depleted instead.
Even that sensation would vanish the moment he stepped into shade, so Cheon Gyeol-u was actually more resilient to intense sunlight than ordinary people at risk of heatstroke. He’d never experienced dizziness—just a slight loss of vigor.
But now, for the first time, he was experiencing symptoms similar to heatstroke. His entire body felt parched, heat surged rapidly through him, and dizziness overwhelmed him.
Moreover, hunger and thirst—sensations he hadn’t felt since becoming an Eotguksseoni—struck simultaneously. A gnawing hunger that twisted his stomach, a thirst so intense his throat felt torn. A deprivation so severe he could barely breathe.
Even as he felt himself about to collapse, Cheon Gyeol-u clenched his teeth and observed and judged himself.
‘It’s this light.’
If he amplified the sensation he’d felt under the blazing sun a few hundred times, it would feel like this. So the nature of this light became immediately clear.
‘Sunlight gathered from hundreds of days, concentrated into a single beam?’
Was that why the moment he was struck by this light, he’d been seized by such intense hunger and thirst that his body wouldn’t move and breathing became difficult?
‘Whose doing is this?’
His thoughts ended there. His immobile body was suddenly pulled, flames erupted, and his vision turned white. Because the silver-haired girl blocked that explosion with her body.
A small form was sent flying from right before him, rising high into the air, then beginning to fall like a kite with a severed string.
In his dizzy vision, that sight alone remained vivid. Cheon Gyeol-u’s eyes snapped wide open. The hunger and thirst that had frozen his entire body vanished in an instant. So his body moved. The boy cried out like a scream, lunging toward the girl.
“My Lady!”
He moved, but his body was far from normal. Rather than running, he was dragging his rigid form forward by sheer force, tumbling and rolling across the ground as he barely managed to catch Se-ru-hwa in his arms.
“My Lady!”
Cheon Gyeol-u shifted his stiffened arms to check on Se-ru-hwa’s condition as she lay atop him. The tips of his fingers, where they held the girl’s waist, came away wet and warm. A crimson liquid.
‘Blood?’
At that moment, the strange cascade of light suddenly extinguished. The figure holding what resembled an enormous glass lantern at the front confirmed their position and let out a roar.
“Damn it, the Xuezu wench took the hit instead! Strike before it’s too late!”
At that cry, figures in black masks emerged from all directions and rushed forward.
Cheon Gyeol-u stared at the assassins closing in, his eyes unfocused.
These creatures. How dare they.
Gently, he lowered the girl he’d been holding and rose to his feet. In the darkness, what stood was smiling.

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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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