Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 150

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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 150
For a moment, the Medical Instructor’s pupils trembled.
“No, that’s not—!”
The reflexive denial crumbled as his tongue went numb. His expression twisted into something grotesque, like a malevolent spirit.
I gazed up at that face with a bittersweet feeling.
‘I was enjoying the medical lessons.’
So I’d hoped otherwise, but as suspected, he too was a spy.
‘He was far too suspicious just now.’
The sequence of events—the Bamboo Class Assistant attempting spatial displacement, being caught, and committing suicide—felt like a deliberate severing of ties. If he’d truly intended to escape, there would have been no reason to attempt spatial displacement right beside the Medical Instructor.
‘If I’d begun shaking hands with the instructors in turn, the Medical Instructor would have stopped his treatment and come to me, creating the perfect opportunity to use the displacement talisman. Yet he deliberately acted suspiciously right in front of someone, got caught immediately, and surrendered without resistance?’
After discovering the displacement talisman, the Medical Instructor’s behavior was equally suspicious. Even after realizing he was a spy, he showed us the talisman first instead of subduing him immediately. And for someone claiming to be a Medical Instructor, he failed to prevent the spy’s suicide right before his eyes. It was all too strange.
I had no choice but to suspect him.
If I asked questions first, he might escape or do something else, so I needed to seize his hand as I received the displacement talisman.
The Medical Instructor, glaring down at me with that twisted face, tried to wrench his hand free from my grip and moved his energy to kill me.
I’d expected as much. But right beside him and me was…
“Not so fast!”
Ki Ho-cheol, who had come to prevent the Bamboo Class Assistant’s suicide.
As anticipated, Ki Ho-cheol blocked the Medical Instructor’s attack with lightning-fast movements, swept his legs out from under him, and subdued him.
“Gack!”
“I won’t miss twice.”
Ki Ho-cheol firmly prevented the fallen Medical Instructor from committing suicide by gripping his jaw. It was gratifying to have restored the Ki-ryeong Sword Family’s secret techniques.
‘I have countless ways to interrogate even a dead man, but it’s far cleaner to let the humans investigate and discover the truth themselves rather than involve myself.’
“My lady!”
The Crown Prince rushed over and enveloped me in his arms, pulling me away from the spy. He hurriedly examined my hands and entire body.
“Are you unharmed? Are you injured anywhere?”
“I’m fine. The instructor protected me.”
The Crown Prince held me close, resting his chin on the crown of my head as he exhaled a deep sigh.
“Please, I beg you, don’t do such dangerous things. My heart cannot endure it.”
Though I’d calculated every safety measure before acting, I could understand why the Crown Prince was startled. I offered my apology sincerely.
“I’m sorry, my lord.”
“Remarkable, Crown Princess. How did you discern that he was a spy?”
Princess Onseol asked in astonishment from beside me. Ki Ho-cheol, who had finished subduing the Medical Instructor, and all the other instructors were staring at me with expressions of shock.
“The Medical Instructor’s behavior just now…”
As I explained my reasoning step by step, the instructors’ eyes grew progressively wider.
“You mean to say that in that single moment, you suspected him, and considering how he might escape, you used the pretense of asking for the talisman to seize his hand first?”
“Haha, truly remarkable and courageous.”
“We’ve heard the rumors, but…”
As the instructors offered their successive praises, I felt a touch embarrassed. When I turned my head away shyly, the Crown Prince was smiling even more brightly than I was.
“You have accomplished great merit, my lady. Such praise is only natural—you should accept it with joy.”
Over the Crown Prince’s shoulder, as he whispered to me, the edge of the sky was beginning to brighten. The long first night of the examination was drawing to a close.
* * *
Seongsul Academy immediately halted the examination and launched a comprehensive investigation into all instructors, assistants, students, and staff within the institution. I participated in the inquiry process and offered my assistance. While one additional spy was discovered among the personnel, fortunately there were no further infiltrators.
The aftermath of the Crown Prince assassination attempt was catastrophic. Sung Jeong-sim, the director of Seongsul Academy, bore responsibility for negligent management, yet she neither received severe punishment nor was removed from her position. This was because she had not been the one to select the instructors or appoint the assistants.
The court official who had recommended the Medical Instructor and the Jagyogapsa operative who had vouched for the Bamboo Class Assistant’s credentials were summoned to the Office of Interrogation. They underwent interrogation alongside the captured spies.
However, the mastermind behind the assassins was revealed even before that interrogation concluded. Wan-eon, who had been under house arrest, had fled to the Pyeong Empire. After Wan-eon’s escape, it became apparent that the remnants of the Wan-eon Faction who had survived when former Left Prime Minister Park Myeok fell from power, along with a faction of the Centrist Faction who had escaped punishment because former Chief State Councillor Gu Jang-saeng was Dun-gap-jwi, had conspired with Pyeong to place Wan-eon on the throne.
The court descended into chaos, with heated debates erupting. The prevailing opinion was that Wan-eon should have been given poison wine long ago.
‘Was it truly Wan-eon and his faction who orchestrated this incident?’
At least, I did not believe so.
‘The Wan-eon Faction did not draw Pyeong in. Pyeong utilized the Wan-eon Faction.’
The dead assassins had unclear origins. They were presumed to have come from Pyeong, but there was no definitive evidence. The same was said to be true of the captured assassin leader.
Yet I possessed certainty. My father was busy boiling oil cauldrons in Hell, it seemed, personally deep-frying each of the assassins one by one. He had laughed with grim amusement that fortunately they remained dead despite the frying, since they were already corpses.
‘He said they were all creatures raised by Pyeong’s assassination organization. Creatures that had infiltrated Yun to aid Wan-eon.’
And tracing the source of those sent assassins back to its origin led ultimately to the Emperor.
‘It was Doo-eok-sini after all.’
Doo-eok-sini, whose demonic methods had been blocked by the Black Phoenix, was now targeting Se-ru-hwa through human means. The choice to attempt the Crown Prince’s assassination as that means appeared to reflect the intentions of the Wan-eon Faction.
Pyeong had sent Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin creatures and spies to be used repeatedly in various ways, but Wan-eon had squandered them all in a single assassination attempt. Having exhausted everything at once with nothing remaining, he fled to Pyeong.
‘The Crown Prince’s constitution… it seems they learned of it through the Wan-eon Faction’s intelligence.’
The former Left Prime Minister had gained quite detailed knowledge of the Crown Prince’s characteristics through the Eunuch he had placed directly at his side.
That information had been conveyed to Wan-eon, and through Wan-eon, it had ultimately flowed to the Emperor of Pyeong, Doo-eok-sini.
‘Would Wan-eon even know that the Crown Prince is a Twilight Being?’
Had a demon been involved, they might have discerned it, but since this had been entirely a human affair, they likely remained ignorant. The trap prepared to match his constitution would have been based on the Eunuch’s information.
‘The fact that they did not attempt a propaganda campaign portraying the Crown Prince as a monster suggests they do not know he is a Twilight Being.’
Or perhaps they had anticipated that such propaganda would prove ineffective given the Crown Prince’s solid position.
‘…Doo-eok-sini might have discerned the Crown Prince’s true nature from the information alone.’
To Doo-eok-sini, a Twilight Being would be an exceptionally desirable prey. It would aid in elevating his status beyond that of ordinary divine-blooded beings, or even beyond that of ordinary immortals.
None of this was favorable. The possibility that Doo-eok-sini had learned of the Crown Prince’s identity, the Emperor of Pyeong continuing to target Se-ru-hwa, Wan-eon’s flight to Pyeong—none of it.
The latter issue had rendered diplomatic relations between Yun and Pyeong exceedingly tense.
‘Yun demands that Pyeong surrender Wan-eon, while Pyeong denies all knowledge of the matter.’
If relations between Yun and Pyeong deteriorated, it would inevitably affect me, a princess of Pyeong origin. Though I had established my position quite firmly, and was moreover of Xuezu blood that had been conquered by Pyeong, with Seol Deung-hwa who had returned to Pyeong known to be dead, no one would openly criticize me, yet gossip could not be entirely avoided.
‘It seems Pyeong is backing Wan-eon, so wouldn’t it be dangerous to leave the Crown Princess from Pyeong as she is?’—that sort of talk.’
Of course, mercifully such gossip was truly minimal. According to Seok-ran’s investigation, the prevailing opinion this time was also that ‘the Crown Princess has already become a person of Yun and severed her ties with Pyeong.’
‘Two years ago when the envoys came, there was already an incident, and I even refused to go to Pyeong then… my position should not be easily shaken.’
Moreover, my position had improved further through the merit of capturing the spies. The King had bestowed a special reward, and Seongsul Academy had offered official thanks.
But if, by any chance, war broke out between Pyeong and Yun over the Wan-eon matter.
‘Then it would become quite troublesome. I would inevitably face resentment. I should pray that it does not come to war.’
In any case, I had to keep close watch on Pyeong’s circumstances. Fortunately, I possessed the means to do so.
‘Through the Hongyik Trading Company that Seol Deung-hwa established, I can continue to receive news of Pyeong Kingdom. Seok-juk and Seok-ran can communicate instantly via fox orbs. As for the demon problems… I’ll think about that once An-si returns.’
In the meantime, mid-April arrived, and Seongsul Academy announced that the late-April examination would be written.
It seemed they intended to administer a relatively uneventful written examination, given the chaos that had erupted during the first month’s exam and the unsettled atmosphere.
An-si returned alongside Heuk-yeon several days after Seongsul Academy announced the written examination.
* * *
The 23rd day of the fourth month, Year 16 of Seo-gwang.
With the written examination just a week away, the cadets of Seongsul Academy were consumed by their studies. And in the Plum Blossom Class, Je-gal Pyo’s popularity had exploded.
“Class leader, I have a question….”
“Hey, how do you solve this problem? Damn it, I couldn’t understand a single thing from the mathematics class!”
“Class leader, show me your notes from the history lecture! I’ll buy you dinner, okay?”
“U, uh, w, w, one at a time, please….”
Once again, the Plum Blossom Class hall erupted into chaos the moment classes ended, with students swarming around Je-gal Pyo. Surrounded and perspiring from the onslaught, he turned to me with a pleading gaze.
‘Before, he kept his distance, cautious around me. But since we became classmates, I think he’s grown much more comfortable.’
I felt a quiet sense of satisfaction. I readily answered his silent plea.
“I’m sorry, but our class leader has a prior engagement with me.”
At my words, the students immediately fell silent and stepped back.
“Oh, ah….”
“Then perhaps next time….”
“I, if Se-ru-hwa has an appointment, there’s nothing we can do….”
No matter how casually I spoke or how much I treated them as fellow cadets, the title of Crown Princess remained an unavoidable burden. Even after two months, all but a few of the students treated me with such careful deference.
‘Though it has its advantages in moments like these.’
I gestured to Je-gal Pyo.
“Let’s go, class leader.”
“Y, yes!”
The bespectacled boy brightened immediately, hastily packed his belongings, and rushed toward me. After we slipped out of the Plum Blossom Class hall together, Je-gal Pyo glanced around before asking.
“S, s, so today, C, Cheon Gyeol-u, c, c, cadet isn’t coming? W, w, what’s the matter?”

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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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