Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 27

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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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Episode 27
Seok-ran’s dark eyes sparkled as she spoke eagerly.
“Heavenly peaches! I want to taste the heavenly peaches from Pantao Garden!”
“Wouldn’t that be bad for demons?”
“Only for the ones who eat humans—it’s good for white foxes like us! It extends our lifespan, increases our spiritual power, makes our fur silky, and gives us a lovely scent! I want to become beautiful, kyaing!”
“All right, then.”
I retrieved the Eight Pillar Order and touched the second bell. With a jingling sound, the swirling mist parted to reveal not the Treasure Vault’s door, but a sprawling orchard laden with hanging peaches. The fox siblings’ eyes widened in wonder. Pantao Garden, tended by the Queen Mother of the West, was a place in the Heavenly Realm where the spiritual energy was exceptionally pure and crystalline.
‘That’s why I loved resting there.’
Seeing how much I cherished it, my parents had designated a portion of Pantao Garden as my private sanctuary and connected it to the second bell of the Eight Pillar Order.
‘During those times when my condition was poor and I had to fast for extended periods, I survived on nothing but heavenly peach juice.’
I found myself craving them again after so long. I was curious what they would taste like now that my tongue was whole and healthy.
‘If I take too many, it will be noticed. Just a few.’
Being a runaway, I couldn’t freely harvest from my own domain. I sighed inwardly and gestured to An-si.
“An-si, go pick five heavenly peaches for me.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
An-si flew into the billowing clouds and returned moments later cradling an armful of peaches.
“I have brought them, Your Highness.”
I selected three of the heavenly peaches An-si had brought and held them out.
“Give one to each of them, and eat one yourself.”
“Oh! Thank you so much!”
An-si beamed as she distributed the peaches to the fox siblings. Seok-ran’s mouth fell open in delight as she accepted her peach.
“How generous! Thank you! Kyaing! I’m so excited! You’re the best, Your Highness!”
I set aside the remaining two peaches to share with the Crown Prince, when Seok-juk spoke hesitantly.
“If I may, Your Highness, might I request something other than a heavenly peach?”
“Oh? What would that be?”
“I—I would like to earn merit points for virtuous deeds!”
“Ah.”
I rested my chin on my hand and smiled knowingly.
There were demons and spirits who cultivated the Way to ascend to the heavens. When they were recognized by gods or immortals for performing good deeds, it would greatly aid them when the time came to qualify for ascension. These were called “merit points for virtuous deeds.”
“Hmm, my merit points are too valuable to award for just this task alone…”
“Please, I really want them! Is there anything else you’d like me to do? I’ll do anything!”
Watching the fox plead so earnestly, a brilliant idea suddenly came to me.
“Your name is Seok-juk, correct? How old are you?”
“I’m 957 years old!”
“Nearly a thousand years. Then you must be quite skilled. You’ve surely honed your magical arts while preparing for the Heavenly Official examination.”
“Yes! I’m confident!”
“Then I’ll give you a lengthy task. Let’s draw up a contract.”
I took out fresh paper and picked up my brush.
Seok-juk tilted his head curiously, his tail—which was blackened only at the tip to resemble a brush—swishing gently.
“A lengthy task? What might that be?”
“Guard duty.”
“Huh?”
“If you protect the person I designate for the promised period, I’ll grant bonus points in the name of Princess Cheonmyeong.”
I had found the perfect guard to assign to Seol Deung-hwa, who needed to escape the imperial palace.
“Princess, um, then what about the peaches of immortality that Seok-juk gets? Will, will you give them back?”
As I wrote out the contract for Seok-juk, Seok-ran drooled and stared at me with gleaming eyes. I suppressed my laughter and nodded.
“Since I’ve already given them as a reward, you two figure it out.”
“Thank you, meow!”
“Sister! Just because of that, you’re not snatching my share like that!”
“You’re getting bonus points anyway!”
“That’s one thing and this is another! We investigated together, so don’t try to eat my portion!”
“Meow, honestly, I worked harder running around on foot!”
“I worked harder organizing all the mess you brought back haphazardly!”
Two foxes—one over a thousand years old and one nearly there—bickering like children. I wrote out the guard contract while listening to the pair yowl at each other.
“Those creatures dare quarrel so disrespectfully before the princess. Would it not be proper to silence both their mouths at once?”
“Let them be, An-si. It’s rather endearing.”
“…At times, An-si does not understand the princess’s tastes.”
* * *
After sending the fox siblings away, I took two peaches of immortality and made my way to Jamnyong Hall.
“Hmm? The Crown Prince isn’t in his room.”
“Princess, I sense his presence over there.”
An-si pointed beyond the rear entrance of Jamnyong Hall.
“What’s over there…? Ah, the Crown Prince Guard Quarters.”
Having familiarized myself with the layout of the East Palace, I knew the Gyebang Hall—a pavilion for the Crown Prince’s guards—was located there, but I couldn’t fathom why the Crown Prince would be there.
‘The roster of the Crown Prince Guard Quarters was completely empty.’
What could he possibly be doing in a place where no one should be?
Clutching the peaches, I crossed the rear entrance. From inside the main gate of Gyebang Hall, which adjoined Jamnyong Hall’s rear entrance, came the sounds of a bowstring and an impact.
‘Sounds like archery?’
Upon entering, the Training Ground opened before me. And beside it stood the Archery Range, complete with targets and shooting platforms. There, the Crown Prince stood alone, drawing his bow.
His shoulders and arms, covered in black martial robes, were perfectly straight. His body stood rigid, forming an impeccable line from head to toe. The taut bowstring caught the sunlight, glimmering faintly across the still-youthful cheek of the boy. And his eyes—deep black as a shadowed spring, unwavering, fixed on a single point.
With a twang, the arrow released. Only his fingers moved. His extended back and the gaze fixed on the target remained perfectly still. His arm snapped back with elastic recoil, and the breath he’d held escaped, his chest rising and falling slightly.
I followed the Crown Prince’s gaze to the target. An arrow protruded from the dead center of the target, which bore the image of a deer’s head, like a horn.
“Hmm, for a mere human child, his form is quite respectable.”
An-si offered her reluctant praise. I said nothing, merely staring blankly at the Crown Prince. Only after he lowered his bow completely did a thought finally form in my mind.
‘How magnificent.’
My first instinct. And then.
‘I want to try that too.’
I wanted to learn to do something like that. With my previous body, I wouldn’t have dared attempt it, so I’d abandoned the idea from the start and never even looked.
“Princess?”
I rushed toward the Crown Prince. Only then did he notice us, startled, and set down his bow. I stopped before him and pointed to the bow he’d just lowered.
“That!”
“Pardon?”
“Archery! Teach me too!”
At my sudden outburst, the Crown Prince blinked, then his gaze shifted to what I held in my hand.
Ah, I’d been pointing at the peach I was clutching.
I cleared my throat awkwardly and offered the heavenly peach to the Crown Prince.
“This… this is for Your Highness to eat…”
“Did you bring this yourself for me, Lady?”
“Yes… it’s quite rare. It tastes wonderful and is good for your health.”
“Thank you, Lady.”
The Crown Prince’s eyes curved like crescents as he accepted the peach. Looking around, he moved toward the pavilion behind the desk, then spread out the robe he’d been carrying and laid it on the ground.
“Come here.”
“Isn’t this Your Highness’s robe?”
“Sitting in a cold place is not good for your health. Please sit here.”
I’d sat without hesitation on the robe An-si had spread for me before, but sitting on the Crown Prince’s robe made me strangely self-conscious.
As I hesitated, the Crown Prince tilted his head.
“Are you suddenly being formal? You held my hand readily enough before.”
“I’m not being formal! It’s just…”
Now that I thought about it, what was there to be embarrassed about with a child?
I quickly moved over and sat down, and the Crown Prince beside me drew out a silver-handled knife and began peeling the heavenly peach. In moments, he’d peeled halfway through and handed me the portion with the skin still attached as a handle, then took the peach I’d been holding and began peeling it again.
I gazed blankly at the white flesh of the peach with its delicate pink blush, then asked the Crown Prince.
“You know how to peel fruit?”
“I learned when I was young from Father King.”
“You learned from the King?”
“He always took me hunting from around the time I could walk on my own. I learned at the hunting grounds. Father King taught me archery directly as well.”
“I see…”
Longing was evident in the Crown Prince’s face and voice as he spoke. It was a depth of expression that didn’t match his eleven years.
“…So how old were you when Your Highness began learning archery?”
“From the age of four.”
“Wow.”
“Just like you, Lady… the moment I saw Father King shooting, I pestered him to teach me.”
The Crown Prince scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, then smiled.
“I pestered him so much that Father King personally made me a small toy bow that fit my body perfectly.”
“The King made it himself?”
“He was so fond of hunting that he took an interest in bow-making as well. The eunuchs were horrified about him hurting his hands, and the officials were appalled about him compromising his dignity, but…”
Recalling those days, the Crown Prince chuckled with delight and continued.
“Father King dismissed them all, saying that if they had time to interfere with a king’s hobby that violated no laws, they should instead pay more attention to the people’s circumstances or read one more line of text.”
“He sounds like a virtuous and magnanimous man.”
“Indeed. After that, whenever I grew, he made me a new toy bow. Then on my eighth birthday, he said it was time I held a real bow and gave me this black horn bow as a gift.”
The Crown Prince gazed at his bow placed beside him. Up close, it was a precious thing with a deep black finish elegantly inscribed with dragons and clouds in subtle gold leaf. Its polished surface showed it was frequently handled yet carefully maintained.
‘He cherished it greatly.’
Yet for a bow received at eight years old, it was far too large. Even now, when the Crown Prince was considerably taller than his peers, it seemed somewhat oversized for him.
“At eight years old? Wasn’t this bow too large for you?”
“It was large, yes. Since I loved archery, Father King gave it to me so I could grow accustomed to a real bow beforehand. He said that once I turned ten, we would hunt together with it….”
The Crown Prince’s words trailed off, and he lowered his gaze.
So his relationship with Father King had been good before the darkness consumed him. What had the Crown Prince been like before nine years old? Surely a far brighter child than he was now.
“You control the darkness quite well during the day now, don’t you? Perhaps one day you’ll be able to go hunting with him.”
“…Yes, I hope so.”
As though he dared not hope too much, the Crown Prince answered with a faint smile, then bit into the peeled peach as if eager to change the subject. His eyes widened in surprise.

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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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