Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 28

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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 28
“This peach… it’s extraordinary. So sweet yet refreshing. Just as you said, my Lady—it truly is precious.”
The Crown Prince lavished praise upon it, and in mere moments, he had devoured the entire large peach.
‘He’s at an age where he should eat plenty and grow tall.’
The boy who had sat so primly in his black dragon robe with that shadowed face now looked far more his age—standing in casual dress, peach juice dripping from his chin as he ate. I offered him the one in my hand as well.
“Your Highness, please have this one too.”
“You should eat it, my Lady.”
“I’ve already had plenty. I brought this one for you to eat, Your Highness.”
As I pressed it upon him, the Crown Prince tilted his head and used a silver knife to slice off the top of the peach.
“My Lady.”
“Yes?”
As I opened my mouth to respond, he popped a delicately cut piece of the heavenly peach inside. The sweet fragrance bloomed across my palate.
The boy smiled beautifully, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“How could I eat alone when we’re together?”
Behind that tender smile lay painted eaves, a brilliant blue sky, and the scent of peach. Something soft and warm stirred within me—though if asked to explain what that feeling truly was, I’m not sure I could find the words.
I chewed the peach absently.
‘…It’s incredibly sweet.’
My original body’s tongue must have been defective. This heavenly peach, tasted with a healthy body, was far more flavorful than I remembered.
‘It’s delicious.’
Before, I’d enjoyed it because eating seemed to ease the pain and fatigue that consumed me, but I feel none of that now. Of course not—I’m neither weary nor in pain anymore.
‘Even without that sensation… it’s this sweet.’
That’s enough.
After chewing the rather large piece for a while and swallowing, the Crown Prince placed an even smaller piece into my mouth.
“Your hands and feet are so small, my Lady, and your mouth is too. Will you grow larger as time goes on?”
He’s struck a tender nerve.
The memory of those years in the Heavenly Realm, when I remained small and never grew, surged up reflexively, and my eyes burned.
“I will grow tall soon!”
“You should finish eating before you speak.”
The Crown Prince wiped my mouth with a handkerchief.
…Here I am again, being treated like a child by a child. Self-loathing welled up inside me.
‘Am I acting childish because I’m around a child? Get a grip—you’re 209 years old!’
I quickly chewed and swallowed the peach, then spoke with grim determination.
“Your Highness, please teach me archery too.”
“You’re still too young, my Lady…”
“But you started learning at four years old, didn’t you?”
“That was with a toy bow. If it’s a toy you want, I have one I used—”
“I don’t want a toy. I want to learn with a real bow.”
“That’s still beyond you, my Lady. You should wait until you’re older.”
“But you received a real bow at eight years old, Your Highness. I’m nine. I’m already a year older than you were when you got yours!”
As I asserted this boldly, the Crown Prince’s lips curved upward.
“But my lady, you are considerably smaller than when I was eight years old.”
“How can you be so certain! That was ages ago!”
“Then, shall we stand and compare?”
I rose quickly and straightened my posture. The Crown Prince picked up the black horn bow he’d placed beside him and set it next to me.
‘He’s trying to compare my height using the bow’s length.’
I glanced sideways. The tip of the black horn bow nearly reached above my head. Subtly, I lifted my heels off the ground.
‘The skirt is long enough that it won’t show.’
“Kuh….”
The Crown Prince made a strange sound, then covered his mouth with his hand and his shoulders trembled.
He’s holding back laughter, isn’t he?
“Why are you suddenly laughing?”
“Ah, it’s nothing at all.”
The Crown Prince quickly lowered his hand and compared the bow with my height, then shook his head.
“You are at least a hand’s breadth shorter than when I was eight years old. Given your frame, my lady, it would be difficult to handle a black horn bow. Shall we begin with a toy bow instead?”
“Ugh….”
I want to learn right now. I came to the Mortal Realm to try things like this!
I made the most pitiful expression I could muster and gazed up at the Crown Prince with desperate eyes.
“Really, it won’t work…?”
When I made this face, my parents and the celestial maidens would crumble instantly, but the Crown Prince merely flinched and averted his gaze.
“…Even if you look at me that way, it simply cannot be done. A bow is a weapon, and you could injure yourself, my lady.”
“….”
“Please do not look at me like that. Once you grow just a hand’s breadth taller, it should be fine….”
He stammered yet remained resolute.
He wouldn’t budge. I gave up and sighed.
“I wish I could grow up quickly.”
“I share that sentiment.”
“Then, at least with a toy bow… I’d like to learn with that. You can teach me that much, can’t you, Your Highness?”
“Of course. I should search for the bow I used when I was young.”
The Crown Prince smiled brightly. From that day on, archery practice was added to both the Crown Prince’s and my schedule.
* * *
Days passed in a blur, and finally the promised new moon evening arrived. I grasped Seol Deung-hwa’s hand as we made our way toward the Central Palace Hall. When the grand gate plaque bearing the formal name of the Central Palace Hall—Unsoseon Hall—carved in magnificent strokes came into view, Seol Deung-hwa’s hand trembled in mine.
“Nervous?”
I whispered the question. She looked down at me, then answered in a lowered voice.
“Yes. Even though there’s not much for me to actually do… I’m trembling.”
“If you’re very nervous, pray for everything to go smoothly.”
“Yes? To whom?”
“To Princess Cheonmyeong—she’s a great and merciful deity. If you pray to her, she’ll definitely listen, so go ahead and pray.”
Seol Deung-hwa blinked, then laughed softly. I immediately stopped joking and urged her on.
“Try it. It will definitely work.”
“Didn’t you say we shouldn’t call a title carelessly?”
“It doesn’t work normally, but it’s fine when I’m praying.”
“Then….”
She crossed the threshold of the Central Palace Hall and began murmuring prayers under her breath.
“I beseech you, I beseech you, Princess Cheonmyeong, I beseech you.”
The courtyard before the Central Palace Hall blazed with torches and braziers held by Royal Guard officers, bright as midday. Seol Deung-hwa, tense and alert, continued her prayers as she walked among them.
“…Though it appears I deceive others, my intentions are not malicious but to save a life, and merely to preserve myself and my poor daughter. Princess Cheonmyeong surely understands the circumstances….”
The King, pacing anxiously before the stone steps, glared at us with bloodshot eyes. Seol Deung-hwa squeezed my hand tightly and swallowed hard before bowing deeply.
“If the Queen does not awaken, I will not spare you.”
The King spoke harshly and jerked his chin.
“Enter.”
We removed our shoes and stepped into the Central Palace Hall. Since using my abilities required no one else present to avoid interference, I had sent all the attendants away, leaving the vast hall in profound silence.
As we moved toward the Inner Chamber, Seol Deung-hwa finished her prayer.
“…Please allow us to rescue the Queen safely, and protect us so that no evil befalls us. I beseech you, I beseech you, Princess Cheonmyeong, I beseech you.”
“Your prayer is granted. I shall protect you as you wish.”
The moment I answered, Seol Deung-hwa burst into laughter.
The tension had certainly eased. I deliberately replied in a solemn voice.
“How now! The deity has answered your prayer, yet you laugh instead of giving thanks!”
Seol Deung-hwa covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her laughter, then whispered to me in a voice still trembling with mirth.
“Thank you so much, Your Highness.”
“Hmph, yes, remember this kindness from this day forward.”
With a noticeably improved expression, she opened the door to the Inner Chamber.
At my request, disguised as Seol Deung-hwa’s, the interior had been arranged with layered folding screens centered around the Queen’s bed. As we passed between the screens, I saw the Queen lying on the bed in a simple sleeping robe.
‘Finally, I see her face.’
Though physicians, Daoists, and shamans had all been mobilized, the Queen’s condition was remarkably good for someone who had slept continuously for two years. Her complexion was pale and she had grown somewhat thin, but there were no signs of bedsores, and her breathing was steady.
I checked the Queen’s breath with my fingers and stood up. Seol Deung-hwa seemed tense again as she stammered slightly.
“S-shall we begin?”
“Yes, you remember what I explained before, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
What I’m about to do is what Father did every time he came to rescue me.
‘No, it’s far easier than that. I was nearly dead, but the Queen is clearly still breathing.’
The deceased normally cross the River of Three Paths with their assigned Underworld Messenger and enter the Yama Kingdom. If it’s confirmed for any reason that they are not in a properly deceased state, the Yama Kingdom refuses entry and sends them back. If a thread of life remains, they can grasp it directly and return to the Living World, and in cases of Underworld mistakes, errors, or accidents, the assigned Messenger personally sends them back.
The problem lies with souls who entered the Underworld on their own without an Underworld Messenger. Because… the Underworld has no proper paths outside the interior of the Yama Kingdom.
Why do you think I waited motionless by the River of Three Paths for Father?
‘Without a Messenger’s guidance, I couldn’t even find the entrance to the Yama Kingdom.’
The banks of the River of Three Paths were at least somewhat better because the river itself served as a landmark, but venture even slightly away from the river and one becomes lost instantly. Not only would I fail to find the way back to the Living World, I couldn’t even find my way back to the River of Three Paths.
And if luck turned against me, I could be devoured by demons and spirits wandering the Underworld. The Underworld beyond the Yama Kingdom is literally a realm of demons.
‘There are generally three cases of becoming lost in the Underworld without guidance.’
First, when someone dies but their spirit enters the Underworld on their own without waiting for an Underworld Messenger. Second, when a living human enters the Underworld with their physical body.
‘And the third and final case is.’
When someone is not dead, but their soul alone separates from their body and falls into the Underworld.
‘The Queen’s current state is the third type. It’s the same situation I’ve experienced every time.’
When someone suffers extreme shock, mistakes themselves for dead, or endures such unbearable pain and suffering that their soul separates from their body while still alive—this happens more often than one might think.
‘They call this soul loss.’
A living spirit—a soul that has slipped free from a living body—instinctively seeks to return to itself. So ordinarily, such cases don’t progress to a comatose state.
However, when the shock or suffering is severe enough, the soul can emit such powerful yin energy that it tears open the gates to the Afterlife and tumbles through them entirely. In such cases, the person awakens confused, unable to discern their location or find any path back to their own body.
‘That is precisely what constitutes a coma.’

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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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