Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 35

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 35
“The Unyeon Hall Attendants have been working hard. We’re short on hands, so it won’t be quick, but at this pace, we should have a beautiful garden by spring.”
“You’ve taken great pains, my lady.”
“It wasn’t me—the attendants are the ones who’ve been working.”
As we stepped deeper into the garden, the attendants who had been pulling weeds sprang to their feet. Every face was bright with joy. The Crown Prince found that strange too.
“Crown Princess Mano!”
“Mano, have you come for a walk?”
“Yes, did everyone enjoy lunch?”
“You’ve been so thoughtful about caring for us, and—oh!”
The attendants who had been greeting Se-ru-hwa with warm smiles froze the moment they spotted the Crown Prince. Cheon Gyeol-u instinctively raised his sleeve to cover his face, but Se-ru-hwa linked her arm through his, stopping him, and spoke to the attendants.
“His Highness is fine now.”
“Oh… has he recovered?”
“He’s been training continuously all this time.”
At those words, the attendants exchanged cautious glances before bowing deeply.
“Hidden Dragon Ascending to Heaven—we greet Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“We greet Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“…You may rise.”
Cheon Gyeol-u accepted their greeting awkwardly. Could a few words really dispel their fear of him? That seemed impossible.
“Then I’ll be going. Don’t overexert yourselves—take it easy.”
“Yes!”
As we passed the attendants and moved deeper into the garden, Se-ru-hwa opened her mouth as if she had sensed his confusion.
“I told them that Your Highness and I meet every day to practice together.”
“You did, my lady?”
“Yes. I explained that Your Highness had acquired a special ability but couldn’t control it yet, and that you’re continuing your training, so you’ll soon be able to manage it.”
“…People were satisfied with merely that explanation?”
“The Xue Tribe already knows well of Your Highness’s ability—they call it the Nocturnal Anomaly. They’ve even given it a name: Dark Spirit Art. From now on, Your Highness should explain it as Dark Spirit Art as well.”
“Pardon?”
Anomaly, Valor, Chaos, Spirit—
these four categories collectively formed “Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin,” which encompassed all unusual phenomena and the humans who possessed the power to cause them. Those who manipulate spirits are shamans. Those who cause chaos practice sorcery. Those who display valor practice martial arts. Those who command anomalies practice mystical arts.
Se-ru-hwa smiled softly and continued.
“Since abilities that manipulate nature are classified as mystical arts and thus as anomalies, naming your darkness-related ability Dark Spirit Art isn’t entirely incorrect, is it?”
“That may be true, but why go to such lengths…?”
“Your Highness, people fear what they don’t understand most. Fear generally stems from ignorance.”
Cheon Gyeol-u stared down at Se-ru-hwa blankly.
Her silver hair was neatly braided and adorned with a seven-treasure ornamental hairpin, her crown small and round. The young lady was innocent and endearing like a child, yet she spoke with the cunning wisdom of seasoned adults without hesitation. Just as she was doing now.
“Even if something is unfamiliar, understanding reduces fear. The more you explain it in familiar terms, the more that holds true. Since Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin is already a familiar concept, your ability can be explained within that framework. Making it easier for humans to accept.”
“Within a familiar framework…?”
“Yes, so you appear as an understandable being.”
The boy silently repeated her words in his mind. Explain within a familiar framework to make it easy to accept. Appear as an understandable being.
It felt as though something had awakened within him. He seemed to understand now how he should live, how he should reveal himself to the world.
“If I understand myself… will others stop fearing me?”
“It won’t happen all at once, but eventually it will. Just as Your Highness has grown less afraid as you’ve come to know your own darkness.”
“…!”
Se-ru-hwa was right. Ever since Cheon Gyeol-u had learned what he truly was, the terror had diminished. At first, he’d despaired at being called a real monster, but there was a world of difference between knowing nothing about himself and understanding what he’d become. The more he trained, the more he comprehended his darkness, the less fear consumed him. Now I understood why the Lady had explained his power to others as a form of sorcery.
“Of course, if Your Highness truly becomes dangerous, such words are meaningless—training comes first.”
“I will try harder.”
“I didn’t mean you should do more. You’re already making sufficient effort. In fact, Your Highness is already doing something to make people less afraid of you.”
“Something I’m already doing?”
“Having dinner with me. Thanks to that, the Unyeon Hall Attendants have grown much more accustomed to Your Highness. Despite not needing to eat, you’ve been making the effort.”
“…!”
Cheon Gyeol-u jerked his hand away from Se-ru-hwa in shock.
For two years, he hadn’t felt hunger. Right after the transformation, when he’d remained motionless in his chamber, he’d realized that even after a week without food, his belly didn’t ache and his body didn’t weaken. How horrified had he been in that moment?
‘That’s when I knew for certain—I had become a real monster, no longer human.’
Yet eating didn’t repulse him. Food still tasted normal. It was simply unnecessary.
But living without eating anything at all felt too much like existing as a monster, so he’d forced himself to eat regularly. He’d thought he’d hidden it well.
Se-ru-hwa watched him retreat with a slightly bewildered expression.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“You… you knew?”
“When I explained about the Darkness, I didn’t mention… oh.”
Se-ru-hwa’s expression grew troubled, and she released a small sigh.
“I apologize, Your Highness. I didn’t explain that part. I was so focused on discussing the darkness back then….”
“…So you’ve known since then?”
“Yes.”
“Yet you brought meals from Unyeon Hall all the way to Jamnyong Hall and dined with me every single day?”
Knowing he didn’t need to eat, and yet doing so every day.
Why? What was her intention?
“Why did you do that?”
“Pardon?”
“What were you thinking, doing something unnecessary?”
A monster who could live without eating.
What had the Lady been thinking as she watched the monster pretend to be human and force down rice? For two years, had she been deceiving him like Manager Jang, harboring different thoughts beneath the surface?
At that imagining, Cheon Gyeol-u felt fear grip him. Not anger—fear.
He wasn’t afraid she’d been deceiving him with ulterior motives. He was terrified that her words about continuing as Crown Princess, about trying to do well together in the Palace, might be lies.
Being used was acceptable. Being deceived was acceptable. As long as she didn’t abandon him and leave. As long as she remained by his side.
The boy realized he’d already grown accustomed to the peace he felt in her presence. If the Lady left, he would be trapped again in absolute darkness without a single point of light. Back to the days when he couldn’t face people, couldn’t hold anyone’s hand, when only despair and nightmares kept him company. Back to when he didn’t even know what the weather was like.
He tried to calm the fear that swelled within him unbidden.
‘No, the Lady wouldn’t leave the Palace now!’
It was Se-ru-hwa who’d told him what he was, and it was Se-ru-hwa who’d continued to help him train all this time. She’d refused to flee even when told to escape, choosing to stay of her own will. She couldn’t possibly leave so suddenly now.
‘I’m just overreacting.’
His mind reasoned thus, but his heart wouldn’t settle. It felt like the person he most wanted to impress had discovered the shame he most wanted to hide—like he’d been caught pretending to be human when he was ultimately an unavoidable monster.
‘…The Lady knew from the beginning that I was a monster. So it’s fine, it’s fine…!’
I felt the shadow beneath my feet ripple. The Crown Prince pressed his lips together tightly.
Then, Se-ru-hwa’s voice came through, tinged with bewilderment.
“What? That was simply because Your Highness’s meals were too meager.”
“You already knew I could survive without eating. What does it matter if unnecessary meals are sparse?”
“It’s not that I can’t eat, and it’s not that I can’t taste—it’s simply that I don’t need to. But that makes it matter. It’s a very important issue.”
“Pardon?”
“If humans had dismissed everything unnecessary for survival, we would never have advanced as we have. Humans became special creatures precisely because we devoted effort to things barely necessary for mere survival.”
Again, Se-ru-hwa spoke words unbecoming of a child as naturally as breathing—as though a non-human who had observed mankind for ages.
“When you eat something delicious, you become happy, don’t you? I want sweets even when I’m not hungry. Don’t you feel the same way, Your Highness?”
“….”
“Of all the sweets I’ve ever tasted, Okchun-dang is my favorite! It’s beautiful to look at, and when you let it melt slowly on your tongue, your mouth fills with sweetness. It makes you feel as though you’re holding happiness itself.”
“….”
“Which sweets do you like best, Your Highness? Dasik? Jeonggwa? Yeot-gangjeong? Yumiolgwa? Songpyeon?”
Endlessly mature one moment, then chattering away with such childlike innocence the next. Cheon Gyeol-u found himself entranced by the radiant expression of the girl, as though she held candy on her tongue, before managing to respond.
“I… I prefer Tarae-gwa.”
“Even now?”
“Pardon?”
“Even now that you’ve become a Dusk Being, you still prefer Tarae-gwa?”
“…Yes.”
“You see? It matters quite a bit.”
Se-ru-hwa smiled brightly.
“I wanted Your Highness to eat delicious things. So let’s eat many delicious things together from now on.”
“…Haha.”
My strength drained away, and laughter spilled forth unbidden.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————