Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 47

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

Chapter 47
Now I understood why Seol Deung-hwa, An-si, and Kim Sang-gung had told me nothing of the Palace’s current state.
‘The situation has deteriorated so much they’ve chosen silence. They feared I would worry or become frightened.’
I exhaled deeply once more and gestured to Seok-ran.
“That’s enough. If any new information surfaces, let me know.”
“Understood, yelp! Thank you for the heavenly peach! You’re the best princess, yelp yelp yelp!”
The white fox clutched the heavenly peach carefully between her teeth and vanished through the window with an otherworldly laugh.
An-si watched her departing form with obvious displeasure, muttering under her breath.
“Your Highness, the window appears to have been spiritually defiled. Might it be wise to sprinkle salt?”
“Salt? Seok-ran is a helpful spirit, so let’s be a bit more gracious toward her.”
“Your Highness is far too merciful. Spirits ought to have their necks wrung the moment one lays eyes upon them….”
As An-si grumbled and secured the window, I retrieved the box containing the Three-Time Insects from the Eight Pillar Order.
“Jung-si, come here and show me what the Constant Insect is seeing.”
A translucent butterfly fluttered up and perched upon my nose, spreading its wings. Through those shimmering wings dancing before my eyes, the vision that the Constant Insect within the Left Prime Minister’s mind perceived began to materialize.
[Left Minister, are you truly planning to commit treason?]
Inside a room lit by lamplight, one of those seated around asked in a grave tone.
‘Ah, it appears the Wan-eon Faction has gathered for a meeting.’
I had retrieved the Three-Time Insects at precisely the right moment.
[Treason? This is a righteous restoration.]
It was the Left Prime Minister’s voice.
The Left Prime Minister cleared his throat with a cough and continued, surveying those assembled.
[Does not the entire nation know the King has lost his mind? That the Crown Prince is cursed? The people’s hearts lie with us.]
[But the Queen has awakened, and His Majesty….]
[Who would believe the King has regained his senses now? Does madness heal so easily? Especially when it stems from a curse brought by the accursed Crown Prince!]
[That may be true, but the Royal Guard Commander and the Minister of War both belong firmly to the Loyalist Faction. The military forces….]
[Bah! Why do you think only of combat? We must persuade and recruit them! Do we not possess the moral justification? Would they truly wish to serve a madman?]
Several voices murmured in disagreement at the Left Prime Minister’s rebuke.
[Have you not observed these past days? The King is no longer mad. That foreign Crown Princess’s medicinal brew has truly cured his madness.]
[Rumors of what transpired in the Central Palace Hall are already spreading. They say a single spoonful of medicine offered by the young Crown Princess caused the Queen to open her eyes wide and the King to regain his clarity….]
[Minister, if the contents of that secret ledger become fully exposed, even those wavering will turn against us.]
[Was it not the foundation laid over ten years since the current King’s ascension that made the Loyalist Faction so steadfast? Now that the King has regained his senses and obtained the seal of office…]
As objections poured forth, the Left Prime Minister cut them off with an angry voice.
[So you propose we sit idle and wait meekly for our heads to roll? Do you truly believe your necks will remain intact if mine is severed?]
[….]
[Our only path to survival is proving the Royal Family’s spiritual corruption. Consider what happened with the black pearl. Was that an ordinary matter? Both the Crown Prince and the King—his father—are all defiled and wicked creatures!]
The Left Prime Minister bellowed, then continued with a grinding voice.
[Have you forgotten my grandson fainted and had to be carried away after encountering the Crown Prince while passing through the East Palace? That creature is a monster! Will you continue to serve such a sinister, corrupted thing as Crown Prince?]
[….]
[It seems you have all forgotten that terrible tragedy from two years ago. Therefore… I must remind you of it.]
[Pardon?]
[…Didn’t the Crown Prince say he would hold a memorial rite soon?]
[The one to be held together at the Altar of Heaven during the Cloud Dragon Festival, correct?]
The Cloud Dragon Festival.
‘I saw it in the ceremonial records.’
It was Yun Kingdom’s celestial ritual, held every December to give thanks for passing the year safely and to pray for blessings in the coming year—a sacrifice the King himself offered directly to Heaven.
‘It was said to be the most important official ceremony in Yun Kingdom. Originally the King should preside over it, but for the past two years, someone else had done so in his stead.’
While the King was not in his right mind, the Left Prime Minister’s faction had tried to make Wan-eon the priest of the Cloud Dragon Festival, but the Loyalist Faction opposed it desperately, so Princess Onseol—the King’s sister and a nun who had taken vows—temporarily assumed the role of priestess.
‘A nun from Yeonhwa Temple offering sacrifices to the Celestial Deities rather than to the Buddha of the Lotus Paradise is peculiar, but… the Pure Land is still part of the Heavenly Realm after all, so it’s not particularly strange.’
The reason the celestial ritual was named the Cloud Dragon Festival was that it was originally a sacrifice offered to the Cloud Dragon, regarded as Yun Kingdom’s founder and guardian deity.
‘They were taking the opportunity to offer sacrifices to their ancestors while also conveniently attending to the Celestial Deities.’
With December only a month away, the King apparently judged it better to hold the memorial rite together during the upcoming Cloud Dragon Festival rather than prepare a separate one.
‘The plan is to show the gathered people during the Cloud Dragon Festival that the King has recovered his senses and that the Crown Prince is no longer a cursed being.’
As I was contemplating the Cloud Dragon Festival, the Left Prime Minister, who had been arguing with the Wan-eon Faction, suddenly spoke in hushed tones.
[If an inauspicious event happens once, it can be dismissed as misfortune, but if it occurs twice, isn’t it inevitable?]
[…!]
[And if, amidst that calamity, the Cloud Dragon chooses a true kingly talent and resolves the chaos… what would become of the people’s hearts?]
The Left Prime Minister smiled darkly and began to explain his plan. Thanks to him, I now understood exactly how he intended to escape this crisis.
‘So during the Cloud Dragon Festival, he’ll cause chaos like before… and secretly perform a spirit possession ritual to resolve the crisis through that deity, then claim it as Wan-eon’s achievement? And use that as justification for outright rebellion?’
So he’s planning to summon a god and stage a play?
‘In front of me?’
Before me, Princess Cheonmyeong, the only daughter of the Jade Emperor, the highest deity of the Heavenly Realm, and the Yama King, the highest deity of the Underworld—some minor deity who’s eaten offerings is going to strut about saying, ‘Ahem, you lowly humans!’?
‘This doesn’t even need to be stopped.’
Things are turning out amusingly. I let out an involuntary laugh. An-si looked at me in bewilderment.
“Your Highness?”
“I wonder who’ll come down to perform this play?”
I murmured as I peeled away the translucent butterfly that had been covering my eyes like a mask.
“I’m curious what their reaction will be when they discover me among the audience.”
“Pardon? Are you planning to watch the play, Your Highness?”
“Not watch it—the play seems to be coming to me instead.”
Watching An-si tilt her head in confusion, I smiled mischievously.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
* * *
The next day, I met the Crown Prince for the first time in a while. Or rather, I caught him. I heard murmuring voices outside while he was lying in his room after drinking the medicinal tonic that Kim Sang-gung had brought from the Apothecary.
“Gasp, Your Highness the Crown, no, the East Palace—!”
“Shh. Is the Crown Princess’s Palace resting?”
Following An-si’s voice from outside the door, I heard a calm boy’s voice. I sprang up and approached the door.
“Your, the Crown Princess’s Palace is resting! What brings you here?”
“As long as she is resting safely, that is enough. I shall take my leave—”
Why is An-si being so cautious? And why is this boy trying to leave after coming all this way?
I flung the door open before the Crown Prince could finish speaking.
“I’m not going.”
“…!”
The Crown Prince’s eyes widened in shock.
‘It’s been so long since I’ve seen him that he seems to have grown taller somehow….’
In reality, it had only been a few days, but since I saw him every day before that, it felt like an eternity had passed.
I narrowed my eyes and looked up at the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, if you weren’t going to see me anyway, why did you come all the way to Unyeon Hall?”
“I… I was worried whether you were well, my lady….”
“If you were worried, you should have come to visit. But you haven’t come even once all this time.”
My lips pouted without my consent. I’m an adult, and he’s been busy all this time, so I shouldn’t show my hurt feelings like this. No, I shouldn’t feel hurt in the first place! If I’m truly an adult!
My mouth moved of its own accord, contrary to what my mind was thinking.
“When Your Highness was struggling, I held your hand by your side… So why weren’t you beside me when I was ill?”
Is it because my body is weak? Or is it because I’m still not grown up, that despite being 209 years old, I haven’t matured at all? The hurt I had tried so hard to suppress came flooding back.
I was sick for days. I came to the Mortal Realm to avoid getting sick, but I fell ill just like in the Heavenly Realm. Lying in bed unable to move, just like before. To be honest, I was terrified that my body would continue to be plagued by illness. I know it won’t happen, but I was still afraid.
I don’t want to take medicine anymore. I don’t want to recuperate. I really don’t want to keep sleeping. I lived that way for over 200 years. I don’t want to live like that here, but when it happens again, I’m scared. This body is strong, so it will recover quickly, right? If I exercise and build up my stamina, I won’t collapse again, right? Surely, just resting quietly like this won’t weaken my body, will it?
See, when you’re sick and lying down, you only have bad thoughts. Stay by my side. Tell me it will be fine. Tell me that being a little ill won’t be a big deal. Tell me it’s just a common cold and will pass quickly so we can shoot arrows together.
‘…Why am I like this?’
My emotions surged uncontrollably. I wanted to whimper like a child. The moment I met the Crown Prince’s gaze.

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