Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 49

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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 49
“So you’re saying that since the Dark Spirit Art didn’t exist before, it will become whatever you create it to be going forward?”
“Yes, Your Highness will be the one creating it. A new art of handling the otherworldly.”
“Not monsters, but… the otherworldly. An art.”
The Crown Prince murmured blankly before lifting his gaze to meet mine.
“Now I finally understand why you deliberately gave this power the name of an art, my Lady.”
He wore the expression of a sage who had achieved enlightenment. The Crown Prince seemed to have drawn some profound interpretation from the naming of Dark Spirit Art. Though I hadn’t thought that deeply when I named it—I’d simply chosen it for convenience in explanation.
‘Well, what does it matter. Good is good.’
Letting it pass, I rubbed my eyes, which had begun to swell, and opened my mouth.
“So Your Highness infiltrated the Merchant Guild with that power and retrieved the Left Prime Minister’s secret ledger?”
“…!”
The Crown Prince startled, then countered.
“You knew?”
“I heard about it yesterday.”
Before the boy could press me on who had told me, I shot him a sullen look.
“You realize what a dangerous thing you did, don’t you?”
“…I do.”
“Did the King scold you?”
“Yes… and the Queen scolded me as well.”
“Then I won’t scold you either. But!”
I extended my pinky finger and spoke with deliberate solemnity.
“Promise me you won’t make me a widow before I’ve even had my coming-of-age ceremony.”
This little brat looked innocent, yet he was fearless.
‘No, wait. Judging by the size of the darkness I’ve nurtured in him, he’s actually quite afraid.’
It wasn’t just fear—he had an excess of unnecessary courage. What business did such a small thing have doing such dangerous deeds?
‘I should at least make him promise so he’ll be more careful.’
I couldn’t guarantee anything beyond his coming-of-age ceremony anyway, so at least until then.
Upon seeing my extended pinky, the Crown Prince smiled with the brightness of a boy, unlike before, and linked his finger with mine.
“I could never dare make you a widow, my Lady.”
“You’ll be more careful from now on?”
“I promise.”
“Then that’s settled.”
The Crown Prince and I sealed our promise with linked pinkies. We smiled at each other as our fingers intertwined and then parted, warmth lingering where they had touched. The feeling was strangely warm and ticklish.
‘Come to think of it, this is my first time making a pinky promise with anyone besides my parents.’
I rubbed my finger absently before lifting my head.
“By the way, Your Highness, I heard you agreed to hold a Rite of Spirits together during the upcoming Yun Dragon Festival?”
“Yes, I heard it was confirmed at court session today.”
“It was confirmed today?”
“The court had been occupied with other matters and progress was slow, but today the ministers actively discussed and decided upon it, I’m told.”
It seemed the Left Prime Minister, who had been uncooperative until now, had decided to scheme and was now actively cooperating.
“Your Majesty will be presiding over it, then?”
“Yes, and for some reason, it was decided rather easily…”
The Crown Prince’s brow furrowed slightly.
The Crown Prince personally presiding over the Ritual for the Departed was a symbolic restoration of his position. It was understandable that he felt uneasy about the Wan-eon Faction letting it pass so easily.
Of course, I knew exactly why they were doing this, so I felt no unease.
‘If anything, I’m looking forward to it.’
I’d already seen everything those fools were scheming for their calamity. Their conspiracy was so transparent that I could counter it without even breaking a sweat. I set down my teacup and smiled brightly.
“Let’s prepare for the Ritual for the Departed with all our effort!”
* * *
The 15th day of the 12th month, Year 13 of Seo-gwang.
The night of the last full moon of the year.
The day of the Yun-ryong Ritual, at the Altar of Heaven.
The Altar of Heaven in Yun Kingdom was situated on an island surrounded by the Wun River, which cut across the capital city of Wun City.
The small island, with its gently sloping terrain, consisted of the Altar of Heaven atop the hill where the heavenly sacrifice ritual took place, and an open plaza below where one could look up at the altar.
‘So the island is named Sacrifice Heaven Island because it only contains the Altar of Heaven and the plaza beneath it.’
The island was clearly being maintained as a sacred site, and I could see a red-painted wooden gate standing at the stone bridge entrance connected to the riverbank.
The King’s palanquin procession passed through the red gate first, followed in turn by the Queen, the Crown Prince, and then my palanquin crossing the threshold.
I slightly opened the window of my palanquin and surveyed the plaza.
‘Wow, there are so many people!’
The Yun-ryong Ritual was said to be the nation’s greatest ceremony and a kind of festival, and the gathered masses filled the plaza densely.
‘If something goes wrong, people could get trampled to death. If I fail to properly stop the Wan-eon Faction’s scheming, someone will definitely get hurt.’
An-si, dressed in palace maid attire and following right beside my palanquin, whispered worriedly through the open window.
“Why have you opened the window, Your Highness? The wind is quite biting.”
“I’m not that fragile. I’ve built up my stamina considerably with archery practice and walks lately.”
“Still, please be careful. I worry you might catch a cold.”
“Yes, I won’t overdo it anymore.”
I answered obediently and closed the window.
The commotion had subsided, but the loud sounds of drums and horns continued to echo.
‘Seok-ran must be among those musicians.’
Since I’d given her the task today, she would have seamlessly integrated herself into the orchestra.
Thinking of Seok-ran naturally brought her younger brother to mind. Seok-juk, an aspiring Heavenly Official. The fox spirit who had agreed to escort Seol Deung-hwa until she could stand on her own, in exchange for receiving my karma points.
‘I wonder if Seol Deung-hwa is safely on her way to Pyeong by now?’
Since the Queen had awakened safely, Seol Deung-hwa no longer had an excuse to remain in Yun Kingdom. While my body was ailing, she could still justify staying, but once I recovered, she truly had to return to Pyeong.
So Seol Deung-hwa had departed for the Pyeong Empire not long ago, traveling with the Ping Empire Envoys and laden with gifts the King had generously prepared as thanks for treating the Queen.
Seok-juk had transformed into a small fox and subtly nestled himself among those gifts, posing as a pet fox.
‘I’ve taught her the method of death and resurrection, prepared poison for the Emperor, and even assigned a thousand-year-old fox spirit as her escort. She should be able to carry out her revenge and escape without incident.’
I’d instructed her to contact me immediately once she escaped the Imperial Palace and reached safety, so I just needed to wait regarding Seol Deung-hwa’s matter.
‘The secret ledger… still hasn’t been fully authenticated.’
The Crown Prince had gone through such hardship to obtain it, yet that damned Left Prime Minister was dragging out the matter with every possible excuse, slipping away from accountability. With the Yun-ryong Ritual imminent and the Ritual for the Departed in preparation, it was difficult for the nation to pursue the matter aggressively.
‘But that doesn’t mean the Crown Prince’s suffering was in vain.’
Without that ledger, the King and the Loyalist Faction would have suffered a counterattack, and the Crown Prince would have been deposed.
‘…Even so, the fact that we can’t properly punish the Left Prime Minister despite having such overwhelming evidence as the ledger seems to be because of the Chief State Councillor.’
The Chief State Councillor, leader of the Centrist Faction ministers. On the surface, he appeared neutral, favoring neither the Loyalist Faction nor the Wan-eon Faction, but my observations over the past month told a different story.
‘When I combine the court situation I’ve observed through the Left Prime Minister with the Palace information Seok-ran brought me, it becomes almost certain.’
The Chief State Councillor isn’t maintaining objectivity. He subtly bolsters whichever side is losing, deliberately balancing both factions as if he doesn’t want either to win.
‘Before… I once suspected that the mastermind behind Se-ru-hwa’s assassination might be a real power holder who wants Yun Kingdom to remain in chaos.’
The current court, where the Wan-eon Faction and Loyalist Faction fight each other while the Chief State Councillor, leader of the Centrist Faction, holds the greatest power. During the East Palace fire, there were arsonists from the Merchant Guild connected to the Left Prime Minister, and Fire Ghosts that appeared from a different direction.
During the assassination attempt on Se-ru-hwa, the Left Prime Minister used the Crown Prince’s Eunuch and prepared assassins. However, the night before the wedding, it wasn’t an assassin who actually killed Se-ru-hwa—it was an arrow shot by someone.
‘A method using Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin rather than employing people. When the Left Prime Minister left traces and mobilized assassins or arsonists, someone else subtly infiltrated and used demons or sorcery that left no traces….’
Using the same method suggests a high probability of the same mastermind.
‘The arrow shot at Se-ru-hwa, the Fire Ghost sent to Unyeon Hall—could both be the Chief State Councillor’s doing?’
There’s no physical evidence, but my suspicions run deep. It’s suspicious in many ways.
‘The King and other ministers probably don’t know. I only noticed that the Chief State Councillor is subtly balancing both sides because I’ve directly observed both factions’ situations.’
It’s thanks to hearing about the Loyalist Faction’s circumstances as Crown Princess, observing the Left Prime Minister’s situation as Samsi-chung, and gathering information about various people in the Palace through Seok-ran.
However, the Right Prime Minister, who is both from the same Centrist Faction and one of the Three Excellencies, seemed to understand the Chief State Councillor’s true intentions to some degree. When the Chief State Councillor entertained the Left Prime Minister’s nonsense about the ledger’s authenticity, the Right Prime Minister would occasionally interject and refute him.
‘The fact that he told me about the East Palace fire also suggests it—the Right Prime Minister is practically closer to the Loyalist Faction.’
Yet because his wife, Lady Shim, died during the plague, he emotionally cannot stand with the King and Crown Prince.
‘Looking at the court over the past month, the Right Prime Minister was the best.’
Among the Three Excellencies, only the Right Prime Minister seems interested in state affairs. Honestly, it seems like he’s doing all the work alone.
If only I could somehow draw the Right Prime Minister to the Crown Prince’s side. Would I have to earn points by preventing the plague that strikes his entire family? But that’s three years away….
‘Ugh, what a headache.’
Being a Crown Princess from the Empire, of mixed ethnic minority descent, and only nine years old makes it even more of a headache because I can’t do anything openly.
‘Still, once today passes, the situation will change.’
If things go well, I might even eliminate the Left Prime Minister in one stroke.
As I mulled over various concerns, the royal procession seemed to have arrived at the Altar of Heaven, as the movement stopped. When the palanquin door opened, the face of a beautiful boy came into view.

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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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