Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 50

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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 50
“My Lady.”
The Crown Prince bowed at the waist and extended his hand to me.
“Your Highness.”
I smiled and took his hand, watching his long lashes tremble delicately. The hand clasped in mine quivered slightly as well.
‘Is he nervous?’
He had grown adept at controlling the power of darkness—skilled enough to forge a sword from shadow itself—and recently attended court sessions frequently, growing accustomed to appearing before crowds.
‘Yet this many people gathered in one place… it must be his first time since the black rain. He might well be frightened.’
I held the Crown Prince’s hand as we walked and whispered softly.
“Your Highness, are you afraid because there are so many people?”
“Pardon?”
“If you’re frightened, I’ll hold your hand secretly for as long as you need.”
The Crown Prince, who had been about to respond, suddenly fell silent at my words. He gazed down at me and broke into a radiant smile.
“Yes, I would be grateful.”
He looked genuinely delighted. So he truly had been afraid.
‘No matter how mature he appears, he’s still just a child. I should comfort him well.’
Reassured, I held the Crown Prince’s hand—his spirits visibly lifted—and approached the place of honor prepared at the Altar of Heaven.
We took our seats directly below the King and Queen. Beside me sat a middle-aged nun in elaborate ceremonial robes.
‘So this is Princess Onseol.’
The King’s full sister and a nun of the Yeonhwa Order who had taken vows long ago.
‘She entered the monastic life due to illness, or so I heard.’
I had learned that even among the Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin in the human realm, subtle hierarchies and discrimination existed. The Gwae and Ryeok—Daoists who refined their mystical arts and warriors who cultivated their martial strength—were held in high regard, while the Nan and Shin, shamans and spirit mediums, were subtly looked down upon.
‘Especially shamans… those who receive divine possession have no choice but to become shamans, making their lives all the harder.’
When nobility or royalty received divine possession, they typically took monastic vows and became nuns or monks. This was because it would invite scorn for someone of elevated status to live as a shaman.
‘Why do humans look down on shamans? A shaman is ultimately a being chosen by the divine. Shouldn’t they be treated with greater respect and care instead?’
In fact, long before I was born, humans had even revered shamans as kings, or so I had heard.
‘Why did that change to subtle contempt?’
Human culture and customs seemed little different from those of the Heavenly Realm, yet occasionally they displayed such incomprehensible aspects.
While the ritual offerings to the Dragon King were being arranged, I stole glances at Princess Onseol beside me.
‘Since she’s directly involved, perhaps she understands why shamans are treated poorly. Which deity chose her as a shaman?’
With my Heavenly Eye, I could discern which deity she was connected to at a glance, but relying on spiritual sense alone left me confused.
‘Hmm, the energy feels like it’s from the Underworld…’
There was something oddly familiar about it—clearly a deity I knew.
‘Who could it be?’
While I was peering, our eyes met directly beneath her ceremonial headdress.
“…!”
“It seems you take an interest in me, Crown Princess Your Highness.”
Princess Onseol spoke to me in a low voice. I felt the Crown Prince turn to look from the other side.
I stammered out an excuse.
“Ah, well… I was wondering if Your Highness the Princess might be in a similar situation to the Crown Prince.”
“Ah.”
Princess Onseol’s lips curved into something resembling a bitter smile at my words.
“I’ve heard that what the Crown Prince endured over the past two years was something akin to a divine affliction. So I wondered—might you also be curious about the divine affliction I experienced?”
“…Yes. If it wouldn’t be disrespectful. It seemed it might help His Highness.”
It was a roundabout excuse, since I couldn’t very well admit I’d examined her because I sensed something divine about her. But now that I thought about it, it truly did seem as though it would help the Crown Prince.
Princess Onseol hesitated for a moment before answering.
“I too would like to speak with both of them sometime. If you would extend an invitation, I shall visit after the Cloud Dragon Festival.”
This wasn’t a decision I could make alone.
I glanced back slightly toward the Crown Prince. Meeting my gaze, he offered a composed smile and inclined his head gently.
“We shall await your visit with gratitude, Aunt.”
In that moment, a murmur suddenly arose from below the Altar of Heaven.
“The King has arrived!”
“The Queen consort as well!”
“His Majesty, after two years….”
“It seems the Queen truly has awakened, just as the rumors said!”
The people who witnessed the King and Queen ascending the Altar of Heaven gasped in astonishment.
‘So they’re using this Cloud Dragon Festival to demonstrate the royal family’s enduring strength… It’s quite magnificent.’
The Altar of Heaven, adorned with flowing silks of every hue, resembled an enormous phoenix with feathers of countless colors nesting upon the hill.
The King and Queen, resplendent in elaborate ceremonial robes, ascended the steps side by side and took their places before the altar table. The ritual officials on either side raised their flags high.
A deep blue-green flag inscribed with “Clouds and Dragons Fill Heaven.” A silvery-gray flag inscribed with “Clouds and Heavens Embrace the Dragon.” Each symbolized the King and Queen of Yun Kingdom respectively—flags that only they were permitted to bear.
As the royal flags rose above the Altar of Heaven, the murmuring of the people grew louder.
‘The rumors that the King had regained his senses and the Queen had awakened are now proven true before everyone.’
The Crown Prince’s consort—myself—surely accounted for a considerable portion of those rumors. The story of a sleeping Queen awakening after drinking medicine offered by the heir to a mysterious lineage spread far more rapidly than a simple tale of spontaneous awakening, or so I’d heard.
Once the King and Queen were seated, enormous flags were erected in succession behind the altar table.
Celestial Deities
Sacrifice to Heaven
Farewell to the Old, Welcome to the New
Cloud Dragon Festival
As the final flag rose, a deep boom echoed from the drums. Following the heartbeat rhythm of the drums, the musicians stationed below the Altar of Heaven moved their hands in unison.
‘Oh, there’s Seok-ran.’
In a corner among the musicians, I spotted Seok-ran holding a haegeum. With her eyes downcast and her bow moving gracefully, she appeared not as a cackling fox but as a beautiful and elegant musician.
‘That fox has quite the talent for transformation.’
The grand ceremonial music began to play. The Cloud Dragon Festival had commenced.
A ritual official raised his voice to recite the significance of the heavenly sacrifice ceremony.
“The old year departs and the new year approaches! We give thanks for the safety of the year that has passed, and we pray for the safety of the year to come!”
Another official then announced the next procedure.
“Cloud Incense—!”
The drum sounded. As the King placed incense in the golden censer before the altar table, the Queen lit it. Smoke like clouds rose in a clear blue stream toward the sky.
“First Offering—!”
The drums sounded again. The Queen poured wine into the cup that the King held aloft with both hands.
While the King offered wine at the altar, the priest beside him cried out toward the heavens.
“O Dragon who commands the clouds, your descendant offers this sacrifice—protect the peace of Yun Kingdom!”
Next came the procedure where the King, serving as high priest, would read the prayer of gratitude to the Celestial Deities and the Yun Dragon for the past year.
“Gratitude—!”
This time, the gong rang out loudly. One of the priests approached the King on his knees and presented a silk scroll. The King unfurled it and began to recite the prayer in a grave voice.
“On the fifteenth day of the twelfth month of the thirteenth year of Seogwang, at the Altar of Heaven, the descendant of the Yun Dragon offers to the Founder….”
As I watched blankly, I felt a piercing gaze upon me. Glancing over, I spotted a wretched-looking fellow among the ministers across the way.
‘It’s Wan-eon.’
What did he accomplish that he’s glaring at me like that?
When I met his stare directly, he seemed to recall the incident where he’d lost control of his bladder last time, and he startled, quickly averting his eyes. But then he clenched his teeth and turned back to face me with a grotesque smirk—the expression of someone boasting that my end was near.
‘It’s almost a talent, how transparently he broadcasts his scheming on his face.’
For a fifteen-year-old boy, clumsiness was to be expected, but the eleven-year-old beside me was far more composed by comparison.
‘My little one already carries himself with the dignity of a grown man, while that one is nothing but a thundering fool.’
I was inwardly scoffing when suddenly a voluminous sleeve swept across my vision. Looking up, the boy—no, the Crown Prince—was shielding me, his dark eyes fixed on Wan-eon with a piercing glare.
“Your Highness?”
“…It appeared that an ill-intentioned gaze was directed at you, so I intervened.”
Well, that’s kind of him to say, but little one, if you do this here, won’t it draw attention? Is it really acceptable for the heir to the throne to act like an overly protective husband in front of all the people?
Sure enough, Princess Onseol beside me murmured.
“The Crown Prince holds his Crown Princess in such high regard. How wonderful that you are already so close—truly a blessing upon the realm.”
Fortunately, she didn’t disapprove; she seemed quite pleased. Still, I thought it best not to let this continue, so I tugged at the Crown Prince’s sleeve.
“There are many eyes watching, Your Highness. It’s embarrassing.”
“What is embarrassing about a husband fulfilling his duty?”
“No, but given the occasion, you should conduct yourself as befits the Crown Prince—with dignity and propriety.”
At my words, the Crown Prince lowered his arm reluctantly and was about to whisper something when the gong sounded and the priest’s cry rang out.
“Bow to the Deities—!”
As the King and Queen bowed first, everyone else followed suit. The Crown Prince and I, along with all present, rose to perform the bow. The musicians paused their playing.
It was the moment we had predetermined.
[An-si.]
[Yes, Your Highness! Have no fear—I shall slip away swiftly and handle this matter with utmost efficiency!]
An-si, who had been standing behind me, quietly slipped away while everyone’s waists were bent. At the same moment, Seok-ran’s form among the musicians trembled briefly.
‘She’s left behind a doppelgänger.’
Seok-ran is Seok-ran indeed. The Thousand-Year Fox hadn’t wasted a thousand years—in the brief moment while everyone bowed, she swapped her doppelgänger for herself and departed.

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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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