Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 56

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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 56
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The Crown Prince, Cheon Gyeol-u, blinked his large eyes and quietly observed the Lady gazing up at him.
While everyone around them recoiled in shock at the dragon’s sudden descent, the Lady had remained remarkably composed. The dragon that had been snarling ferociously suddenly froze upon seeing him—or more precisely, what lay behind him. The dragon had wept and prostrated itself before him. The dragon had bowed.
Cheon Gyeol-u felt a strong conviction that the dragon’s gaze was not fixed upon him. Those golden eyes, gleaming like lantern flames, had been watching something else all along.
‘It seemed to be… the Lady standing behind me.’
At that time, the boy had believed the dragon came to strike him down with divine punishment, and his mind had been consumed with the thought that the Lady must not be caught in his retribution. Yet upon reflection after the situation reversed, something had felt decidedly amiss.
‘Father and Mother said… that Unryong seemed to have blessed me, and that my acquiring something as terrifying as a shadow must have been the will of the Celestial Deities and a trial, and they rejoiced.’
Indeed, the royal court—excluding the Wan-eon Faction—the ministers, and the people were now in a literal festival atmosphere.
Contempt and reverence are emotions separated by the thinnest of lines. When one regards a peculiar and alien being as ‘grotesque,’ one despises it as a monster; when one regards it as ‘extraordinary,’ one reveres it as a hero. Despite his tender years, the boy was coming to understand the boundary between contempt and reverence. His own unique circumstances had taught him well.
The incident at the Yongryong Ceremony was precisely the event that divided that boundary. After the ceremony, the Crown Prince observed people’s reactions and realized his ‘grotesqueness’ had transformed into ‘extraordinariness.’
Then… his Lady, who had received the dragon’s obeisance yet attributed it to her husband’s merit, or perhaps even manipulated the dragon—was she ‘grotesque’ or ‘extraordinary’? The moment his thoughts reached that point, the boy’s previously muddled mind became crystalline.
‘The Lady is the one who made my grotesqueness extraordinary. She saved Father and Mother and saved my life. There is no reason to doubt.’
Se-ru-hwa is not a grotesque being. She is special and extraordinary. She is Cheon Gyeol-u’s benefactor, his noble lady, and his wife. Before this clear conclusion, the girl’s precise identity and minor mysteries became insignificant.
‘Since the Lady is special, such things are possible.’
If she is my Lady, she could certainly command a dragon. How noble my Lady is.
‘The dragon recognized the Lady’s nobility and was simply overwhelmed.’
The young bridegroom, though appearing simple-minded, made surprisingly accurate deductions and nodded to himself in satisfaction.
“Your Highness?”
“Yes, my Lady.”
As the Crown Prince answered with a radiant smile, the Crown Princess flinched.
“What were you thinking about?”
“I was thinking that you are far too noble and extraordinary for me, my Lady.”
“…What?”
Se-ru-hwa furrowed her brows in bewilderment.
To Cheon Gyeol-u, even that expression of exasperation appeared endearing and adorable beyond measure.
‘My wife.’
Regardless of how the marriage came about, how fortunate I am to have wed such a lady. A blessing for a lifetime. How should I express this feeling?
Just then, his eyes fell upon the dried pollock side dish that his Lady had eaten with such evident delight. The boy skillfully and swiftly separated the flesh from the bones and piled the golden meat generously onto her plate.
“Your, Your Highness?”
“You must eat well and grow tall.”
“Your Highness must grow tall too. We even made a bet about our heights.”
Se-ru-hwa replied with an intentionally sullen pout and offered him beef ribs.
“Try this once.”
Cheon Gyeol-u considered with a composed expression. He had noticed that whenever his Lady ate beef ribs, her face lit up with the most radiant happiness—was that why she was offering them to him? Because she found them most delicious herself?
‘How adorable….’
What was he to do if his Lady was this adorable? If someone else took a fancy to her, what then? The seedling of possessiveness that had sprouted was beginning to grow vigorously, though the boy remained unaware of it.
“When your appetite is lacking, you must eat something delicious. So trust me and try this once, yes?”
The chopsticks holding the beef ribs crossed the table toward his plate. The Crown Prince impulsively leaned forward and accepted it directly into his mouth.
“…!”
Se-ru-hwa started in surprise.
Cheon Gyeol-u closed his mouth and chewed the meat. To be honest, he’d simply accepted it without thinking, so he felt a bit embarrassed and couldn’t quite discern the flavor. Still, he chewed it cleanly and swallowed, then spoke with feigned composure.
“It truly is delicious.”
“I told you it was delicious.”
The girl’s ears flushed slightly as she replied with studied indifference. A warm, fluffy sensation blossomed in his chest.
‘Whenever I’m with the Lady, it always becomes like this.’
The boy smiled with contentment.
“Thank you, Lady.”
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After the Yongryong Ceremony, the Palace erupted into turmoil.
First, the Left Prime Minister was exposed as the mastermind behind the Crown Princess’s assassination attempt and the East Palace arson, and was given poison to drink. Since he had attempted to kill both the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, his crime amounted to high treason. Administering poison was only just.
Unlike before, when he had clung to power with stubborn resistance, this time there was reportedly little opposition to giving the Left Prime Minister poison. The dragon’s descent and its scathing proclamation, along with the filth it poured forth, contributed greatly, as did the Chief State Councillor’s abandonment of maintaining balance and his final revelation of the secret ledgers.
Once the Left Prime Minister drank poison, his entire clan and the Wan-eon Faction were demoted, exiled, and punished wholesale. Those who had directly participated in the conspiracy were either beheaded or given poison. Wan-eon, being still young and the current King’s nephew, was spared poison. Instead, he was placed under house arrest with a thorny fence surrounding his dwelling on a remote island in Namhae.
While the Palace was swept by the winds of purge, the East Palace instead grew warm with life. Court ladies formally moved into Jamnyong Hall, and the departments related to the Crown Prince, which had been dormant, were reorganized.
The gates of the East Palace opened, and the Crown Prince and I received patients daily in Sowang Hall, the main hall of the East Palace. These were people like those who had fallen into unconsciousness during the Black Reign like the Queen, or those afflicted with madness like the King. We had decided early on to treat such victims with medicinal tea, but until now, with the Wan-eon Faction and Loyalist Faction fighting, people were unsettled by claims that the King was still mad or that the Crown Prince was not in his right mind, so no one came for treatment.
‘These people had already suffered, so it was understandable that they were anxious and found it hard to trust.’
But once the King and Queen showed complete recovery at the Yongryong Ceremony, and the Crown Prince received the dragon’s obeisance, completely shedding the stigma of being cursed, people finally began coming to the Palace one by one for treatment.
After drinking the medicinal tea I prepared, they received the Crown Prince’s apology and compensation prepared by the royal family before departing. Once several had been fully healed this way, soon everyone was flocking to Sowang Hall.
Beyond the medicinal tea, I used salves and medicines retrieved from the Treasure Vault to treat their minor wounds and ailments. It was to lighten the Crown Prince’s karmic burden, to solidify my position as Crown Princess, and to build connections and expand my influence.
‘Since all the patients were either high-ranking officials or family members of such officials who could attend the Queen’s birthday celebration… this sort of thing would help build the Crown Prince’s faction in the court.’
Through steady effort over the winter, I was able to treat all the victims on the list before spring arrived.
‘I decided to depart for the pilgrimage once the weather warmed, so now I’ve nearly finished all the aftermath of the Black Reign.’
Thus winter passed, and spring of the new year drew near.
The 14th year of Seogwang, late in the second month.
The Gyebang Hall in the Crown Prince’s Guard Quarters and Chunbang Hall in the Crown Prince’s Educational Institute, which had been filled with nothing but cobwebs, were now bustling with people. Starting in the third month, the Crown Prince’s Guard and Crown Prince’s Educational Institute would formally resume operations.
Not only Gyebang and Chunbang in Jamnyong Hall, but also one of the halls in front of Unyeon Hall had been cleaned and hung with a new nameplate. Jaebang—a hall bearing a nameplate written by the King himself.
‘A gift I received from the King…!’
Jaebang was, like the Crown Prince’s Educational Institute for the Crown Prince, a dedicated educational institution for me as Crown Princess. While Yun Kingdom had a thorough educational system for the Crown Prince, it had virtually none for the Crown Princess. At most, the Queen or a knowledgeable lady-in-waiting would summon the Crown Princess and teach her one-on-one.
‘That wasn’t enough.’
Why did I come to the Mortal Realm? I wanted to do everything I desired with a healthy body.
‘I’m going to learn all sorts of things!’
So the gift I requested from the King was precisely this: the authority to summon masters from all fields using my position as Crown Princess and learn everything I wished.
“You wish for me to let you study? Is that truly the gift you desire?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I wish to learn many things. Not just scholarship and refinement, but also arts, martial skills, and even the techniques of Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin. I want to study diverse subjects so that I might become a more excellent person later!”
“How admirable you are… Yun Kingdom is truly blessed. Very well, learn whatever you wish. I shall support it all!”
The King, delighted by my charm, granted permission and even personally named the hall and wrote the nameplate himself. A place to cultivate and refine one’s talents—’Jaebang’. My Crown Princess’s Tutorial Office. Unlike the Crown Prince’s Educational Institute with its strict procedures and fixed officials, it instead allowed me to structure the curriculum freely and summon temporary instructors as needed.

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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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