Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 57

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

Chapter 57
I gazed up at the palace hall bearing its nameplate and cradled my flushed cheeks in both hands.
‘I finally have it!’
Treasures bestowed before I even desired them, gifts received the moment I hinted at wanting them—none stirred my heart like this. This was a reward for my own accomplishments, a gift I had personally requested and conceived, crafted through my own design. The fruit of my labor.
Something swells within me with profound satisfaction, expanding my chest with pride. It feels as though brilliant stars are twinkling across the sky of my heart.
‘Now I can learn whatever I wish, can’t I? I can even choose my own teachers. How thrilling—I can hardly contain my excitement.’
Beyond basic refinement and scholarship, the first disciplines I resolved to master were horsemanship and swordsmanship. I yearned to move my healthy body freely and vigorously. Particularly for swordsmanship, the Crown Prince’s own instructor agreed to teach me as well.
Now that I think of it, that instructor seemed like someone with quite a story… I suppose I’ll learn more when we meet.
‘I do hope I turn out to be a natural swordmaster!’
Or perhaps a prodigy at horsemanship! Anything, really! The truth is… I’ve already accepted my defeat in archery after practicing alongside the Crown Prince.
‘The Crown Prince hits his mark with his eyes closed from far greater distances, yet I can’t even strike a target with a toy bow from close range…’
I continued practicing hoping to improve, but my skill didn’t advance even a fraction. I felt guilty toward An-si, who labored to find something praiseworthy in my pitiful archery, so I knew I should gradually abandon it. Though I do enjoy archery itself, so I’ll continue practicing it occasionally as a hobby.
‘If I try enough different things, surely I’ll be naturally talented at something?’
Even if I’m not skilled, as long as it’s enjoyable, that’s enough—but still, I’d prefer to have a specialty rather than merely hobbies. Honestly, I’d love to have not just one specialty, but three, or even ten.
‘After I’m gone… if people remember that Princess Cheonmyeong wielded her sword with true mastery, that would be wonderful. Better than remembering only that she lay in bed, suffering.’
When I become proficient at something, I must show Mother and Father directly. So they can remember me as healthy and whole. So they’ll have something to boast about.
Oh, I’m so excited. Now I understand why young spirits and human children often lose sleep the night before their first day of school.
‘It’s a shame I won’t have classmates to learn alongside like at a proper academy… but at least I’ll be studying swordsmanship with the Crown Prince!’
March, when lessons begin, cannot arrive soon enough.
‘Only a few days remain!’
* * *
This afternoon, a visitor was expected at the East Palace. Princess Onseol, the current King’s full sister and a nun of the Yeonhwa Order who had taken vows.
She had promised to visit after the Yongryong Ceremony, but the visit had been repeatedly postponed as a tempest of bloodshed swept through the palace immediately after the ceremony concluded.
‘Now that the turmoil has largely settled and the weather has cleared considerably, she’s finally making her formal visit.’
Though it was an official visit, it remained ultimately a private meeting between aunt and nephew and his wife, so refreshments were arranged not in Sowang Hall but in the garden pavilion.
A path branches off toward the garden roughly midway along the corridor connecting Jamnyong Hall and Unyeon Hall. This path leads to a pavilion overlooking a pond—a space designed for the Crown Prince and Crown Princess to rest or host intimate gatherings.
With nothing particular to occupy myself, I arrived at the pavilion early and settled in to wait.
‘The garden is bursting with flower buds. Spring truly is arriving.’
The garden that had seemed eerie upon my first glimpse had become neat and charming. Once the flowers fully bloomed, it would be lovely to behold. Compared to my garden at Sang-ra Palace—ornate beyond measure, grand, and mysteriously adorned with every manner of enchantment—this was humble. Yet having witnessed the daily process of gradually tidying this once-chaotic place, I had grown unexpectedly fond of it.
‘I observed and decided upon every detail—which flowers to plant where, how to transplant the trees…’
Even the pond, once murky and rotting, had cleared, and now colorful carp swam through it. In one corner of that pond, An-si crouched, playing. She fed the carp, then suddenly snatched one bare-handed, examined it from every angle, and returned it to the water.
‘An-si plays more like a cat than a bird.’
Then abruptly, she glared menacingly at the Gwang-chul bracelet adorning her wrist and hurled it into the water.
‘Did Gwang-chul deliberately provoke her somehow?’
I sensed a silent cry of distress from the finger-sized dragon thrashing frantically in the water.
‘She seems less bored now that he’s here.’
I’d felt somewhat guilty that she must have been tedious, always remaining at my side, but lately she seemed to be playing well with Gwang-chul, bickering and all. They even appear to spar occasionally.
‘By age, Gwang-chul should be far her senior, yet somehow their mental ages seem remarkably similar…’
The tiny Gwang-chul swam back to the pond’s edge and bit An-si’s finger; she seized his tail and yanked him away, then transformed into a small bird and promptly bit his waist in return.
‘They’re truly just children, both of them.’
I watched Gwang-chul flailing like a loach caught by a bird while clamped in An-si’s jaws, suppressing my laughter, when I felt a presence behind me. Turning around, I saw Choi Ja-myeong, a staff member of Unyeondang, entering the pavilion with a decorative mat draped over her shoulders.
“Your Highness, the Crown Princess.”
Choi Ja-myeong bowed respectfully upon seeing me. I nodded to acknowledge her greeting and asked.
“Are you laying that mat down here?”
“Yes, Princess Onseol will be arriving soon, so I should begin preparations.”
“Would you like me to move?”
“Not at all. Please, rest.”
“All right.”
I leaned against the railing and watched as Choi Ja-myeong spread out the mat carefully. As she laid it down, she suddenly spoke.
“Your Highness, the Crown Princess.”
“Hmm?”
“My younger sister has been selected as a medical apprentice. She will begin her studies at Jesaengwon this spring.”
Jesaengwon was this nation’s state medical institution and school of healing arts. Those who studied there—called “medical practitioners”—learned not merely medicine but a comprehensive “healing art” encompassing martial techniques and mystical methods that aided treatment. It was a position one could not simply obtain, and those who held it enjoyed considerable status. Therefore, her sister being selected as a medical apprentice and receiving education was certainly something worthy of pride.
“A medical apprentice at Jesaengwon? Isn’t that an incredibly difficult position to pass? Your sister must be remarkable.”
At my admiration, Choi Ja-myeong smiled faintly.
“That child is one Your Highness saved.”
“What?”
“You gave us a prescription and gold before, did you not?”
“Right, I heard she recovered well…”
It was about a month after I had given that prescription when Choi Ja-myeong came to tell me her sister had fully recovered, bringing back the remaining money from the medicine preparation.
‘It felt awkward to take it back, and I was moved by her thoughtfulness, so I told her to keep it.’
Choi Ja-myeong continued with a smile.
“Yes, with the medicine prepared according to Your Highness’s prescription, that child rose from her sickbed in merely a month, and used the remaining money to study.”
“That was only recently—she’s already passed the entrance examination for Jesaengwon?”
“She had been helping the village physician even before. He said he would take her as his apprentice once she grew older, but he passed away during the landslide that buried our village…”
“I see…”
“My sister studied diligently because she wants to treat sick people like herself. She says she will become a physician and repay Your Highness someday. You have shown our family tremendous grace, Your Highness.”
Choi Ja-myeong’s eyes reddened. After straightening the mat completely, she rose and suddenly performed a deep bow before me.
“Thank you so very much, Your Highness.”
My heart stirred. A feeling larger, warmer, and softer than the contentment I had felt viewing the orderly garden. A sensation like stars scattered across the sky. The small kindness I had sown seemed to have taken root like a seed, sprouted, and grown into a sapling.
“What is that child’s name?”
“Kim Cho-ryeong. Though we do not share a surname, she is as dear to me as a true younger sister.”
“Kim Cho-ryeong—yes, I will remember her.”
I smiled as I added.
“And you need not repay me. That was your good fortune. But if you truly wish to repay me… tell her that becoming an excellent physician is repayment enough.”
She gazed at me with glistening eyes before bowing deeply.
“Yes, I will convey your words.”
After Choi Ja-myeong left the pavilion, I rested my chin on my folded arms against the railing.
‘This… this is truly joyful.’
In this place, I continued to experience things I had never encountered during my more than two centuries in the Heavenly Realm.
Coming down to the Mortal Realm was truly the right choice.
I buried my face in my arm to hide the smile spreading across my lips. As I stood there grinning to myself, a rich floral fragrance suddenly washed over me.
“…?”
I lifted my head in surprise, only to find myself surrounded by deep crimson. Upon closer inspection, it was a branch of red plum blossoms in full, exquisite bloom.
“What were you doing here?”
A tender voice reached me from beyond the mass of red flowers. The Crown Prince, holding the plum branch, looked up at me from below the pavilion’s railing.
“These are the first red plum blossoms to bloom this year. I brought them because I wanted to give them to you.”
“…To me?”
“The moment I saw them, I thought of you.”
The boy smiled beautifully. A smile so delicate it seemed the plum petals would dust my fingertips if I dared to touch them.
I found myself accepting the flowering branch he offered, my mind strangely blank. My cheeks felt warm.
This too… makes me so happy.

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