Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 7

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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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Episode 7
The Dark Daytime Duke, Cheon Gyeol-u.
Since Xiao-hua’s life had no intersection with the Crown Prince, even I, who had mobilized karmic records, knew nothing of him beyond his name and title.
‘What else I know is merely that he’s the legitimate son of the current queen, and some strange rumors.’
The moment the Crown Prince appeared, the murmuring ceased and the atmosphere in the hall froze like thin ice. It felt as though people feared him, yet simultaneously despised him.
Even the musicians’ playing trembled faintly. It was as if a ghost had materialized before an eleven-year-old boy.
‘He looks like just a child on the surface… but something feels off about him. Is it because his face and hands are all covered?’
My eyes could pierce through the Heavenly Mandate if they were visible, but the thick veil obscured everything.
“The Ceremonial Bow!”
Following the official’s tense announcement, the Crown Prince and I exchanged bows across the Ceremony Table. I felt as though he was staring at me intently through the veil.
[My lady, that human child… something feels ominous about him….]
An-si sent a message tinged with unease.
‘If a phoenix, sensitive to wickedness, finds him ominous, then he truly is ominous.’
What exactly is that boy?
‘He doesn’t seem to be a demon, but….’
If he were a demon, neither I nor An-si could be deceived, no matter how covered his face was. Just like the Thousand-Year Fox hiding among the musicians earlier.
“The Shared Cup Ritual!”
A gourd cup tied with crimson thread was placed in my hands. Across from me, the Crown Prince received a gourd cup tied with azure thread.
The Conjugal Wine.
Both the Crown Prince and I were still too young for real alcohol—it was essentially heavily diluted water—but a conjugal wine was a conjugal wine nonetheless. Once we drank from it together, the bond of azure and crimson would be sealed.
I concealed the cup with my flowing sleeves and poured half of it onto my garment instead of drinking.
‘This is why I wore the Phoenix Robe.’
With ordinary fabric, it would have soaked through immediately and been obvious, but this robe, woven from phoenix feathers, evaporated every drop without leaving a trace.
The court lady exchanged my cup with the Crown Prince’s half-empty one. I pretended to drink from this cup as well and poured it onto my garment.
‘Good, that’s done.’
As I set down the empty gourd, I saw the court lady on the opposite side falter. The Crown Prince had not taken the cup and merely stared at it. The court lady trembled with fear as she urged him.
“Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince, you m-must d-drink.”
“….”
The Crown Prince remained still for a moment, then slowly raised the cup and drank the conjugal wine beyond the veil. His gloved hands trembled slightly.
‘He must know about the conspiracy surrounding this marriage as well.’
By tomorrow, he would become the groom who killed his bride and face execution—it was only natural he wouldn’t want to accept the conjugal wine.
‘If the Crown Prince is trying to pin my death on him… will arrows fly at night again, or will assassins come?’
I had countermeasures for both arrows and assassins. However.
‘If the Crown Prince is truly mad and actually intends to kill me.’
That would be rather troublesome. The problem wasn’t stopping him, but my plan to live as his consort going forward.
The gourds interlocked and the azure and crimson threads were woven together. I quietly observed the Crown Prince beyond the pair of mandarin ducks arranged on the Ceremony Table.
The young groom never revealed his face throughout the ceremony.
* * *
The moment the ceremony ended, I was escorted alone to the Bridal Chamber. They even locked the door, showing no intention of letting me out until the next day.
Of course, An-si slipped in freely over the walls as a small bird, regardless of whether the humans were standing guard.
“Take this.”
I pressed the Eight Trigrams Bell into An-si’s hands as she slipped into the room.
“Carry it with you and use it when you capture the Thousand-Year Fox.”
The ancient fox was a formidable demon, but no match for a fully grown phoenix. Yet An-si was still so young.
An-si’s brow furrowed at the sight of the Eight Trigrams Bell, clearly reluctant.
“Could I not stay by your side tonight and capture the Thousand-Year Fox tomorrow instead?”
“If I’m still alive tomorrow, word will spread that I survived. Then the Thousand-Year Fox might suspect something. We must capture her tonight.”
“Then perhaps it would be better if you kept the Eight Trigrams Bell, Your Highness. You are in greater danger, after all.”
“I’ll be staying right here. What danger could there possibly be?”
“But you said the humans are plotting to kill you! And that Crown Prince boy seems suspicious too…”
“Don’t worry.”
I lifted the hem of my robe slightly and showed her a small charm hanging from a cord—a straw doll no bigger than a finger.
“Oh! Is that a protective talisman made by Cheoyong?”
“Yes, I retrieved it from the treasure vault.”
Cheoyong was originally the son of the Dragon King of the East Sea, but after defeating the plague-spreading ghost, he became the deity who governs protection from calamity. This charm was a sacred object he had crafted and gifted to me personally.
“No matter what blade or attack comes, this will take the blow in my stead and bear the wound. So go without worry. Besides, you can always sense my wellbeing from anywhere, can’t you?”
“…I understand. Still, I will return as quickly as possible.”
An-si, her anxiety somewhat eased, departed with the Eight Trigrams Bell in hand. Left alone, I gazed around the Bridal Chamber illuminated by candlelight.
‘There’s only one blanket.’
The bride was nine years old and the groom eleven—surely nothing was expected.
‘After all, I’m a bride meant to die here anyway.’
When both bride and groom were so young, wasn’t it normal for them to sleep separately even after the ceremony, rather than share the Bridal Chamber?
‘If it had been Xiao-hua who was simply revived instead of me…’
The thought of a small child drowning in an oversized wedding robe, sitting alone in an empty Bridal Chamber waiting for death, filled me with disgust.
‘Humans really are… No wonder the Underworld is overflowing.’
These days, Hell was so packed with sinners that one had to draw a number and wait their turn.
‘I’ll have to ask Father to send those who killed Xiao-hua directly to the Eight Great Hells without waiting in line.’
As I pondered how to find them and send them to the Afterlife, the sun set.
As twilight deepened, there came a sound from the Courtyard—the Crown Prince had arrived. I rose on my toes and opened the window slightly. There was only one shadow standing in the dim Courtyard, as if he had come without a single attendant.
‘Why is it so dark? I can’t see properly.’
Despite the dusk, torches and paper lanterns burned in abundance throughout the Courtyard, yet the area around the Crown Prince was dark as midnight. The shadow was so absolute that his face was invisible, as if the very light itself was being consumed.
The Crown Prince, standing motionless in the middle of the Courtyard, took a step forward. Reluctantly. Very slowly.
The Crown Prince ascended the stepping stone. The bonfire burning in the Courtyard suddenly dimmed.
The Crown Prince stepped onto the veranda. The paper lanterns hanging from the eaves lost their light.
The Crown Prince walked down the corridor. The lanterns lining the passage extinguished one after another.
‘That is…’
Wherever the boy passed, light died and darkness deeper than night itself bloomed. It was grotesque. Horrifying.
‘During the day… during the ceremony, he wasn’t like this at all.’
The Crown Prince would arrive soon. I closed the window and sat upon the golden bed, my gaze fixed on the door.
Darkness that grew unnaturally. Flames that extinguished of their own accord. Something that seemed harmless by day, yet revealed its true nature when the sun set.
Suddenly, I understood why such ominous rumors clung to the Crown Prince. In that same moment, I became certain that no assassin would come through the window tonight, no blade would fly through the darkness.
‘If my suspicion is correct… there would be no need for such measures.’
It was truly an unexpected turn of events. Even if the Crown Prince were a genuine murderer attempting to kill me with his own hands, I would have been less shocked than this.
‘There’s no precedent for this. But that phenomenon is unmistakably….’
Soft footsteps drew closer. The flickering light that had danced across the paper door vanished, replaced by absolute darkness that swallowed everything beyond the threshold. The footsteps stopped directly in front of the door.
After a long silence, the Crown Prince finally spoke.
“…My lady, are you within?”
Despite the youthful timbre in his voice, it carried a chill as serene and crystalline as still water pooling in shadow.
“Yes, I mean—yes, I am here.”
I had answered carelessly before hastily correcting myself to formal speech. Even though this was a false marriage, it was customary for spouses to address each other formally. My own parents had done so.
“Do you understand why you have come to be married to me?”
“I do.”
“I…”
The Crown Prince paused, then spoke as though making a solemn vow.
“I do not wish to harm you.”
“….”
“So I beg you, please.”
“….”
“Do not fear me.”
His voice trembled with a thin, fragile edge.
‘The boy is terrified.’
Even as he begged me not to fear him, the young prince himself was gripped by the most profound terror.
“If you fear me, you will die. Even if I do nothing… it will happen of its own accord. Even if I do not wish it, even if I desire to harm no one, it will occur regardless. So please…!”
The Crown Prince’s words tumbled out like a cry of anguish before he drew a sharp, gasping breath. Then, as though fighting to regain composure, he took a deep breath and continued slowly.
“When I enter the chamber, all light will be extinguished.”
“….”
“You will not be able to see even an inch ahead, and you will feel a sense of dread and unease.”
“….”
“But nothing will actually happen. It is merely a feeling, merely darkness.”
“….”
“You may close your eyes. Yes, please close them instead. It will be better that way.”
The sound of fabric rustling reached my ears—the Crown Prince seemed to be rubbing his face in agitation.
“Close your eyes and simply sleep. I will not lay a single fingertip upon you, and I will remain motionless in the corner.”
“….”
“That is all. That would be acceptable. But if you should begin to feel even the slightest fear, then… the darkness will grow.”
“…!”
“Do you see the darkness surrounding me? This shadow feeds on terror. The more you fear, the larger it becomes. The more you dread, the more vast and savage it grows, until it consumes you entirely. So please, I implore you… do not be afraid.”
I had suspected, but now I understood with absolute certainty. What the Crown Prince truly was.
Why such rumors circulated. Why everyone feared him so. Why they would devise such elaborate schemes to end his life.
Why both Xiao-hua and I had sensed such dread emanating from him.
‘So it was possible for such a being to be born among humans.’
It was as unprecedented as my own existence. Like me, it seemed this one would face no shortage of extraordinary tribulations.
‘This child’s fate is as twisted as mine, perhaps even more so.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly and rose from my seat. Then I opened the door without hesitation.

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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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