Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 8

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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 8
“L-Lady…!”
The Crown Prince’s voice rang out in alarm. With his cry, darkness flooded in like a tidal wave.
The candles burning in the Bridal Chamber snuffed out in an instant. The moonlight filtering through the window was swallowed whole. A darkness so complete that I couldn’t even see my own hands engulfed the entire chamber.
I could see nothing either. The ability to pierce through darkness belonged to An-si, not to me. Yet this darkness didn’t frighten me.
‘It’s like the River of Three Paths.’
This darkness was deeper than those pitch-black waters, but it lacked their numbing cold and suffocating weight—in that sense, this was almost preferable. And yet an unnatural dread crept up my spine like something alive.
‘A power that summons fear itself.’
For me, it was merely unpleasant, but for a human, it could be suffocating terror.
‘I’m fine.’
I stepped toward where the Crown Prince stood and reached out my hand. My fingertips brushed against silk. Before he could startle and retreat, I seized his robe.
“Your Highness.”
“L-Lady, you’re too close. It’s dangerous.”
“Your Highness, don’t be afraid.”
“…Pardon?”
“You tell me not to be afraid, yet you’re the one trembling with terror right now.”
I looked up at the Crown Prince as calmly as I could manage. Even if I couldn’t see his face, he could certainly see mine.
“I’m not afraid of Your Highness.”
I felt him flinch beneath the collar I held. I gripped the fabric tighter as he tried to pull away, and continued.
“So Your Highness shouldn’t be afraid either.”
“Afraid of what, exactly?”
“Of your darkness.”
“…!”
“You said yourself that the more you fear it, the greater the darkness becomes. So Your Highness cannot afford to be afraid of it.”
The Crown Prince fell silent. In the thick darkness, I couldn’t discern his expression. It seemed his composure was what would shrink this shadow.
‘How do I comfort him?’
When I was frightened as a child, what did my parents do? Mother taught me how to confront the things that scared me, and Father…
‘He’s still just a child. Let me do what Father did.’
I extended my arms and pulled the Crown Prince into an embrace. My height was too slight to hold him the way Father held me, so I clung awkwardly instead. But I patted his back gently, the way Father had done for me.
“It’s not scary, it’s not scary. All the frightening things will disappear, disappear.”
“…”
“If you’re afraid, close your eyes tight. Close them, tell yourself it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s not scary, it’s not scary, and it will all fade away.”
“…”
“Close your eyes tight, say the scary things will disappear, and then open them. When you open your eyes, what will be there? Will anything still be frightening?”
I felt his gaze upon me in the darkness. The Crown Prince was looking down at me. I quickly covered my face with both hands, then spread them wide with the biggest smile I could manage—just as Father had done for me.
“Peek-a-boo!”
“…Pfft.”
A small, deflating laugh escaped him.
‘He laughed!’
The moment his laughter sounded, the darkness began to fade. Light seeped through the shadows like dawn breaking through night.
The candlelight flared back to life. Lanterns along the Corridor ignited. Moonlight streamed through the window once more. The darkness shrank steadily until it settled at a size matching only the Crown Prince’s shadow.
‘Thank goodness! What a relief….’
Only in the lamplight could I finally see the Crown Prince’s face clearly.
“Wow.”
Admiration escaped me unbidden. Sharp brows, refined features, pale complexion contrasted by hair and eyes black as ink.
How could a face still bearing the softness of youth be sculpted with such exquisite beauty?
‘Like a brush-and-ink painting.’
As I gazed transfixed, the boy’s face—which had been regarding me with bewildered uncertainty—flushed slightly.
“Is there something strange about my face?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was staring too intently.”
I apologized sheepishly and retreated from the Crown Prince, withdrawing deeper into the Bridal Chamber.
‘Well, Father’s method worked after all. Thank you, Father.’
Had this failed, I would have needed to resort to Mother’s approach—cruder but far more decisive.
‘Fortunate that it went smoothly.’
As relief washed over me, exhaustion suddenly crashed down.
‘This Vermillion Bird blessing is wonderful in every way, but it’s so heavy.’
Had I pushed myself too hard because my body felt light? By my original body’s standards, this would have been a day to collapse long ago.
‘Did the tension finally break? I’m getting drowsy….’
I’d confirmed the Crown Prince wasn’t a madman, and his darkness had subsided—there was nothing more to worry about tonight. Could I simply sleep now?
‘By the way, An-si should be arriving soon. Why hasn’t she come yet?’
As I yawned and lifted my head, I found the Crown Prince standing in the doorway, staring directly at me.
“What are you doing out there? Come in.”
I gestured to him with one hand while rubbing my eyes. The boy entered hesitantly, his expression vacant.
‘Even in that dazed state, he carries such composed elegance.’
Each movement resembled a brushstroke on silk—captivating. While I admired him inwardly, he closed the Bridal Chamber door and settled into a corner of the room.
“Why are you sitting all the way over there?”
“…I feared the Lady might be frightened of me.”
“I’m not frightened at all. Come here—or rather, come over here, please.”
I realized I’d been speaking casually without noticing. Why hadn’t the Crown Prince pointed this out?
I cleared my throat and gestured to the ornamental hairpiece atop my head.
“Your Highness, would you please come remove this for me?”
An-si had braided and adorned my hair so skillfully that I couldn’t manage to undo it alone. The Crown Prince startled at my words and stammered.
“But, men and women must maintain proper distance…!”
“I cannot undo this myself. Besides, we’re married now, aren’t we?”
“….”
“Please help me, won’t you?”
“Ah, very well.”
The Crown Prince rose with a tense expression and approached. I quickly turned away, offering my hair to his care. I needed to get this undone so I could sleep.
The Crown Prince fumbled clumsily with the ornaments as he spoke.
“Did the Lady already know about my darkness?”
“No. I only just realized it.”
“Then how on earth did you remain unafraid in the darkness? Could it be… do you know what this darkness is?”
I was genuinely taken aback. Did he truly not understand what he was himself?
‘No, that’s not fair—I didn’t grasp it immediately either.’
The phenomenon was so unprecedented that I could only be certain after experiencing it firsthand.
‘It’s hardly surprising that humans wouldn’t recognize it.’
The Crown Prince was a Duskling. Likely the first of its kind in recorded history—a human Duskling.
A Duskling is neither yokai nor spirit. It consumes and reproduces nothing like a yokai, nor does it harbor resentment or obsession like a ghost.
When the darkness between stars in the night sky swells and overflows, spilling down to the mortal realm, that is called a Duskling.
Their forms vary. When darkness falls upon a tree, it becomes a tree Duskling; upon a rabbit, a rabbit Duskling; upon a whale in the depths, a whale Duskling. Though their appearances differ, they share common traits, and thus all are called Dusklings.
A Duskling possesses four defining characteristics.
First: it extinguishes nearby light. Second: it spreads darkness that awakens terror in all around it. Third: when someone fears it, that terror becomes sustenance, making it progressively larger and stronger. Fourth: all these traits manifest distinctly only after sunset; during daylight, it appears no different from any ordinary creature.
All four characteristics aligned perfectly with the Crown Prince’s nature.
‘Mother once said Dusklings are docile, yet far more terrifying than most yokai.’
Dusklings neither attack nor consume other creatures, nor do they require sustenance. They recover their vitality simply by existing beneath the night sky, and that alone suffices for their survival.
Yet even when a Duskling remains still, those who encounter its darkness are crushed beneath their own terror, driven to madness or death.
‘That’s what makes them dangerous.’
Even immortals often lost consciousness or went mad upon meeting a Duskling. Celestial beings faced peril against fully-grown ones, and only true deities remained unaffected by a Duskling’s terror.
‘If even trivial creatures like rabbits or sparrows become so perilous as Dusklings, what of a human one…’
I’d heard that beings with souls as strong as humans never became Dusklings, yet somehow the Crown Prince had. To my knowledge, a human Duskling had never existed—not once in all of history.
‘Unprecedented means unforeseen complications are likely, and solving them will be equally difficult.’
Much like my own situation.
‘Should I even be telling him this?’
I had no idea how much humans knew of Dusklings. If suspected, I’d have no defense.
‘This could constitute revealing heavenly secrets.’
I hesitated, then decided to deflect.
“I’m not entirely certain what Your Highness’s darkness is either.”
“Then how could you not be afraid?”
“Because I could see that Your Highness was worried about harming me, so I stopped being afraid.”
“…You mean I was concerned for you?”
“Yes. Your Highness said you didn’t wish to hurt me. And you told me that fear makes the darkness grow.”
“….”
“Since I’m not afraid, I thought it would be fine as long as Your Highness didn’t fear your own darkness.”
“Merely, that….”
The Crown Prince swallowed something unspoken, then continued with difficulty.
“You trusted me on our first meeting, and summoned such courage, all for that reason alone?”
“No, I simply wasn’t afraid.”
“You are truly courageous, my Lady. And far younger than I.”
The Crown Prince’s eyelashes trembled faintly as he gazed down at me.
He seemed to be misunderstanding something.
‘I didn’t push through because I trusted you. I’m the Celestial Princess—I was never affected by it in the first place.’
And on top of that, I’m pretending not to know your true identity!
Watching the child’s face light up with such gratitude, my conscience pricked relentlessly.
‘How do I fix this? I need to actually do something for her….’
Fidgeting with guilt, a thought suddenly struck me, and I opened my mouth.
“I’ll help you!”
“Pardon? Help with what?”

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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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