Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 82

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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 82
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Since I was primarily the one slowing down our group’s pace, the moment I boarded the Crown Prince’s shadow palanquin, everyone climbed the mountain with surprising ease. We caught up to the Right Prime Minister’s party in no time—those who had no choice but to move slowly while carrying young twin grandchildren.
“….”
“….”
We did not overtake the Right Prime Minister’s party. The Crown Prince silently followed behind him, and the Right Prime Minister simply walked ahead without a word. Only the twins cast curious glances at the shadow palanquin I rode in.
Not long after we began climbing the mountain path in single file, a sun-drenched slope came into view. Tombs were scattered across the hillside. This must be the Right Prime Minister’s family cemetery.
The Right Prime Minister walked slowly and came to stand before a gravestone, pristine as if newly carved.
Lady Shim
Shim Bu-ok
He gazed silently down at his wife’s gravestone. Meanwhile, the Right Prime Minister’s servants and attendants began laying out mats and arranging offerings.
The Crown Prince halted our group and waited quietly in place. I too, out of propriety, descended from the shadow palanquin and stood beside him, waiting patiently. Until the Right Prime Minister bowed, his eldest son and daughter-in-law bowed, even the twin grandchildren bowed, until he poured wine and scattered it upon the tomb, and burned a letter that appeared to be in his own hand, sending it skyward.
The Right Prime Minister completed all the rites with deliberate slowness, as if unaware we were waiting. His eldest son and daughter-in-law seemed uneasy about keeping the Crown Prince standing, shifting restlessly, but the Right Prime Minister did not even turn to look. Finally, he gently placed the flowers he had brought upon the grave, then rose from his position.
‘Forsythia blossoms… Those are hardly the typical flowers offered at a tomb. And they wouldn’t be blooming at this time of year.’
They must have been flowers Lady Shim cherished in life. From the way they had been deliberately dried and preserved before being brought here, the delicate, pale yellow flower clusters draped across the grave like a wreath seemed to reveal the affection the Right Prime Minister held for Lady Shim.
I felt the Crown Prince beside me gently bite his lip as he witnessed the sight. I quietly took the boy’s hand. The Crown Prince turned to me, his eyes trembling slightly, then grasped my hand firmly and looked forward again. With clear eyes, as if refusing to turn away.
‘What a remarkable child.’
I smiled warmly within, while maintaining a composed expression outwardly.
Once the Right Prime Minister’s party finished the rites and rose, we finally moved. As our palace staff spread mats and arranged offerings, the Right Prime Minister’s party remained standing on the mountain path, not departing.
‘They’re not leaving?’
Were they staying to observe how the Crown Prince would conduct his respects? In any case, we too made our offerings at the tomb in the same manner. We bowed, offered wine, burned the memorial prayer, and presented flowers. The Crown Prince bowed deeply with respect to Lady Shim. I bowed beside him, silently offering prayers for her peace.
‘In the name of Princess Cheonmyeong….’
My name carries no small weight, so it would be of great benefit to Lady Shim as she faces judgment in the Afterlife.
The Right Prime Minister watched us quietly until we finished everything and rose. As we approached the mountain path after gathering our things, he opened his mouth, looking toward the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Speak freely, Prime Minister.”
“Can Your Highness become a virtuous ruler?”
It was an unexpected question. Yet the Crown Prince was not greatly startled.
“Prime Minister, I have no confidence that I can become a virtuous ruler.”
“….”
“How could I, young and inexperienced as I am, claim with certainty that I will become one? If I were to say such a thing now, it would be nothing but the recklessness of a child.”
“….”
“But I will do my utmost. I will always remember what I bear, always deliberate on what serves this realm, and strive to distinguish between what must be held and what must be released.”
“….”
“So Prime Minister, I ask that you continue to watch over me.”
“…Pardon?”
“If someone like you keeps a keen eye upon me, I will walk the righteous path all the more carefully and guard my conduct.”
A boy of merely twelve years offers a bitter smile.
“Though it was not my intention, irreversible things have happened because of me. I do not wish to flee from that responsibility. So I hope you will continue to watch over me, so that I do not forget my wrongs.”
“….”
“Even if I were to become a sage king, how could the sins I’ve committed against Lady Shim simply vanish? A life lost cannot be repaid, so I will bear that burden. Though I cannot promise to become a sage king… I promise here that I will not abandon what must never be set down.”
“….”
The Right Prime Minister fell silent, as if at a loss for words. Standing beside him, I found myself suddenly struck by shock.
‘…I only meant to draw this capable human to the Crown Prince’s side.’
How could this be a twelve-year-old child? Was he perhaps a cultivator who descended, or a celestial being reincarnated?
For the first time, I found myself respecting the Crown Prince. So this is what it means to be upright and steadfast.
While I marveled inwardly, the Crown Prince made a deep bow to the Right Prime Minister, then resumed walking. The Right Prime Minister stood alone on the mountain path for a long while, watching our retreating figures.
We arrived not long after at the clearing in the middle of the mountain path where we’d intended to have lunch. Everyone was receiving food prepared by the palace staff and settling into place when the sky suddenly darkened. Then raindrops began to fall—pitter-patter.
“Rain…?”
“It appears to be a sudden downpour.”
Following the Crown Prince’s calm response, the palace staff erupted into chaos.
“It’s pouring!”
“The canopy! Quickly, unfold the canopy!”
“Your Highness of the East Palace! Your Highness of the Crown Princess’s Palace! Please come this way!”
The falling raindrops were heavy. As the intensity grew alarming, the flustered palace staff hurried us inside the shelter.
The Crown Prince suddenly clicked his tongue.
“If rain comes so suddenly like this, the Right Prime Minister’s party….”
Sure enough, the Right Prime Minister’s group came hurrying down the mountain path. The Crown Prince called over an eunuch beside him and spoke.
“Since the mountain path becomes dangerous in heavy rain, tell the Right Prime Minister to rest here for a while before continuing.”
“Yes, Your Highness of the East Palace.”
The eunuch quickly grabbed an umbrella and rushed out to meet those descending the mountain path. As the rain poured down and the earth grew slippery, the Right Prime Minister’s party did not refuse the Crown Prince’s invitation. They soon followed the eunuch’s guidance into one of the canopies. Thanks to the generous spread of food, the Right Prime Minister’s party also received provisions from the palace staff and ate their fill.
“…This downpour is quite severe.”
The Crown Prince, gazing out from beneath the canopy, clicked his tongue.
The sudden rain was less a downpour than a deluge. The verdant surroundings transformed in an instant into a gray landscape, and water poured down as if from buckets. Descending a poorly-marked mountain in such weather would be madness. The Crown Prince sighed as the rain grew increasingly fierce.
“It seems we’ll have to spend the night here. Would that be acceptable to you, Lady?”
“It’s fine. Going down in this weather would be dangerous.”
The Crown Prince soon called over an eunuch and ordered preparations for an overnight stay. As the palace staff and Palace Guard Corps moved busily about and the Crown Prince watched over them, I sent a subtle mental message to Seok-ran in the forest.
[It’s raining so heavily—are you alright?]
[I’m fine! But this rain doesn’t seem fine….]
[Hmm? Why?]
[This… isn’t just an ordinary downpour. If I haven’t wasted a thousand years, this is definitely—screech—someone’s doing this on purpose!]
[Someone’s doing this? Who on earth?]
[I can’t quite tell, screech… Could be a human with supernatural strength, or maybe a lesser deity or demon… Something feels off, really off… Screeeech, whimper….]
Seok-ran, uncertain, trailed off into whimpering sounds.
‘Someone is deliberately bringing down this rain?’
Was it aimed at us? Or had a conflict broken out nearby, or was someone performing a rain-summoning ritual that had drawn this weather? I furrowed my brow, studying the sky beyond the canopy intently.
‘I can’t quite sense it….’
Beyond the thick storm clouds and the alarming volume of falling rain, I felt nothing.
My original form being in danger, I’d sealed away all my divine power—the Heavenly Eyes and everything else. Seok-ran, a thousand-year-old Thousand-Year Fox, would be far more sensitive than I. If even she could barely sense unease, it made sense that I could detect nothing at all.
[I’m getting anxious. Would it be alright if I went to check things out?]
[Where to?]
[There’s a direction where the unease is thick, yap yap. It doesn’t seem far, so I’ll be back in a jiffy.]
I glanced around. Palace Guards stood in neat rows, the Crown Prince was issuing orders to an Eunuch nearby, and Cheoyong’s protective amulet hung securely at my waist.
[Alright, take a quick look and come back. Be careful.]
[Keh-heng, I’ll surround this place with my spiritual power. Princess, you stay put and don’t move a muscle. I’ll be back in a flash!]
Seok-ran’s presence, which had been fidgeting for a moment, soon faded into the distance.
“Excuse me, Crown Princess?”
Several tousled heads suddenly popped out from the tent entrance. Twin siblings gazed at me with sparkling eyes.
Before I could say anything, the Crown Prince asked in surprise.
“How did you come out in this rain?”
“C-Crown Prince! I came through the gaps between the tents.”
The royal tents had cloth stretched like eaves, a means to create space for Palace Guards to stand watch or Palace Staff to move about. These little ones must have seized a moment when their parents weren’t looking and made their way here through those tent overhangs.
“What business brings you here?”
The twins exchanged glances with each other, then answered hesitantly.
“…We wanted to see the Crown Princess…”
“We really wanted to ask her something…”
The Crown Prince’s expression grew stern.
“Did you receive permission from your parents?”
“…”
The children shrank back sheepishly. They’re the same age as the Crown Prince, yet they seem so much younger. Perhaps it’s because the Crown Prince is so mature for his age.
When the children couldn’t answer, the Crown Prince sighed softly and spoke to Sa Young-jun in a gentle, admonishing tone.
“At your age, obtaining your parents’ permission should come first, no matter where you go. If you wish to see the Crown Princess’s Palace, go back and ask for permission first—”
“Huh?”
Yi Yeon-ju cut off the Crown Prince’s words and suddenly pointed at me. Yi Yeon-jo followed with a vacant murmur.
“There’s something strange on the Crown Princess’s ankle.”
“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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