Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 89

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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 89
…Why does he smile so beautifully?
The Crown Prince cuts an elegant and composed figure when still, but when he smiles, his expression becomes strangely radiant. It’s like watching flowers bloom across an ink painting. And with each passing moment, that brilliance only deepens.
‘And it’s not just that he’s beautiful….’
Perhaps it’s because he’s smiling despite bearing the unmistakable marks of battle—blood-stained robes and all—but there’s something about him that seems so composed and assured, so adult-like that….
‘Adult? He’s still just a child!’
The Crown Prince is twelve years old. A child!
Once I reminded myself of this, he looked properly like what he was—a pitiful young boy who had barely survived a desperate struggle.
What was I thinking.
‘I need to get us both out of here quickly.’
I collected myself and took the Myriad Blood Stone from the Crown Prince.
“You’ve done well, Your Highness.”
“You’re too kind. I merely followed the guidance you provided, Lady.”
The Crown Prince smiled even more radiantly.
When he smiles like that, I keep forgetting he nearly died just moments ago. But I can’t very well tell him to stop smiling.
I turned my gaze away from the Crown Prince and moved forward.
“…Let’s go beyond that place together now.”
* * *
Yi Yeon-ju was born just before dawn. Yi Yeon-jo was born just after dawn broke. A mere quarter-hour—fifteen minutes—separated night from day, making Yi Yeon-ju the older sister born in darkness and Yi Yeon-jo the younger brother born in light.
Yi Yeon-ju believed that because she was born before sunrise, she was a day older, and thus it was her duty to care for her younger brother. Yi Yeon-jo believed that because he was male and his sister was female, his greater strength meant he should protect her.
So when the young twins awoke in the Old Room, their first shared resolve was to protect each other.
“I shouted about the monster outside, so all the soldiers must have heard. They’ll come to rescue us soon, so don’t worry.”
Yi Yeon-ju spoke with feigned composure, hiding her trembling hands beneath her skirt.
“Yes, sister.”
Yi Yeon-jo nodded obediently while his eyes darted around the space. The room they occupied seemed to have once been a storage area, cluttered with miscellaneous items. One wall was even stacked with what looked like rice containers. Everything was old and decayed, but still present.
The boy quickly picked up a poker from the scattered debris that might serve as a weapon. It was ancient—a rotted wooden handle attached to a rusted iron prong—but iron nonetheless.
‘I have to protect my sister no matter what.’
Yi Yeon-jo gripped the poker tightly and crouched beside his sister with a tense expression. Yi Yeon-ju rose and crept cautiously toward the door. The startled Yi Yeon-jo called out in a hushed voice.
“Sister, where are you going? Don’t go out recklessly!”
“I’m not going out. I’m just going to peek and see what’s happening outside.”
“Then let’s look together.”
The anxious Yi Yeon-jo followed behind his sister, poker raised. Yi Yeon-ju glanced back at him and clicked her tongue.
“Yi Yeon-jo, just put that down.”
“You want me to abandon my weapon in a dangerous situation?”
“A weapon is only a weapon if you know how to use it. Does that look like it would be useful?”
“It’s better than having nothing.”
“Better to have nothing than a weapon that’ll crush your own foot. You’ll hurt yourself flailing that thing around.”
“I won’t get hurt! You’re empty-handed, so step back. Let me open the door.”
“You stay back. I’ll open it. Besides, my butterfly will protect me.”
“How is that tiny thing supposed to protect you?”
“You’re just a greenhorn compared to me, aren’t you?”
“We were born on the same day and hour, weren’t we?”
“I was born a day before you, wasn’t I?”
“Not a day—a quarter before you, wasn’t it?”
“Not a quarter—before and after sunrise! That’s a whole day, isn’t it?”
“A day is twelve hours and ninety-six quarters! A quarter’s difference isn’t a day, is it?”
“Days are originally distinguished by the sun’s position, aren’t they? That’s a whole day, isn’t it?”
“Can’t you count, sister?”
“You have no common sense, do you?”
The twins bickering in hushed voices outside the door suddenly jumped to their feet in unison.
“D-did you hear that, sister?”
“Y-yes, I heard it.”
The sound of something being dragged and low, muttered curses drew closer from beyond the door.
The twins slowly backed away. While Yi Yeon-jo trembled, gripping a poker and glaring at the door, Yi Yeon-ju swept her eyes around the room before suddenly seizing her brother by the scruff of his neck.
“What are you doing!”
“Hide here.”
Yi Yeon-ju dragged her brother behind a pile of rice sacks and shoved him down, then flipped an old burlap sack over his head.
“What about you, sister!”
“The butterfly will protect me. The Crown Princess said butterflies are incredibly rare yokai.”
“She said rare, not numerous…”
“Shh, they’re coming!”
Yi Yeon-ju pressed her protesting brother down with the sack, then quickly moved toward the door. Myotusa, the yellow-furred creature coiled around the girl’s forearm, poked her head out from beneath her sleeve.
Yi Yeon-ju stroked Myotusa’s forehead and whispered urgently.
“When they come in, blow out smoke right away. Straight at their eyes! Understand?”
Meow.
The yellow-striped kitten cried softly in agreement. Yi Yeon-ju held her sleeve high where Myotusa protruded and steadied her breathing.
‘When the kidnapper comes in, I’ll blind them with butterfly smoke, then we’ll run. They’ll get angry and chase me, right? If I lead them somewhere else, Yeon-jo will have time to escape. And I’ll keep using the butterfly smoke to blind them as I run away….’
It seemed like a reasonable plan to her. Far better than Yi Yeon-jo actually fighting the villain with that rusty poker.
The dragging footsteps grew closer. Someone grasped the door handle. The door swung open.
“Butterfly….”
Yi Yeon-ju was about to cry out ‘Butterfly, now!’ when she stopped mid-breath.
A massive frame so enormous it filled the entire doorway, despite the creature’s waist bent so low its hands dragged across the floor. Things black and wet, hanging like seaweed. Eyes gleaming between them like a burning forge.
‘…A yokai….’
The real ‘yokai’ she had ever laid eyes on was a terrifying monster. Though also a yokai, it was utterly different from the butterfly.
The creature squeezed through the door and opened its mouth wide. Like it was smiling.
“Humans, human children. Tender. Tender and delicious young ones. I must eat and gain strength. Gain strength to catch the twilight one.”
A foul stench and a shadow vast as a stone monument fell across Yi Yeon-ju’s head. An existence that transcended imagination.
The girl went pale and froze.
“Eat one first, save one for later. They’re so tender. Eat one, keep one.”
A hand the size of a cauldron lid, with long black nails, reached toward her. Yi Yeon-ju did not move. Rather, she could not. She was paralyzed as if crushed beneath stone.
Meow!
A plaintive, sharp cry pierced the narrow room. Myotusa, who had somehow burst free from Yi Yeon-ju’s sleeve, opened her tiny mouth and bit down with all her strength at the approaching demon’s finger.
“Huh? Huh?”
The demon tilted its head in confusion. The kitten’s desperate bite was nothing more than a harmless touch against Geuseon-dae’s skin, leaving not even a scratch.
“Nabi!”
Yi Yeon-ju snapped awake in alarm and stretched both hands to grab Myotusa, but her fingertips couldn’t even brush the yellow-furred tail.
Geuseon-dae lifted its hand upward, dangling Myotusa before its eyes.
“Myotusa? Myotusa. Precious. So precious.”
The demon’s lips curled upward as it chuckled, then brought Myotusa toward its mouth. The small yellow-furred serpent disappeared into the cavernous maw. The kitten’s head, ears flattened back in terror, vanished into the demon’s mouth still clinging to its finger.
The demon closed its jaws. A wet sound echoed as the finger slipped free, and nothing dangled from that hand anymore.
Gulp. Geuseon-dae swallowed what lay in its mouth and smiled with satisfaction.
“Precious. Good. So good.”
“Nabi, Nabi…?”
Yi Yeon-ju’s voice wavered. The girl stared up at the demon with hollow eyes, her lips moving soundlessly, before she suddenly shrieked and hurled herself forward.
“Aaaah! Nabi! No!”
Yi Yeon-ju pounded the demon’s body with her fists desperately, as if convinced it would regurgitate Myotusa.
But her clenched fists met only the sickening texture of wet seaweed. The demon felt no impact whatsoever and simply stared down at the girl with vacant eyes.
“Give her back! Spit her out! Nabi!”
Knowing it was futile, she could not stop. Yi Yeon-ju continued to strike the demon’s body, tears streaming down her face.
“Spit her out! Nabi! Nabi!”
“Human child.”
Geuseon-dae seized the girl by her collar and lifted her high into the air. Just as it had lifted Myotusa. High.
“Let go! Release me!”
“Soft and delicious as a piglet.”
Eyes like pits burned as they gazed down at the struggling girl. When their eyes met, Yi Yeon-ju’s body went rigid as if bound by invisible chains. Her face drained of all color. The demon’s mouth stretched wide in a grin.
“Delicious…”
The demon’s jaws yawned open even wider, and just as it brought Yi Yeon-ju toward its mouth, Yi Yeon-jo burst forth from beneath the burlap sack.
“Sister!”
His face streaked with tears from holding his breath in the sack, the boy drove a poker into the demon’s armpit.
“You monster! Release my sister!”
It was a calculated strike, targeting what appeared to be a vulnerable spot while the demon was off guard. But a twelve-year-old scholar’s son who had never wielded anything but a brush, swinging a rusted poker, was nothing more than a chick pecking at Geuseon-dae—utterly ineffectual.
“You’re next.”
The demon muttered and raised its foot. A dark, wrinkled sole pressed against the child’s chest.
“Agh!”
“You’re next. Dessert after I finish with twilight. Dessert, so. Stay still. Stay still.”
Geuseon-dae pushed gently, intending only to set the boy aside. Yet even this gentle shove struck the child with the force of a grown man’s kick, sending Yi Yeon-jo flying pathetically onto a rice sack.
“Yeon-jo!”
Yi Yeon-ju cried out her brother’s name in anguish, reaching toward him. The poker slipped from his limp hand. To the girl’s eyes, her brother appeared dead from the demon’s blow.
“You monster…!”
Yi Yeon-ju’s eyes blazed with fury as she glared at the demon, driving her nails into the rough skin of the hand that gripped her collar and clawing with all her might.
“…!”
My pupils stretched vertically into slits, and a bluish aura rippled across my entire body. Part of that ethereal energy coalesced above my head, forming the hazy silhouette of cat ears.
Hisssss!
I bared serpentine fangs and released an angry, feline hiss.
“…Myotusa? Myotusa’s demonic power?”
Geuseon-dae gazed up at me with curiosity as I raked my nails wildly across his form.
“You’ve been near a demon and tainted by demonic power. It’s accumulated. You’re a sorcerer. But you’re not a sorcerer. You’re a sorcerer, yet not quite one.”
The demon hesitated momentarily, then hurled me toward the corner of the room.
“If you’re not yet a sorcerer, it’s wasteful. Such a shame. I must cultivate you. Nurture you further, feed you more demons, develop you into a delicacy. A special delicacy.”
Rather than crumpling from the impact, I landed gracefully on all fours like a cat.
“Ho.”
Geuseon-dae tilted his head as if surprised.

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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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