Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 9

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

Episode 9
“Your Highness has been struggling because you cannot control that darkness on your own, correct? You said that even without wanting to, you end up harming others.”
“…Yes, that is so.”
“But you just controlled it. The darkness vanished, and the lanterns here lit up again.”
“That is….”
“So if you practice, you’ll be able to control it continuously from now on.”
The Crown Prince’s eyes widened.
“Practice, you say?”
“Yes!”
I nodded eagerly and grasped the Crown Prince’s hand without hesitation.
“I don’t mind being inside your darkness, so let’s practice together.”
“…!”
“I’ll help you. Until Your Highness no longer fears your own darkness!”
Our joined hands trembled faintly. I looked up at the Crown Prince’s night-sky-black eyes quivering with emotion and thought to myself.
‘You can do this.’
A Dusk Creature doesn’t need to be actively vanquished; if left alone, it eventually disappears on its own. This is because the Dusk Creature itself fears its own abnormal darkness more than anything else.
A Dusk Creature naturally comes to fear its own aberrant darkness upon witnessing the death and madness of surrounding creatures, and this very fear causes it to grow into an ever-larger Dusk Creature.
As it becomes larger, the terror spawned by its darkness intensifies, and the Dusk Creature’s fear grows with it. Then, at some point, when the Dusk Creature’s fear exceeds the Dusk Creature itself.
‘It gets consumed by its own darkness.’
It resembles my own plight. My body weakens under the weight of power, and because my body is weak, I cannot endure the power—a vicious cycle.
So the Dusk Creature’s fate would likely mirror my own.
‘But you can escape that vicious cycle.’
You’ve already succeeded once in overcoming that fear.
I’ve heard that lesser Dusk Creatures cannot overcome their terror by themselves and all perish, consumed by their own darkness. But this child is no mere creature—he is human, capable of governing his emotions through reason and will.
‘Moreover, I, the great deity Cheon Gyeol-u, will help you, so you will surely be able to do this.’
I can easily help him overcome his fear and practice controlling his power.
I smiled brightly at the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness will absolutely overcome this!”
“…!”
The Crown Prince gazed down at me as if entranced. The delicate eyelashes of the downward-looking boy trembled slightly.
At that moment, a loud gurgling sound erupted. From my stomach.
“….”
“….”
“…Lady, are you hungry?”
“…I haven’t eaten a single meal today….”
Now that I think about it, that’s rather pitiful.
I woke up, prepared for the wedding ceremony, immediately conducted it, and was ushered into the Bridal Chamber the moment it ended. I’d gone the entire day without food.
‘I don’t particularly enjoy eating, but this is rather excessive.’
This body doesn’t need to fast every time its condition deteriorates like my original body does.
‘I need to eat plenty and grow strong quickly so I can recover!’
Once I realized this, hunger came rushing in. The Crown Prince asked in apparent confusion.
“There should have been a meal laid out in the Bridal Chamber. Did you not eat anything while waiting?”
What? Where? I didn’t see anything.
Seeing my expression, the Crown Prince shot up from his seat.
“It should be… ah, here it is.”
The Crown Prince looked around the Bridal Chamber this way and that, then pulled out a table that had been hidden behind a folding screen.
It was an evening meal covered neatly with an embroidered food cloth.
Why on earth would they hide it like that?
“I heard that a separate meal is prepared in the Bridal Chamber so the bride can dine comfortably alone. Did the attendants not tell you?”
“…No, they didn’t tell me.”
They all disappeared after being struck down by heavenly punishment, so there were no attendants left.
‘No wonder they didn’t give me a single meal…’
I thought they weren’t feeding me because I was someone about to die soon anyway.
“You must be famished. Please eat.”
The Crown Prince quickly set the table before me and removed the food cloth himself. White glutinous rice, clear beef broth, kimchi, beef short ribs, sliced boiled meat, braised fish, seasoned vegetables, blanched greens, fresh vegetables, pickled radish, raw beef, and salted seafood.
‘How modest… or wait, is this considered well-prepared by human standards?’
My usual meals consisted of a hundred and twenty dishes, but I’d heard that a royal banquet in the Mortal Realm consisted of only twelve dishes, so perhaps nine and a half dishes was acceptable?
‘Given the circumstances, I can’t be certain.’
As I tilted my head in thought, a delicious aroma suddenly wafted up. My mouth watered without my realizing it.
It was the first time food had ever smelled this appealing to me. I’d always disliked mealtimes themselves.
‘Is it because I’ve been fasting all day?’
Or was this too a difference between a healthy body and a sickly one?
‘Everything smells good. What should I try first?’
While I was deliberating, the Crown Prince clicked his tongue seeing me hesitate.
“The food has grown cold. I shall have it brought again.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine.”
I stopped the Crown Prince and hurriedly picked up my spoon, taking the first bite of rice.
“…!”
The moment I chewed, my drowsiness vanished completely.
‘It’s delicious!’
Was rice… always supposed to taste like this?
Even though the rice had cooled, I could taste its stickiness and subtle sweetness. I chewed the plain rice in a daze, my head spinning from the shock.
‘This taste comes from rice? Rice is just… this delicious?’
I knew my tongue was somewhat dulled from the painkillers, but I never expected such a difference. The fact that cold, plain rice tasted so incredibly delicious gave me goosebumps.
As I hurriedly scooped up more rice, the Crown Prince placed a side dish on top.
“You should eat the side dishes together.”
It was beef short ribs, wafting a savory aroma.
‘Will this taste different from what I remember?’
I gazed carefully at the well-cooked meat resting on the white rice, then cautiously placed it in my mouth.
“…!”
This is so delicious…! Truly so delicious…!
Even though I’d braced myself, I couldn’t help but be astonished by the taste. It wasn’t merely that hunger made it taste better. The meat flavor I’d known before was, in comparison to this, nothing more than paper soaked in soy sauce.
‘Compared to this, that wasn’t even worthy of being called taste.’
In my mouth, grains of rice and beef brisket achieved a fantastical harmony. Different flavors blended together, creating something entirely new.
‘This is the real thing.’
Now I finally understood why everyone was so interested in food, why they treasured delicious things so deeply.
‘Have I really lived all this time without knowing anything like this?’
A thrill ran through me, and my entire body trembled.
‘Could everything else be like this?’
I wielded my chopsticks frantically, tasting each dish. They all had different flavors. When eaten together, they created yet another taste entirely.
‘These are all foods I already know, yet they feel completely new, so wondrous….’
If the cooled food was this remarkable, I couldn’t even imagine how extraordinary it must be while still hot.
‘I made the right choice coming down here. Truly the right choice.’
If I’d remained in my original form, I would have died without ever knowing food could taste this exquisite.
I barely suppressed the tears of emotion threatening to spill, my hands trembling as I grasped my cheeks, when the Crown Prince sitting across from me finally came into focus.
“….”
“….”
I hastily lowered the hands that had been covering my cheeks and offered gracefully.
“Your Highness should eat as well.”
“I’ve already eaten. Please, consume as much as you wish.”
The Crown Prince smiled softly and placed a piece of fish atop my rice. The white, plump flesh of the fish looked incredibly appetizing. I stared blankly for a moment before popping it into my mouth.
‘This is so delicious too! What would you call this flavor? Is this umami?’
Truly, I found myself wanting to taste every single dish I’d carelessly consumed before all over again!
Lost in unguarded emotion, I caught sight of the Crown Prince’s expression as he watched me, and I flinched. That look… it was exactly how I looked when feeding Se-ru-hwa treats.
‘He’s looking at me like I’m a nine-year-old, and I’m two hundred and nine years old.’
Since I’m in Se-ru-hwa’s body, it’s natural that I appear childlike, but still, as the Heavenly Princess, there’s such a thing as dignity!
‘I just boldly promised to help, and now this will make him lose all trust in me!’
I attempted to eat as elegantly and maturely as possible.
I was certain I was doing so, yet my chopstick movements grew faster and faster. With each bite, I was so astonished I felt dizzy.
‘Now I finally understand what it means to enjoy something delicious….’
Before long, my stomach was full from eating so frantically. There was still so much left, and I wanted to eat more….
‘Why do I feel so tired….’
* * *
The Crown Prince, Cheon Gyeol-u, carefully laid the young Lady—who had begun nodding off while holding her spoon—onto the golden bed.
‘She should brush her teeth before sleeping, but she must be exhausted in many ways….’
The boy covered the girl with a blanket and sat beside her, surveying the Bridal Chamber filled with the light of the candles.
Sleep would not come. It had been two years since he’d seen a night with light.
For the past two years, the boy had existed in pitch-black darkness without a single glimmer of light.
‘I was going to die today.’
Cheon Gyeol-u fingered the small dagger he’d hidden in his breast. Until entering the Bridal Chamber, he’d been practicing bringing it to his vital points.
When the wedding was finalized according to the ministers’ proposal, Cheon Gyeol-u realized that the Father King had sanctioned his son’s death. The boy understood his father’s decision. He was a criminal, an unfilial wretch who had harmed his parents, a cursed monster, after all.
But the method was incomprehensible to him. If he was to die, let him die alone—what crime had the bride committed to share his fate? He’d heard she was merely nine years old.
So he had prepared a dagger. If he didn’t enter the Bridal Chamber at all, the ministers would surely send assassins to kill the young bride. They would need her dead to pin the blame on him. Thus, to prevent the assassins, he had to enter the Bridal Chamber without fail.
But his intention was to take his own life before his darkness consumed the bride. A body destined to die anyway—he wanted to save at least an innocent child. Fearing they might accuse his bride of murdering him, he had even prepared a suicide note in advance.
When he told her not to be afraid before entering, it was only because he worried that if he hesitated before taking his own life, the darkness might devour the bride instead.
‘I thought I had to die here.’
That the child who had become my Lady would remain unharmed in the darkness—I truly had never imagined such a thing.
‘…There is no longer any need to take my own life.’
I cannot believe it.

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