Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 92

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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 92
“Your Highness the Crown Prince! Your Highness the Crown Princess!”
“Do you sense anything? Find even the smallest trace!”
“The rain makes tracking difficult!”
“Search more! Expand the perimeter!”
“Yi Yeon-ju, Yi Yeon-jo, oh dear, oh dear….”
The military camp was in complete chaos.
Eunuchs and palace attendants rushed about in disarray. The Crown Prince’s Guard swept through the surrounding forest with fierce determination. A Taoist affiliated with the Palace Guard Corps wiped sweat from his brow as he investigated the ground of the tent where the Crown Prince and his consort had been.
The Right Prime Minister—a man who had always seemed unflappable—sat collapsed on the ground, calling out his grandchildren’s names in anguish. The Prime Minister’s son and his wife clung to each other, their faces drained of all color.
And there was no sign of Princess Cheonmyeong.
‘What in the world is happening?!’
Seok-ran was so startled that what she’d been holding fell from her mouth.
Since the Palace Guard was searching the area as thoroughly as hunting for rats, she made herself small and eavesdropped on the humans’ conversations. It didn’t take long before she understood what had transpired during her absence.
‘A monster appeared and kidnapped the princess?’
It seemed the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister’s children had also vanished, but that story held little interest for the fox demon Seok-ran. What mattered to her was Princess Cheonmyeong.
‘Who dares? Who dares to take our princess?’
In the eyes of the small fox crouched in the undergrowth, an eerie blue light blazed. More than worry over failing her duty, more than concern about missing the heavenly peach reward, more than fear of reproach from the young phoenix, her anxiety for Princess Cheonmyeong’s safety burned brightest and fiercest.
Seok-ran recalled the girl she had cradled while sleeping. That small, young thing who had burrowed into her embrace like a fox kit, breathing softly.
The way she had stroked her tail affectionately. That cunning expression when she’d asked her to do something in exchange for closing her eyes. The way she had willingly given up the heavenly peach. How she had lain ill and suffering. How she had saved her brother’s life.
A princess of such exalted rank that an ordinary fox demon wouldn’t dare so much as glance at her had become a small human child, busily running about helping people, begging to be allowed to sleep curled against her tail.
‘…When did I grow so attached to her?’
Seok-ran, honest with her emotions, acknowledged it plainly. She had grown fond of Princess Cheonmyeong and had come to cherish her as dearly as her own offspring. The fact that her first concern upon hearing the child was missing was for her safety, above all else, made it undeniable.
‘Whoever took her better pray I don’t find them. I’ll tear them to shreds.’
The small fox’s form ground her teeth as she circled the camp. The Thousand-Year Fox Seok-ran was far more sensitive to demonic traces than the Crown Prince’s Guard, which consisted mostly of warriors and a single young Taoist.
Seok-ran quickly picked up the scent of another demon leading away from the camp.
‘This is… Geuseon-dae!’
The white fox with her black nose flaring began to run. The small form dashing through the shadows of the undergrowth enlarged to her true size once she had moved beyond the search perimeter of the Palace Guard.
The massive fox took on a battle stance as she ran. Her fur bristled, her fangs and claws extended. Her fierce eyes blazed with eerie light as she tracked the direction of the scent.
‘Touch even one hair on the princess and I’ll tear out your liver while you’re still breathing!’
The trail led down the mountain and grew increasingly faint.
Thanks to Seok-ran having summoned the rain and crushed all the demons preparing to ambush, the downpour had nearly ceased. However, the torrential rain that had fallen in the meantime had washed away much, making the pursuit difficult.
The fading trail disappeared entirely at a stream at the mountain’s base. Seok-ran thrust her nose into the earth and paced anxiously along the water’s edge.
‘This is bad. The trail was already fading, and now the stream has completely erased it.’
As she circled the stream bank in despair, white mist suddenly rose from the water.
“Yelp!”
The startled Thousand-Year Fox leaped back, alarmed by the auspicious energy, and surveyed the stream.
An elderly man with a long beard emerged from the mist. Seok-ran’s eyes widened.
“Could you be the Mountain Spirit of this range?”
“Indeed, Thousand-Year Fox.”
The old man replied readily and raised his arm, pointing in one direction.
“This way.”
“Keng?”
“The Mountain Spirit of the neighboring peak will aid you as well. Go where the path opens.”
“…!”
The Thousand-Year Fox finally understood. Heaven itself was helping her now. For the sake of Heaven’s princess.
“Thank you!”
The fox nodded and leaped over the stream in a single bound. She raced along the valley and climbed the neighboring mountain without hesitation.
There was no reason to falter or lose her way. The wind blew, bending leaves and grass in a single direction. Boulders shifted aside. Earth crumbled away. Rabbits and squirrels that would normally tremble and flee from a fox demon appeared and scurried to one side. Everything within the mountain was guiding her.
Seok-ran rushed without pause until she reached a cave on the mountainside. The squirrel that had guided her to the cave entrance pointed inward with its tail, then disappeared up a tree.
‘It must be inside!’
The Thousand-Year Fox bounded in ready to tear into her prey, only to be bewildered by the empty cavern before her.
‘What? Why is there nothing here?’
The interior of the cave was a vast clearing. Except for the spot where light filtered through a hole in the ceiling, everything lay in shadow—an utterly empty space.
Seok-ran circled the interior once. There were no hidden passages, no other openings. After pacing the space several times, she furrowed her brow.
‘Could the Mountain Spirit have deceived me?’
Growling, the Thousand-Year Fox bolted back toward the cave entrance.
And as if she had expected it, an old woman with white hair stood at the entrance, leaning on a staff.
“Keh? So you’re the Mountain Spirit here!”
Just as Seok-ran was about to rage, the old woman raised her staff and pointed into the cave.
“Wait inside.”
“Keng?”
“Whose traces were the ones you followed?”
With those words, the old woman vanished like a mirage.
Standing bewildered, Seok-ran soon grasped the Mountain Spirit’s meaning.
“That’s right! It was Geuseon-dae!”
Geuseon-dae was a demon that hid in shadows and laid traps. Anywhere shadows fell, it could conceal itself.
Seok-ran quickly re-entered the cave and began searching every shadowed corner.
Before long, she found a spot reeking strongly of Geuseon-dae—a shadow cast by a large boulder where light from the ceiling was blocked.
“Here! It’s hiding in here! But….”
The Thousand-Year Fox rolled her eyes in panic.
“…How do I pull this thing out?”
Seok-ran was confident in combat and in beguiling others, but she had no skill in extracting something hiding within shadow.
She circled anxiously around the shadow, then on impulse swatted the boulder with her front paw. It rolled away to another location. Naturally, the shadow cast by the boulder moved with it.
“Keaeng… I’m not good at thinking… Keaeng, keng-keng….”
The fox whimpered pitifully and tried every method she could devise. She even ended up shattering the boulder, but only the scent of Geuseon-dae continued to emanate from the fragments of stone.
“So that’s why she told me to wait….”
Remembering the old Mountain Spirit’s words, Seok-ran flopped down beside the broken stone fragments.
“But what am I supposed to wait for?”
Ordinarily, a thousand-year-old demon would have paid no heed to a Mountain Spirit’s words, but she waited silently, eyes fixed on the shadow. Time passed through the hole in the ceiling. The sun declined, twilight fell, and night came.
Then, from the darkened shadow, a phoenix entirely black suddenly burst forth.
“Who’s there?!”
“That young phoenix you know—An-si’s Fifth Brother.”
The black phoenix replied tersely, landing beside the shadow where Seok-ran stood guard before lowering its head.
“I’ll open a path through the shadows for you to—”
Mid-sentence, the black phoenix suddenly flapped its wings and took flight.
“What’s wrong? Why did you stop talking…cough!”
Seok-ran asked in bewilderment, then jumped back in alarm.
Roof tiles emerged from within the shadows. Eaves followed, then half-rotted pillars appeared. A mansion was rising from the clearing inside the cave.
Startled, Seok-ran pressed herself against the wall and pointed with her front paw at the structure.
“What… what is that?!”
The black phoenix, perched on a nearby rock, answered.
“…It seems Geuseon-dae was swallowing it.”
“Why is it coming out now?!”
“Geuseon-dae appears to be dead.”
“What?”
As if the shadows were regurgitating, buildings poured forth relentlessly. The clearing lacked space, so later structures collided with walls and pillars, crumbling. Not only mansions emerged, but also the remains of demons, human corpses, and all manner of debris spilled out indiscriminately.
“How much did that bastard consume?!”
“We’ll be crushed at this rate.”
The fox and bird clinging to the wall had no choice but to retreat toward the entrance.
“But why did Geuseon-dae suddenly die?”
“I don’t know. It happened within the shadows.”
“Is the princess coming out from there too?”
“Presumably—”
The phoenix’s crest feathers and the fox’s ears suddenly stood on end. A child’s voice pierced through the endless torrent of debris—a thin cry for help.
“Your Highness?”
Without hesitation, Seok-ran leaped into the flowing wreckage of the mansion. As the enormous fox tore through the wave of debris with her long claws, the black phoenix glided gracefully in her wake.
“Screech! Why do you get to fly while I dig?!”
“You’re faster at excavating.”
“That’s true, but it’s infuriatingly unfair!”
Thousand-Year Fox ground her teeth as she carved a path. Digging through the debris like tunneling, the original mansion came into view—now half-crushed beneath fragments of other structures. Its rotting pillars were on the verge of snapping.
“Help me! Please, someone help me!”
A young girl’s screams echoed from within. The black phoenix blocked Seok-ran, who was about to smash through the wall.
“If you do that, the structure will collapse and bury Her Highness inside.”
“Then what do we do?!”
“This way.”
The black phoenix skillfully navigated between the fragments and located a window. Seok-ran burst straight through the paper-covered lattice frame.
“Your Highness! Where are you?!”
“Kyaaaah!”
“Ahhhhh!”
Twin children, trembling as they watched the ceiling descend, were struck with terror at the sudden appearance of a fox the size of a calf.
Yet the fox’s gaze remained fixed not on those children, but on the silver-haired girl collapsed before them.
“Found her!”
Seok-ran rushed forward and pressed her nose against the girl’s chest, only relaxing once she felt the steady beat of her heart. Tears fell like drops of rain from her dark eyes, which had grown dim with worry.
“Princess is safe… I was so frightened….”
“Fortunately, she appears uninjured.”
The black phoenix that had followed them inside spoke with relief, then turned its attention to the children clinging to each other and trembling.
“Let’s get everyone out of here. This place is dangerous.”
“Understood.”
Seok-ran seized the twins and hurled them onto her back.
“Kyaaah!”
“Hold tight to the fur. Keep a good grip on this one too.”
Next, she tossed the unconscious Crown Prince. Yi Yeon-jo caught him instinctively, while Yi Yeon-ju clung to the fox’s fur with Myotusa wrapped around her neck, now fully awake. Meanwhile, the massive black phoenix hoisted Se-ru-hwa onto its back.
In that instant, a beam in the ceiling cracked with a sharp snap.
The fox and the bird bolted toward the window they’d entered through. Behind them came the sound of something collapsing—a thunderous crash and rumble.
“The house is caving in!”
One of the children riding on Seok-ran’s back screamed. The Thousand-Year Fox responded irritably.
“I know! Hold on tight!”
I felt the sensation of small hands gripping my fur, pulling at it. Seok-ran tensed every muscle and leaped through the window. The black phoenix followed, beating its wings as it burst through after her.
With a deafening roar, the mansion collapsed entirely.

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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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