Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 101

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

Chapter 101
I took a deep breath and stepped into Unjeong Hall, the main throne room of Unryong Palace. The officials in their ceremonial robes turned to look at me in unison.
It had been a year since I became the Crown Princess of Yun Kingdom.
‘I descended to the Mortal Realm in October last year and held the false wedding ceremony, so it really has been almost a year.’
So much had happened in just one year. My mother’s words that one year in the mortal world was like ten years for immortals finally felt completely real to me.
‘But after all, I’m just a Crown Princess who’s been one for a year, so it makes sense the officials would regard me so unfamiliarly.’
Especially since they’d been arguing for months about whether to depose me or not.
‘After the Heo Ju Gut ritual, most of the people’s opinion changed, but there are still those in the court who hold grievances.’
Some genuinely believed in superstitions and worried about the royal family, some still secretly supported Wan-eon, and some simply disliked me.
After I entered and greeted them, the King looked at me with concern and opened his mouth.
“I hear you’ve come to court today to expose the mastermind behind the recent attack.”
“Why would such a young Crown Princess expose this? The court is already investigating it….”
One official spoke with displeasure, and another countered.
“That investigation has made no progress for months, hasn’t it? This was an insult to the royal family, and the Crown Princess was the victim of the kidnapping, so she might have remembered something belatedly.”
“No, but that was ultimately done by a demon sent at Doo-eok-sini’s instigation—what more is there to investigate? We should be figuring out where Doo-eok-sini is and how to deal with him! Isn’t that why we’re hastening the establishment of the Jagyogapsa?”
“But it’s also an important matter why he didn’t attack directly and instead sent another demon to target the Crown Prince and Crown Princess.”
“That’s because he was defeated by the Kim Satgat a hundred years ago, so he’s trying a more cautious approach this time, isn’t he? The Crown Prince, who is royalty and a Dark Spirit Art practitioner, and the Crown Princess, who is of the rare Xue Tribe—they must be tempting prey for Doo-eok-sini, so it makes sense he’d target them.”
“That may be so, but the important question is how Doo-eok-sini even knew that the two of them would be in that place at that time to attack them. That’s why the Office of Interrogation continues to investigate—”
“Ah, since it’s a demon, he must have found out through some sinister method! Once the Jagyogapsa is established, that investigation will be the first thing they handle! Why are we debating here about work that should be left to demon-catchers?”
“So you’re saying we don’t need to discuss anything because it’s all the demon’s fault? No, then why are we even here? We draw salaries from the nation and strut about as officials precisely because we discuss and resolve the nation’s problems, aren’t we?”
“Who said we shouldn’t discuss it at all? The point is that since it’s the demon’s doing, we should leave the investigation to the specialized agency, the Jagyogapsa, and examine it after results come in! There’s no progress to be made by discussing it now!”
“But progress is about to happen right now! How is saying the court doesn’t need to hear the Crown Princess’s testimony, who is the victim, any different from saying we shouldn’t discuss it?”
“It’s different! The Crown Princess already gave all her testimony at the time of the incident! Now, months later, what could such a young person possibly have to say by coming all the way to court?”
The bickering official shouted, his neck flushed with anger.
“Unjeong Hall isn’t a children’s playground!”
‘…He’s not entirely wrong. That’s why the King opposed me coming forward.’
Even the twelve-year-old Crown Prince doesn’t easily participate in the regular morning court sessions—how could a ten-year-old Crown Princess come forward? And that too, a Crown Princess who’s been married for only a year.
‘Besides, the deposition discussion hasn’t even ended yet.’
If I hadn’t awakened the Queen or connected the Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin to opportunities, the King would never have permitted this.
The King looked uncomfortable listening to the officials’ quarrel. Before he could lose his temper with them, I stepped forward and answered.
“I’ve come to Unjeong Hall because there is a grave matter that must be revealed in this very place.”
And to completely overturn the deposition discussion.
As I spoke, several officials gave me disapproving looks. Just as they were about to say something to me, the Right Prime Minister interjected.
“Crown Princess, now that you’ve come all this way, what exactly do you mean to reveal?”
His remark, delivered with a weary expression and businesslike tone, sounded like he simply wanted to hear whatever it was and move on. He showed no sign of trying to help me.
‘Even though I’ve turned the court’s attention to me all at once.’
His skill was impressive. I quickly accepted the Right Prime Minister’s opening.
“I mean to reveal information that a deity who descended to me has shared.”
“A deity, you say….”
“Of course, I’m not asking you to simply believe what the deity said. In fact, verification would be necessary. I received permission from the King to come to Unjeong Hall for that verification.”
“….”
“Then….”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, moving the thread of life. Thanks to all my practice, the possession manifested instantly—visibly so. I opened my eyes and confirmed the luminous energy flowing through my body and the jade-colored wing-robes that billowed and wrapped around me.
“Ah.”
“Hmm….”
I could see the officials struggling to suppress their gasps of admiration and astonishment.
From all my encounters with the Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin, I’d learned that this appearance was remarkably effective. It was rare for a shaman’s possession to manifest with such wing-robes, creating such an auspicious atmosphere. Even the Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin had marveled at it—ordinary mortals would be even more impressed.
‘Possession itself is an extraordinarily rare phenomenon… How often do busy deities descend directly to the Mortal Realm?’
I could manifest whenever I wished because I was a deity myself, but ordinarily, even if mortals prepared offerings and prayed at set times, the gods rarely descended. They merely lent their power.
‘Good. Might as well make it more convincing.’
I felt like a performing bear, but since it was effective, there was no reason to hold back.
I let my wing-robes flutter and used divine power to levitate slightly into the air. Suddenly, the tall adults I’d been looking up at were now below me.
The officials’ eyes widened in shock.
‘They’ve heard rumors of my possession, but this is probably the first time seeing it directly.’
My appearance must have changed considerably. It was entirely different from the shamans possessed by lesser spirits that they knew or had seen.
In that state, I opened my mouth.
“Princess Cheonmyeong has declared that a demon has nested within the Palace for so long that its stench of decay vibrates to the heavens themselves.”
“…?”
“It conspired with Doo-eok-sini to send Geu-seun-dae. It sent Fire Ghosts to the East Palace to kindle the flames, and on the night before my wedding… it hurled arrows of flesh at me.”
Murmurs rippled through the assembly at the mention of arrows before the wedding.
‘This is something that was never revealed.’
Those arrows had killed Se-ru-hwa, but when I descended into this body, it became as if it never happened.
‘Now I can finally avenge her.’
I continued speaking while regarding the Chief State Councillor, who stood as if this were someone else’s affair.
“…Her Highness said all of these were the machinations of a demon that has hidden within Unryong Palace for ages untold.”
“Crown Princess, a demon hiding in Unryong Palace? What do you mean by such words?”
One official asked carefully.
With the wing-robes, even my tone sounded different from before. I recalled the conversation I’d had with Seok-ran, suppressing an inward laugh.
“Suryuggyeon? Huh, where did you hear about that creature?”
“Gwang-chul heard it in Goblin Village. Apparently, a demon named Suryuggyeon stole a shapeshifting rat.”
“Keh-heng, suspicious. That one’s a very sinister creature.”
“You know this demon?”
“When I first entered the Palace, that creature challenged me, claiming it was his territory. We fought, keh-hee-hee-hee, even as great as I am, I’d say he’s as strong as a thousand-year-old fox like me.”
The white fox had laughed strangely, eyes wide.
At the time, I was inwardly surprised that this creature could hold its own against Seok-ran, the Thousand-Year Fox. It seemed like a genuinely formidable demon.
“When I realized I was losing ground, I asked what his purpose was, keh-hah. He said he came to seduce men, so our territories didn’t overlap, and then he disappeared, keh-hee. Haven’t seen him since!”
“What kind of demon is he, always going on about territory?”
“Keng, Suryuggyeon is a specter born from the accumulated resentment of humans obsessed with power.”
Unryong Palace was a palace with centuries of history, the center of power, and a place where the blood of humans who coveted authority had flowed endlessly. Suryuggyeon was a demon born from those bloodstains, living in the shadows of the Palace.
‘A corrupted thing that fed on the greed for power swirling through the Palace. When it told Seok-ran this was its territory, it was really talking about the court—the political arena.’
Though its true form is merely that of a pup, it is a specter born from resentment—a creature of such terrifying speed that it moves like a carriage in motion, leaving behind the stench of blood wherever it passes.
Suryuggyeon had dwelt in the shadows of the Palace for centuries, seducing humans consumed by ambition into contracts, possessing them, and deriving pleasure from manipulating the political arena through their bodies.
“Why didn’t you tell me such a creature existed within the Palace?”
“After our battle back then, I never caught sight of it again for years… So I thought it had settled down quietly somewhere or gone elsewhere. I’m sorry, my lady, chirp, chirp….”
In hindsight, it made perfect sense that Seok-ran hadn’t noticed. Suryuggyeon had fashioned a puppet of the Chief State Councillor from a shapeshifting rat and hidden itself not in the Palace, but in the Chief State Councillor’s residence, where it lived as a Go Teacher.
‘When did the Chief State Councillor first contract with Suryuggyeon?’
Perhaps he had encountered the creature in the shadows while consumed by ambition, made a deal with it, signed a contract, and ultimately been devoured by it.
‘The timing of when it struck at Se-ru-hwa seemed peculiar. It wasn’t trying to save the Crown Prince, nor was it acting in Wan-eon’s interest… It was as though it wanted to maintain the Palace in a state of chaos.’
Suryuggyeon’s purpose was power itself—to maintain the Chief State Councillor’s position as the true wielder of authority. Everything it had done since my arrival—subtly aiding the Left Prime Minister, employing supernatural arts and sorcery unlike the Left Prime Minister’s human methods—all of it had reason behind it.
I fixed my gaze directly upon the Chief State Councillor’s eyes, speaking through them to Suryuggyeon, who watched from within.
“That creature’s name is Suryuggyeon. It is the very monster recorded consistently in the annals of the Yun Kingdom, the specter that haunts the Palace. A phantom that borrows human flesh to seize human power.”
As my gaze shifted, the ministers’ eyes converged upon the Chief State Councillor. He blinked, visibly flustered.
“…Does the Crown Princess mean to say that I am that creature?”

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