Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 102

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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 102
“Yes.”
“Sigh.”
The Chief State Councillor exhaled heavily, stroking his beard.
“The Crown Princess certainly possesses a vivid imagination. Now I understand why you became a shaman at such a young age. Calling a perfectly ordinary person a demon—how absurd.”
The elderly man, who carried himself with the grace of an immortal sage, gazed at me with pitying eyes as he sighed. The other officials murmured in confusion and alarm.
“The Prime Minister is a demon…?”
“As expected, children are just children….”
Even the King seemed taken aback that I would make such an accusation. Yet rather than immediately rebuke me, he spoke with measured caution.
“Crown Princess, do you have grounds for this claim? The Palace houses the Star Mansion Bureau filled with state astronomers, the Observatory where Taoist Priests work, and many martial officers trained in combat. Are you saying the Prime Minister is a demon who deceived all these supernatural experts? Is this Suryuggyeon demon truly so formidable?”
“To be precise, Your Majesty, the Prime Minister is a puppet doll controlled by Suryuggyeon.”
“What did you say?”
“Since it’s not a demon but a puppet, no one noticed.”
“This is too much, Crown Princess.”
The Chief State Councillor interjected, his face flushing red.
“I, Gu Jang-saeng, have served the state within these Palace walls for more than twenty years. I have spent longer here than the Crown Princess has lived. How dare you suggest that I am someone’s puppet doll?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“…Can you take responsibility for those words, Crown Princess? Making such wild accusations without evidence—calling someone a demon or a puppet—it seems the position of Crown Princess truly does not suit you—.”
“I have evidence.”
I slipped my hand into my sleeve as I spoke.
“I will show you undeniable proof right now.”
A small demon I had borrowed from Yi Yeon-ju, wrapped around my wrist, suddenly popped out.
Myotusa. Dun-gap-jwi is a puppet doll created by goblins, but its original form is a rat demon with similar sorcerous powers. Though Myotusa has the body of a snake demon, its nature is closer to that of a cat.
‘To catch a rat, you need a cat, after all.’
Snakes are also natural predators of rats.
The moment the kitten’s head emerged from my sleeve, its eyes widened and it stared directly at the Chief State Councillor. Its elongated neck swayed as if stalking prey. The Chief State Councillor—or rather, Dun-gap-jwi—went deathly pale as he met the vertically-slit feline pupils.
I pointed my sleeve, from which Myotusa had emerged, toward the Chief State Councillor and whispered.
“Nabi, catch it.”
Mew-owww!
The young Myotusa let out a surprisingly sharp cry and leaped into the air.
Small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, it was the kind of creature that would startle an ordinary person but hardly inspire true fear—a trivial threat. Yet to Dun-gap-jwi, it was a natural predator incarnate.
‘Being a rat, even ordinary cats and snakes would be feared, but Myotusa is both a demon cat and a demon snake.’
The palm-sized Myotusa flew through the air and clung to the Chief State Councillor’s chest. He leaped backward, his beard flying wildly. A terrified shriek burst from his mouth.
Squeak!
Anyone who heard it would recognize it as the cry of a rat.
Everyone’s jaws dropped.
“What, what is that!”
“Why is there a rat’s cry…?”
“Crown Princess, what is that thing? A cat… a snake… a demon?”
“Prime Minister! Are you all right!”
While the humans were in an uproar, Nabi leaped onto the Chief State Councillor’s shoulder in a flash. The young Myotusa let out a threatening cry, eyeing the old man’s neck.
Meow-oooong!
The Chief State Councillor’s mouth opened wide. From within came the squeaking sounds of rats—squeak, squeak—and then a wooden rat figurine carved from wood shot out from his throat.
“Ugh!”
“Ahhh!”
Screams erupted from all directions at the grotesque sight.
The wooden rat that had tumbled into the center of the Throne Room scurried away squeaking frantically. Myotusa leaped from the Chief State Councillor’s shoulder and swiftly gave chase to the Dun-gap-jwi.
The Chief State Councillor’s body, now that the Dun-gap-jwi had escaped, crumbled into sawdust that scattered and fell. Just as I had witnessed before when I served as Sang-si. His crimson official robes, now ownerless, draped over the pile of sawdust, and his ceremonial hat tumbled to the ground.
The Throne Room fell into a silence as deafening as death. Only the squeaking of the fleeing wooden rat figurine and Nabi’s meowing filled the air.
Before long, the young Myotusa returned proudly with the wooden rat clenched in her jaws. I stepped down to the floor, bent at the waist, and extended my arm to Nabi. The yellow-furred Myotusa, still holding the wooden rat, obediently climbed onto my hand.
I had felt it before when I borrowed Nabi from Yi Yeon-ju, but Nabi had become unusually docile toward me.
‘It seems she remembers when I healed her in the shadows of Geu-seun-dae before.’
I lifted the Myotusa, who sat coiled in my palm with the wooden rat figurine firmly clenched in her jaws, and made my declaration.
“This is the proof.”
The humans’ jaws would drop. The King’s eyes would pop out. Even the Right Prime Minister, who had been briefed beforehand, felt his pupils shake.
Indeed, witnessing such a spectacle was rare. The Crown Princess, draped in winged robes, had produced Myotusa, causing the Dun-gap-jwi to burst forth from the Chief State Councillor and his body to crumble into sawdust. It was the sort of tale that would be passed down among humans as legend and folklore.
‘It will make quite an interesting story, won’t it? The Royal Historian and the Palace Staff are watching too, so the rumors will spread far and wide.’
I surveyed the people standing frozen and speechless, then turned to the King with a question.
“Your Majesty, has this sufficiently proven my case?”
“Eh? Ah, ah, yes. Indeed. Good heavens, such a thing in this world… such an impossible…”
The King rambled incoherently, his expression vacant. The ministers, who would normally have demanded propriety be maintained, were so bewildered they could say nothing.
I glanced subtly at the Right Prime Minister. Snapping out of his shock at my signal, he quickly raised his voice.
“Your Majesty! Please issue an order to the Jagyogapsa at once!”
“W-what? An order, suddenly?”
“It has been proven that the Prime Minister was truly a puppet! We must immediately find and eliminate Suryuggyeon before the demon escapes! Your Majesty, command the Jagyogapsa to capture it!”
“Ah.”
The King, whose spirit had been absent, finally regained his composure. He quickly turned to the Right Prime Minister.
“Are the Jagyogapsa prepared? Can they carry out the mission?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. If you but give the order, they will fulfill their duty with utmost loyalty.”
“And where is this Suryuggyeon at present…”
The King trailed off and turned to look at me. I answered promptly.
“The demon is likely hiding in the Prime Minister’s Residence.”
“I understand. The Crown Princess has done a great service today.”
The King, nodding his head, issued orders to the military officer and the Minister of Royal Decrees respectively.
“Immediately convey my command to the Jagyogapsa to go to the Prime Minister’s Residence and capture Suryuggyeon! If live capture is impossible, you may kill it on the spot! Minister of Royal Decrees, draft an edict to be sent to the Uigeum Bureau at once! A reinvestigation is necessary regarding not only the perpetrators behind the Geu-seun-dae attack, but also the incidents mentioned by the Crown Princess!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The military officer rushed out frantically, and the Minister of Royal Decrees moved his brush with speed. I could see the Royal Historian in the corner moving his brush even faster than the Minister of Royal Decrees.
‘If the Jagyogapsa mobilize now, they’ll be too late. From the moment the Dun-gap-jwi squeaked, Suryuggyeon must have already been preparing to flee.’
Perhaps it had begun preparing to escape the moment I made my accusation.
‘But it won’t be able to get away regardless!’
Seok-ran and Gwang-chul waited near the Prime Minister’s Residence. I’d instructed them to block Suryuggyeon if he tried to escape and drive him back inside. But they weren’t to capture him directly—only threaten and restrain him.
‘Suryuggyeon needs to become the Jagyogapsa’s first major victory.’
If we achieved a significant success right after the unit’s formation, the morale of the Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin members would soar, and the Jagyogapsa’s prestige would rise accordingly.
‘And the necessity of the Seongsul Academy would increase as well.’
I’d have my revenge against Se-ru-hwa, eliminate Doo-eok-sini’s connections, and establish the Jagyogapsa successfully. Wasn’t that killing four birds with one stone?
‘Well, actually four birds. And no one will dare speak of my deposition anymore.’
After finishing his orders, the King swept his gaze across the Throne Room and picked up one of the petition scrolls.
“The Crown Princess became a shaman, so she’ll destroy the nation?”
“….”
“You ministers couldn’t even tell whether the Chief State Councillor you face every day is a real person or a sawdust doll, yet you seem quite certain about whether the Crown Princess will ruin or bring fortune to the nation.”
“….”
“While you couldn’t recognize the demon right before your eyes and kept writing petitions to depose the Crown Princess, she herself discovered the demon hiding in the Palace.”
“….”
“I’m quite curious what the people will say when word spreads that the court still dares to criticize our Crown Princess despite this. They’ll surely say the nation is being governed splendidly. Tsk.”
“….”
The ministers clamped their mouths shut like clams. The King clicked his tongue deliberately and hurled the petition scroll away.
“You there, clean up this garbage!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The eunuchs rushed forward and carried away the pile of petitions. The King grinned widely.
“If you have time to be swayed by such superstitions and waste precious paper on nonsense, read one more line of text or think more about state affairs instead. Understood?”
“We are deeply grateful for your grace, Your Majesty.”
The ministers bowed in succession. I restrained my urge to bounce with joy and stood calmly, giggling to myself inside.
‘Perfect, four birds with one stone!’
Of course, the Jagyogapsa needed to capture Suryuggyeon cleanly for complete success, but how could they fail to catch one demon when a thousand-year-old Thousand-Year Fox and the Dragon God’s son were secretly helping? Even if the Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin of Yun Kingdom had weakened due to broken lineages.
‘I’ve set the table. Now just eat well, you humans.’
* * *
In the end, the Jagyogapsa did accept the prepared meal well. They just spilled a bit while eating.

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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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