Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 96

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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 96
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Two days had passed since my meeting with the Right Prime Minister. An-si had finally returned—accompanied by Gwang-chul, whose lean frame bore unmistakable signs of a thorough beating.
“Your Highness!”
An-si rushed toward me with eyes just as swollen as Gwang-chul’s from the blows he’d received.
“Oh, Your Highness! I heard everything from my brother! Oh, how could I, your sworn protector, fail to shield you properly? I deserve to die a thousand deaths! Waaah!”
Tears streamed down the girl’s flushed cheeks. Her arms trembled as they wrapped around me, and I could feel her heart hammering wildly against my chest, seized by panic and remorse.
I’d anticipated her guilt and self-recrimination, but seeing it in person cut deeper than expected.
I embraced my sobbing Black Phoenix, patting her back gently.
“Don’t talk about dying. An-si, I sent you on that errand. This isn’t your fault.”
“But Your Highness was kidnapped by that monster! How can it not be my fault? Waaah, it’s all my doing! I was careless! I failed you! Boohoo! Everything is my fault!”
“It’s not your fault. No one blames you—not Mother, not Father. You’re safe now, so please stop crying, all right?”
“What good is it that no one blames me? Sniff, does that erase the fact that Your Highness was taken? Hiccup!”
“Well, no, but still—”
“I should have protected you! I should have stayed glued to your side and never left! I failed in my duty as your guardian! Waaah, I’m a foolish, incompetent Black Phoenix!”
“You’re not just my protector—you’re also my secretary. You performed your duties brilliantly in that role, so you’re actually clever and capable.”
“No, I’m not! Why are you praising me? I nearly lost you forever! Waaah, if something had happened to you, this foolish An-si would have—”
“An-si, look at me.”
I cradled the young Black Phoenix’s tear-streaked face in both hands, tilting it toward me. Meeting those golden eyes brimming with tears, I offered her a gentle smile.
“Look—do I seem injured or suffering? I’m perfectly fine.”
“But… but still…”
“So stop blaming yourself. When you torment yourself like this for simply following my orders, it makes me feel terrible. It seems like my fault…”
“Chirp! What are you saying, Your Highness? You bear no responsibility whatsoever, hiccup.”
“Then that’s enough! No more tears. You’ve been crying the whole way here—your eyes will swell shut.”
“Y-yes, sniff… I’ll stop the tears now…”
“Good girl, our An-si. Let’s dry those tears, shall we?”
“Sniff, yes!”
While I was busy comforting An-si, Gwang-chul stood in the corner with both arms raised, accepting his punishment—though I hadn’t ordered it. The moment he’d climbed through the window, he’d dropped to his knees of his own accord and assumed this posture.
Had An-si made him do this?
Glancing over, I saw his handsome face was a complete mess. If his dark complexion hadn’t masked it, he would have looked like a canvas splattered with garish paint. He stood there miserably with his arms raised, looking so pathetic and dejected that I almost felt sorry for him.
He must have caused some trouble, and An-si had seized him by the collar and beaten him senseless. But even so, it seemed excessive.
Once An-si had finally stopped crying, I asked her quietly.
“By the way, An-si, how did Gwang-chul end up looking like that? Did you hit him?”
An-si’s tear-filled eyes widened, and she whipped her head around to glare at Gwang-chul.
“Your Highness, that wretch deserved every blow! I held back from snapping his neck! If I’d given in to my temper, I would have—!”
“Ugh!”
Gwang-chul flinched at her glare and let out a pained whimper, raising his arms even more rigidly. I sighed and asked.
“What on earth happened?”
“He lied to me! He drank heavily in secret! That’s why it took so long for us to return!”
An-si huffed indignantly and explained the full story. When she’d finally located Goblin Village, Gwang-chul wasn’t there. The goblins, playing coy and refusing to give straight answers, had forced her to shake the truth out of them. Piecing together what the goblins said, it turned out Gwang-chul had indeed stopped by Goblin Village to borrow something.
‘That wasn’t the real purpose at all.’
First, Gwang-chul had stormed into Goblin Village and brazenly demanded they hand over anything useful.
‘The excuse about remembering something that would help me was just that—an excuse. Help? Nonsense. While I was away in the Heavenly Realm, he went there thinking he could play freely without anyone watching.’
Even though Gwang-chul had become a Imoogi, his strength remained that of a dragon, the mightiest of divine beasts. Terrified by his power, the goblins reluctantly lent him their treasures.
Then Gwang-chul demanded they bring out alcohol—that enchanted liquor the goblins had once indulged in.
‘So this fool simply couldn’t forget the taste of that alcohol and went back for more!’
I suppose it was an improvement, at least? Unlike the old days when he’d drink, breathe fire across the surrounding forest, crash to the ground, and expose himself to humans, this time Gwang-chul had hidden deep in a cave and secretly drunk alone. Fortunately, there were no incidents of humans spotting him or fires breaking out.
But since he hadn’t told the goblins which cave he’d sealed himself in, An-si had to search every mountain near Goblin Village as if combing through lice.
‘So that’s why it took so long to find the cave Gwang-chul was hiding in.’
An-si, seething with rage as she searched the surrounding mountains, finally discovered Gwang-chul in a cave, clutching alcohol bottles and completely drunk. She beat him until he sobered up, dragged him back, and upon hearing from her brother that I’d been kidnapped by Geu-seun-dae, she gave him another thorough thrashing—which explained Gwang-chul’s current pitiful state.
“Had I not been in a hurry to return to the Princess, I would have trampled that wretch far more thoroughly.”
An-si finished her account, her fists trembling with barely contained fury.
I studied Gwang-chul for a moment. He seemed to understand his wrongdoing, his eyes now blackened and swollen as he hung his head in shame.
‘This seems rather excessive.’
After committing such a grave offense and suffering punishment for centuries without learning his lesson, he’d caused trouble again?
I called out quietly to An-si.
“An-si.”
“Yes, Princess.”
“Finish punishing him later. Words won’t work on this one.”
“Yes! I’ll stomp him so thoroughly that he’ll convulse at the mere sight of a bottle!”
An-si answered with a bright smile, and Gwang-chul went pale with terror.
“P-Princess! I was wrong! Please forgive me!”
“Gwang-chul, I’ve already forgiven you once. I overlooked your escape from the Heavenly Well and your deception.”
“…Couldn’t you overlook it just one more time?”
Gwang-chul spoke with the most pitiful expression he could muster.
This fool. I grabbed the back of my neck in exasperation.
“Overlook what? You promised to stay quiet until the Heavenly Well’s water cycle was complete! And now you’ve caused trouble again and want me to overlook it?”
“I didn’t cause trouble! I didn’t breathe fire, I wasn’t spotted by humans, and I drank the alcohol quietly in hiding—”
“You didn’t cause trouble? Taking alcohol from the goblins without permission and drinking it isn’t trouble?”
“I, I did get permission from Hyun-bong, I mean, Hyol-bong….”
This time An-si grabbed the back of her own neck and let out a sharp cry at Gwang-chul.
“What I permitted was for you to borrow something from Goblin Village that would help the Princess! Who gave you permission to steal alcohol and drink it?”
“But I did borrow something! Really good things! The alcohol was just a little something on the side!”
“You cursed Imoogi still haven’t learned your lesson? I’ll pluck your scales one by one until you’re a bare snake!”
As An-si rose with a terrifying expression and advanced, Gwang-chul turned deathly pale. The troublemaker frantically rummaged through his belongings, pulled out a bundle, and scrambled forward to prostrate himself before me.
“Princess! Please look at this first! This is truly something that will help you! If you find it useless after examining it, I’ll accept further punishment without complaint!”
I rested my arm on the armrest and replied coolly.
“What is it?”
An-si stood behind me, eyes wide and teeth grinding as she glared at Gwang-chul. Trembling, he unwrapped the bundle.
A black horsehair hat emerged—low in front, high in back, resembling the official caps worn by court officials, with colored threads woven throughout creating an intricate pattern.
I opened my eyes wide and muttered to myself.
“Could this possibly be…?”
“Yes, the treasure that goblins cherish most! A Goblin Cap!”
So it was indeed a Goblin Cap. When worn on the head, it rendered the wearer invisible—the Goblin Cap was the most famous and powerful treasure ever created by goblins.
‘I’ve heard that wearing a Goblin Cap doesn’t just make you invisible; it conceals your presence entirely, so even gods have trouble detecting you.’
I’d heard many stories about it, but this was my first time seeing one in person. It was remarkable that Gwang-chul had managed to borrow something so precious among goblins.
But…
“Gwang-chul, a Goblin Cap is certainly a precious treasure. But I don’t really have a particular need for it, do I?”
“Still, it’s a valuable item! If you keep it, it will surely prove useful!”
“Sure, that could be true. But I have no use for it right now. Besides, you said you thought of something helpful after seeing me collapse, didn’t you? How exactly does this help with my comatose state?”
“That is… well…”
“And you made an excuse about borrowing something that would help, then broke your promise and went drinking? On top of that, you took advantage of me being unconscious and didn’t return for days until An-si came to fetch you?”
The more I spoke, the angrier I became.
“You won’t do. Just return to Heaven.”
As I spoke with a fierce glare, Gwang-chul shook his head frantically.
“I can’t! My father will kill me!”
“Your father frightens you, but I don’t?”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant! I’m sorry, Your Highness! Please, just think of it as saving one dragon and give me one more chance…!”
“Dragon? You’re far from becoming a dragon. Go clean the Heavenly Well and polish your scales while you’re at it.”
“Ugh! I was wrong, Your Highness! I truly, absolutely swear I’ll never do it again! I’ll only do what you command and behave obediently! I’ll guard you diligently! If I ever do this again, I’ll—”
“An-si.”
Ignoring Gwang-chul, who was clasping his hands together in desperate supplication, I called for An-si. She approached immediately.
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“Go up to Heaven today and tell the Dragon God…”
The moment I opened my mouth, Gwang-chul’s face went ashen and his eyes began to tremble. The troublemaker seemed to be racking his brain frantically before suddenly bursting out with a shout.
“Your Highness! Didn’t you say earlier that you couldn’t figure out how the Human Chief State Councillor evaded the Three-Time Messengers’ surveillance?”
It was something I’d mentioned to Seok-ran just before An-si and Gwang-chul arrived, when I’d tasked her with investigating the Chief State Councillor. It seemed he’d overheard it on his way in.
I regarded Gwang-chul with narrowed eyes.
“That’s right. Why?”
“I think I might know the reason! I have information I heard from the goblins!”

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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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