Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 97

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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 97
“Information? What kind of information?”
“Well, among the things created by goblins, there’s something called a ‘Shape-Shifting Rat.’ It’s a wooden puppet carved in the shape of a rat, and if you place a person’s fingernails or toenails in its mouth, it becomes a puppet that transforms into that person’s exact appearance.”
Gwang-chul swallowed hard and continued.
“But a few years ago, some demon broke into Goblin Village and stole it.”
“Like you did?”
“Yes, like I did… No! At least I showed some courtesy! That creature was far worse than me!”
“I’m curious what the goblins think. You and that demon both broke in and stole things without warning—it’s the same thing, isn’t it? Anyway, what happened next?”
Gwang-chul, wearing an aggrieved expression, answered.
“Unlike me, a divine being, that demon was extremely dangerous, so the goblins were worried about what it would use the Shape-Shifting Rat for. So one of the goblins put on a goblin hat and secretly followed that creature, and it went into a large, impressive house.”
“…Don’t tell me it was the Prime Minister’s Residence?”
“I’m not certain if it was the Prime Minister’s, but the goblin said the house’s owner was an old man called ‘Minister.’ The goblin was shocked to see the demon grab that human and pull out his fingernails and toenails, so it fled and doesn’t know what happened after that.”
It was a chilling story, and the information was entirely plausible. I stroked my lips thoughtfully as I spoke.
“So what you’re saying is… the Chief State Councillor right now isn’t actually the Chief State Councillor, but a Shape-Shifting Rat being controlled by a demon?”
“Without a doubt. How could an ordinary human escape the eyes of the Three-Time Messengers?”
That made sense.
‘If the human I planted the Three-Time Messengers in was a Shape-Shifting Rat from the beginning? Then the attack on Geu-seun-dae and such were ordered by the demon behind the scenes… If that’s the case, everything makes sense.’
I had planted the Three-Time Messengers on the Chief State Councillor when he went to the Audience Hall. If he had been a Shape-Shifting Rat pretending to be human from the start.
If he were a demon, either I or An-si would have noticed long ago, but if he were a goblin’s tool—a puppet transformed into human form—we wouldn’t have detected it.
‘…I need to check immediately.’
I opened a lacquered box. Jung-si and Ha-si, who had been eating flower nectar after I removed Sang-si that was planted in the Chief State Councillor, lifted their antennae and looked up at me.
“Jung-si, come here.”
The translucent butterfly settled familiarly on my nose. The scene that Sang-si was seeing inside the Chief State Councillor’s head unfolded before my eyes.
‘He’s playing Go.’
The Chief State Councillor had his head buried in the Go board, so I couldn’t see the appearance of the human sitting across from him clearly. As I watched the scene, I gestured to Ha-si.
“Ha-si, tell Sang-si to taste the human’s insides—just a tiny bit. Have him verify whether it’s actually human.”
At my words, the butterfly inside the box flew up and performed a complex dance. It was conveying my message to Sang-si.
Not long after, the hand holding the Go stone in the Chief State Councillor’s grip suddenly froze. A voice came from the person sitting across from him.
[What’s wrong?]
The Chief State Councillor lifted his head. Finally, I could see the appearance of his Go opponent. A man in his thirties with a strangely blurred impression. Wearing glasses was his only distinguishing feature. A human I had seen several times while continuously observing the Chief State Councillor.
‘He’s the Go Teacher who lives and boards at the Prime Minister’s Residence.’
The moment I thought this, I felt as though our eyes had met across a pane of glass.
A sinister smile appeared on the ordinary, unremarkable man’s face.
[I’ve been uneasy about this the whole time… Finally, you’re making a move?]
Making a move? What is?
‘Ah.’
Sang-si. Sang-si, moving to bite a less dangerous area.
I urgently shouted at Ha-si, fluttering above the box.
“Tell Sang-si to run! Hurry! He needs to come back right now!”
Ha-si beat her wings rapidly.
As Sang-si slipped out through the Chief State Councillor’s crown, the Go Teacher’s hand pierced through his head in the same instant.
“…!”
I clapped my hand over my mouth. Through Sang-si’s elevated vantage point, the scene below unfolded with perfect clarity.
Strangely, not a single drop of blood splattered. Instead, what scattered was sawdust-like powder. Go stones lay strewn in all directions, the Chief State Councillor’s body sprawled across the board, and the Go Teacher withdrew his hand with a tilted head.
[That’s strange, I could’ve sworn something was moving inside his head. But there’s nothing.]
The Go Teacher muttered while pushing up his glasses.
[It felt like something was there the whole time, which bothered me… and it still does.]
The Chief State Councillor’s body crumbled away into sawdust. The Go Teacher rummaged through the pile of sawdust shaped like a person and pulled out a wooden rat figurine.
So it really was a shape-shifting rat after all.
[If I remake it… this time there won’t be any parasites, right?]
With the Go Teacher opening a silk pouch from his breast and extracting nail clippings, Sang-si safely escaped from the Prime Minister’s Residence.
‘It doesn’t seem like I was completely exposed. Fortunately, the Three-Time Messengers are creatures closer to demons than anything else….’
I returned Jung-si to the box and took a deep breath.
“Your Highness? Your complexion looks poor. Are you well?”
An-si asked with concern. I shook my head to indicate I was fine, then turned my gaze to Gwang-chul, who was fidgeting nervously.
“You did well.”
“Your Highness?”
“The Chief State Councillor really was a shape-shifting rat.”
Color returned to Gwang-chul’s face.
“Does this mean you’re forgiving me?”
“You were quite helpful… yes. I’ll forgive you. But if I catch you sneaking drinks again, I’m sending you straight back to the well.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much, Your Highness!”
As Gwang-chul bowed repeatedly with a beaming smile, there wasn’t a trace of concern on his face about the situation—that the Chief State Councillor was a shape-shifting rat or that a demon lurked behind it all.
‘Now I understand why the Dragon God clutches the back of his neck whenever Gwang-chul’s name comes up. When will this fool ever mature?’
I sighed and asked Gwang-chul.
“What kind of demon is it?”
“Your Highness?”
“The demon that took the shape-shifting rat. What’s its identity?”
“I didn’t know the demon myself, but the goblins seemed to recognize it. They said it was a demon that’s lived in Unguk Palace for a very long time. Its name was definitely….”
Gwang-chul furrowed his brow in thought, then clapped his hands together.
“Ah, the Beast Hound! They called it the Beast Hound!”
The Beast Hound? I’d never heard of such a demon before. The Go Teacher looked more serpentine than canine to me.
‘If it’s lived in Unguk Palace for so long, is it perhaps a rare demon found only in Yun? I should ask Seok-ran about this.’
What connection could Doo-eok-sini possibly have with that demon?
‘In any case, I’ll need to adjust my plans slightly.’
I’d originally intended to use the Three-Time Messengers to make the Chief State Councillor confess his own crimes directly, but that convenient method wouldn’t work anymore.
‘Then I’ll have to use a different approach.’
A translucent butterfly fluttered through the open window. It was Sang-si, who had escaped safely.
I returned Sang-si to the box and pondered.
‘The Right Prime Minister will handle creating the extraordinary conditions and concrete organization for the Demon-Catching Soldiers, so what I need to do now is….’
To make the hidden Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin emerge and come to the Palace of their own accord.
I inserted the Three-Time Messengers into the Eight Pillar Order and turned to look at Gwang-chul and An-si.
“An-si, Gwang-chul—I have a task for you both.”
“Pardon? With this troublemaker, Your Highness?”
“Pardon? With that blood-sealed one, Your Highness?”
Both of them questioned simultaneously, then glared at each other.
“What nonsense in front of the Princess?”
“Who are you calling a troublemaker?”
“I told you not to call me by such strange nicknames! Especially not in front of the Princess!”
“What else would I call you? Blood-sealed is blood-sealed.”
“An-si! Use my name!”
“Your name is An-si? Blood-sealed suits you far better.”
“…You still haven’t matured, have you? Shall I break off your horns to teach you some manners?”
“Wait, what do you mean matured? The Princess just said she’d forgive us! Surely you’re not going to disobey the Princess’s command while being a Black Phoenix?”
“She said she’d forgive us, but she didn’t say I couldn’t punish you!”
“Do you know how old I am? You’re just a fresh young thing—what gives you the right to punish anyone?”
“Age doesn’t matter. What matters is whether you’ve grown any sense!”
Whether it was a pair of fox demons near a thousand years old bickering, or noble divine beasts quarreling, it was all the same.
‘They’ll grow fond of each other at this rate.’
Rather than stop the two of them from their banter, I simply said what I needed to say.
“An-si.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Go to the Afterlife for a moment. I asked the palace attendants at Sang Ra Palace to prepare something the other day, and it should be finished by now.”
“What should I bring back, Your Highness?”
“The secret texts of the Ki-ryeong Sword Family and the secret texts of the Shamans.”
An-si looked puzzled, but quickly nodded.
“Understood, Your Highness!”
“And Gwang-chul.”
“Yes!”
“Once An-si brings those secret texts…”
I trailed off as my eyes fell on the goblin cap resting on the desk.
‘…I found a use for that after all.’
I pushed the goblin cap, wrapped in cloth, toward Gwang-chul.
“Take those secret texts to the location I’ll tell you, wear this, and secretly infiltrate to hide them there.”
“Um… Your Highness, may I ask what you’re planning to do?”
“Shaman work.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ll understand once you see it.”
I offered a subtle smile.
How could I return the lost secret teachings to the Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin in a way that seemed natural while serving my plan?
‘Humans speak of something called “divine fortune,” don’t they?’
Finding treasures or knowledge left behind by masters of old or ancestors in unexpected places—that is what they call divine fortune. So I would inscribe the lost secret techniques into books, hide them somewhere in advance, and then—
‘—I would descend into a mortal form and reveal their location to the Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin, claiming it was through Princess Cheonmyeong’s grace?’
That would certainly be divine fortune. And as a bonus, it would spread word throughout Heaven that there exists a goddess named Princess Cheonmyeong.

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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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