I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit – Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Chief Aide ‘Gabrizen’ of the Jirdel Kingdom visited the Jirdel Base Camp.

Today, Sergeant Lucain happened to be one of the soldiers guarding the main gate.

“You said you came to see Her Highness?”

“That’s right.”

Gabrizen was a figure who had experienced all sorts of hardships in the royal palace and eventually rose to the position of Chief Aide.

Therefore, he could sense it just by observing.

‘The soldiers are wary of me like never before.’

It was a place he had visited many times on business. But the atmosphere and the look in their eyes as they treated him were quite different from before.

‘That means Her Highness is that much of an important political and strategic asset.’

Since she was a very important figure, the soldiers couldn’t help but be sensitive as well.

It felt like he was reaffirming something he already knew.

He entered the tent where Her Highness was staying.

Inside the tent, there was a maid who looked to be around the same age as Her Highness.

“Her Highness is meeting with Lieutenant General Armitel.”

That fact was also a very important clue to Gabrizen.

‘The maid knows Lieutenant General Armitel’s name?’

Armitel.

That name was not exactly top secret, but it was classified information.

The fact that a mere maid knew it and could speak about it naturally.

This could be intentional, so it was definitely a point to keep an eye on.

It was a clue that proved how politically important the Princess was to the empire.

Moreover, it was said that the Princess was currently meeting with Lieutenant General Armitel.

Generally speaking, there was no reason for the two to meet.

Because it was unusual, it meant there was a clear reason to look into it.

‘There’s a reason why the Princess is staying at this uncomfortable base camp instead of the comfortable royal palace. The Imperial Family is also up to something.’

He waited silently for the Princess inside the tent.

He no longer thought of the Princess as a mere child.

To deal with someone effectively, you must first understand them accurately.

The Princess was not a child, but a seasoned politician.

Not long after, Isabel returned to the tent.

“I am Gabrizen, please feel free to call me Zen, Your Highness.”

“Zen-gyeong, it’s been a while. What brings you here?”

Isabel couldn’t help but smile.

Gabrizen had long whiskers growing on both sides of his face, which made him look like a catfish.

Strangely enough, every time he finished speaking, his whiskers would twitch! as if putting a period at the end of his sentence.

‘No, I shouldn’t laugh.’

It’s very rude to laugh at someone’s appearance.

But then, a small white butterfly fluttered over and landed on his long whiskers.

With the butterfly’s flapping wings, his whiskers swayed gently like branches.

Isabel felt as if she could hear auditory hallucinations.

Ttiyong, Ttiyong.

Eight years old.

The age when even a rolling leaf could bring out giggles.

In the end, she burst out laughing, “Kyahaha!”

It was a pure and innocent laughter.

Facing that laughter, Gabrizen pulled himself together.

‘It’s not cute at all!’

You must never be fooled by her appearance and atmosphere.

But outwardly, he tried to speak politely with a benevolent smile, stroking his trademark whiskers.

But there was something on his whiskers.

He rolled his eyes towards his whiskers and saw white wings.

“Uh, uh oh, sht! I-it’s a bug!”

Gabrizen tended to be afraid of bugs, and when he saw the butterfly on his whiskers, he couldn’t help but curse.

Moreover, because he was born with a slight lisp, he was so startled that he couldn’t pay attention to his pronunciation.

Gabrizen’s face turned red.

“So-sorry.”

“It’s okay. That can happen.”

Even though he had committed a significant diplomatic blunder, Isabel didn’t lose her smile.

Gabrizen thought that this was the truly frightening aspect.

It seemed to show her intention not to point out minor mistakes or errors.

Of course, Isabel wasn’t thinking anything of the sort, but Gabrizen started to get nervous on his own.

In fact, his mission was to figure out what she thought of the King’s gift and whether or not it was a serious diplomatic blunder.

There was a doll on the table over there, and it was in a pretty terrible state.

‘It looks like it got struck by lightning.’

It was wearing some kind of fancy clothes, but for some reason, it felt like rags.

It was in a very bad shape, as if she had taken out her anger on the doll.

‘This is bad.’

The other party is upset? They’re not even trying to hide it? And that other party is a VVIP?

‘I need to set my course clearly.’

He immediately got to the point.

“It was not our intention to insult Your Highness. His Majesty also asked me to convey his sincere apologies.”

Ttiyong!

Isabel’s attention was drawn to those whiskers again.

“Huh? Apologies?”

Isabel didn’t understand what he meant.

Contrary to Gabrizen’s complex thoughts, Isabel really wasn’t thinking anything.

She was just fascinated by his long whiskers.

At her feigned ignorance（?）, Gabrizen’s heart started to race.

‘The fact that she’s deliberately feigning ignorance while displaying that battered doll means she’s testing me.’

“I imagine you must be very upset because of the doll.”

Ttiyong!

Isabel’s eyes widened.

Apparently, Gabrizen was a very sensitive person.

“You could tell?”

She was truly upset.

It was very sad that the more she diligently groomed it, the worse the doll looked.

It was even more so because Yuri was right next to her.

Because when Yuri touched it, it would turn back into a beautiful doll.

‘We both have two arms and ten fingers. Why am I like this? Why am I the only one with clumsy hands!’

Her true feelings were revealed on her face.

The sensitive Gabrizen quickly read her expression and grasped the atmosphere.

“Yes, I sincerely apologize.”

“It’s not something Zen-gyeong should apologize for.”

At those words, Gabrizen gulped.

‘Is she saying that the King himself should come and apologize?’

Gabrizen’s mind became complicated.

What exactly did this strategic asset want? What were her true intentions?

Why was she saying it was his fault?

‘I don’t know, I really don’t know.’

An opponent whose intentions you can’t understand is the most fearsome enemy.

He had a bit more conversation with Isabel, but he couldn’t gain any further insight.

He returned to the royal palace and immediately made his report.

“I couldn’t grasp it exactly, but one thing is certain. Her Highness is definitely a political and strategic asset of the Imperial Family.”

“Seeing her in person made you feel that way even more?”

“Yes. I could feel it from the subtle way the soldiers treated me. Moreover, she was having a conversation with Lieutenant General Armitel there. There must be some purpose. It’s clear that Her Highness is playing a very important role, but…… since such a Highness clearly felt insulted, we must take this as a serious matter.”

“……”

“Your Majesty should have seen the doll yourself. It was a signal expressing subtle anger and disappointment. I’m certain. So why did you give her such a childish gift that you’d only give to children?”

“I’ll listen to your nagging later. We need to find a solution first.”

Valkio and the other leaders of the royal palace began an emergency meeting.

A serious meeting on how to win the heart of the empire’s strategic asset, Princess Isabel.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Isabel headed to Armitel’s tent, hugging Honey Badger to her chest.

The Armitel that Isabel perceived was definitely a good person, so she thought it was necessary to solidify their time together.

Armitel asked.

“Did you meet with the kingdom’s Chief Aide?”

“Yes.”

“What did you talk about?”

“Nothing much. He just seems like a kind and sensitive person. He understood my feelings well. I talked about the things that upset me, and Zen-gyeong listened well. I liked him because he seemed like a nice neighbor. It was funny because he kept going ‘Ttiyong’ though.”

“What’s ‘Ttiyong’?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just something. Hehe.”

Armitel didn’t have as complex thoughts as Gabrizen.

She soon focused on the Princess.

In fact, the Princess was also a very fascinating child to Armitel.

The Princess never lost her smile. She was like a little sparrow chirping away, and it was very cute.

Aside from her own sister, Asellia, it was the first time she had met someone whose very existence was so lovable.

Armitel wondered how someone could be so adorable.

“Your Highness, how can you be so bright?”

“Am I that bright?”

“Yes. I’ve never seen anyone like Your Highness.”

She was genuinely curious how someone with the Mark of Narvidal could be like that.

“Isn’t Lieutenant General Armitel’s sister also a bright and warm child?”

“……”

Of course she was.

No matter what anyone said, the protagonist of this novel was Asellia.

More lovable than anyone, more beautiful than anyone, brighter than anyone.

Asellia was someone who shone brightly just by existing.

“My sister is…… a little, no, very sick.”

Isabel doubted her ears.

‘Sick?’

That couldn’t be.

Isabel knew.

The fact that Asellia’s true identity was a dragon.

‘No, that’s not it.’

Even a dragon could get sick if it was in human form. Because it would truly be living as a human.

For some reason, her eyes went to Honey Badger, who was dozing off in the chair next to her.

‘It’s unlikely, but if a dragon turned into Honey Badger, that Honey Badger would live completely as a honey badger.’

Eating what other honey badgers eat. Living as long as other honey badgers live.

Possessing all the characteristics of other honey badgers.

Honey Badger yawned widely as if feeling sleepy, and although he might think it was brave, it was actually quite insignificant and cute.

‘Anyway…… if you think about it like that, Asellia could be sickly, right? Huh? Come to think of it, I think there was a mention of her being sick a lot when she was young.’

There was something that had briefly been mentioned in a conversation with the male lead, Arun.

It wasn’t an important setting, and it didn’t really affect the story, so she didn’t remember it clearly.

“How is she sick?”

“That’s……”

While having various conversations with Armitel, Isabel happened to see a small picture in Armitel’s necklace.

The picture showed Armitel and a child presumed to be Asellia.

‘Huh?’

But it was strange.

It was too strange.