Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 107
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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 107
“Word from Sang Ra Palace, my lady! They’re selecting Incense Acceptance Officials for the Princess!”
“What? Incense Acceptance Officials?”
Incense Acceptance Officials were celestial bureaucrats in the Heavenly Realm who received sacrifices ascending from the Mortal Realm on behalf of the busy deities. Beyond accepting offerings, they organized and stored tributes and sacrificial items, then sorted prayers from mortals to report to the appropriate gods. Simpler prayers they handled directly themselves.
It was a position I’d never needed—a half-deity like me, presiding over no domain, worshipped by no mortals.
But what was this now?
“My own Incense Acceptance Officials? You’re saying they’re selecting officials to receive my sacrifices?”
“Indeed, my lady!”
An-si hopped excitedly atop the writing table, puffing out her small feathered chest with pride.
“The second round of testing is already complete! I heard the third round interviews will be held soon, and the final selection will be made by you personally, my lady!”
An-si did a gleeful backflip mid-air, transforming into the familiar golden-haired girl. She grinned widely and pulled a folded paper from her pocket, spreading it across the writing table.
“Thinking you’d be curious, my lady, I took the liberty of copying the top candidates’ scoresheets! These will likely be your final choices!”
The paper listed names of immortals with various backgrounds, along with their first and second round test scores. As I studied it absently, An-si added with an “Oh, that’s right!”
“That girl who gave her body to you, Xiao-hua—she’s decided to pursue becoming an Incense Acceptance Official and has begun her studies, my lady.”
“…Xiao-hua?”
“Yes! I heard it directly from the Chief Celestial Maiden. Now that she has a goal, she’s adapting to the Heavenly Realm much faster and can live alongside the other celestial maidens!”
“…”
“I hear she studies diligently, determined to become your Incense Acceptance Official one day. Truly a grateful and admirable being—a celestial maiden with a grateful heart!”
An-si spoke with a beaming smile. I asked slowly in return.
“Mortals are making sacrifices to me? Enough that I need Incense Acceptance Officials?”
“Indeed! At first, sacrifices only trickled in, but they’re increasing steadily!”
“For what purpose? What kind of sacrifices are they making?”
“Mostly prayers requesting that I connect them with fortuitous encounters, my lady.”
Fortuitous encounters? Ah.
“So the Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin are making these offerings?”
Those who joined the Jagyogapsa would simply wait—I would restore their lost secret techniques in turn. But those who failed the selection or never applied had no way to obtain such powers. That’s why they were making sacrifices directly to Princess Cheonmyeong, the deity I serve as Crown Princess.
“Correct! Though lately, even ordinary mortals—not just the Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin—have been making offerings, my lady.”
“Common people too? Why?”
“Mostly they ask you to help them find things their ancestors lost, or to grant them secret techniques and treasures left by masters so they might become Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin themselves, my lady.”
In essence, mortals were petitioning me to connect them with all manner of fortuitous encounters.
‘When I planned this, I did think it would spread my name throughout the Mortal Realm…’
I’d merely hoped they’d know I existed as a deity, yet sacrifices were already ascending to me? Enough to require Incense Acceptance Officials?
‘At this rate, won’t I eventually develop my own domain as a proper deity?’
Since mortals were praying for fortuitous encounters, perhaps I’d become the goddess of such encounters.
I felt my cheeks flush with excitement. Fearing my expression would become too unguarded, I cleared my throat and asked.
“Ahem, what do my parents say?”
“They’re absolutely delighted, my lady. The Jade Emperor herself said you might even become a deity presiding over the domain of fortuitous encounters.”
“So it’s truly possible!”
“However… the Jade Emperor expressed regret that until your health improves, it will be difficult for you to formally become a deity…”
“Ah…”
That’s right. How can I, someone worried about whether I’ll even survive the coming days, accomplish anything as a deity? The moment I return to my divine body, I can’t even move without painkillers.
‘But this… wouldn’t it help with separating my divine power?’
If humans continue to make offerings to me like this, the attribute of fortune might naturally settle into my divine power.
‘Just like the concept of healing.’
Then two of my subordinate deities would already be determined. The deity of healing, and the deity of fortune.
‘I don’t know who will become them, but…’
In any case, this is definitely good news. Later, I should arrange the divine offerings and experiment to see if the concept of fortune separates.
“An-si, thank you. That was truly joyful news.”
“Hehe.”
After praising An-si, I picked up the reply letter that Samshin Grandmother had sent.
‘I hope this is also good news.’
With an uneasy heart, I opened the envelope and took out the letter.
I investigated the child after reading Your Highness’s letter.
The baby truly has not received a destiny point.
A destiny point is the fate granted by the Celestial Deities to a life they recognize. My role as Samshin is to receive the fate created by the Celestial Deities and convey it to the corresponding babies.
However, something is currently interfering between the baby and the Celestial Deities, preventing them from recognizing the baby, and I myself had no idea such a baby existed until Your Highness mentioned it.
That is why the baby did not receive a destiny point.
Usually in such cases, it is the work of something wicked. If we eliminate the wicked thing obstructing the baby’s recognition, it is easily resolved.
However…
The entity currently concealing this baby from the Celestial Deities is not something wicked.
That is the problem.
At this point, there were blanks and smudges in the letter—traces of Samshin Grandmother’s hesitation. After that, the handwriting continued somewhat shakily.
Since becoming Samshin, this is the first situation I have witnessed, so the reply was delayed while I analyzed and confirmed it with my subordinate immortals.
To state the conclusion first… the entity currently concealing the baby from the Celestial Deities is Your Highness.
You are deeply connected to that child’s birth, are you not?
Your Highness saved Sim Woo-yeon and Cheon Moon-su, and as a result, a new life was born that should never have come into being between those two people.
The baby’s birth is caused by Your Highness, yet while Your Highness possesses the rank of a deity, you have no fate recorded in the Celestial Deities. You were never granted a destiny point.
An unrecorded existence caused a life that should never have been conceived to be conceived, so by the Celestial Deities’ standards, this is a result without a cause. It can only be confusing.
There is a fate to give to the child of Sim Woo-yeon and Cheon Moon-su, but because Your Highness is the cause, the Celestial Deities cannot recognize the actual baby born and thus cannot connect the fate to them.
In other words, the destiny point exists but cannot be connected, and since Your Highness is blocking that connection, it is difficult for me to resolve this problem.
Though regrettable, this too is fate, so it would be better to abandon the baby and focus on saving Sim Woo-yeon’s life.
And I recommend you be cautious going forward.
Humans already born with destiny points are not significantly affected even if connected to Your Highness… but if a new life is conceived because of Your Highness, there is a high probability of problems occurring in the destiny point process.
After finishing the letter, my mind went blank.
‘So you’re saying the baby without a destiny point didn’t just happen to appear near me—it’s because of me that it couldn’t receive one in the first place?’
And similar problems could occur in the future too?
‘If I save someone who was fated to die, they might be fine, but their children won’t receive destiny points and will all be stillborn?’
What kind of horrifying thing is this? Then, because I helped them recover, Choi Ja-myeong’s younger sibling or the Right Prime Minister’s twins will later be unable to have children?
Dizzy, I gripped the writing table and took a deep breath. An-si and Seok-ran, seeing my complexion, asked worriedly.
“Your Highness? Are you well?”
“Princess, why are you like this? You’ve become so pensive.”
I had no time to answer. My gaze drifted unconsciously toward the bundle of clothes I had tucked away earlier.
“Why do you bestow only blessings upon me, my lady?”
Words the Crown Prince had spoken.
“The Crown Princess is truly… a blessing sent from Heaven itself.”
Words the Queen had spoken.
“The Crown Princess’s Palace has shown us such tremendous grace.”
Words Choi Ja-myeong had spoken.
They all called me a blessing, thanked me, and my heart had soared with such joy.
But if this happens, if everyone I saved loses their children because of me, then I haven’t just given blessings—I’ve given calamity alongside them.
My help becomes meaningless. I shouldn’t feel any sense of accomplishment.
‘This is too much. This is unfair.’
It was unjust that I was born without a destined fate. And I don’t even remember refusing my own fate myself.
‘Is the Queen’s suffering, is the Crown Prince’s beloved younger sibling being denied a destined fate—is all of this because of me?’
Is it my fault for helping? Will everything fall apart simply because I become entangled in it?
A sense of vertigo washed over me. My eyes began to sting.
“Your Highness? Surely you’re not… crying?”
An-si asked in alarm. I hastily covered my face, but An-si’s eyes had already widened in shock.
“What was written in that letter that troubles you so? Did Samshin Grandmother say something strange to you again? Just tell me, and I’ll break off Samshin’s hands that wrote that letter!”
“What? The princess is crying? Who dares make our princess weep!”
An-si bounced on her feet while Seok-ran’s fur bristled. I turned away, my face still covered.
“…Leave me for a moment. Both of you.”
“Your Highness!”
“I said leave.”
“But….”
“Go. Now!”
“…Understood.”
As I raised my voice in command, An-si’s face crumpled as she rose. The fox with ears folded back and the girl with drooping shoulders left the room, and the door closed behind them.
Only then did I lower my hands and let the tears fall freely.
‘It’s because of me, and there’s no way to fix it?’
With trembling hands, I picked up the letter again. I read it over several times, wondering if I had misunderstood.
Typically, such cases result from malevolent interference. Once the malevolent force obstructing the child’s fate is removed, the matter resolves easily.
‘But this time, it’s not a malevolent force—it’s me. There’s no way to remove me. I didn’t misread it.’
With a sense of despair, I set the letter down on the writing table. As I wiped away the flowing tears with the back of my hand, I suddenly caught sight of the list of Incense Acceptance Officials candidates I had been examining with such joy moments before.
‘I shouldn’t be happy about something like this. I….’
Wait. A thought suddenly struck me.
‘The Incense Acceptance Officials, the ancestral rites, the karmic connection. I was told that offerings were coming up to me asking to continue the karmic connection.’
I hastily picked up Samshin Grandmother’s letter again.
In other words, the destined fate exists, but the connection is impossible, and since Your Highness is what blocks that connection, I find it difficult to resolve this matter.
The child’s inherent destiny exists, but I stand between them, preventing the Celestial Deities from linking the child to their fate.
Then couldn’t I simply weave that connection myself, no matter what it takes?
‘Connection… fate.’
By grasping the very concept of fate itself!
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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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