Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 108

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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 108
It felt like striking flint against steel. A faint spark of light burst through the darkness. As hope ignited like a candle flame, long shadows emerged alongside it—countless worries and doubts.
Could I, who am not even Manshin, truly weave together human destinies? Could the concept of fate possess such power?
The divine energy contained within Se-ru-hwa’s body seemed woefully insufficient, but could I use my true form’s divine power in this manner? Even if I succeeded, wouldn’t the backlash damage my true form further?
Moreover, wouldn’t this constitute improper divine interference in human fate, accumulating terrible karmic debt?
Suddenly, the Queen’s joyful expression came to mind. So did the Crown Prince’s face as he lifted me and spun me around in circles.
‘…Let me try anyway. I should attempt anything before dismissing it.’
It was foolish to worry about success’s aftermath when I didn’t even know if I would succeed or fail. Besides, regarding karma—since this situation arose because of me, resolving it myself might not accumulate much debt at all.
I swept away all the chaotic questions and doubts flooding my mind, shoving them into a corner of my consciousness.
‘First, I need to test whether my divine energy can actually be separated into the concept of fate.’
I retrieved all the divine artifacts of the Straw God that I’d stored in the Treasure Vault using the Eight Pillar Order. I spread out everything that tumbled across the room floor and examined them thoughtfully.
A seal, a mirror, a fan, a gourd, a scepter, a bow, a sword.
I’d already confirmed that the gourd could contain healing divine energy.
‘Which divine artifact would suit the concept of fate?’
The Medical Immortals in the Heavenly Realm had divided my divine energy according to yin-yang and five elements while analyzing it for the Straw God Plan.
Divine energy with a bright (yang) quality went into the seal.
Divine energy with a dark (yin) quality went into the mirror.
Divine energy similar to fire went into the fan.
Divine energy similar to water went into the gourd.
Divine energy similar to earth went into the scepter.
Divine energy similar to wood went into the bow.
Divine energy similar to metal went into the sword.
‘The healing concept’s divine energy had felt like flowing water. That’s probably why it entered the gourd.’
Brightness is active, proactive, and radiating; darkness is passive, reactive, and converging.
Fire burns itself and rises upward; water flows downward and brings moisture and nourishment.
Earth mediates and neutralizes; wood bends or grows straight; metal is changeable and cuts and harvests.
Which of these qualities does fate resemble? Connection between past and present, bonds, fortune, coincidence, destiny…it’s too abstract and ambiguous.
‘Hmm…would earth, which mediates, be closest?’
Unable to decide, I attempted it with the scepter first. I drew my divine energy through the lifeline and pushed it directly into the jade scepter, then prayed as earnestly as I had when obtaining healing.
Fate. I need the concept of fate right now. I want to become a miracle again!
“….”
I emptied my mind and repeated my yearning, but nothing changed.
‘Did I choose wrong? It might be closer to something else.’
I experimented with the other artifacts in turn. Then, when that didn’t work, I sat in meditation and tried to imbue my divine energy itself with the concept of fate.
Night deepened as time passed, but nothing succeeded. It was no different from my usual practice.
I exhaled deeply.
‘This really isn’t easy. I must have been incredibly fortunate with healing.’
What’s different? Is my desperation insufficient? Do I need a crisis? Or must there be some catalyst?
‘I need to obtain the concept of fate soon so I can at least attempt to save the child. But I’m not even certain if I can use fate to replace destiny, and I’m already blocked from the start….’
Rising with exhaustion and despair, I opened the window. I gazed up at the pitch-black night sky, feeling the cool breeze against my face.
‘If I examine the offerings humans have made to me, might I sense something? Should I make a trip to Heaven?’
I couldn’t ascend to Heaven in a human body, so I would need to put this vessel into a comatose state and transfer my soul to my true form.
‘It’s not good for the body. Still, if I want to directly receive the offerings, I’ll need to go to Heaven.’
As I rested my chin in my hand, contemplating, I suddenly felt a faint prayer rising like smoke beyond the wall of Unyeon Hall.
‘Someone is making an offering even at this hour of the night. Ah, on a moonlit night like this, they must be leaving purified water and praying.’
What were they praying for so desperately? To which deity would that smoke be offered? What response did that human expect from that deity?
Lost in such thoughts, sudden clarity struck me.
‘The attribute of “blessing” that I’m trying to separate right now… it’s the response humans expect from me. Unlike healing, which I needed and chose myself, it’s a concept that humans are trying to bestow upon me.’
Then perhaps instead of ascending to Heaven, I should look toward the Mortal Realm—toward the humans who pray to me. Wouldn’t that be more helpful?
‘…Let me find the humans who make offerings to me. If I visit an actual offering site, I might sense something.’
It was a clue that had barely occurred to me amid my frustration.
‘Good, I should contact Princess Onseol tomorrow right away. To see if she knows anything about the offerings made to Princess Cheonmyeong.’
* * *
Princess Onseol informed me that an offering to “Princess Cheonmyeong” would soon be held not far from the Palace.
To be precise, the primary purpose was a gut ritual to expel a wandering spirit, and the offering to me was secondary. Apparently, after their son received a divine calling, an injured person came to their home, forcing him to leave the household. The parents had commissioned the gut ritual to bring their son back.
‘So Princess Onseol knew about it because Baek Tam-sol had accepted the commission.’
After Baek Tam-sol, who had learned the secret traditions of a Manshin, successfully performed a gut ritual to expel a wandering spirit for the first time in a century, similar commissions had been pouring in.
‘She’s already become famous for expelling wandering spirits, even earning the nickname “Goddess Who Controls Illusions”…’
The family that had commissioned this ritual planned to drive away the malevolent spirit through the gut ritual, then make an offering to me, praying that their son would form a new connection with a powerful deity.
‘So they consider this a blessing and pray to me for it? How interesting.’
Attending as the Crown Princess would complicate matters, so I decided to hide my identity and observe both the gut ritual and the offering.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen Baek Tam-sol. I wonder if her scars have healed much…’
There was still time before the offering date. I continued practicing the separation of my divine power while waiting for that day, just in case.
In the meantime, the Queen endured her condition well despite the difficulty. The power of the Thousand-Person Blood Stone helped, and it seemed that secretly sending An-si at night to play the phoenix song to the sleeping Queen also contributed. However, I had to deal with An-si’s complaints about her wounded pride.
“To think that I, who have become the Black Phoenix, must play the phoenix song for such an ordinary human… I feel as though I might simply expire from shame…”
“You really don’t want to do it? Then I’ll do it myself.”
“Pardon? What do you mean, Your Highness?”
“I’ll sneak to the Queen at night and help her recover. I can’t go officially during the day… the King and Queen won’t allow such a young girl to struggle with work that should be the Royal Physician’s duty.”
“That is true! But why would Your Highness undertake such difficult and arduous work? And sneaking about at night, no less! You need your sleep to grow properly!”
“It’s because of me that the Queen couldn’t receive the blessing of a child. I have to take responsibility somehow.”
“If Your Highness had not helped, that human would never have awakened at all, let alone conceived a child. There is no reason for Your Highness to bear responsibility for the child!”
“Of course I have to take responsibility. How could I call myself a great deity if I turned away from something like this?”
“Your Highness’s standards for a great deity seem rather excessively strict…”
“It’s not strict—it’s simply what’s right.”
“…If I witness Your Highness scaling walls at night to treat humans, I fear I shall simply expire from the sight. I shall do it myself…”
An-si let out a deep sigh, but ultimately agreed to play the phoenix song for the Queen. I felt a bit sorry, so I decided to give An-si a gift.
“You said before that you wished for a sturdy club, didn’t you? I’ll mention it to the Chief Celestial Maiden, so have it made however you like.”
“Truly? Thank you so much!”
An-si bounced about happily—not over delicious food or new clothes, but over a club, which seemed rather odd.
‘I’m a bit suspicious about why she’s so interested in a club…’
Even so, a Black Phoenix is a Black Phoenix—at worst, I’d only lose to Gwang-chul.
While I waited for the memorial service, something unexpected arrived before the ceremony itself.
“Crown Princess, have you heard the news?”
“What news?”
“An Imperial Envoy has arrived from Pyeong!”
The 17th day of the 11th month, Year 14 of Seo-gwang.
The Imperial Envoy from the Pyeong Empire had arrived at Unryong Palace.
* * *
I had anticipated that an Imperial Envoy would come from Pyeong.
‘The Emperor is dead, and Seol Deung-hwa successfully pulled off her feigned death.’
They would need to inform me of Seol Deung-hwa’s death, and they would also need to notify the Yun Kingdom that the previous Emperor had died and a new Emperor had ascended.
‘Come to think of it, Seok-juk mentioned before that the Crown Prince of Pyeong seemed rather strange.’
[I’ve heard rumors that the Crown Prince has changed somehow, and there are whispers that the Emperor fears him. I don’t know the details, but it’s certain that the atmosphere has become strange because of the Crown Prince.]
Had that Crown Prince inherited the throne?
‘I dismissed it then, but now that I think about it… isn’t that Crown Prince connected to Doo-eok-sini of the Pyeong Imperial Palace? That’s suspicious.’
In any case, since I am also a princess of Pyeong, it was only natural that the Imperial Envoy would visit me separately.
“Your Imperial Highness the Princess has married a man of whom vicious rumors circulate, and His Majesty the Emperor is deeply concerned for his cherished younger sister.”
I never expected to hear such nonsense.

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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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