Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 162

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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 162
The color drained from Heuk-yeon’s face. He stood frozen, pallid, staring down at the bronze blade I extended toward him with hollow eyes.
“Heuk-yeon.”
“….”
“…I’m sorry to ask this of you. But there’s no one else I can entrust this to, and no one who could accomplish it as well as you. So… I’m asking you.”
“….”
Heuk-yeon stared at the blade as though my words had not reached him. More precisely, he stared at the blood smeared along one edge.
I swallowed the sigh rising in my throat.
‘…You should hate me, Heuk-yeon. You were trying to hate me. If you hate me, then when the moment comes, you should be able to kill without hesitation.’
Why was I wavering? I had thought Heuk-yeon would be fine with this….
The closer one stands to me, the easier it is to fail. A task that becomes impossible if there is even a moment’s hesitation at the critical instant. Only those who understand Doo-eok-sini well, who comprehend how vital this is, can accomplish it.
So only Heuk-yeon was suited for this.
‘Is it truly impossible? To ask someone to kill a god—and the master of my youngest sibling at that… No matter how distant we’ve become, it seems too cruel for Heuk-yeon, who has already lost a master.’
But this safeguard is absolutely necessary. Someone must fulfill this role without fail.
I have no intention of failing, and I will prepare for my battle with Doo-eok-sini with the resolve to succeed absolutely, yet I must still prepare for the possibility of failure.
‘There’s no helping it.’
I would have to tell a well-intentioned lie.
‘Though I’m not even sure if this qualifies as well-intentioned….’
My mouth turned bitter. It dried completely. I swallowed hard and barely managed to move my tongue.
“…Listen, Heuk-yeon. I think you’re misunderstanding something right now.”
Heuk-yeon’s rigid frame shifted only his eyes toward me. I waved the bronze blade lightly as though it were nothing, speaking casually.
“This blade—asking you to kill me with it isn’t actually killing me.”
“…What sophistry is this?”
“Have you forgotten? I have two bodies right now.”
I pointed with my finger at Se-ru-hwa.
“The human body. Se-ru-hwa’s flesh.”
And I pointed toward the heavens.
“The divine body. Sang Ra-hee-yo’s divine form.”
“…?”
“But the mark left by this bronze blade is only on this human body, isn’t it?”
“…!”
Heuk-yeon’s expression shifted as he grasped my meaning. Color finally returned to his face. I continued my deception to drive the point home.
“Even if this human body dies, I won’t be completely dead. My soul will simply return to my original body in the Heavenly Realm. So don’t burden yourself with guilt.”
Heuk-yeon rubbed his face as though deflated, then exhaled a shallow breath.
“…I was mistaken.”
“I made you mistake it. I’m sorry.”
The misunderstanding Heuk-yeon and I spoke of now held different meanings.
‘If the moment comes when I must pierce him with this blade, my original body will likely already be dead.’
The time my parents created for me was roughly ten years, measured by the standard of ‘not using my original divine power,’ and eight years remained.
‘I was already in a state of chaos, coughing blood whenever I glimpsed human life through the eyes of divine punishment a few times, and then when I attempted the Straw God Plan, my parents sealed my divine power, and I even died once more.’
So my true body had become like a cracked glass bottle that would shatter at the slightest touch. If Mother and Father hadn’t shared their lifespan with me, I wouldn’t have awakened at all—I would have slept for decades and been sealed away according to the new Straw God Plan without ever descending to the Mortal Realm again.
‘So perhaps, if I use my true body’s divine power even once more, it will be the end.’
It’s fine to use divine power the way a Shaman does—letting the human body bear the burden instead of my true body. But if I use divine power beyond what a human can endure, my original body would have to bear the aftermath… and that would be the end.
‘If I fight Doo-eok-sini and lose to the point of being devoured, there’s no way I won’t use my true divine power at least once by then.’
I can’t hold back while fighting Doo-eok-sini. The battle seems like it will be harder than I anticipated, making restraint even more impossible.
‘Not use the divine power I have available to save Heaven’s true body? And then lose by a hair’s breadth? If I fail, I die anyway. But if I succeed, all problems are solved.’
Therefore, in that fight, I have no choice but to use every card I possess. Of course, I can’t add karma to the Celestial Realm, so I’ll exclude the gods’ assistance.
‘If I’ve already tried everything I can and still lost, then I would naturally have used my true body’s divine power as a last resort.’
So if a situation calls for the Neurosurgical Needle, it means my true body is already dead, and the moment that needle pierces the human body, I will truly die.
‘That’s fine. It’s far better than putting Mother, Father, An-si, or anyone else in danger.’
Perhaps because I’ve grown accustomed to death, I feel remarkably calm and composed. And I realize that the decision I’d postponed until eight years from now, I’ve already made unconsciously.
‘I don’t want to sleep—whether it’s for centuries, millennia, or tens of thousands of years.’
Surviving like that is meaningless. I won’t fall asleep. I don’t want to reduce my chances of success for such a meaningless future.
‘And besides, I just need to win!’
There’s no need to feel depressed thinking about losing before I’ve even fought, is there? Just as courage and recklessness are different, preparing for failure and imagining failure are entirely different things.
I smiled and opened my mouth.
“Heuk-yeon, I have so much divine power that it actually hurts. It means I’m an extraordinarily powerful god. If I can just use my divine power properly, I’ll be far stronger than Mother and Father. Right?”
“…Looking solely at the quantity of divine power you possess, that is certainly true.”
“Right, so I have a high probability of victory against Doo-eok-sini.”
“….”
“Plus, the humans I raise aren’t ordinary Demon Beasts—they’re candidates to become my subordinate gods, so I’m not even fighting alone! If they receive my divine power properly distributed, they’ll all become incredibly strong! My divine power is that immense!”
I deliberately puffed out my chest with pride, speaking with a voice overflowing with confidence.
“So I will win!”
Heuk-yeon looked down at me with an indescribable expression. I handed him the Neurosurgical Needle again.
“Of course I’ll win, but just in case! If by some chance I lose, clean it up with this. Since only the human body dies, don’t hesitate.”
My chest aches. I’m speaking as brightly as I can, hoping it doesn’t show.
Heuk-yeon, who had been staring at the blade stained crimson, finally accepted the Neurosurgical Needle.
“…I shall do so.”
“Thank you!”
I exhaled a sigh of relief inwardly and apologized to myself once more.
‘I’m sorry, Heuk-yeon.’
If I die, there will be one more person hurt. I have one more reason to defeat Doo-eok-sini.
‘The best thing is to make sure Heuk-yeon never has to use that.’
I haven’t been insincere until now, nor have I failed to try my best, but from now on, I need to do more, just a bit more.
I steeled my resolve.
* * *
Heuk-yeon stayed at the Palace for a while at my request. I wanted to learn as much as possible about Doo-eok-sini and fighting him from Heuk-yeon, who had faced the previous Doo-eok-sini.
I asked carefully, worried it might dredge up painful memories, but Heuk-yeon was surprisingly proactive.
‘Since he can’t talk me out of fighting Doo-eok-sini, he must have decided to help instead.’
In these past few days, I’ve had more conversations with Heuk-yeon than in the previous 212 years. Thanks to that, I was able to plan more concretely.
Before returning to the border, Heuk-yeon spoke with an expressionless face.
“When I return, I will discuss the protection of my siblings and the Princess with them once more.”
“Hmm?”
“Since I have no master, I require no rotation. I will send everyone back and remain at the border alone.”
“Alone? Won’t that be difficult?”
“It is merely a temporary change of residence. What difficulty could there be?”
“…Thank you.”
“This decision is not for the Princess, but for my siblings.”
“I know. Still, thank you.”
Heuk-yeon lowered his gaze. Even across his half-closed eyelids, scars were visible. For a divine being to bear such permanent marks, they must have been inflicted by Doo-eok-sini.
He remained silent for a moment, then suddenly added something more.
“Once you have selected all the Straw God candidates, send them to where I am.”
“Hmm?”
“I have martial techniques accumulated over long ages in the Abyss, honed while thinking of Doo-eok-sini. They will be useful.”
“You intend to train humans…?”
My mouth fell open without my realizing it. Heuk-yeon? Training humans?
“Not humans, but rather the subordinate deities of the Princess. That is what I mean to teach.”
With a slight frown, he left those words behind and returned to the border.
It wasn’t until long after his departure that I remembered I had forgotten to ask him about the Crown Prince’s darkness, which had felt to Heuk-yeon like the entrance to the Abyss itself.
* * *
The written examination at the end of April concluded without incident. Je-gal Pyo and the Crown Prince tied for first place with perfect scores, while I made several mistakes because my mind was preoccupied with Heuk-yeon.
‘Still, I placed second!’
Among the others who had studied together at Songrim Pavilion, Yi Yeon-jo ranked in the upper tier, Yi Yeon-ju landed precisely in the middle, Yun Ra-sa had such inconsistent performance across subjects that her average fell to the lower-middle range, and Sa Young-jun barely managed to avoid failing.
In the meantime, Gwang-chul had begun earnestly constructing the Ki-yeon facility, and the Hongyik Trading Company operated by Seol Deung-hwa steadily provided news from the Pyeong Empire.
‘Heuk-yeon will block the demon beasts at the border, but humans are another matter. I must be cautious. Who knows what schemes Doo-eok-sini might devise.’
Time flowed onward until May fifth—the Dano Festival.
Though the entire nation celebrated the holiday and Seongsul Academy closed its doors, we could not rest. While everyone else enjoyed themselves, our punishment for recklessly entering the Songrim Pavilion Underground Library was to assist the instructors with Dano Festival duties.
“Plum Blossom Class members receiving punishment, is everyone here?”
In the early dawn before sunrise on the festival day, Heo Gye-gyo called roll in the Seongsulgwan Front Courtyard.
“Se-ru-hwa, Cheon Gyeol-u, Je-gal Pyo, Sa Young-jun, Yun Ra-sa, Yi Yeon-ju, Choi Hwang-hae, Yi Yeon-jo.”
‘Hmm? Choi Hwang-hae? What did he do to deserve punishment?’

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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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