Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 67

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 67
‘What an audacious idea. To create lesser deities just to treat my condition?’
Of course, they weren’t actually creating true gods—divinity wasn’t some administrative position that could be appointed at will. If it were, Mother wouldn’t have lamented the shortage of deities in Heaven.
‘So they were trying to create divine artifacts to hold my divine power and use them as false gods.’
They analyzed my divine essence and divided it into seven subordinate concepts, then crafted divine artifacts representing each concept and placed them into straw figures. After that, they gave each straw figure a name as a deity and attempted to distribute my divine power among them.
This was the “Straw God” plan. If successful, they would seal the straw gods, and I would be freed from the burden of my divine power.
“And that plan succeeded.”
Mother spoke with a bitter smile.
“Only in dividing your divine power.”
My divine essence flowed smoothly into the straw figures containing the divine artifacts, splitting into seven streams as if that were its natural state. The distribution was remarkably even, as though it had always been meant to divide this way. Seven portions, each containing as much divine power as ordinary deities possessed, separated from me, yet my body retained such abundant essence that there was no danger of my breath ceasing.
The problem arose when they attempted to seal the straw gods in that state.
‘More precisely, we never even reached the sealing.’
The moment my body moved away from the straw gods, all the divided divine power rushed back to me. It was the same no matter how many times they tried.
So next, they simply kept the straw gods attached to my body, but then my divine essence gradually absorbed the separated power, and within a day it had merged back together. Separate them and they reunite instantly; keep them attached and they reabsorb.
My parents, watching and deliberating, suggested they seal the straw gods first while they remained attached to me, then detach them afterward.
And that attempt killed me. They meant to seal only the straw gods, but the divine power in my body, connected to them, was sealed as well. Losing all my divine essence in an instant, I naturally stopped breathing.
The moment my breath ceased, Father flew to the River of Three Paths and found my soul, while Mother healed my body. As a result, I survived in my physical form in the Heavenly Realm, just as I had from previous deaths. But my condition deteriorated further due to the aftereffects of having my divine power sealed.
‘Looking at my fraying lifeline now, at the state of my body… my remaining lifespan must have grown even shorter.’
So that’s why Mother wept like this.
“…We only wanted to heal you somehow, but instead we made you suffer more.”
Mother spoke slowly, her voice strained as though her throat were constricted. I reached out and gently wiped away the tear marks lingering on her cheeks.
“It’s all right, Mother.”
“All right? How is any of this all right?”
“Because I know you were trying your best for me.”
“What good is trying, what good is effort? Effort alone deserves praise only from children who bear no responsibility! That’s all!”
Mother pressed her lips together firmly.
“The result that we shortened your lifespan… cannot be replaced by words about effort for your sake or doing our best. A result is a result, and it cannot be undone, so it can never truly be all right. So what could possibly be all right? You should grieve, you should be angry, Sang Ra-hee-yo…”
Mother, pale and trembling, was completely losing her composure. I’d never seen her look so fragile. Yet I found myself simply thinking, ‘I see.’
I gathered strength in my limp body and pushed myself upright. The painkillers were working—I could move far more easily than before. I reached out and pulled Mother into an embrace, as though she might crumble at any moment.
“Mother.”
“…”
“Even if effort cannot change the result, it can change how I accept that result.”
“…!”
“I know I’m loved. I know you and Father do your best. That’s why I’m not sad.”
“…Sang Ra-hee-yo…”
“You know, don’t you? Just as Mother and Father love me, I love you both. So no matter how poor the result, I could never be angry with you. Just as you don’t grow angry with me for my shortcomings.”
Even if I accomplish nothing, even if I’m clumsy and tone-deaf and lack any skill with my hands, even if I make mistakes and cause accidents and throw tantrums—Mother and Father love me. It’s an unshakeable certainty, one they’ve continuously poured into me since my birth through their unwavering affection.
So I, too, can accept my parents even when they stumble or make errors. Because they are my beloved parents.
“I’m truly all right, truly.”
“….”
“But I can’t bear to see Mother suffer like this.”
Mother’s expression became indescribable, and she covered her mouth with her hand. My mother is the dignified Jade Emperor, yet now she seemed as though she might crumble and collapse entirely.
I nuzzled my face against Mother’s embrace and spoke with deliberate lightness.
“Well, if you didn’t grieve at all, that would be lonely too.”
“….”
“So just a little, only today—grieve today, all right? Only today. Starting tomorrow, you won’t grieve anymore.”
“….”
“Mother, promise me, yes? Only grieve today, and starting tomorrow, no more grieving.”
“….”
“You won’t promise me?”
I looked up with a tearful expression.
Mother shed silent tears, dropping one after another, as she stroked my hair. A small voice emerged, wrung out with effort.
“…Yes… I promise.”
“Pinky swear.”
Mother linked her pinky finger with the one I extended. I broke into a bright smile.
“Tomorrow, no more crying!”
“…Tomorrow, no more crying.”
Mother repeated the promise slowly, then added quietly.
“Yes, I cannot spend even tomorrow weeping.”
A fierce light kindled in Mother’s eyes as she gazed into the void—as though she had resolved something with absolute determination.
* * *
The aftereffects were severe, so I spent the following days recuperating in bed. More precisely, I drifted between sleep and wakefulness, and even when I stirred briefly, my mind remained hazy, as though I were dreaming.
During that time, Father came and sat silently beside me for a while before leaving, and An-si visited to weep profusely before departing.
‘I wonder if Unyeon Hall and the Crown Prince are all right…’
Several immortals came and went as well, though I was sleeping most of the time and scarcely knew what they did.
At some point, something like a fruit was placed in my mouth—a round object with a refreshing scent. The moment my tongue touched it, it dissolved like snow and vanished. Then, suddenly, my eyes flew open.
‘What?’
Somehow my body felt remarkably light. Of course, it couldn’t compare to Se-ru-hwa’s body, but still, for my original form, the condition was exceptionally good.
‘What happened? Was that fruit-like thing I ate some sort of miraculous medicine?’
As I sat up and raised my torso, I saw my parents seated at a table some distance from my bed, engaged in what appeared to be a serious conversation. As I gazed at them blankly, both of them startled and hurried over.
“Sang Ra-hee-yo!”
“Our princess!”
Mother and Father embraced me tightly. I remained still in their arms for a moment, then asked carefully.
“Why does my body feel so much better? Is it just my imagination?”
“It’s not your imagination, our princess. While you were sleeping, Mother and Father gave you a new medicine we created.”
“I remember eating something like a refreshing fruit.”
“Yes, that’s the one. Ah, our princess, your complexion has improved so much.”
Father, unable to contain his joy, beamed with a radiant smile and poured out his words.
“We managed to create only a single pill from the lifespan we each surrendered, so we worried whether it would have any effect, but fortunately it worked on our dear daughter….”
“Brilliant!”
Mother called Father’s name as a warning. Father hastily covered his mouth.
But I had already heard it.
“Lifespan that the two of you diminished?”
“….”
Father’s mouth snapped shut. Mother attempted to salvage the situation.
“…What you consumed was medicine made from the lifespan gathered from two Immortal Peach trees in Pantao Garden. It tasted similar to Immortal Peaches, didn’t it? Medicine made from the peach tree’s lifespan….”
“You made it from your and Father’s lifespans?”
“….”
Mother fell silent while Father let out a dry laugh.
‘So it’s true. Medicine made from both their lifespans.’
I take back what I said about not being angry with them. Fury surged through me from head to toe with a force that even I found shocking.
“Why would you feed me something like that without even asking my permission?”
“Sang Ra-hee-yo.”
“It’s meaningless! You’re just buying time! And such an inefficient way of doing it!”
My voice grew sharp of its own accord. I shoved my parents away and screamed.
“We’ve been through this before! Even if you each give up a hundred years, it’s only worth a single year to me—my body isn’t healing, I’m just prolonging the time I’m barely surviving!”
“Calm yourself, Sang Ra-hee-yo. That’s…”
“You promised you’d never do something like this again! Why did you! Why! How could you do something so foolish!”
“Sang Ra-hee-yo!”
Father seized me with both hands, stopping my thrashing. He shouted at me.
“Then should we simply watch you die? Would it be better for us to die first instead? How could we just stand by and watch! How could we bear that!”
“Then bear it! Just watch!”
I cried out in anguish.
“I’m bearing it! If you and Mother can’t bear it, what am I supposed to do! I’d rather die quickly than endure this!”
“…!”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————