Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 78

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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 78
While I desperately held back the flood of exasperation and frustration threatening to pour out, Jo Man-hee, this charlatan shaman, prattled on with unbridled enthusiasm.
“First, let me explain what Shamanism is! It means inviting a deity into your body and borrowing that deity’s power! Therefore! The most crucial factor is how great a deity you can invite into your body! That alone determines a shaman’s strength!”
Jo Man-hee waved his ornate sleeves dramatically, spouting words with practiced eloquence.
“Thus, the first divine descent is of utmost importance! Simply follow my guidance and show proper devotion, and I shall introduce you to a great deity! Of course, a great deity’s descent ritual requires substantial offerings, but the results are guaranteed! Once you receive the divine descent properly, all fortune flows to you! Your luck transforms! Just follow this great shaman’s words—”
“Excuse me.”
“How dare you interrupt while your master is speaking! You must first learn proper etiquette—”
“I’m not receiving a divine descent. I’m not trying to become a shaman. I want to learn Shamanism as a technique of Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin.”
“Ah… I see, a half-baked one. Yes.”
The way he spoke was truly pathetic. I’ve grown accustomed enough to living as a human that I can show respect even to someone like this, but I absolutely cannot bring myself to call him “master.”
‘This is clearly not a legitimate shaman by any measure.’
Still, I held my tongue for now out of consideration for Princess Onseol who had introduced him, deciding I wouldn’t call upon him again once this was over.
“Ahem, ahem. Well then, let me first read the Crown Princess’s fortune.”
“Pardon? My fortune?”
“One must know what the future holds to properly learn Shamanism. Come now, quickly write down your birth date and time here.”
At this point, I became curious about what this charlatan was actually trying to do, so I wrote down Se-ru-hwa’s birth date and time.
Jo Man-hee shook a container filled with something frantically over the paper with the birth information, then scattered its contents with a flourish. They were red beans.
He examined the scattered red beans on the birth chart paper, then with an air of deliberate solemnity, picked up several beans and ate them.
Was he seriously divining with that?
‘…Should I just flip the table instead of waiting for this to end?’
As I was seriously contemplating this, Jo Man-hee let out a dramatic wail.
“Oh my, what shall we do! This is grave, most grave!”
“….”
“Oh dear, this is terrible, Your Highness! Have you perhaps collapsed recently? From what I can see, you must have dipped your feet in the River of Three Paths! Hmm, hmm, at least ten days ago?”
“….”
“Let me see, let me see… The north! You must have collapsed in the north. And… Bamboo! Haven’t you shed blood in a place with many bamboo trees? Am I not correct?”
“….”
“When a great shaman like myself reads fortunes, I see all such things! And from what I can see, no matter how I look at it, the Crown Princess’s fortune is absolutely brimming with misfortune!”
“….”
Does this man think I’m a fool? The Crown Princess was unconscious for ten days, and there’s no way a tutor coming to the East Palace wouldn’t know that. The news that I collapsed at Gyebang Hall on the north side of the East Palace has spread everywhere.
My attack in the Bamboo Grove? The Left Prime Minister and the Wan-eon Faction were swept away, their bodies hung in the streets, and the attempted assassination of the Crown Princess became the charge. It would be harder not to know about that incident. The location being the Bamboo Grove is a fact that comes out with just a little inquiry. It’s not exactly classified information.
Se-ru-hwa’s future filled with misfortune? That’s true enough. But no matter how I look at it, this man doesn’t seem to actually know any of this—he’s just saying it.
‘It seems like he just tells everyone they have misfortune. So naturally, the next step would be….’
“Shamanism lessons are not important right now! You must perform a ritual immediately to dispel this misfortune! Otherwise, your parents will fall ill! You will lose the Crown Prince’s affection! And you will never bear children!”
I knew it. Now comes the part about the ritual fee, right?
“The misfortune is severe, so the ritual must be conducted on a grand scale. The cost will be considerable, but Your Highness’s future is in peril right now!”
‘Wow, not a single deviation from what I expected.’
A typical charlatan shaman. I’ve heard Bari Degi, the ancestor deity of shamans in the Underworld and the compassionate guide of the deceased, complain to my father about this.
‘She said she’s frustrated because increasingly, charlatans posing as shamans are fleecing humans and taking their money.’
Whether they’ve harbored some strange minor spirit or demon in their bodies, or they have no guiding deity at all, these fraudsters call themselves shamans, deceive humans, extort money, and ruin people’s lives.
‘I had even pleaded with the Underworld to assign a special hell exclusively for these fraudulent charlatans….’
Looking at this one, he’d be heading straight there when he reached the Underworld.
‘The spiritual energy I’m sensing is barely a handful, and even that is unidentifiable. I can’t even distinguish whether the source of divine power comes from the Heavenly Realm, the Underworld, or somewhere else… hm?’
As I examined the spiritual energy, the girl called the Shaman’s daughter standing behind the rambling Jo Man-hee caught my attention more.
‘Divine energy from the Heavenly Realm. And it seems to be from a deity of quite high rank at that.’
Why would a girl like this be under a charlatan like him?
The girl with her head bowed low appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen years old. Looking more carefully, I noticed not only were her clothes worn, but there were also bruises on her neck and wrists.
‘Somehow this girl also seems to have a rather tragic fate….’
“Crown Princess! Are you listening? I’m telling you, we need to perform a ritual as soon as possible!”
The charlatan was pestering me. I was about to flip him over and chase him out, but the girl in the back caught my attention, so I decided to change my approach.
“What is a ritual?”
“What? You don’t even know what a ritual is? That’s why you’re so… ahem, ahem, cough! Well, a ritual, you see, is a ceremony offered to the divine where offerings are made and dances are performed while praying for one’s desires—”
“Isn’t that the same as a regular offering? I don’t see what’s different.”
“Ah, yes! That’s right, it’s similar to an offering performed by a Shaman!”
“Then why would there be a reason to entrust offerings to a Shaman specifically? What makes it different? Couldn’t one just perform a regular offering?”
“Oh my, it’s different! It is! A Shaman’s ritual is far more effective. That’s why the cost is much higher—”
“A ritual is more effective than a regular offering? What kind of effect are we talking about? In what way, and how exactly? Please explain specifically.”
“Well…that is….”
“Oh, and I’ve been curious about this for a while—sorcerers also use talismans, don’t they? What’s the difference between a Shaman’s talismans and a sorcerer’s talismans?”
“A, a sorcerer’s and a Shaman’s talismans?”
“Yes. I’d like to know the difference. And about projecting curses too… I’ve heard sorcerers can project curses as well, so what’s different about what Shamans do?”
“Uh, um….”
“The Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin… the eccentric’s Taoism, the warrior’s martial force, the sorcerer’s sorcery, the spirit’s Shamanism. Taoists use Taoist power, warriors use martial force, sorcerers use sorcerous power—I’ve heard all three are forces built through personal cultivation and refinement.”
“What? Suddenly….”
“In contrast, a Shaman’s divine power is uniquely borrowed from another, so in what way does it differ from the other Gwae-ryeok-nan-sin? A sorcerer’s sorcerous power is built by capturing demons and stealing their strength, but strictly speaking, isn’t that also borrowed power? Why is a Shaman’s divine power considered different?”
“That, that is….”
“Right, a Shaman ultimately uses power by borrowing from others, but is it possible to become stronger from that? Since it’s borrowed power, doesn’t that mean there’s a fixed limit? If one refines Shamanism like other techniques, can a Shaman become stronger? What exactly is Shamanism in the first place? Is it a method of expanding the vessel that accepts divine power? Or is it a method of better handling borrowed divine power?”
“….”
I poured out all the various questions I’d held since deciding to learn Shamanism and draw upon my original body’s divine power. As expected, this charlatan couldn’t answer a single thing properly. His eyes were spinning in circles.
“…Gwi, Gwi-tul-i. Gwi-tul-i!”
The charlatan suddenly shouted, and the girl in the corner responded.
“Yes, Father.”
“You, you answer the Crown Princess’s questions for me. At this point, it’s too fundamental for me to teach, ahem, so…”
The charlatan had the girl sit before me, then stood up with a fake cough and quietly slipped out of the room.
‘He ran away.’
He clearly seemed to know nothing and had no divine power, only knowing how to commit fraud. I had probed him because it was suspicious that he was dragging around a girl connected to a high-ranking deity, calling her his Shaman daughter.
‘Just as I thought, he immediately dumped it on her and fled. She’s been doing all the real work. Didn’t he even receive his title as a great Shaman because of this girl?’
I clicked my tongue inwardly and looked at the girl bowing her head before me.
‘I wonder if Gwi-tul-i is actually her real name?’
As if she had heard my thoughts, the girl spoke in a calm voice while keeping her head bowed.
“I am Baek Tam-sol, a humble girl from Yun-yeon-hwa-so, and I present myself before the Crown Princess. You may also call me Gwi-tul-i.”
Her name was unusual—she used the character for cricket (蟀), yet it seemed she didn’t particularly enjoy being called by that nickname. There was a sense of reluctant acceptance in how she offered it.
After completing her bow, the girl lifted her head. Between the curtain of her long bangs, I caught sight of her face and felt a small jolt of surprise.
‘Scars… are those from burns?’
Baek Tam-sol’s forehead down to the bridge of her nose was covered entirely in twisted marks of scarring. They looked quite old and deeply set. So that’s why she had kept her head bowed the entire time.
‘She must have endured so much hardship.’
I recalled the salve made from the oil of the divine starfish that I had once applied to the Crown Prince’s cheek. If applied consistently, something like that could fade away.
‘I can’t use the Eight Pillar Order right now… but if we meet again.’
If this meeting were not the end but rather the beginning of a deeper connection, then perhaps at that time.
‘Will we become connected by fate?’

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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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