Since I’m a Time-Limited Princess Who Has No Tomorrow - Chapter 79

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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 79
She served a powerful deity yet remained under a charlatan, bore a scar on her face and unexplained bruises, and though I’d only just met her today, she was a human who stirred my curiosity in countless ways.
‘I want to look deeper.’
Had I discovered her while gazing at the Mortal Realm through a celestial telescope from Heaven, I would have examined her thoroughly. But having become human and met her in the Mortal Realm, with my Heavenly Eyes unusable in this state, curiosity now demanded I approach her directly.
“I’ll call you Tam-sol.”
“…Yes.”
As I called her name with a gentle smile, Baek Tam-sol averted my gaze. She seemed uncomfortable meeting eyes.
“…I’ll answer the questions you asked earlier, one by one. First, the difference between a gut ritual and a sacrifice….”
Baek Tam-sol’s voice that followed was monotone and without inflection, yet the knowledge it carried was remarkably rich.
“…Therefore, a Shaman is one who serves a deity and acts as an intermediary between humans and gods. In essence, she is closer to a monk than to the typical supernatural beings….”
Completely opposite to that charlatan from before—she spoke with eloquent fluency. She even remembered every single question I’d hurled out carelessly and was answering each one.
How did she learn so well under such a charlatan?
“…Therefore, Your Highness the Crown Princess, both your questions are correct. Shamanism is a method of refining one’s body to cultivate the ‘vessel’ needed to serve a deity well, and also a ‘technique’ for wielding the divine power contained within that vessel. Thus, the essence of Shamanism is the sacred dance—the Mu-mu—which simultaneously refines the body and employs divine power.”
“Mu-mu? Dance?”
“Yes, all Shamans are fundamentally dancers.”
Light suddenly kindled in Baek Tam-sol’s eyes as she explained in her dry manner. Her voice abruptly gained strength and passion.
“Through dance, we serve the deity; through dance, we surrender our bodies to the divine; through dance, we manifest the deity’s authority and vanquish all that is wicked. A Shaman is one who performs the sacred dance that embodies a deity, for the sake of people. To frighten someone with fortune-telling or demand payment for performing a gut, such things are——”
Baek Tam-sol, who had been pouring out words as if entranced, suddenly clapped her hand over her own mouth in urgency.
So she hadn’t simply watched without understanding that the charlatan’s deeds were wrong.
‘And… she loves the dance of Shamanism.’
When she spoke of the Mu-mu just now, her eyes had gleamed like freshly polished glass. An unmistakable fire burned within that transparent pane. It was the same flame I had often witnessed in humans while observing the Mortal Realm. The fire called passion.
Humans who harbor such flame are radiant and beautiful. Even when confined in frames and covered with lids, the light seeps through like a lantern that cannot be contained.
I gazed intently at the flustered Baek Tam-sol and asked.
“Could you perhaps show me a little of that Mu-mu?”
“…I cannot dance.”
“What? Why not? Haven’t you learned enough yet?”
At my question, Baek Tam-sol suddenly raised her hand and pulled her bangs down over her face, as if wishing to hide it. Then she startled and lowered her hand. It must have been an unconscious gesture.
“…Yes. I am still unskilled.”
The girl answered bluntly in a voice twice as dry as before.
No matter how I looked at it, she wasn’t dancing because of the scar on her face.
‘Is she ashamed of herself? Or did that charlatan teach her something strange?’
I couldn’t tell which, or if it was both.
‘I want to see the dance she performs for the deity.’
Would that dance resemble the flame she carried within her? Curiosity had seized me completely. As I listened to her seamless explanations, my wavering heart tipped entirely to one side. I would forge a connection with her.
“Baek Tam-sol.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Will you become my teacher?”
“…Pardon?”
“The Jaebang tutor is mine to choose as I wish. And I find you far more appealing than your deity father.”
I leaned forward across the low table, looking up at Baek Tam-sol. The girl hastily pulled her bangs down again.
I met her eyes through that curtain of hair and smiled as cutely as I could—the same expression that made all the celestial maidens swoon.
“So please become my teacher, yes?”
“…!”
Baek Tam-sol, startled, fumbled and continued tugging at her bangs.
“Ah, well, Your Highness, I, I’m not a proper Shaman yet, just still a spirit-chosen one….”
“I can’t become a real Shaman either. I’m hopelessly uncoordinated, so I won’t be able to learn the sacred dance properly.”
A sigh escaped me as I spoke. The essence of Shamanism was dance—truly. Even if I’d received the divine descent and decided to become a Shaman, I would have failed anyway.
‘Using my own divine power should work even if I can’t dance, right? Please let it work.’
After exhaling deeply, I continued.
“I just want to understand Shamanism itself and study it. I think I could learn well from you, Master. Is that not possible?”
“It doesn’t seem like something I could presume to accept.”
“You don’t dislike it, do you?”
“Pardon?”
“Becoming my teacher—you don’t dislike it, right? If you become a Scholar, you can live and eat at Jaebang and receive a substantial monthly stipend!”
“…Room and board?”
Baek Tam-sol reacted.
As I grasped her bangs, my sleeve slipped down, and I saw the dark bruises on the girl’s wrist—marks as if she’d been beaten. My resolve to get her installed as a Scholar at Jaebang strengthened.
I declared arbitrarily.
“Then I’ll consider you a Scholar.”
“No, that won’t do! The Divine Father will be angry.”
“Between us… what does the Divine Father’s opinion matter? I’m the Crown Princess, and I’m choosing you as my Scholar.”
“…!”
Baek Tam-sol was taken aback. She looked at me with an expression questioning whether that was truly possible, then quietly averted her gaze.
I reached out and pulled down the sleeve of the girl who kept tugging at her bangs. I met her fleeing eyes directly and asked.
“You just need to agree. You don’t need to worry about anything else or be concerned. What will you do?”
The pupils before me flickered like candlelight. The girl murmured softly.
“…You’re not frowning.”
“Hm? No, yes?”
“Isn’t this unsightly to look at?”
Baek Tam-sol pointed to the tangled marks across her forehead and asked.
Hm? Why is she asking that now?
I answered awkwardly.
“What? It’s not pleasant to look at, certainly. But that has nothing to do with my wanting to make you my Scholar, does it?”
Baek Tam-sol looked dazed and countered.
“It has nothing to do with it…?”
“Nothing at all. I liked what you said in answer to my questions and your words about the sacred dance.”
“….”
More precisely, I was captivated by the fire in this girl’s eyes as she spoke of it. I wanted to learn properly from someone who carried such a flame.
I gazed up at Baek Tam-sol’s eyes with that thought. Her eyes were quite beautiful, actually.
Baek Tam-sol was silent for a moment. She held my gaze distantly, then suddenly rose from her seat. Standing tall, she breathed heavily as if preparing for battle and declared solemnly.
“Scholar… I will do so.”
Then, before I could say anything, she performed a deep bow.
* * *
Replacing my Scholar was not difficult. It turned out that the process by which that charlatan Jo Man-hee became my Scholar was utterly absurd.
First… it was true that the Shamans had avoided my Scholar position. If I were to teach incorrectly and suddenly fell ill in the middle, it would mean deposition, so the Shamans were frightened and withdrew. Even though the Xue Tribe said it was fine, they could not be completely reassured.
Princess Onseol, being of royal blood and belonging to the exclusive Hoguk Temple, did not have extensive connections among the Shamans. In the end, unable to find a suitable person, she delegated her authority to recommend my Scholar to the Star Mansion Bureau, the nation’s official Shaman institution. For the same reason, the Star Mansion Bureau could not find a suitable Shaman either, when Jo Man-hee enthusiastically volunteered.
‘Everyone avoided it, yet he volunteered—so that wasn’t wrong after all. No wonder the Scholar selection took so long.’
I reported to the King everything that Jo Man-hee had told me. That I needed to perform a ritual this way and that way, that it seemed strange, and so on.
That scoundrel was immediately dragged to the Office of Interrogation, where all his fraudulent deeds were exposed. It seemed he would be properly punished by human law, so I decided not to touch him further myself.
‘Besides, when he goes to the Afterlife, Bari Degi will personally escort him to the charlatan-exclusive hell anyway.’
Upon hearing that the matter had come to light, Princess Onseol sent a letter apologizing for not recommending a proper person, along with a gift. Since my request had been made without knowing it would be so difficult to find someone to teach me Shamanism, I sent a reply saying it was fine.
Baek Tam-sol underwent a thorough identity verification and, not long after, safely became the first permanent Scholar of Jaebang.
‘She is young, but fortunately she is eighteen years old and has already come of age.’
I decided not to attempt other lessons for the time being and stopped the breathing practice I did every morning, focusing solely on Baek Tam-sol’s Shamanism lessons. I wanted to use my divine power as soon as possible.
‘Divine power borrowed through a human body would be nothing but dust… but if I practice handling even that, wouldn’t I develop the skill to handle my true divine power? Then I wouldn’t have to follow the Straw God Plan….’
It was a faint hope, but it was also the motivation that drove me to immerse myself in the Shamanism lessons.
Absorbed in the lessons like this, the day I was to depart on a pilgrimage with the Crown Prince arrived before I knew it.

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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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