Chapter 120: The Princess Who Couldn’t Move Forward

"Why?"

Her voice was barely a whisper.

Viridia stared at the blood staining the grass beneath her.

For several seconds, she simply stood there.

She couldn’t bring herself to look up.

Then, once again, that single word slipped from her lips.

"Why?"

This time, her voice cracked.

Her fingers slowly curled into her palms.

She stared at them for a moment, as though the answer might somehow be written there.

Why was she progressing so slowly?

Why?

She had worked harder than she could remember.

She had pushed herself until her body could barely stand.

And yet...

It still wasn’t enough.

"Why is my cultivation progressing so slowly?"

The question came out bitterly.

Viridia lowered her gaze.

There was a metallic taste in her mouth.

She swallowed, but it remained.

She lifted the back of her hand and wiped away the thin line of blood gathering at the corner of her lips.

The gesture was almost careless.

As if she had already grown used to seeing her own blood.

But there was no hiding how pale her face had become.

Her breathing was uneven.

Each breath felt heavier than the last.

"Our kingdom is going through such a terrible crisis..."

Her voice trembled.

She paused.

For a moment, she couldn’t continue.

Then she forced the words out.

"So many people are suffering."

Her fingers tightened again.

"But I can’t do anything."

That admission hurt more than the wounds inside her body.

Viridia slowly raised her head.

Her eyes were already red.

Frustration burned inside them.

So did helplessness.

But beneath those emotions was something heavier.

Something that had been eating away at her for days.

Guilt.

She was a princess.

She had been raised knowing what that title meant.

It wasn’t just a beautiful dress.

It wasn’t just servants bowing when she entered a room.

It wasn’t just living inside a palace while ordinary people struggled outside its walls.

Being a princess meant responsibility.

It meant standing in front of her people when they needed someone to protect them.

At least, that was what she had always believed.

And now...

She couldn’t even protect herself.

"As the princess of the Suncloud Kingdom..."

Viridia’s voice became smaller.

Her throat tightened.

She tried to swallow the lump forming there.

"I can’t even help my own people."

Her lips trembled.

She looked away.

She didn’t want anyone to see her expression.

She didn’t want anyone to see how close she was to breaking.

"I’m so useless."

The words came out broken.

For a moment, Viridia simply stood there.

She tried to hold herself together.

She really did.

But the harder she tried, the more everything inside her seemed to crumble.

She clenched her fists.

She took a slow breath.

Then another.

But it wasn’t enough.

She had been holding everything inside for far too long.

The pressure.

The fear.

The helplessness.

The guilt of watching her kingdom suffer while she could do nothing to stop it.

Her eyes burned.

She blinked rapidly, desperately trying to keep the tears from falling.

It didn’t work.

One tear slipped down her cheek.

Then another.

Soon, the tears were rolling freely.

Viridia lowered her head.

Her trembling hand slowly rose to cover her face.

For the first time, she stopped trying to hold everything inside.

A quiet sob escaped her lips.

Then another.

Tears slipped through her fingers and rolled down her cheeks.

She didn’t wipe them away.

Her shoulders trembled as she tried to steady herself, but the harder she fought it, the worse it became.

She wasn’t crying because of the pain.

At least, not entirely.

The pain was there. Of course it was.

But it wasn’t what had finally broken her.

It was the helplessness.

That was what hurt the most.

Viridia was the princess of the Suncloud Kingdom.

From the moment she had been born, people had looked at her differently.

They expected things from her.

Strength.

Dignity.

Success.

One day, she would have to stand among the people responsible for carrying the kingdom into the future.

She had always known that.

And because of that, she had spent years telling herself the same thing.

She had to become stronger.

She had to catch up.

She couldn’t afford to remain behind.

She had to become someone her people could rely on.

Someone who could protect them when danger came.

Someone worthy of the title she carried.

So she trained.

Again and again.

She pushed herself until her body could barely continue.

Whenever she reached a wall, she tried to break through it.

Whenever someone surpassed her, she told herself that she simply needed to work harder.

Just a little more.

Just one more step.

But nothing changed.

Her cultivation remained stuck.

No matter how much effort she poured into it, the results never came.

Days became weeks.

Weeks became months.

And every failed attempt left another weight inside her chest.

At first, she had been able to endure it.

She told herself that patience was part of cultivation.

Then she told herself that everyone had their own pace.

Eventually, those words stopped comforting her.

Every stagnant day began to feel like an accusation.

You’re not doing enough.

Every time she saw someone else grow stronger, another thought followed.

You’re falling behind.

And whenever she imagined her kingdom facing a true crisis, the same fear returned.

What will you do then?

The answer frightened her.

Nothing.

She would be forced to stand there and watch.

That thought had followed her for longer than she wanted to admit.

It had been there during training.

It had been there during meals.

It had followed her into bed at night.

She had smiled in front of others.

She had acted confident.

She had tried to convince everyone that she was fine.

But deep down, Viridia had been terrified.

Terrified that one day her kingdom would need her.

And she would still be the same powerless princess who couldn’t even advance her cultivation.

A tear fell from her chin.

It landed softly on the grass.

Then another followed.

Viridia pressed her hand harder against her face.

She tried to breathe normally.

She couldn’t.

Her breathing came out unevenly.

A small, broken sound escaped her throat.

She immediately bit her lip, embarrassed by it.

She didn’t want anyone to hear.

She didn’t want anyone to see her like this.

Especially not Victor.

But Victor had already seen enough.

He stood there silently.

He didn’t interrupt her.

He didn’t tell her to stop crying.

He didn’t offer some empty reassurance that everything would magically become fine.

He simply watched.

And for the first time, Victor began to understand.

This wasn’t just about her cultivation technique.

The problem ran much deeper than that.

Viridia wasn’t simply frustrated because she couldn’t grow stronger.

She had tied her entire sense of worth to her strength.

Every failure had chipped away at her confidence.

Every day she remained stagnant had convinced her that she was becoming less worthy of the responsibility she carried.

She wasn’t crying because she was weak.

She was crying because she had been trying so hard to be strong for far too long.

And somewhere along the way, she had forgotten that she was allowed to be afraid.

Victor’s gaze softened.

Now he finally understood what he was really looking at.

Not a princess who had failed to cultivate.

But a young woman who had spent years believing that if she couldn’t become powerful enough, she would eventually disappoint everyone who depended on her.

The burden had become too heavy for her to carry alone.

And the worst part was that no one had forced it onto her.

She had placed it on her own shoulders.

She was pushing herself far too hard.

Much harder than her body could endure.

If she kept going like this, her cultivation might not be the only thing she lost.

Victor let out a quiet sigh as he looked at her condition.

For some reason, the sight stirred something deep inside him.

Old memories began to surface.

Memories of a boy who had once done the exact same thing.

A boy who had pushed himself harder and harder because he couldn’t accept his own weakness.

He had trained until his body could no longer keep up.

He had ignored the pain.

Ignored the exhaustion.

Ignored every warning his body gave him.

All because he believed that if he simply worked harder, he could overcome everything.

In the end, that boy had lost everything.

Victor’s expression darkened slightly.

He didn’t like where his thoughts were going.

If this continued, this girl might end up walking the same path as the previous Victor.

His gaze remained on the Princess for another moment.

Then he finally spoke inwardly.

’System, if this girl is really blessed by Heaven, then why is her situation so bad?’

There was genuine confusion in his voice.

He couldn’t make sense of it.

If Heaven had truly favored her, shouldn’t her path have been smooth?

Shouldn’t her talent have given her an easier road?

Instead, she had been given incredible potential, yet her own body seemed determined to fight against her.

Victor frowned.

The contradiction bothered him.

The system remained silent for a few moments.

Then its familiar mechanical voice finally echoed inside his mind.

[Host, Heaven works in mysterious ways. Don’t think too much about it!]

Victor’s mouth twitched.

That was it?

He stared ahead for several seconds.

His expression slowly became speechless.

’What a useless answer.’

The system, as usual, offered no further explanation.

Victor sighed again.

There was no point wasting time trying to understand something even the system apparently didn’t intend to explain.

Whatever.

His thoughts returned to the Princess.

The Suncloud Kingdom was already in trouble.

The situation was unstable enough without adding another problem to the pile.

If something happened to the Princess now, the entire kingdom could descend into even greater chaos.

She wasn’t merely a talented cultivator.

She was the Princess.

Her existence itself was tied to the stability of the kingdom.

And besides...

Victor wasn’t heartless.

He couldn’t simply stand there and watch a beautiful girl slowly destroy herself when there was a chance he could help her.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he began thinking seriously.

Lightning came first.

Water came later.

That was the key.

If he could help her strengthen her Lightning element, there was a chance her Thunder Empress Physique might finally awaken.

And if that happened, the conflict between her two elements might finally be resolved.

At least, that was Victor’s current theory.

He couldn’t say for certain.

He had never dealt with a situation exactly like hers before.

Still, it made sense.

The problem was...

How was he supposed to help her?

Victor frowned.

He possessed a cultivation technique that focused specifically on the thunder attribute.

It was powerful.

Extremely powerful.

But it wasn’t some ordinary technique he could casually hand to anyone.

It was one of the treasured cultivation techniques belonging to his clan.

Something like that couldn’t be given away on a whim.

Not even to a beautiful princess.

There was another problem.

Victor didn’t know Viridia well enough.

Not yet.

He had seen her cultivation.

He had witnessed her determination.

He had seen how hard she pushed herself.

But none of that told him what kind of person she truly was.

Talent didn’t tell him whether someone could be trusted.

Determination didn’t tell him whether someone would betray him when given the opportunity.

And a beautiful face certainly didn’t prove anything.

Victor narrowed his eyes.

’I need to test her first.’

That was the only sensible choice.

If she proved herself worthy, then he could consider helping her.

If she didn’t...

There was no reason for him to risk one of his clan’s treasured cultivation techniques.

Victor quietly made up his mind.

He glanced toward the Princess once more.

Then, after a brief pause, he stepped forward.

’Umm... Let’s test her first.’

With that thought, he stepped out from the woods.