Changing Fate

"Actually, Miroku is my real name. Zijing is merely the symbol of my place in the Miko clan."

As she spoke, two streams of tears ran down her face. Her expression bleak, she said, "But wasn't our fate decided long ago? How could we possibly escape the Miko clan's destiny? From the moment we're born, we're destined to have no turning back. As someone burdened with the Miko clan's mission, how could I abandon my name?"

Zijing's fate was a tragic one. Just as she'd said, her entire life had been decided long ago: day after day, she would watch over and suppress the sealed Eight-Headed Serpent.

Until the Eight-Headed Serpent broke free of its seal, at which point she would offer up her life to seal it again. She would also have to bear the next generation of Miko, bringing her short, monotonous life to an end.

She wasn't allowed to make friends or see the vast world beyond. She wasn't even allowed to do what she wanted. In truth, those rights had been taken from her the moment she was born. She had no choice.

She was only sixteen, the age when a girl in modern society would just be starting high school, still a precious daughter in her parents' eyes, someone they'd cherish and protect for the rest of their lives.

But Zijing had never received that kind of treatment. She had no parents to cherish her—or rather, she had only a mother, no father. The Miko clan had always passed down through a single line, with each new child conceived from her mother's cells and blood. There was no father, and she'd never even met her own mother.

She had no time to act spoiled or do what she wanted. She had no right to make