I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 16

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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 16

Sol shifted anxiously from foot to foot, as if she might leap into the water at any moment.
Just as tears threatened to spill over, bubbles broke the surface of the lake, and Dan-bi emerged alongside a man, both gasping for air.
“Miss!”
The man kept Dan-bi’s arm draped across his shoulders as he waded toward the shore, water churning violently around him. His bearing was formidable.
Sol rushed toward them, panic-stricken.
“Miss, are you hurt? Miss!”
“That was close. I nearly drowned.”
Dan-bi, soaked through, simply collapsed onto the grass in a sprawl. She breathed in ragged gasps, her wet eyes blinking slowly.
Sol reached out to touch her pale face repeatedly, relieved to find no serious injuries.
But her relief was short-lived.
“What in the world were you thinking!”
Dan-bi turned her head at the sharp, icy rebuke behind her. The man who had just pulled her from the water stood with his eyes wide, clearly furious.
Heat rose in her throat for a moment, but she caught herself and held her tongue.
He had saved her life. She couldn’t very well snap back at her savior over a little shouting.
Though, then again.
“I’m grateful, but why are you so—”
“How could you throw away your life so carelessly over something so trivial!”
“What?”
This man seemed to have badly misunderstood something.
“Throw away my life? That’s not—”
Dan-bi started to explain but stopped herself. In this situation, spouting off about “Quest rewards” would only earn her a reputation as a madwoman.
Still, benevolent savior or not, there were limits.
Yes, she was grateful he’d rescued her. But why was he suddenly angry with her?
“Who are you anyway, speaking to me like that? Wait—”
Dan-bi scrutinized the man’s face more carefully.
As his wet features became clear, a familiar image flickered across her mind.

“You—have you just crossed over the wall?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You appear to be a court official.”

Dan-bi sprang to her feet and pointed at the man. Her sodden skirts slapped against her legs with a squelch, but she paid it no mind.
“That’s it! You’re that bastard from before!”
“…?”
“Wait a second.”
The man’s brow furrowed slightly, perhaps displeased by her crude language.
Dan-bi paid his reaction no heed and glared at him intently. If anything, she pressed closer, as if intent on seizing the upper hand.
“‘So trivial’? That’s odd phrasing. What makes you think I was trying to die? Do you know something?”
“No, I—well, that is—”
The more aggressively Dan-bi advanced, the more the man retreated, stumbling backward. When their eyes finally met, he turned away abruptly, flustered.
Dan-bi planted her hands on her hips and surveyed him slowly, from head to toe.
He had apparently stripped off his outer robe hastily to save her; his exposed upper body bore numerous scars, large and small.
Yet his physique was so impeccably sculpted that even the scars could not diminish his beauty—like gazing upon a statue.
“So you’re no ordinary person. Surely you’re not something as obvious as the king’s bodyguard—”
“Ahem!”
She’d struck a nerve.
The man’s stifled cough came out rather mangled. Dan-bi caught the slip and a smirk played at the corner of her lips.
She crossed her arms and began tapping her fingers against them rhythmically, her mind spinning like wheels.
The king’s bodyguard, then.
So he’d be well acquainted with that Lee Hyun. Perhaps she could put that to good use?
“Exactly. I was trying to drown myself because of that bastard Lee Hyun.”
“Is that truly the case?”
The moment she dangled the bait, he snatched it eagerly. Dan-bi suppressed the laughter bubbling in her throat and continued, adopting the air of a tragic heroine.
“It’s the truth. I search for him day and night, but never catch so much as a glimpse of his face. Can you imagine how humiliating it is? Wouldn’t you feel the same way?”
As Dan-bi leaned in with uncomfortable intensity, Yoon took a step back, unable to hide his bewilderment.
“I, Your Majesty is quite occupied with pressing matters—”
“Is feeding the cat your grand errand?”
“…….”
“Never mind. Go tell Lee Hyun that bastard. If he won’t see me soon, I’ll just—whoosh!”
The moment their eyes met, Rang swallowed hard, his throat dry. Dan-bi flashed him a smile brighter than any he’d ever seen.
“Drown myself in the Lake, in other words.”
Just then, two palace attendants approached Dan-bi with careful steps, their heads bowed low and their hands clasped respectfully before them.
“My lady, we beg your pardon.”
“We beg your pardon.”
The voices of the two women trembled as they prostrated themselves, nearly striking their heads against the floor.
“I’m sorry—what……?”
Confused, Dan-bi asked, and Som whispered urgently in her ear.
“They’re the attendants who bumped into you on the Bridge earlier. They’ve been beside themselves thinking it was their fault you fell into the water, so they came running.”
“Oh, that? Don’t worry about it. If anything, I should thank you.”
Som’s eyes widened at the unexpected response.
“You……?”
Thank them? More than that—because of them, everything had fallen into place so smoothly. She practically owed them a prayer.
Leaving the bewildered attendants behind, Dan-bi’s gaze fixed on something in the distance. Beyond their shoulders, a great heap of garments lay piled across the lawn.
She recalled the palace attendants crossing the Bridge precariously, their arms so laden with cloth that their faces were barely visible.
Such a quantity of robes moving all at once could only mean one thing: a major ceremony was being prepared within the palace.
“But what are all those garments for? Why are they carrying so many?”
“It is for the Rain Prayer Ceremony, my lady.”
“The Rain Prayer Ceremony?”
“Yes. His Majesty has ordered that the Rain Prayer Ceremony be held. In seven days’ time…….”
Before Rang could finish, Dan-bi sprang to her feet. The silk of her wet skirts, heavy with water, lifted and fluttered in the breeze.
The Short Sword in her hand caught the evening light and gleamed a pale gold.
“Right. How didn’t I think of that before?”
Dan-bi dashed off in a hurry. She heard Som calling after her, but she didn’t stop.
Her feet, cold and wet from the water, burned hot as she ran.
“Yes, the Rain Prayer Ceremony. It all started with that ceremony in the first place.”

“You remember clearly the moment our eyes met, how you tore the Ceremonial Robes and faced me. Surely you won’t claim you know nothing of it?”

Dan-bi gripped the Short Sword until her knuckles whitened.
“That bastard said it clearly. That I damaged the Rain Prayer Ceremony robes. I was framed. So then…….”
Dan-bi’s eyes blazed with fierce light.
“All I have to do is find the real culprit who damaged them, right?”

***

“Is that truly so?”
Lee Hyun stared at Rang in disbelief. A drop of ink fell from the brush tip in his hand and stained the blank paper black.
Rang nodded, his expression grave.
“Sook-won took her own life……?”
“Indeed, Your Highness. I witnessed her leap into the Lake myself, but I was too late to stop her. I beg your forgiveness, Your Highness.”
He had expected harsh reprimand for bringing the news late, but instead Lee Hyun’s face went ashen at the mention of the Minister’s daughter. Rang found himself staring blankly at the deep furrow between his brows.
“Rang.”
“……?”
“What do you think of meeting Sook-won once?”
“What do you mean, Your Highness?”
“From what I observed, she is not one to hide her heart so. If you meet her, I think you will understand.”
“……Rang.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Lee Hyun scrutinized Rang’s eyes as if trying to read something within them.
“Do you truly remember nothing at all?”
“Your Highness? What do you mean?”
As their gazes crossed heavily, Yoon approached the two of them. His footsteps rang out unnaturally loud in the thick silence.
“Your Highness, the Queen requests your presence.”
“Tell her I shall come to her directly.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
As Lee Hyun rose to his feet, Rang suddenly grabbed at his sleeve.
“Your Highness, what you just said…….”
“Enough. I was talking nonsense. Forget what I said just now.”
Lee Hyun walked forward without turning back to face Yoon, who followed silently in his wake.

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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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