I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 36

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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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Episode 36

The acrid stench of blood seeped through the humid air, burrowing deep into her lungs.
Dan Bi clung to the horse’s mane with desperate force as the beast bolted in a wild frenzy.
The animal had already lost all reason.
Tree branches, dense as a lattice of knives, tore across her cheeks. Dan Bi clamped her teeth shut, unable even to cry out.
“Sook-won! Pull the reins!”
A thunderous voice erupted from behind her.
It was Hyun.
But Dan Bi’s hands had already gone numb and rigid long ago.
“Pull the reins! Now!”
The sharp command struck her ears again, and Dan Bi finally gripped with what little strength remained, wrenching the reins toward herself with all her might.
Whinny!
The moment the beast reared on its hind legs, Hyun’s horse surged alongside. He placed his hand over hers on the reins, bearing down with his weight.
Gradually, the horse’s wild thrashing subsided. Caught within his embrace, Dan Bi gasped for breath.
“……This is precisely why I never gave you a bow.”
Hyun’s low voice grazed the nape of her neck. When Dan Bi lifted her head in a daze, his sharp jawline came into view.
“You can barely keep yourself seated on a horse, let alone handle a weapon. You’d sooner put out the beast’s eye than—”
“What was that?”
Her voice trembled with indignation.
Here he was, hurling insults instead of comfort to someone who’d just skirted the edge of death.
“The horse went wild out of nowhere! It’s not like I wanted this to happen!”
“How many times have I taught you? How to hold the reins, how to breathe with the beast—I’ve carved out precious moments from my own time to instruct you.”
Hyun gave a derisive snort, tightening the arm around Dan Bi’s waist.
“You clutch the reins like a lifeline instead of guiding with confidence. Your clumsy hand movements are what terrified the horse in the first place.”
“Well, it’s because you chased after us so frighteningly! I was already terrified of the wild boar, and then you started shouting like a ghost from behind—”
“A ghost?”
His gaze swept down at her as if the remark was absurd, and Dan Bi’s lips pressed into a stubborn pout. His eyes narrowed.
“I crossed the line of death to save you, and now you compare me to a specter. Perhaps denying you the bow was the wisest decision of my entire life.”
“This is ridiculous. Instead of thanking the person trying to protect you, you just criticize—”
“Only thank me after I’ve actually protected you.”
Hyun cut her off sharply. Even as they bickered, his gaze never ceased sweeping the surroundings.
Dan Bi squirmed in protest, trying to wrench herself from his grasp, but he held firm as stone, muttering under his breath.
“Stay still. This is not the time to berate your abysmal Horsemanship.”
The moment the words left his lips, the atmosphere shifted entirely.
Gone was the teasing air of moments before. In its place, a predator’s killing intent radiated from every fiber of his being.
Rustle—
As if on cue, masked figures in black descended from the trees into the darkness.
“……Too many rats have gathered.”
Whoosh!
The sharp sound of a blade splitting air struck her eardrums. In the same instant, an arrow buried itself deep in the nape of the horse’s neck.
Neeeigh!
The beast shrieked its death cry, rearing up on its front legs before the massive frame toppled forward down the Slope.
“Ahhh!”
Her body soared into the air. As dust and fallen leaves obscured her vision, powerful arms wrenched her waist, catching her as if she might break.
Thud!
She crashed hard against someone’s chest.
When she came to her senses, she was nestled in Hyun’s arms. His ragged breathing warmed the back of her neck.
“Hyah!”
Hyun immediately kicked the horse’s flank, driving it faster. The animal’s hooves trampling dried leaves kicked up a deafening clatter behind them.
“Lower your head! Unless you want to die!”
The moment his sharp command rang out, the horse shot forward.
Dan Bi clenched the reins as if to shatter them, aware of the rough knuckles pressing down over the back of her hand—an unfamiliar sensation.
But the pursuit showed no sign of ending.
The assassins catching up behind had already drawn and nocked their bowstrings.
Whoosh!
An arrow tore through the air, grazing Hyun’s shoulder. Blood seeped through the rent in his garment.
As if to compound their misery, the forest grew increasingly treacherous, and a protruding root snagged the horse’s hooves as it raced onward.
Whoosh!
The horse, unable to match the speed, tumbled down the slope. The impact sent both riders hurtling down the embankment, rolling without mercy.
Even as his body twisted violently, Hyun pulled Dan Bi’s head against his chest, shielding her with his own frame.
The world flashed white, then plunged into absolute darkness, over and over, reality spinning into dizzying chaos.
Jagged stones raked across his back. Tree stumps blocked his arms like they would snap them clean away.
Absorbing every blow across his entire body, the two of them finally crashed against a massive boulder and came to rest.
“……Hgh.”
Hyun braced his hands against the ground and pushed himself up first.
His official robes were a pitiful sight, slicked with blood and caked in dust, yet his hand drew the blade without a single hesitation.
The surroundings fell silent. Then, one by one, masked assassins emerged from the undergrowth.
At least five.
From her place huddled at the base of the boulder, Dan Bi’s eyes fell upon his silhouette.
His crimson jeogori torn to shreds, blood seeping from his shoulder. And yet, standing alone against the narrow slope, his back loomed like a mountain.
He took slow steps backward toward her. Without breaking his gaze from the enemies, Hyun reached into his robes and pressed something into her hand.
A cool metal touched her palm.
Dan Bi stared down at what lay in her grip, then slowly lifted her head. When her eyes found him again, he was still there, standing before her.
“Hold it.”
“Why are you giving me this……?”
What he had thrust into her hand was her own Flowered Short Sword, the one Hyun had been keeping. As Dan Bi hesitated in confusion, he spoke quietly.
“Do not misunderstand. This is all for me.”
He forced her fingers to curl around the blade. Dan Bi grasped it with both hands before she could think.
It was in that very instant.

「A new Sub Quest has arrived.
─Lure」

‘What……?’
Dan Bi’s eyes widened as a blue window suddenly materialized before her. Then Status Windows lined up, obscuring her vision.

「Lure the king before you and inflict a fatal wound.
Main Quest: Assassinate the King ― In Progress
※Alert: The target has sustained injury. The optimal moment to complete the mission is now.」

Dan Bi stared at Hyun as if entranced.
His broad back, standing before her, knowing nothing.
Her throat tightened as she swallowed hard. Her trembling hands had gone pale and bloodless.
Now. It had to be now.
Hyun was already exhausted, already wounded.
If she drove the blade between his shoulder blades in the chaos of the assassins closing in, no one would suspect. All guilt could be laid squarely on them.
‘If I succeed…… will this hellish game finally end?’
Dan Bi slowly opened the scabbard. The hilt felt like ice against her palm.
Pressure built in her grip. Her knuckles blanched white, as though the blade might sing at any moment.
She was lifting her hand slowly, quietly, when it happened.
Whistle―!
An arrow split the darkness, cutting through the air with a piercing sound.
Dan Bi’s eyes, catching the deathly chill of its passage, flicked in wild distress.
The arrowhead was coming straight for her.
There was no time to avoid it.
In the moment her body went rigid as stone, locked in the arrow’s trajectory toward her―
Squelch!
A strange sound reached her ear the instant she shut her eyes. But she felt no pain.
Opening her eyes slowly, she still saw his broad back before her.
“……Hgh!”
Dan Bi steadied his swaying frame, her trembling eyes looking down at him.
Crimson blood spread terrifyingly across his chest.
Horror flooded Dan Bi’s gaze.
“Hyun……!”

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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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