I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 37

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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 37

“Hyeon……!”
The scream had barely left her lips.
Hyeon’s upper body tilted heavily toward Dan Bi. The acrid metallic stench of blood brushed cold against her nostrils.
“Hyeon, come on, snap out of it! Hyeon!”
Dan Bi pulled his body onto her lap. As she wiped his face—already draining of color—beads of sweat rolled from his skin onto her palms.
Then his lips parted slowly.
“……What is that expression?”
“Are you coming to?”
Dan Bi kept her gaze fixed on his left chest, refusing to meet the eyes that searched her face.
A fresh scarlet stain bloomed terrifyingly across his red Official Robe. The wound seemed to have barely missed the Vital Point, yet the bleeding was far too severe.
If left like this, it would be fatal.
Dan Bi bit down on her lower lip. When she lifted her head, the assassins positioned around them caught the moonlight on their blades, gleaming cold and deadly.
‘I have to flee. I have to get away now……!’
No, wait.
With trembling eyes, Dan Bi looked down at Hyeon cradled against her.
The palm gripping the Short Sword had grown slick with moisture. His eyes—unfocused, wandering through empty air—finally came to rest on Dan Bi’s face.
This was the moment. A chance that would never come again.
Moments ago, she had hesitated and let the opportunity slip away. She had to finish this now……
But strangely, the arm holding him seemed to weaken. The Short Sword in her hand trembled precariously, as though it might slip from her grip at any second.
And then it happened.
Ding—a bright chime, and a Status Window materialized in the air.

「You have completed the Sub Quest.
You have successfully lured the king and inflicted a mortal wound.
An item will be provided as a reward.
Location: Unjeong-gak」

The Status Window flickered before her eyes, its message stubborn in holding her gaze. Dan Bi stared at it blankly before looking away.
Lured.
She could see the red blood seeping from where the Arrow was embedded.
She had never imagined that Hyeon would take the Arrow meant for her. It hadn’t been her intention, yet the result was that the system had gotten exactly what it wanted—the quest fulfilled.
Never had a quest completion notification felt so unwelcome. An undefined unease scraped at the bottom of her chest.
After a moment’s hesitation, Dan Bi propped Hyeon’s body against a rock and laid him down. Then, slowly, she rose and stepped away from him.
Dan Bi opened her mouth.
“Don’t move. Stay right there.”
“My lady, what……”
His low voice came from behind her, but she didn’t turn back.
Dan Bi adjusted her grip on the Short Sword. Cold moonlight flashed across the blade.
The assassins were closing in, their eyes gleaming with a pale, deadly light.
Things were as they were now. There was no turning back.
Dan Bi took her stance, letting her body remember its own way. She reversed her grip on the Short Sword, its sharp point leveled at them.
With strength gathered in the hand that held the hilt, she pushed off from the ground.
Whoosh—
The assassins converged from all sides. The moment the cutting edge of their killing intent touched her skin, Dan Bi’s arm moved on pure instinct.
Clang!
Sparks flew with a sharp metallic ring. By the time she regained awareness, her Short Sword had already deflected the assassin’s blade at an angle.
“……!”
Even as her own movement, she couldn’t believe it.
Before she could falter, a kick came at her from the opposite direction. Without thinking, she rolled her body low and evaded the strike.
The next sequence demanded no hesitation. Using the rebound from pushing off the ground, she drove the hilt of her Short Sword up sharply into the assassin’s jaw.
Crack—!
“Ugh!”
The moment her opponent crumpled, she threw her body backward. An Arrow that had barely missed her line of sight embedded itself in a tree.
Dan Bi reflexively threw her Short Sword toward the direction the Arrow had come from. In the next instant, a figure who had been hiding in the branches above fell, clutching his arm.
“Argh!”
When she turned her head again, another assassin was nearly upon her.
Whoosh—!
Dan Bi extended her hand and struck precisely at the assassin’s neck.
The moment he fell backward, she knocked his wrist and seized his blade, then wheeled sharply to meet the sword coming from behind, slashing with lethal precision.
Clang!
In an instant, four assassins lay writhing on the ground. The remaining one gripped his sword anew and fixed Dan Bi with a razor-sharp glare.
Huff—
He charged at her as though possessed by rage.
Dan Bi seized her blade with both hands and met his strike. In the same motion, she drove her foot upward, striking his vital point.
As he lost his footing and stumbled, she plunged her sword deep into the ground beside his head. The blade pierced through dry leaves and struck earth with a sharp, metallic cry.
Dan Bi pressed down on the assassin’s body and knelt, pinning him—but her fingertips trembled subtly, unable to drive the blade home.
Swish!
An arrow’s killing intent sliced through the air behind her; she spun on instinct.
The moment she parried the incoming arrow with a rough stroke of her blade, the assassin beneath her moved. By the time she glanced down, his sword was already at her throat.
‘No—too late—!’
Thud!
An arrow streaked past her ear and struck the assassin’s brow with perfect precision. He fell backward without even a cry.
Soon, the remaining ambushers withdrew into darkness as if by prior agreement.
Dan Bi turned, breathing hard and ragged.
A figure leaned precariously against a boulder, trembling hand drawing back the bowstring. Then, as if the last of his strength were draining away, he lowered the bow limply.
“Gasp—hah—!”
“Hyeon!”
Dan Bi rushed to him and caught him in her arms once more.
His unfocused eyes found her face. His complexion had gone even more deathly pale than before.
Dan Bi glanced urgently about. Once she confirmed the assassins had fully withdrawn, she rose and seized the hem of her Jeollik, which hung long and dragged.
Rip—!
With a sharp sound, the fabric tore cleanly away. She held the torn cloth against Hyeon’s chest, gauging its length.
“What are you doing right now…?”
“It’s going to hurt.”
Dan Bi gripped the arrow shaft embedded in his chest. She met his eyes directly and spoke with firm resolve.
“Bear it.”
She tightened her grip on the arrow.
Dan Bi clenched her teeth hard and pressed down with all her strength. A dull snap—the wooden shaft broke and came free.
“Ungh—!”
She had managed to sever only the portion jutting hideously from his chest. The arrowhead remained buried deep within his flesh.
A rush of blood spilled across her hand and down her wrist.
She could not pull the arrow out now. If she forced the head, the wound would split wide and hemorrhage beyond control.
For now, stopping the bleeding was all that mattered. Out here in these wild woods, she could not afford to let infection take hold.
Dan Bi untied the Red Hair Ribbon from her hair. She layered it over the wound, then wound the torn Jeollik tightly around Hyeon’s chest.
With each knot pulled taut, he squeezed his eyes shut and bit down hard. Suppressed moans escaped between his lips, along with seeping blood.
Without hesitation, Dan Bi reached up and gently wiped his lips clean. At her touch’s warmth, his eyes slowly opened.
Their gazes locked. Dan Bi looked down at him, her own eyes still trembling.
“It’s over now. Can you stand?”
Instead of answering, Hyeon held her gaze for a long moment. Dan Bi grew restless, scanning their surroundings.
She had to get them away from this place.
There was no knowing when those assassins would return. If another attack came, in his present state she couldn’t guarantee she’d keep him safe.
The danger was not theirs alone.
The dark forest teemed with starving beasts.
If they lingered here reeking of blood, they truly would become carrion. The priority was distance—putting as much of this forest between them and this spot as possible.
Dan Bi wrapped an arm around Hyeon’s shoulders, trying to support him up. But his body sagged like stone and would not move.
Hyeon swallowed a suppressed groan, his voice hoarse and broken.
“…Leave me behind.”

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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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