I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 43

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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 43

Beep, beep—
The tickling sound pulled Dan Bi slowly back to consciousness.
On the television screen, monsters were being shot and exploding in absurd, cartoonish bursts.
“You awake?”
A familiar voice drifted from above her head.
She turned, and her eyes met Hyeon’s as he looked down at her. Dan Bi, who had been lying with his knee as her pillow, jolted upright.
“This place……”
It was her home. Though just moments ago……
Hyeon’s hand suddenly spun her shoulders around to face him as she gazed blankly at her surroundings.
“What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”
“Why am I here?”
“It’s Saturday. We said we’d play games together, remember?”
Sunlight streamed through the window with a drowsy warmth, and a pleasant breeze stirred the curtains. Even the warmth of Hyeon’s presence as they sat side by side.
It was the familiar, ordinary scene she saw every day.
Hyeon tilted his head curiously. “Did you have a nightmare?”
A nightmare.
Dan Bi stared blankly at the controller in Hyeon’s hands. As the game sounds continued their endless chiming, her mind gradually cleared.
Ah, it was all just a dream. Thank goodness.
She exhaled slowly and leaned back against the sofa. Hyeon’s tender hand brushed across her face.
“Did you have a bad dream?”
Dan Bi answered with a faint smile instead of words. Then, with childlike affection, she buried her face in his chest.
“Mm.”
“What kind of dream was it?”
“You were……”
The image of Hyeon turning away coldly flashed through her mind, and Dan Bi’s words trailed off. She shook her head, brushing away the intrusive thought.
“Never mind.”
“Boring.”
It didn’t matter. It had all been a dream.
Hyeon would never abandon her. That’s right—such a thing couldn’t possibly happen in reality. She had no wish to return to that dream again.
And yet, one corner of her heart ached terribly. Even knowing it was only a dream, that image of his retreating back refused to fade.
Wait. Now that I think about it……
Dan Bi suddenly pulled herself up from his embrace. She reached out urgently and began rummaging frantically across Hyeon’s chest. Startled, he leaned back.
“What’s gotten into you?”
“Are you all right? Let me see.”
“What are you—”
Rather than answer, Dan Bi hastily lifted the hem of his shirt. Fortunately, the skin beneath his clothes was unmarred, smooth and without a single wound.
Only then did she release the breath she’d been holding.
Thank goodness. It had healed completely.
When he’d taken that arrow to the chest, her vision had gone black. She’d never imagined the arrow might be poisoned.
The toxin had been spreading through her entire body; she’d feared a terrible scar would remain forever. But for it all to have vanished like this—it was truly a blessing.
Her fingertips lingered against his skin for a moment. Simply because she loved feeling the warmth of him still alive.
As she exhaled in relief, a large hand settled over the back of hers as she clutched his shirt.
She looked up and their eyes met.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you mean, what am I doing? Do you have any idea how worried I was! I thought you were actually going to die, and I—”
Dan Bi couldn’t finish. Her lips trembled.
But something felt off. Just moments before……
Her head snapped around as she scanned her surroundings. When her eyes met his again, Hyeon’s deep gaze had taken on a cold, unfamiliar gleam.
“Who exactly are you looking at right now?”

It was Hyeon. Or rather, not Hyeon……
“Shh.”
He brought a finger to his lips and whispered. Dan Bi’s breath instinctively stilled.

Whissh—
A sound of something crumbling came from above her head.
When she slowly raised her gaze, bits of straw and dust drifted down from the crumbling ceiling.
Hyeon kept his hand over Dan Bi’s mouth, murmuring low against her ear.
“They’ve found us.”
Then her vision sharpened gradually. The flimsy earthen walls that looked ready to collapse at any moment. The biting cold that gnawed at her skin.
Dan Bi’s eyes fell, losing their light.
Right. This wasn’t a dream. The dream had been back there.
“What are you thinking about right now?”
At his low, measured voice, she slowly lifted her head. Hyeon was watching her, his brow furrowed.
“Having dreams in a situation like this?”
His words stabbed at a corner of her chest.
Yes—now it was a place she could reach only in dreams, having grown so distant. Something she’d held tightly in her palm slipped away like grains of sand, and emptiness rushed in.
Suddenly, the image of Hyeon’s departing figure, receding into the distance, flashed across her mind.
Even if she died here, even if this life repeated again and again, nothing would change.

“Let’s break up.”

No one would be waiting for her there anymore. She couldn’t even fathom what she’d been holding on to all this time to reach this point.
So what was any of this for?
Where am I standing? Where do I go now?
Her mind, wandering without direction, tangled into a knot.
Dream and reality alike—everything was confusion.
Then it came.
Shoom—!
With a violent sound, a sharp blade pierced through the wall.
“—!”
Hyeon roughly hooked his arm around Dan Bi’s shoulder and pulled her into his embrace.
Where the blade had been hacking at the wall, a hideous hole opened, and shattered dust scattered through the air.
“Planning to skewer us like meat on a spit, are they?”
Hyeon muttered in an irritated undertone.
He pulled Dan Bi to her feet and surveyed their surroundings with sharp attention.
Hiss—
The soft rustle of clothing sounded from all sides.
From the footsteps alone, there were far more of them than the ones who’d fled earlier. It seemed they’d called reinforcements; the momentum was impressive.
“At least ten, maybe more.”
Hyeon whispered low, pressing something into Dan Bi’s hand—the Patterned Short Dagger they’d brought back from the Hunting Ground.
His own hands held only the bowstave without a string, and the leather quiver hanging at his waist was empty.
“You guard this side. As for the rest—”
“Your Highness, you need to get out through the back door.”
Dan Bi cut him off without hesitation. Hyeon paused, then his brow contracted sharply.
“What are you saying?”
“I’ll handle this. Please, go.”
The sound of the ceiling collapsing grew louder.
Dan Bi quickly pushed Hyeon toward the back door near the kitchen. That side opened directly into the forest, making escape easier.
Hyeon turned roughly and seized Dan Bi’s shoulder.
“Is that even remotely reasonable?”
“Didn’t I tell you?”
Dan Bi met his gaze directly. There was no wavering in her eyes.
“Protecting Your Highness is my duty.”
A brief silence fell between them. The footsteps had already reached beyond the threshold. There really was no time.
Just as Dan Bi moved to push his shoulder away again, his wrist was suddenly seized. Hyeon glared at her with terrifying intensity and demanded:
“Is it your intention to die for my sake?”
“—!”
The words struck home, and Dan Bi’s body went rigid. Hyeon only watched her face in silence.
The silence stretched long. Dan Bi couldn’t lift her head—if she did, she feared she’d break down into tears.
She was exhausted.
Every moment with her eyes open felt like hell.
Whether it was reality or a game, she wanted desperately to escape this suffocating place by any means.
If she could just close her eyes for good, would this pain not cease as well?
There was nothing left to hold onto.
Dan Bi turned her head away from him, her lips trembling. She pulled hard against his grip, trying to wrench her wrist free, but he would not release his hold.
“Let go——!”
“Did you not say there was someone you left behind?”
At those words, Dan Bi’s struggling ceased. When she lifted her head, a familiar face came into view.
A man who bore a striking resemblance to Hyun, yet was unmistakably different in every way.
Each time she met his eyes—eyes so like his brother’s—a dull ache bloomed in her chest.
Dan Bi shook her head weakly.
“There is.”
“Then why would you——”
“I left him behind, yes. But if he is not waiting for me, then——”
Dan Bi slowly raised her head and met his gaze.
“What will Your Highness do?”

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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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