I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 50

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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 50

Dan-bi lifted the stone from the box with both hands.
Its surface was merely black and ordinary, rough to the touch—just a plain rock.
“Surely this isn’t the reward item?”
“My lady, all you were looking for was a stone?”
Som, watching from beside her, tilted her head in disbelief.
Dan-bi turned the stone over and over, unwilling to let it go.
But no matter how she examined it, it was nothing more than the sort of rock one might find lying along any path.
“Sigh…….”
Eventually, Dan-bi let out a deep breath and tossed the stone back into the box.
“Why does something strange keep appearing?”
First a short sword, then an antidote. And now a lump of stone.
As the quality of the reward items seemed to deteriorate, her spirits sank accordingly.
Yet she couldn’t very well discard it.
The short sword and antidote she’d obtained before had seemed useless at first, but in the end, both had proven essential when it mattered most.
“Come to think of it…….”
When she reflected on it, all those items had played a crucial role in protecting her.
The short sword had been invaluable in stopping Hyeon’s sudden attack, and the antidote had saved her life from the threat of poisoned arrows at the hunting grounds.
Though it was Hyeon who had taken that arrow in her stead.
Either way, every item had been directly tied to her survival.
‘Could it be that I’ll need this later too?’
It felt as though the game system was providing flawless support so she could safely complete her quests.
Of course, in a typical RPG, it would be natural for the system to grant the player beneficial items.
But this was something else.
“It’s as if the system knows everything I’m going to do ahead of time.”
Dan-bi, a true gamer at heart, understood this well.
Most RPGs have sprawling scenarios with high degrees of freedom, where the course of the game diverges wildly depending on the player’s choices.
The charm of such games lay in the fact that you couldn’t predict what story would unfold next.
Yet this game seemed to be reading her path in advance and feeding her the necessary items beforehand.
‘……Am I just imagining things?’
Dan-bi looked down at the black stone in the box once more, troubled by an uncanny unease that wouldn’t fade.
It felt as though she were drifting along a stage already set by the system without any will of her own.
She couldn’t tell whether the items were leading her path or whether she was succumbing to the system’s designs.
“Still, a stone doesn’t seem like it would actually be necessary…….”
What on earth would she use it for?
Just as she began to sink into deeper contemplation, her vision flashed red.

「A new sub-quest has arrived.」

A new sub-quest?
Dan-bi read through the message on the status window floating in the air.
That was when it happened.
The attendants waiting outside stirred, and the sound of robes brushing through the courtyard suddenly filled the air.
“Your Majesty has arrived!”
A low, measured voice cut through to the interior of the Unjeong-gak.
Before Dan-bi could even compose herself.
Som knelt down beside her, and the foreheads of all the attendants arranged in the courtyard pressed to the ground in unison.
Soft, soft.
A slow footstep echoed across the stone stairs.
Dan-bi knelt and lowered her head like the others. All she could see was the cold floor and the back of her own hands.
The footsteps ceased.
“Raise your head.”
Dan-bi lifted her head while remaining on her knees. Beyond the hem of the crimson gonryongpo, she could see Hyeon’s face.
“You’ve come?”
“……Your words are still sparse.”
Hyeon clicked her tongue and gestured for Dan-bi to rise. Dan-bi brushed the dust from her knees and spoke without hesitation.
“What is it you need?”
“Everything within the palace is mine. Yet you speak as though I couldn’t possibly have come here.”
“Oh, Your Majesty……!”
At the soft whisper that came from behind, Dan-bi belatedly bowed her head.
“That’s not true. I was already planning to seek you out.”
“You were going to seek me out first?”
“Because I’m grateful.”
“Grateful?”
Reading the affirmation in her silence, Hyeon let out a quiet laugh and clasped his hands behind his back.
“There’s no need to be so thankful. Didn’t you yourself say that a true deal requires equal value?”
As he leaned closer, speaking in that low tone, Dan-bi bit the inside of her cheek slightly.
He seemed grateful on the surface, but his manner carried an unmistakable edge of sarcasm.
‘He keeps bringing up that deal from the last round. How long is he going to hold onto it? He’s just as petty now as he was then…….’
“Where are you looking?”
In that instant, Hyeon tapped Dan-bi’s chin lightly with his fingertip. At the warmth of his breath so close, Dan-bi stopped breathing, then leaned her body back.
“Where am I looking? I’m looking at you, Your Majesty.”
…….
Hyeon studied her face with an inscrutable gaze, then slowly shook his head.
Yet his eyes remained fixed on her, and Dan-bi found herself looking away, pretending to busy herself with something else.
‘Why does he keep staring at me like that? It’s embarrassing.’
“Why do you keep avoiding my gaze?”
“Then why do you keep looking at me that way?”
Dan-bi answered his calm question with one of her own, unable to make sense of it. Hyeon tilted his head as though genuinely puzzled.
“I’m simply looking at what I should love. Is that wrong?”
“……What?”
Silence fell suddenly over Unjeong-gak.
The attendants standing nearby startled and lifted their heads, but the moment their eyes met each other’s, they quickly bowed them again.
Dan-bi stood before Hyeon, blinking numbly.
‘Did I mishear him?’
“What did you just say…….”
“Must I say it twice?”
Hyeon suddenly leaned his upper body toward Dan-bi. With one arm, he enclosed her as though holding her close, then bent down to whisper low against her ear.
“Being loved by me is your duty. Didn’t you say so yourself?”
“……!”
At the cool voice tickling her ear, Dan-bi’s hands flew to cover them. Amused by her reaction, Hyeon gave a quiet laugh and pulled back.
“Since you’ve fulfilled my condition, I too must do what befits it.”
Condition?
A memory from the past flickered through Dan-bi’s mind.

“Kill all the assassins who target me.”

‘Ah, surely he doesn’t mean that.’
When she thought about it, she had not only eliminated those assassins but also saved his life in the process.
It hadn’t been entirely intentional, but the result was what it was.
So was he now saying that in return, he would love her? Something ridiculous like that?
‘That makes no sense at all!’
The absurdity of it made Dan-bi’s mind go blank.
No, that wasn’t even the real problem.
The whole reason she’d insisted on being loved by him was just a flimsy excuse—a pretext for hovering near him so she could find the right moment to complete her main quest.
Yet somehow it was playing out nothing like she’d anticipated.
“Where are you looking again?”
It was then.
Hyeon suddenly seized Dan-bi by the waist and drew her into his arms. His low voice descended between them, their faces nearly touching.
“I’m giving you an opportunity.”
“An opportunity……?”
“I am a man of great desire.”
Hyeon lifted his hand and slowly traced it across Dan-bi’s face. His touch was gentle as it passed over her brow, eyes, and the bridge of her nose, coming to rest at her lips.
Then his fingertip slowly caressed the curve of her lower lip. When Dan-bi’s teeth caught at the flesh without her meaning to, Hyeon cupped her cheek and whispered.
“It means that without your coming to me, I have no desire to give even a single grain.”
At his arrogant tone, Dan-bi clicked her tongue inwardly.
‘As if I’d ever.’
She filed away every trivial word, every careless remark, storing them like weapons to hurl back with cutting precision—Dan-bi knew that much about her. She was averting her gaze, muttering irritably to herself, when it happened.
Hyun’s hand tightened against her cheek. He forced her to meet his eyes, and his voice dropped low.
“Then love me.”
“……!”
For a moment Dan-bi thought she’d misheard. Her eyes widened. In the depths of Hyun’s gaze, there was nothing but her—only her.
“What do you…….”
“As much as you receive from me, I’m asking you to love me in return.”
His voice, unwavering and relentless, burrowed into her ears.

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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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