I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 64

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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 64

A heavy silence settled over Jung-gung Palace.
The Queen Consort’s face, which would normally have worn a gentle smile, emptied of all composure in an instant.
“Your Excellency, what did you just say?”
Young-ui-jeong didn’t so much as flinch at the Queen Consort’s question.
“The task Your Majesty entrusted to Lady Dan-bi for the Ritual of Supplication is one upon which the fate of this nation rests.”
She was not unaware of this. But for that very reason, his words became all the harder to comprehend.

“You haven’t forgotten, surely, Your Majesty—the reason we inserted that woman into His Majesty’s presence?”

A memory from the past flickered through her mind.
Young-ui-jeong had made it abundantly clear just recently that if the Jade Seal could not be found before the Ritual of Supplication took place, His Majesty would have to be eliminated by any means necessary.
Dan-bi had been sent to the sovereign’s side as the long game in that dangerous scheme.
But what was the situation now?
Rather than assassinating His Majesty as commanded, she had become a piece moving entirely according to his will.
At this rate, the Ritual of Supplication would proceed without a hitch.
She had only meant to prevent that catastrophe—yet now, when she tried to block his intentions directly, she found Young-ui-jeong’s true mind utterly inscrutable.
“What do you mean—”
“I hear that Lady Dan-bi has been supplying what the craftsmen of Sang-ui-won alone could not provide.”
Young-ui-jeong’s gaze shifted from Dan-bi to the Queen Consort as he cut across her words.
“Personal decrees cannot be allowed to jeopardize the affairs of state, can they?”
Personal decrees.
Those words buried themselves in the Queen Consort’s chest like a dagger.
The contemptuous tone with which he dismissed her decision as a mother of the realm—reducing it to mere jealousy between women—was humiliating.
Meanwhile, Dan-bi watched the Queen Consort and Young-ui-jeong locked in their tense standoff, alternating her gaze between them. She, too, found this situation bewildering.
‘Chairman Park Dae-young.’
In reality, he had not merely tolerated Ha-rin’s high-handedness—he had actively encouraged it. Yet in this world, he moved with ruthless pragmatism.
Of course, the people within a game need not be identical to their real-world counterparts, but because the Queen Consort bore Ha-rin’s face and had shown such behavior, Dan-bi had already allowed deep prejudice to take root in her heart.
‘Are the relationships here different from what I thought they were?’
A cold hierarchy between father and daughter, where utility trumped blood.
Dan-bi’s mind began to race.
If that were true, then there must surely be a way to turn this twisted relationship to her advantage.
It was at that very moment, while Dan-bi was calculating profit and loss—
“Father!”
The Queen Consort gripped her sleeves with trembling hands.
“Did you see the slander that wench just spoke to my face?”
“Your Majesty.”
Young-ui-jeong cut her off coldly.
“This is not a private residence. Before I am your father, I am a minister of this realm.”
At his deliberate withdrawal, the Queen Consort caught her breath and fell silent.
“His Majesty’s will rests in Lady Dan-bi’s hands. How then can you speak of the protocols of the Inner Palace and seek to bind his feet? This is no different than denying His Majesty’s own decision.”
An absolute distance.
Watching Young-ui-jeong’s back, Dan-bi felt a strange sense of recognition.
That ruthless coldness—pursuing only profit, willing to use even blood relations as tools when necessity demanded.
It resembled Woo-sang, her father in this game. Yet it was distinctly different from what she knew of him in reality, and that unfamiliarity unsettled her.
The real Park Dae-young would commit any moral transgression for his daughter’s sake. It was he who had stolen Dan-bi’s fashion show design and placed it in Ha-rin’s hands.
That he would take her side here made it all feel somehow off.
Dan-bi steadied herself.
While having the same face didn’t mean possessing the same character, her experience showed that people in this world’s tended to mirror their real-world counterparts in subtly peculiar ways.
As Hyun and Ha-rin did.
So she couldn’t be certain that what Young-ui-jeong was showing her now was his true face.
There was no knowing when he might bare the hidden claws he kept concealed.
She must not forget that the people here, too, were capable of shifting their minds at any moment—they were, after all, only human.
Dan-bi turned her head to look at the Queen Consort.
Her face had gone ashen. She must have felt her very roots shaken loose.
This opportunity could not be missed.
“I am deeply moved by Your Excellency’s profound wisdom. Your Majesty, as the Minister has said, the duty entrusted by His Majesty is of such import that I should withdraw and attend to it. Many await my return at Sang-ui-won.”
Dan-bi bowed deeply to the Queen. A moment later, the Queen turned away, her movements heavy with resignation.
“……Go now.”
Her voice carried the weight of surrender. Dan-bi left the suffocating silence behind and quickened her pace.
Young-ui-jeong held the door open for Dan-bi as she exited, observing all proper courtesy.
As Dan-bi stepped out of Jung-gung Palace, the heavy sound of the closing door echoed behind her.
‘That should be enough.’
An unexpected variable had appeared, yet in the end, circumstances had unfolded in her favor.
Park Dae-yeong—or rather, Young-ui-jeong—had sided with her for reasons she couldn’t fathom, but there was no harm in that.
Dan-bi glanced back at the door and picked up her pace. With Sang-ui-won’s work nearing completion, the final touches would be crucial.
But she hadn’t gone far before a heavy voice caught her from behind.
“Noble Lady Ja-ga, might I trouble you to pause for a moment?”
Young-ui-jeong, who must have followed her out, now stood before her. Dan-bi fixed him with a puzzled gaze.
She’d assumed he would remain in Jung-gung Palace. What could he possibly want?
“What is this about?”
“I have a matter I wished to discuss with you, if you could spare me a moment of your time.”
A conversation? Here?
Dan-bi felt flustered and quickly surveyed her surroundings. The eyes of passing attendants turned toward them.
Reading her hesitation, Young-ui-jeong glanced around before gesturing toward an empty pavilion nearby.

***

As they climbed into the pavilion, a cool breeze swept across the space. Only after confirming they were alone did Young-ui-jeong speak first.
“Word reaches me that your accomplishments at Sang-ui-won are remarkable. Even the master craftsmen themselves are said to marvel at your skill—truly a welcome thing.”
It was a formal compliment, hollow as wind.
Dan-bi studied his enigmatic gaze carefully before responding.
“You honor me too much, sir. Yet I suspect that summoning me privately was for reasons beyond such pleasantries.”
She kept her guard raised.
Until moments ago, he had been the man who moved his own daughter like a puppet to his will. He was not one to offer kindness without purpose.
At this, Young-ui-jeong let out a hollow laugh and clasped his hands behind his back.
“Merely the concern of an old official for a rare talent within the palace. Your access to Sang-ui-won is now assured, so rest easy.”
He nodded lightly, as though the matter were concluded. Dan-bi narrowed her eyes at his composed smile.
Was that truly all he wanted?
She had just begun to relax her shoulders, which had stiffened needlessly, when—
“Then I shall take my leave……”
“You hail from another world, I believe.”
Dan-bi’s feet froze mid-stride.
She’d heard that Hyun had sworn the Geum-gun to silence, yet somehow the news had already reached his ears.
Not that it was entirely surprising—Woo-sang had known of it already.
But she could not simply admit the truth now.
At the time, it had been a desperate ploy to survive. But circumstances were different now. He was not someone like Hyun, bearing the memory of a reset cycle. There was no reason to reveal the truth.
Dan-bi swallowed hard and turned back to face him slowly.
“……I’m not certain what you mean.”
“There is no need for alarm.”
Young-ui-jeong drew closer, lowering his voice further.
“Some time ago, a peculiar glass bottle arrived at the Nae-ui-won.”
A glass bottle?
Dan-bi’s eyes narrowed.
“There was a discreet request to identify the medicinal compounds within. Though skilled physicians devoted themselves to the task, it was said to be something wholly unknown to this land—a mysterious substance unlike anything they had encountered.”
A flash of realization struck her mind.
The antidote bottle she had received as a quest reward and used for Hyun.
She’d thought it lost in the chaos of the commotion, yet it had found its way to the Nae-ui-won. Only Hyun could have recognized it and handed it over.
“The one certainty, however, is that the substance possesses remarkable efficacy in neutralizing toxins.”
Young-ui-jeong’s piercing gaze fixed upon her, searching her depths.
“Tell me—is this place truly not your ‘other world’?”

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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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