I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 67

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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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Round 67

Late night, outside the Inner Palace.
As the heavy door swung open, Kang Sang-sik craned his neck like a cat burglar, surveying the darkness around him.
Satisfied that no one was watching, he crept forward, then bent low and scurried along the stone wall where shadows pooled thick as ink.
Hidden in a corner, he scanned the area once more before carefully unwrapping the cloth he’d been clutching to his chest.
A single Jade Ring, gleaming with a jewel-blue light even in the darkness.
Kang Sang-sik’s mouth stretched into a grin.
“Ahhh, what a treasure.”
It was the payment he’d just received from the Empress in the Inner Palace.
A windfall beyond anything he’d expected—compensation for the spy work he’d performed faithfully under her employ.
“How much must this be worth?”
Kang Sang-sik let out a breathless chuckle, his mind already painting rosy dreams of the future.
A single jade for just a handful of secrets.
He was lost in calculating how much wealth would soon fall into his hands when—
“Are you that pleased?”
“Of course, of all the—”
Kang Sang-sik’s reflexive reply cut short as he spun around in shock.
Dan-bi had drawn close without a sound, her head tilted, her gaze fixed on the Jade Ring resting in his palm.
“My lady, Your H—!”
“Quiet.”
Before the words could leave his mouth, a hand clamped down hard. He thrashed helplessly, but the grip was merciless.
“If you don’t scream, I’ll let you go.”
Kang Sang-sik nodded frantically, and only then did his breath come back.
“*Cough* — cough!”
His legs buckled and he collapsed into a sit, coughing into the hand that had held his mouth shut.
Dan-bi dropped to her knees and drove him back into the corner of the wall like cornered prey.
The pressure was suffocating.
In the darkness, her eyes burned with a fierce light that trapped his gaze.
“So—did you make a nice profit peddling my information?”
“I, I don’t—”
“Surely you didn’t think I’d know nothing?”
Dan-bi snatched the ring from Kang Sang-sik’s hand.
Her fingers drew it upward, and the jade caught the moonlight, blazing brilliant.
“Selling a person for a ring.”
“Sell, sell? That isn’t—”
“Then what were you and the Empress whispering about in the Inner Palace?”
Kang Sang-sik’s voice died in his throat, his mouth clamped shut.
Without hesitation, Dan-bi seized him by the collar. He choked and grasped at her arm with both hands, struggling.
“Won’t you talk?”
“L-let me go—”
“How much did you tell her? The Luminescent Stone? Or the moon?”
After writhing in silence for a while, Kang Sang-sik finally broke under her relentless pressure.
“C-clothes. She said to make clothes—”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all I know so far—”
“‘So far’ tells me you’re planning to say more.”
Kang Sang-sik’s flushed face thrashed frantically side to side.
Dan-bi released her grip on his collar at last. He gasped for air, his hand at his throat, then crawled toward her with a trembling whisper.
“Did you know all along?”
“Do you know why I put you to work on this task?”
Kang Sang-sik’s lips moved soundlessly, clearly lost. Dan-bi tilted her head toward him.
“Just so you’d remember: here or anywhere, will you still be on her side?”
There was only one reason Dan-bi had assigned Kang Sang-sik to the Luminescent Moon project.
Ha-rin was the greatest obstacle in her path—in reality and in this Game alike.
But as Dan-bi’s thoughts settled, a new question surfaced.
The people in this Game bore an uncanny resemblance to those in reality.
It wasn’t merely their appearance. Their speech, their mannerisms, even their relationships to her—they mirrored their real-world counterparts like doppelgängers.
Even when she tried drawing a deliberate line between this world and reality, the nagging sense of déjà vu kept tripping her up—and for good reason.
Then a question struck her.
What if this world was being reconstructed in real time based on her own memories?
Dan-bi’s gaze sank deeper. Otherwise, such perfectly orchestrated coincidences wouldn’t repeat with this precision.
Dan-bi decided to test this strange hypothesis directly. That’s why she deliberately brought Kang Sang-sik into this Round.
In reality, Kang Sang-sik had been the one standing beside Ha-rin, the architect of the fake fashion show.
The likelihood that he was also colluding with the Consort here, offering his every move at her service, was more than sufficient.
And her suspicion proved correct.
The moment the Consort issued her decree barring all entry to the Royal Tailor Bureau, Dan-bi knew with certainty. Kang Sang-sik was playing his part beautifully.
All those times she’d driven him hard, demanding he grind the Luminescent Stone faster, had borne fruit.
Of course, there were risks.
Everything happening at the Royal Tailor Bureau was laid bare before the Consort.
But it was impossible to manufacture such vast quantities of fabric in secret without the Bureau’s workforce, and she couldn’t completely elude surveillance from Kang Sang-sik, who bore responsibility for production.
Rather than waste time trying to plug a shoddy security breach and hunt down some unknown spy, it was far better to use Kang Sang-sik, whose tail was so obviously visible.
Besides, the Consort had form—in the previous Cycle, she’d stolen the Rain-Summoning Ritual vestments and reduced the entire plan to ashes.
Better to take the beating now than to have her leg swept out from under her at the critical moment and fail to summon rain.
Once the Consort struck first, she’d have legitimate grounds to ask the Queen to restrain her.
In a situation where she couldn’t precisely gauge the current state of the Queen and Consort’s relationship, she couldn’t afford to ask the Queen to stop her blindly.
If real-world relationships were projected onto this Game, then the bond between the Consort and the Queen would likely be just as strong as it was in reality.
Which meant Dan-bi needed something far more concrete—a proper justification.
Dan-bi tamped down her sinking feeling and shoved the Jade Ring in her hand into her pocket.
“Consider this confiscated for now.”
Kang Sang-sik’s mouth opened and closed indignantly, but Dan-bi simply flashed him a carefree smile.
“So, what did the Consort say?”
“That is to say…….”
Dan-bi seized his chin in one hand, cutting off his hesitation. Trembling eyes met hers above the pathetically crumpled face.
“Kang. You seem confused about something. Everything here depends on me, understand? There’s exactly one way you’re getting out of here alive.”
Dan-bi leaned her head close to his ear.
“Stick with me.”
As she tightened her grip, Kang Sang-sik’s mouth popped open like a fish’s. Dan-bi laughed brightly, released him, and brushed off her hands lightly.
“So. About making clothes—what else did she say?”
“There, there was nothing else of particular import, my lady.”
“Still got the strength to lie, I see?”
“I speak the truth!”
Kang Sang-sik bent nearly double, his words tumbling out in desperation.
“When she asked if I truly meant nothing but making clothes, I merely confirmed it, my lady.”
“And regarding the Luminescent Stone?”
At that question, Kang Sang-sik’s mouth clamped shut.
In truth, he’d meant to report it to the Consort, but already, pressed by Dan-bi’s overwhelming presence, he’d ground up all the Luminescent Stones and used them entirely in making the Luminescent Silk.
He swallowed the words, thinking there was nothing to produce even if asked, and speaking now would only stir her anger.
“……I couldn’t tell her, my lady.”
“Hmm.”
Dan-bi paused deliberately.
She’d anticipated a scenario where Kang Sang-sik confessed everything, but far less information had actually leaked than she’d expected.
Less information escaping wasn’t bad news. Rather, the risks she’d undertaken had yielded real, tangible gains.

“Won’t you entrust the Imperial Seal to me, my lady?”

The piercing gaze of Park Dae-yeong, staring directly into her eyes this afternoon, demanding boldly—it came flooding back.
Thanks to that, she could now sharply refine the range of key suspects she’d narrowed to the Consort and Woo-sang.
Without taking this risk, discovering that Park Dae-yeong was their true puppet master would have been nearly impossible.
And possessing a winning hand in her own favor—that too would have remained out of reach.

“All right. I’ll take that offer.”

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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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