I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 68

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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 68

A few hours earlier, atop the Pavilion.
“All right. I’ll accept your proposal.”
Park Dae-yeong fell silent at her straightforward answer, his mouth closing mid-thought.
As though he hadn’t expected such a response, he scanned her face intently, searching for tells.
But Dan-bi didn’t flinch. Her expression remained perfectly composed.
Her initial shock had given way to cold logic—the proposal wasn’t actually disadvantageous to her.
By laying his cards bare, he’d handed her the exact intelligence she needed: a clear picture of everyone arrayed against Hyun.
If she and Hyun were to join forces and complete the Quest, she needed to know the precise scope of the threats arrayed against him.
“But—”
“There’s one problem, though.”
Dan-bi cut off Park Dae-yeong mid-sentence, crossing her arms.
Of course, she had no intention of actually handing him the Royal Seal. It was a fake, after all.
Her insistence to Park Dae-yeong that Hyun possessed the genuine article had been driven entirely by the Quest.
Park Dae-yeong already seemed half-convinced that Hyun had the real thing—otherwise he wouldn’t have so foolishly asked her to hand it over while explaining in tedious detail why the Royal Seal needed to be found.
That worked in her favor. She needed to redirect the attention of anyone trying to sabotage the Quest.
If Park Dae-yeong mistook the fake for the genuine article, her enemies would waste their efforts while she bought herself time.
That didn’t necessarily mean the Royal Seal in Hyun’s possession was fake and therefore untransferable.
Even if it had been the genuine article, the outcome would have been the same. She had zero intention of giving it to him.
To complete the Quest demanding rain, it was safest if Dan-bi herself kept the Royal Seal in hand.
She needed every tool at her disposal to pull off the miracle—holding it herself was already a luxury; giving it to an enemy was out of the question.
But there was one critical thing to bear in mind.
She couldn’t hand over the Seal immediately, yet she couldn’t outright reject his proposal either.
Turning her back on him now would be like throwing away her own card.
‘Once I complete this Quest, what comes next?’
For now, she needed Hyun’s protection to handle the Sub-quest, but the real problem lay beyond that.
Ultimately, her destination was the Main Quest.
Completing that might require killing Hyun.
An idea suddenly struck her.
During the previous Quest—the one demanding she deal a fatal blow to the king—the Quest had been completed without her landing the blow herself.
This meant that if a reasonable outcome resulted without her being the direct cause, the Quest could still be recognized as complete.
And Hyun had many enemies. If she leveraged that fact, there might be another way.
‘What if I manipulate them from the shadows to solve the Quest?’
It was a gamble with decent odds.
In that case, she couldn’t afford to let Park Dae-yeong’s offered hand slip away.
Dan-bi began calculating how to use him as yet another piece on her board.
“The problem being—”
Park Dae-yeong paused, his brow narrowing. Dan-bi met his gaze directly, unflinching.
“I don’t actually know where the genuine Royal Seal is right now.”
“You’re saying you yourself are unaware of its location, my lady?”
“Yes. The real Royal Seal is hidden in a place only His Majesty knows. Somewhere no one has access to.”
Despite her firm answer, suspicion lingered in Park Dae-yeong’s gaze. Dan-bi maintained her composure and drove the point home again.
“It’s the truth. Otherwise, why would I have been the one to volunteer the information that His Majesty possessed the genuine article in the first place?”
Park Dae-yeong already believed Hyun had the real thing. This logic would be hard for him to refute.
“Then what exactly does accepting my proposal entail?”
As she’d anticipated, Park Dae-yeong took another step forward. Dan-bi suppressed her smile and answered without hesitation.
“When do you think would be the best timing to obtain the Royal Seal?”
“The best… timing?”
Park Dae-yeong tilted his head, as though unfamiliar with the term. Dan-bi crossed her arms leisurely and looked up at him.
“Since the genuine Royal Seal is already in His Majesty’s possession, we need to choose the most effective moment to retrieve it.”
A spark of understanding flickered across Park Dae-yeong’s eyes. Dan-bi held his gaze and continued.
“The best moment is right before the Prayer for Rain Ceremony begins.”
To hold both cards in her hand required precision.
The Prayer for Rain Ceremony had to proceed smoothly so she could complete the Quest; simultaneously, she needed to hand the Royal Seal to Park Dae-yeong to maintain their alliance.
To catch both rabbits, the best strategy was to keep Park Dae-yeong’s attention fixed on the fake Royal Seal, then hand him the object he believed to be genuine just before the ceremony.
Dan-bi let the silence stretch before she spoke again.
“Before the Prayer for Rain Ceremony, His Majesty will have no choice but to produce that Seal. When he does, I’ll swap his real one for a fake. Does that satisfy you?”
“…….”
Park Dae-yeong had no grounds to refuse.
Since Dan-bi had made it clear that she genuinely didn’t know the Royal Seal’s location, the moment just before the Prayer for Rain Ceremony—when the king would personally bring out the Royal Seal—was the most opportune time to steal it.
Beyond that, Park Dae-yeong’s true objective lay far beyond the Royal Seal itself: the seizure of royal authority.
For a man who coveted the power his predecessors had enjoyed, the prospect of robbing the king of his symbol just before the ceremony and causing the ritual to fail was an irresistible proposition.
Park Dae-yeong sat in silence for a moment, weighing the gains and losses, before finally extending his hand slowly.
It was exactly as Dan-bi had anticipated.
“I shall abide by the wishes of the Noble Consort Dan-bi.”
“The honor is mine.”
Dan-bi grasped Park Dae-yeong’s hand with a smile and gave it a light shake.
Everything was unfolding according to plan. If she timed things with precision, it wouldn’t be impossible to accomplish both missions simultaneously.
The Prayer for Rain Ceremony would proceed as scheduled, and Park Dae-yeong would seize his opportunity just before it—attempting to steal the Royal Seal from Hyun’s possession.
Of course, what Hyun currently held was nothing more than a forgery, so its presence or absence had no bearing whatsoever on the success of the Quest.
Even if Park Dae-yeong obtained it sooner than expected, the outcome would remain unchanged.
Whether he had noticed something amiss about this world, he certainly hadn’t grasped the mechanics of the System itself.
He would never guess that Dan-bi intended to exploit a loophole in the System—to bring rain not through the Royal Seal, but by another means entirely.
So long as the Prayer for Rain Ceremony proceeded without incident, she would have ample opportunity to complete the Quest.
If she succeeded in making it rain according to plan and then rode that momentum to lend her strength to Park Dae-yeong, the main Quest itself—”killing Hyun”—might be resolved swiftly as well.
All of this had transpired mere hours ago when she and Park Dae-yeong struck their bargain.
“Manager Kang.”
“Y-yes……?”
Dan-bi placed her hand lightly on the shoulder of Kang Sang-sik, who remained crouched beneath the clay wall. His shoulder flinched at the touch.
“I’m giving you a choice right now.”
“A choice of……?”
“Choose. Stand with me, or stand with the Queen.”
Kang Sang-sik opened and closed his lips without managing a word. Watching him, Dan-bi tilted her head and spoke with a chilling tone.
“No, this won’t do.”
Dan-bi rose from her seat without hesitation.
“You’re still deliberating, which means your answer is clear, isn’t it? This won’t work. I’ll go straight to Jung-gung Palace right now and tell the Queen everything about this conversation with you—”
“P-please, just give me your word……!”
Kang Sang-sik seized Dan-bi’s sleeve in desperation and pressed his forehead to the ground.
“Just say the word, and I shall obey in all things.”
At the sight of his servile posture, a satisfied smile played at Dan-bi’s lips. She leaned close to his face and whispered.
“Fine. I won’t tell.”
“You… truly mean that, my lady?”
Dan-bi raised her index finger before his nose. Kang Sang-sik’s gaze fixed on the fingertip before shifting to meet her eyes.
“But there’s a condition.”
The moment their eyes locked, Dan-bi smiled radiantly.

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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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