I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 69

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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 69

In the Central Palace, at that very moment.
“Is that truly the case?”
“Yes, my lady. I spoke with the Consort myself, and I am certain of it.”
The Queen Consort’s brow furrowed as though she could barely contain her shock.
“How could you have revealed everything so freely? Should the Consort report this to His Majesty…”
“Even so, he cannot act immediately.”
Park Dae-young cut through the Queen’s concerns with decisive certainty.
He had just finished disclosing to her, without omission, the terms of the secret pact he’d made with Dan-bi that afternoon.
Though he had anticipated Ha-rin’s bewilderment, there was a clear reason he remained so composed.
“Have you forgotten why His Majesty holds the throne at all?”
At Park Dae-young’s cool question, Ha-rin fell silent.
“It is entirely through the grace of our Park clan.”
A memory from a decade past—blood-soaked and bitter—flashed through Park Dae-young’s mind.
A dreadful night when members of the royal bloodline, including the Former King, had been systematically poisoned.
The current king’s survival had been nothing short of fortune.
The very poison in his own cup had been drunk by the Former King instead, drawing him back from death’s threshold.
Park Dae-young’s original intention had been to sever that bloodline as well, but he revised his plan.

“Your Majesty, your humble servant, the Prime Minister, bids you recover swiftly.”

Back then, Park Dae-young had forcibly placed a reluctant young king upon the throne, and seated his own only daughter, Ha-rin, as Queen Consort, cementing his hold on power.
It had seemed a stroke of fortune that a mere boy remained as king.
For it meant he could manipulate the sovereign’s every gesture, every word, with a single finger.
To him, the king was merely a puppet who spoke and acted as commanded.
Yet this puppet, whom he’d assumed would remain docile for life, had begun to find his own voice.
It started when the true Royal Seal vanished from sight after the king’s ascension, and the nation’s foundations began to shake. The keen, sharp Spiritual Energy that now glinted in the king’s eyes—that was new, and Park Dae-young detested it.
He found it increasingly intolerable.
This puppet, who had once rejected countless petitions and sat silent throughout court sessions, was no longer the same.
Gradually, the sovereign had begun to lend his voice to the lives of the common people.
Park Dae-young could no longer tolerate watching his carefully-positioned puppet rise and move of its own volition.
He sensed that the moment had come to sever the strings that bound the king.
“At present, His Majesty possesses no clear pretext against me.”
Even if Dan-bi were to report her conversation with him to the king, the sovereign lacked any solid grounds to move against Park Dae-young.
The Consort’s words could not be verified as fact; moreover, since the very foundation supporting the king had been the Park clan all along, it was nearly impossible for him to cast off that power.
“But what good is pretext? If His Majesty were merely to press forward with brute force…”
“That, too, is only possible if he retains sufficient strength to do so.”
The king possessed no military force capable of standing against Park Dae-young’s authority.
An astute ruler like him could not be unaware that Park Dae-young’s reach extended to every corner of the palace.
Even if the king discovered his intentions, it was a compelling reason why he would hesitate to act.
Above all, Park Dae-young’s willingness to risk danger by feeding information to Dan-bi was driven by one critical desire: to confirm something.
Namely, that the true Royal Seal was in the king’s possession.

“That’s right. The true Royal Seal is with His Majesty.”

It was something he had half-suspected.
Otherwise, there was no way the king would have pushed so recklessly for the Rain-Summoning Ceremony.
Confirming that the sovereign was concealing the genuine seal was already a significant victory, but the problem lay in this: he had to seize that seal before it was used in the ceremony.

“The best timing would be right before the Rain-Summoning Ceremony begins.”

Park Dae-young had accepted Dan-bi’s proposal precisely because he had his eye on that critical moment.
Royal authority would crumble most catastrophically when the Rain-Summoning Ceremony commenced yet no rain fell.
When the Public Opinion, driven into despair, reached its peak of rage and exhaustion, and the king’s authority lay shattered on the ground—that moment, just before the ritual was completed, was when he would intercept the seal. It was the most flawless picture he had painted in his mind.
“However, Father, if the Consort were to reveal everything to His Majesty, it might become difficult to seize the seal right before the ceremony as planned.”
At the Queen Consort’s worried expression, Park Dae-young nodded readily.
It was something he had already foreseen.
There was a possibility that Dan-bi could disclose all these facts to the King and cast her lot with him entirely, and Park Dae-young could not rule it out.
Yet he harbored a conviction that she would not move so easily in his direction.
It was the thought that Dan-bi might truly be a being from the Other Realm.
In truth, uncovering her identity was nearly as crucial to Park Dae-young as obtaining the Royal Seal itself.
If Dan-bi really had come from the Other Realm, then the threads behind the strange phenomena he had long found suspicious would finally unravel.
As he had anticipated, she showed unmistakable signs of disquiet at his blunt questioning.

“Fine. I’ll accept that proposal.”

Park Dae-young suspected her reasons for accepting the offer ran along the same vein.
It was plain to see that she was subtly attempting to keep a hand in with him as well.
While outwardly feigning compliance, her mind was visibly churning behind her eyes, weaving some other scheme entirely.
From that manner, Park Dae-young grasped it with sudden certainty.
Perhaps there was indeed another purpose hidden behind her presence at the King’s side.
And yet the reason Park Dae-young accepted this transparent proposal was perfectly clear.
By keeping her near, he could not only obtain the Royal Seal more readily, but also draw out more information about the mysterious Other Realm shrouded in secrecy.
It was, in essence, catching two rabbits with a single throw.
“I shall manage the matter as I see fit, so Your Majesty need not worry greatly on that account.”
“If you say so…….”
“Yet I have one request to make of Your Majesty.”
“Speak freely.”
Park Dae-young turned a subtle smile toward the Queen, who gazed at him with evident curiosity.

***

The noon sun poured down overhead with unusual severity.
Heat shimmer rose from the stone flags of the Palace Courtyard, and in the midst of that oppressive warmth, a platform had been erected for the Cleansing Jade ceremony.
At the center of the platform stood a great white jade basin. Within it brimmed the Sacred Pure Water, infused with the essence of a sacred mountain.
Around the basin, dancers clad in resplendent ritual garments fluttered like butterflies.
Each time the long sleeves dangling from their wrists swept through the air, a cool breeze stirred, as though shaking off some invisible misfortune.
Hyun stepped toward the platform in his Rain-Summoning Ceremony robes, and the hundreds of officials arrayed on either side bowed their heads in unison at his every step.
Soon he stood before the platform, the Royal Seal clasped in his hands and wrapped in silk. Below the platform, the Chief Minister and all the court officials stood in hushed silence.
Hyun confirmed their positions and slowly unwrapped the silk. As the Royal Seal caught the sunlight and gleamed brilliantly, every eye fixed upon it.
The Cleansing Jade was a crucial ceremony, for it marked the commencement of the Rain-Summoning Ceremony proper.
Though the main rite would be conducted at night, the preliminary ceremony had to be flawless for the sincerity of the main rite to reach heaven.
Hyun clenched the cloth with resolve. In the next instant, he reached out to push the Royal Seal into the water—
“Your Majesty, I beg you to pause a moment.”
At the voice calling from below the platform, Hyun’s hand froze. He lifted his gaze, and there stood Park Dae-young, who had drawn near unnoticed, bowing his head.
Hyun narrowed his brows, regarding him from above.
“What is it?”
“I have words for Your Majesty.”
Hyun glanced between the Royal Seal in his hand and Park Dae-young, then wrapped the seal once more in the silk.
“Speak.”
Park Dae-young hesitated a moment before finally opening his mouth.
“Your Majesty, I humbly beg your understanding. I believe it would be prudent to cease this Rain-Summoning Ceremony now.”
“What did you say……?”
At this unexpected declaration, Hyun’s complexion turned rigid.
Yet before he could speak, Park Dae-young’s cold voice rang out first.
“Your Majesty, I dare say it plainly: the Royal Seal you now hold in your hand is a counterfeit.”

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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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