I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 75

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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 75

In the Private Chamber, Hyeon’s fingers tapped a steady rhythm against the desk.
Rang, who had been quietly following the low, resonant sound, caught Hyeon’s gaze.
After a moment, Hyeon’s lips parted slowly.
“Rang.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Is this not a curious thing?”
Hyeon stopped tapping and lifted the Jade Seal from the desk.
The seal, drinking in candlelight, rippled with a subtle blue luminescence.
To all appearances it was genuine, without the slightest discrepancy—yet the radiance that lay atop it was a secret known only to Hyeon.
“You speak of Concubine Dan-bi, Your Majesty?”
Rang ventured the question carefully, having glimpsed Hyeon’s thoughts. Instead of answering, Hyeon nodded silently.
It was indeed strange. Everything was unfolding exactly as she had foreseen, moving with remarkable speed.
It was Dan-bi herself who had first proposed dusting the Jade Seal with Luminous Stone powder.

“Luminous Stone on the Jade Seal, you say?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. As a precaution against any unforeseen circumstances.”

The suggestion had seemed peculiar at first, but Hyeon had quickly grasped her intent.
The daytime preparatory ritual held before the Main Ceremony—the very heart of the Rain Ritual Ceremony.
The Pre-ceremony Ritual was the most perilous moment, when all the eyes of concubines and ministers alike would be fixed upon him.

“Your Majesty knows as well as I do—not a single minister welcomes this Rain Ritual Ceremony.”

Her words held no error.
This Rain Ritual Ceremony was a desperate gamble, executed over the ministers’ fierce opposition and with the royal authority itself at stake.
No one could predict what exploits those gathered there might attempt, what conspiracies they might weave.
But there was more.
According to her account, the man who had switched the Jade Seal before was surely Woo-sang.
Yet Hyeon did not believe Woo-sang had woven this vast scheme alone.
What appears is not the enemy’s entirety.
Thus Hyeon had turned this Rain Ritual Ceremony into a trap to expose his rivals’ true identities, one and all.
He was certain the enemies would regard this moment as a golden opportunity—and his assumption proved correct.

“I dare say, Your Majesty, that the Jade Seal in your hand is a counterfeit.”

It came at the height of the Pre-ceremony Ritual.
Hyeon’s brow furrowed as he looked at Park Dae-young, who had suddenly stepped before him.
To speak of a false seal—the words that left his mouth were nothing short of absurd.
Before so many concubines and courtiers, he dared invoke a counterfeit seal with such brazenness. That arrogant bearing was clear evidence of a hidden agenda.
Only when he heard the demand to halt the Rain Ritual Ceremony did Hyeon finally grasp Park Dae-young’s true intent completely.
‘So his purpose all along was to break the ceremony itself.’
Without hesitation, Hyeon drew the Jade Seal from his robes.
He could not allow Park Dae-young’s sophistry to sway the mood any further.
The moment the Jade Seal submerged in the White Jade Basin filled with Blessed Water, a subtle blue radiance began to shimmer across the surface.
Watching the mysterious brilliance burst forth from the seal as it touched the water, Hyeon’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Everything had unfolded exactly as planned.

“If you dust the underside of the Jade Seal with Luminous Stone powder, it will emit a blue light in the Blessed Water. Then no one will question its authenticity.”

Dan-bi’s proposal to use the Luminous Stone to quell any lingering doubt had struck true.
The stirring ministers fell silent, and the preparatory ritual concluded without incident.
Now, if the Main Ceremony proceeded properly, the Rain Ritual Ceremony would be complete. All that remained was to wait for rain to fall from the heavens.
Hyeon found it strange how every situation flowed exactly as she had said it would.
Though he was grateful that matters unfolded so smoothly, at the same time, the calm before the storm weighed heavily on his mind.
Before the Main Ceremony began, he felt compelled to personally inspect the preparations.
“Where is the concubine?”
“I am told that after completing the pre-ceremony ritual, Your Highness proceeded to the Sang-ui-won.”
“Let us go to the Sang-ui-won.”
“Your Highness? But the main ceremony is about to begin.”
“It will only take a moment.”
Hyeon moved without hesitation.
Yet when he arrived at the Sang-ui-won, not even her shadow remained there.
“That is… that….”
“Speak plainly!”
Before the doors of the Sang-ui-won.
The seamstresses and craftsmen trembled on the ground at the sound of Hyeon’s sharp, piercing demand for news of the lady’s whereabouts as soon as he arrived.
Hearing that the lady had stopped by but then rushed off somewhere, Hyeon pressed further.
Then one of the seamstresses who had last seen the lady lowered her head and opened her mouth.
“She was searching for a child named Myeong. Then she rushed off that way….”
“Myeong?”
“A child who often followed the lady.”
Before the craftsman could finish speaking, Hyeon turned and hurried away. Rang followed urgently, calling after him.
“Your Highness!”
A missing child from the Sang-ui-won, and Dan-bi vanishing without a trace in search of her.
The timing was too precise—right after the Rain Ritual Ceremony’s pre-ceremony ritual ended—and it gnawed at him.
Hyeon stopped and gave Rang an order.
“You search that side thoroughly. I will look this way.”
“But Your Highness, to go alone—”
“Now!”
At Hyeon’s fierce gaze, Rang hesitated for a moment before dashing off in the opposite direction.
The moment Hyeon confirmed Rang’s retreating figure, he ran forward again.
“Your Highness! Your Highness!”
The court attendants following behind him floundered and hastened to pursue.
Hyeon pressed forward through the dense undergrowth, ignoring their calls.
Soon he reached the end of a narrow path.
‘Smoke…?’
Thin wisps of smoke were rising from across the way. Hyeon’s brow furrowed as he asked.
“Yoon.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“What lies in that direction?”
“That is… the Abandoned Pavilion, long left to ruin.”
The closest derelict building to the Sang-ui-won.
Without delay, Hyeon hurled himself toward the place where smoke was rising.
Yoon rushed after him in alarm, but Hyeon’s stride had already pulled far ahead.
As he ventured deep into the undergrowth.
“Your… Your Highness!”
Just as Yoon had said, a lone Abandoned Pavilion stood in the dense growth.
The problem was that the structure was consumed in a terrible blaze, black flames pouring from it with frightening intensity.
The flames had already turned black, devouring the light as they engulfed the surrounding area.
Without hesitation, Hyeon ran toward the pavilion.
He grasped the door handle desperately, but the door would not budge.
Someone had boarded it shut from the outside, preventing anyone from entering from within.
In that moment, a terrible certainty flashed through his mind.
‘Someone is inside.’
The thought completed itself, and Hyeon began pounding on the main gate where the flames had not yet reached.
Bang—!
“Lady! Are you there! Lady!”
“Your Highness, this is dangerous! If you injure yourself, what will become of us? Please, I beg you to step back!”
“Move aside! Lady!”
Unmoved by Yoon’s anguished pleas, Hyeon struck the door like a man possessed.
But only acrid smoke poured back from within, nothing more.
The fire’s fury was so great that even if someone were inside, they could scarcely maintain consciousness.
Hyeon lowered his shoulder, put his full weight behind it, and charged the door.
“Your Highness!”
Yoon threw himself in front of him to block his path, but Hyeon shoved him aside without mercy and hurled himself against the door again and again.
Bang, crack—!
At last, cracks began to spider across the wooden door, which thrashed and groaned as though crying out in agony.
With each successive blow, the door split further with sharp, splintering sounds until it finally collapsed inward with a deafening crash.
The moment the door gave way, the black inferno trapped within erupted outward, devouring everything in its path.
Hyeon pushed through the scorching heat that blocked his vision and stepped into the flames without hesitation.

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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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