I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 9

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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 9

Dan Bi stepped into the room and positioned herself before the White Silk.
The pristine fabric, unmarred by a speck of dust, lay like a clean canvas awaiting whatever she might paint upon it.
Yes—this was the caliber of material that kindled the desire to showcase her true skill.
Dan Bi lifted her scissors without hesitation.
As though she had drawn the same design a hundred times before, the blueprint in her mind traced the cutting lines with exquisite precision, accounting for the fabric’s width and the grain’s direction.
“Miss! You can’t just cut without a preliminary sketch!”
Soleum cried out in alarm, yet Dan Bi’s hands moved without a flicker of doubt.
Snip. Snip.
Only the sharp whisper of the scissors parting the pristine silk resonated through the quiet room.
Distinctive curves reflecting modern technique took shape one by one beneath Dan Bi’s fingertips.
It was a bold departure from tradition—accentuating the body’s contours while preserving the majesty befitting a king.
Dan Bi swiftly joined the severed pieces, establishing the garment’s basic silhouette.
Soleum stared, transfixed, her expression vacant as though she might drool at any moment.
“Soleum, no time for amazement. Bring me a needle.”
Dan Bi’s eyes gleamed.
Now came the moment to breathe life into this spotless canvas with the thread she’d prepared.
Dan Bi draped the roughly basted fabric across Soleum’s form, using her as a living mannequin.
“Miss, I can’t… I can’t breathe.”
“Just bear with it. I’m doing the draping.”
She quickly secured the excess fabric with pins, following Soleum’s body’s contours to establish a three-dimensional silhouette.
It was a process that could never emerge from flat blueprints alone—one that captured both functionality and aesthetic grace.
‘Hmm. The shoulder should probably be around here….’
Dan Bi found herself unconsciously gauging Hyeon’s frame against Soleum’s body, and her brow furrowed at the slip.
It had been quite some time since they’d parted, yet his physique remained etched into her fingertips.
‘Well, at least it’s useful for making clothes. I might as well put it to use somehow.’
Dan Bi swallowed the bitter taste and refocused on the needle.
She trimmed away the unnecessary portions ruthlessly and sharpened the shoulder line to sleek perfection, tailored to Hyeon’s frame.
Soon, tendons rose along the backs of her hands.
“Soleum, pass the thread.”
The Yellow Thread, dyed directly onto the needle, threaded through smoothly.
Dan Bi began with the central axis that would form the dragon’s spine—a technique of densely layering thick thread to build the framework, the Three-Dimensional Embroidery Technique itself.
Once she’d established a sturdy foundation, she covered it again with finer thread, and the flat embroidery began to swell gradually, gaining dimension.
“Oh… Miss, the dragon’s back is actually rising!”
“A shadow is what makes the dragon appear truly alive.”
Dan Bi used tweezers to adjust the angle of each scale with meticulous precision. With each stitch, the direction of the grain reflecting light shifted.
It was delicate work that controlled the thread’s density to modulate the muscle’s light and shadow—far more than merely filling empty space.
It was closer to carving sculpture upon silk than embroidering.
“Heavens… look at the dragon’s claws. They look ready to tear through the silk itself.”
“Now for the final highlight.”
Dan Bi threaded the darkest thread into the dragon’s eyes.
She then layered thin thread hundreds of times over, maximizing the depth of the iris.
As she drove in the final stitch like a single punctuation mark, the once-empty dragon’s eye bloomed with fierce luminescence.
Soleum unconsciously swallowed hard, confronted by the dragon’s menacing aura as though it might roar at any moment.
How much time had passed?
The four days that followed within the Game unfolded swiftly. There was scarcely enough time for garment-making alone, day and night alike.
Though Dan Bi’s eyes were bloodshot from neglecting even meals in favor of stitching, her gaze burned with a keenness sharper than ever before.
By the time the lamp had been extinguished and rekindled three times over, a miracle emerged from beneath Dan Bi’s fingers.
“It’s finished.”
Soleum clamped her hand over her mouth.
The golden dragon embroidered upon the White Silk seemed poised to pierce through clouds and ascend at any moment.
The scales rippled with each shift of light, and the raised claws possessed the momentum to snatch at the very air.
Where the Crown Princess’s embroidery, wrought in Gold Thread, brazenly displayed the opulence of royal authority, Dan Bi’s embroidery was pure vitality itself—a dragon ready to tear through the silk and emerge into being.
“Miss…!”
As their eyes met, Soleum’s eyes reddened.
“I always knew you’d make it, Miss!”
Dan Bi swallowed the gathering tears and smiled gently.
“What? When did I ever tell you to give up just because you couldn’t sew?”
“Please forget the old me who spoke carelessly. I’m being born anew now.”
“What?”
Dan Bi met eyes with So and broke into laughter. The room bloomed with a brightness that hadn’t existed before.
“Finishing it just in time for the day before the Rain Ritual Ceremony—at this pace, not even the Queen herself could keep up with you!”
“Well, of course. A cheap imitation like that could never match my standards.”
“A—a cheap imitation?”
Dan Bi gazed down at the completed garment.
Even if it was only a game and had nothing to do with any quest, the joy was real.
No matter how it began, no matter its nature—a design was a design, and a dress was a dress.
A dress I had made. Now it was truly mine, untouchable by anyone else.
Dan Bi could not tear her eyes from the garment until dawn broke.

Bang, bang.
The next morning, heavy footsteps thundered through the corridor from the moment the sun rose.
The door burst open, and Dan Bi’s eyes snapped wide.
When she turned her head, she met the anxious, trembling gaze of So. An ominous premonition crept over her.
“Miss, something terrible has happened!”
So’s voice wavered as though tears might spill at any moment.
“The Rain Ritual Ceremony garment has vanished!”

***

“I only took it out to give it a light pressing, and when I came back, it was gone.”
So wiped away the tears streaming down her face in an endless flow. Even as she ran, tears fell in scattered drops across the corridor.
“I’m so sorry, miss. It’s all my fault…….”
“The person who stole it is at fault. Not you.”
Dan Bi wiped away the tears from So’s wet cheeks.
“It’s all right. We’ll find it again.”
Even as she spoke, sweat poured down her back. That dizzying sense of vertigo from just moments before—the feeling of sinking into the earth—rushed back to her mind.
And now, with the garment gone, Dan Bi’s thoughts immediately fixed on a single face. That irritating face of someone who had always coveted her designs.
By chance or by necessity, Park Ha Rin was here in this place.
Dan Bi suspected the Queen herself had stolen the garment. It wasn’t merely because her face resembled Ha Rin’s in the real world.
In such circumstances, wasn’t it natural to suspect your rival?
Fortunately, the Rain Ritual Ceremony had not yet begun. By then, she had to recover the dress no matter what.
Just then, So Sang Goong approached the two of them.
“Where are you hurrying off to so urgently, miss?”
“I’ve lost something. Before the ceremony starts, I have to find it…….”
“The schedule for the Rain Ritual Ceremony has been moved up.”
Dan Bi turned back from the doorway.
“What? What do you mean?”
“I myself only heard the news just now, but the ceremony is about to begin…….”
“That can’t be right.”
As Dan Bi stepped toward the door, So Sang Goong blocked her path. She pressed her lower lip between her teeth and hesitated for a long moment.
“Miss, that is…….”
“……?”
“Because you failed to keep your promise, the Queen has issued an order forbidding you from leaving So Palace…….”
“What?”
“It can’t be. I broke my promise?”
Dan Bi’s face hardened as she moved past So Sang Goong. So called after her and followed in her wake.

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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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