I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 95

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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 95

“You’re that curious about it?”
“Of course! I wait for your story every single day!”
Dan-bi looked down at Myeong-i’s innocent, shining eyes and broke into a quiet laugh.
Myeong-i seized the ties of Dan-bi’s jacket with both hands, shaking them eagerly and begging her to continue.
“All right, all right. Now, where was I last time…?”
“You said the girl told Jeong-in everything—that she had come from outside this world.”
“Ah, did I get that far already?”
Dan-bi nodded, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.
Her visits to Sangui-won had grown frequent of late, all to check on Myeong-i’s condition, which meant she found herself with more time to talk.
And so, without quite realizing it, Dan-bi had begun to share some of her deepest worries with Myeong-i.
Of course, she had woven in one carefully crafted lie—she had dressed up her circumstances as if they were a passage from a thrilling Unofficial History Novel and recounted them that way.
At first, Myeong-i had widened her eyes in disbelief that such a strange tale could be read in the palace, but soon she became utterly absorbed, and now pestered Dan-bi for the next installment every time they met.
Eventually, worn down by Myeong-i’s persistent urging, Dan-bi had found herself reciting her own movements with such fluidity that she’d ended up revealing even the part about having exposed her secret to Hyeon.
At first, she’d worried that she was laying bare her hand too openly, but watching Myeong-i’s eyes shine with the kind of concern one might feel for a character in a novel, her unease had gradually subsided.
And more than anything, the vivid impressions that came from this world’s perspective had helped her see blindspots she’d never considered before, proving genuinely useful in clarifying her direction.
She was borrowing Myeong-i’s keen insight quite effectively.
Dan-bi cleared her throat and slowly traced through the previous plot points in her mind.
“So… the only reason this girl revealed that she came from outside is this: that way, even if this world were to restart from the beginning, she could avoid falling out of the king’s sight.”
“But wouldn’t that mean revealing all her moves?”
Myeong-i’s sharp question struck Dan-bi from behind even as she was carefully choosing her words to match this world’s logic.
“What if the girl realizes that she must destroy the king in order to leave this world—that she must take away what the king holds most dear to return home? If he comes to understand that too… what then?”
Her eyes already gleaming with absorption in the story, Myeong-i folded her arms, waiting for the answer.
“So the girl devised a stratagem.”
“A stratagem?”
“Yes. She tells the king a lie—that she can only return home if she stays by his side and dedicates herself entirely to breaking the curse.”
In truth it was a lie about needing his love, but in context, it wasn’t entirely false.
“Oh my!”
Dan-bi couldn’t help but laugh aloud at Myeong-i’s dramatic reaction.
“Is it really that amusing?”
“Yes! The girl is so clever!”
Dan-bi felt oddly flustered, as if she herself had been complimented. She scratched the back of her neck and tried to look away, but Myeong-i tugged lightly on her jacket tie again.
“So? Self-Ga, so what happens?”
“Well…”
“Does the king come to love the girl?”
“…What?”
“The king, I mean. In these Romance Novels, the king usually falls in love with the girl, doesn’t he?”
“H-hey, I never said this was a Romance Novel.”
The unexpected word sent heat rushing to Dan-bi’s cheeks in an instant.
Myeong-i only tilted her head at Dan-bi’s reaction.
“Wasn’t it a Romance Novel?”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because the girl is in love with the king.”
“…!”
Dan-bi’s mouth fell open silently at those words.
Myeong-i, oblivious to Dan-bi’s stiffening expression, chattered on.
“So I suppose the king will soon come to love the girl too…”
“Wait, hold on, Myeong-i.”
“Yes?”
“Why do you think the girl is in love with the king?”
“Well.”
Myeong-i blinked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Because the girl doesn’t seem to have any intention of stealing the king’s heart.”
“What?”
Caught off guard by the answer, Dan-bi trailed off. Myeong-i folded her small arms firmly and nodded.
“The girl went to so much trouble finding the culprit who damaged the Giuoje vestments, but that wasn’t truly necessary, was it? After all, the girl could solve everything simply by taking the king’s heart. And yet, above all…”
Myeong-i looked up at Dan-bi’s face directly.
Dan-bi tilted her head as if she didn’t understand, and Myeong-i’s face bloomed with laughter.
“When you speak the story from the girl’s perspective, your face brightens so much. You already know the rest of the story, don’t you? The part where the king and the girl end up loving each other!”
Dan-bi couldn’t find the words to continue.
She had never thought deeply about it—what she truly felt about this world’s king.
She had dismissed all those unfamiliar feelings toward him as mere echoes of the king from the outside world.
Whatever they were—excitement, anger, or anything else.
But now, hearing Myeong-i’s words, something felt oddly discordant.
When was the last time I thought of the other king?
She couldn’t remember clearly. Somehow, the king of this world had already overlapped his image in her mind above her real memories.
The blue Cheollik that made his white jade skin stand out even more, and those dark eyes that looked down at her so steadily.

“Would you wish for me to love you?”

He had asked her exactly that. Whether she truly wished for him to love her.
At first, she couldn’t understand the question properly.
It was natural enough.
After all, Dan-bi had told him honestly that she needed to receive his love in order to leave this world.
She couldn’t understand why he would ask again when he already knew her purpose.
What was even stranger was her own reaction to his question.
For the sake of her goal, she could have simply answered yes without hesitation.
But for some reason, her lips wouldn’t move.
In the end, she had returned to the palace without giving him any answer, and several days had passed since they parted.
Even though she hadn’t seen him since then, every night as she lay down to sleep, his face asking that question would shimmer before her eyes.
Why had he asked like that? Why couldn’t she bring herself to answer?
Dan-bi hesitated for a moment, then carefully opened her mouth.
“Myeong-i. There’s something that happens later in the story, and I was wondering—could I ask you about it?”
“What is it?”
Dan-bi was quiet for a moment, then met Myeong-i’s innocent gaze.
“As time passes, the king asks the girl something. He wants to know if she truly wishes for him to love her. Why would the king ask such a question?”
To Dan-bi’s earnest question, Myeong-i smiled as if it were nothing.
“This one’s too easy to answer, though?”
“What is it?”
“Myeong-i!”
A voice called from behind, and she turned.
Gwon-i was leaning his upper body out through the side gate of the Sangui-won, and at the same moment, Myeong-i shot up from her seat.
“Gwon-i!”
“Everyone’s looking for you inside.”
“Right, I’ll be there soon!”
Dan-bi looked up quietly at Myeong-i hurrying to tidy her spot. Her face had turned as red as a radish.
So this was why she claimed to be an expert on romance novels.
Dan-bi let a mischievous smile play across her lips.
“Do you like Gwon-i?”
After Gwon-i disappeared beyond the door, Dan-bi whispered softly near Myeong-i’s ear. Myeong-i’s shoulders trembled and her cheeks puffed out.
“No, no! That’s not something you’re supposed to notice!”
“That was it? Sorry, sorry!”
Dan-bi swallowed the laughter threatening to burst out, and Myeong-i shot her a sidelong glance with narrowed eyes.
Then, as if bestowing a favor, she lifted her chin with an exaggerated air of superiority.
“It seems you’re still lacking in your understanding of romance novels, so I’ll specially teach you something.”
“Teach me what?”
“The answer to that.”
Myeong-i leaned her head close to Dan-bi as if sharing a secret.
“You asked why the king would ask such a question, didn’t you? There’s only one answer.”
A single thin, delicate index finger stood stiffly before Dan-bi’s eyes.
“Because the king fell in love with the girl.”
“What…?”
“Think about it. The king already knew that the girl had to receive his love to escape this place safely. Knowing all of that, why would he ask her again?”
Myeong-i gathered the basket into her arms and turned on her heel.
“He wanted to hear her say no.”
To hear her say no.
Dan-bi watched Myeong-i’s retreating figure in the distance, then slowly lifted her gaze. Beyond the low wall that enclosed the space, an endless expanse of blue sky stretched out.
Myeong-i had been right.
If Hyeon truly knew all the cards yet asked the question anyway, then her intention narrowed down to one thing only.
She wanted confirmation from me. She wanted to know what my true heart truly was.
“I…”
Dan-bi looked down at her own hands, still and quiet.
In that moment of crisis, when flame-demon howled on the verge of swallowing her whole, his broad embrace had pulled her close without hesitation—and now the memory burned across her mind.
The warmth lingering in her palms still throbbed, still set her heart ablaze.

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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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