Surviving as the Heavenly Demon’s Concubine - Chapter 33

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 4. The Scoundrel Who Causes Trouble

“Thank you for letting me use it well, Lord Sangwan.”

Veins bulged on Sangwan Baek’s forehead as he watched Riser bow her head and hand over the Black Lotus Water Immortal Plaque.

“It seems you used it quite well indeed.”

He couldn’t refuse for the sake of appearances, so he laughed it off with a hearty chuckle, but hadn’t she spent such a fortune that Yakwang-jeon even came to verify it?

To put it in terms of Riser’s past life, it was like the credit card company calling to ask if she’d been scammed.

Seeing Riser, who usually called him “Elder” or “Palace Master,” voluntarily address him as “Lord,” it seemed she wasn’t completely shameless. But the fact that she didn’t spare money made it even more irritating.

“How is Miss Chang’e of the Namgung family recovering?”

“Yes. She’s practically flying around now.”

The paralysis poison must have been cured. Her reputation must have been restored too. These days, Namgung Yeonhwa was spending very happy days.

Perhaps conscious of the rumors, she secretly came to ask for yodeling lessons, but unfortunately, she had no talent for it at all.

She insisted that her tongue movement was still restricted because the paralysis poison hadn’t completely left her system, but according to Moyong Hye, she couldn’t even whistle to begin with. It seemed better to give up early.

“It’s heartwarming to see you getting along harmoniously with the other Chang’e ladies. But isn’t there something you’re forgetting?”

“Forgetting?”

“You look like you have no idea.”

Riser made a puzzled expression because she didn’t know what Sangwan Baek was talking about.

Sangwan Baek looked fed up. He wasn’t a nanny, and while he wondered if he really had to have this conversation, he couldn’t stand to watch any longer.

“Didn’t you promise to study diligently at Cheonryeon Palace?”

“Yes?”

“This old man knows you’re busy with various matters and doesn’t want to nag, but this is going too far. How can you not attend even once…”

“W-wait, wait a moment.”

Riser panicked and hurriedly stopped Sangwan Baek.

Her mind couldn’t keep up. So what was all this about?

“The… semester… started…?”

“Do you mean the opening of classes?”

“Semester or classes! Did the term start?!”

Riser, who rarely raised her voice, shouted while pounding on Sangwan Baek’s desk.

“I-it started! It’s already been ten days since classes opened!”

Overwhelmed by that frenzied momentum, Sangwan Baek unconsciously pressed his back against his chair and answered as if confessing.

“Kyaaah!!”

Riser screamed like someone who had just watched the most terrifying horror movie and collapsed with a thud.

She couldn’t believe it. Classes had already started and ten days had passed. And she hadn’t attended even once during that time!

‘Academic probation! I’m going to get academic probation!’

As a college graduate from South Korea, something absolutely unacceptable and horrifying had occurred.

Sangwan Baek was surprised by Riser’s unexpected overreaction and asked back.

“Don’t tell me… don’t tell me you didn’t know?”

Nod.

Riser couldn’t even make a sound and just nodded her head.

“You have close relationships with other prospective concubines, so how could you be so slow to hear the news…”

Exactly.

Riser felt as if her chest was burning with a sense of betrayal.

‘Ten days ago. Ten days ago, you say.’

Around that time, Riser had just gotten out of Noeok and was busy going back and forth to Yakwang-jeon, unable to sleep while frantically brewing medicinal decoctions. Even if they couldn’t talk then because she was too busy, there would have been plenty of time afterward.

Had she been the only one who thought of them as friends?

“Even Buddha said that in heaven and earth, he alone was honored. There’s no one in this world you can trust. Become strong.”

Sangwan Baek awkwardly comforted her while patting Riser’s back.

He had thought the young prospective concubines would be innocent, but they weren’t naive enough to forget that they were competitors with each other.

* * *

The training period at Cheonryeon Palace is 1,000 days.

This number includes holidays, and classes are actually held for about 800 days.

The basic schedule is to study for 9 days and rest for 1 day in 10-day cycles, with about 100 additional commemorative days.

The important thing is that every 100 days, that is, every tenth cycle, they take regular exams called ‘Baengryeon Examination.’

Since Riser had missed the entire first ten days, she was starting with 10% of the exam material already lost.

“I, I… Riser looked busy…”

“Please don’t speak to me carelessly, Miss Jegal.”

Jegal Lin looked tearful as if the sky had fallen, but Riser’s expression was as cold as ice.

‘Jegal Lin! Even you!’

How could she be so stingy with just one word like “Riser, let’s go to class” when they ate and slept in the same pavilion?

“You really have no loyalty, Miss Jegal. You’re a very bad friend.”

Peng Guyeon laughed heartily while sharpening a huge blade, as if it were someone else’s business.

Come to think of it, it felt like she hadn’t seen Peng Guyeon’s face in a long time.

“It really has been a long time. I went on a field trip led by the Sword Demon.”

A field trip. There was such a thing and she missed it?

Riser asked again with regret.

“Where did you go?”

“Yeah. It was a place called Dosan Jiok. It’s a snowy mountain densely packed with swords from hilt to blade, and while the Sword Demon flew around shooting sword energy everywhere, we had to run between the razor-sharp blades…”

‘Good thing I didn’t go.’

Riser realized that her idea of a field trip was quite different from Cheonryeon Palace’s field trips. The Demon Sect is the Demon Sect indeed. So brutal.

“Wait. By Sword Demon, do you mean the Sword Demon from the Five Great Demon Lords?”

“Is there another Sword Demon?”

Of course not. Unless someone was crazy, there couldn’t be anyone who would dare use such a high-ranking person’s title.

“If you know there isn’t, why are you asking?”

“That’s not what I meant… never mind.”

Riser felt that her conversation with Peng Guyeon kept getting choppy.

It felt like there was no natural rhetorical exchange, and she was like a blockhead who only took things literally…

“Wait. I don’t see Moyong Hye.”

She was someone whose absence was immediately noticeable.

The fact that their ‘Cheonryeon Gung Murim Sega Yebihugong Moim,’ which had members who were either too socially awkward or lacking, functioned normally was entirely thanks to Moyong Hye.

Peng Guyeon was oblivious, Namgung Yeonhwa didn’t read the room, and Jegal Lin only read the room.

‘I’m not the type to actively mediate.’

Riser, who thought it was best to keep quiet when uncomfortable and step back when annoyed, lacked the motivation before even the ability to mediate human relationships.

When Moyong Hye’s efforts seemed too pitiful, helping her out slightly for conscience’s sake was the best Riser could do.

“Hye probably went to attend an elective course.”

Namgung Yeonhwa put a honey-preserved jujube in her mouth and rolled it around.

That was something she gave her to eat one at a time after taking bitter medicine. Now she doesn’t even take the medicine but just keeps popping jujubes.

“Stop eating those.”

“Don’t be petty. I can just pay for them.”

“It’s not because I feel sorry for the money, but because eating too many isn’t good for you. When people eat too many sweets, sugar gets mixed into their blood, and if this becomes excessive, they get diabetes. This disease is so scary that later you have to cut off your feet and go blind…”

“I get it, so stop. You’re making me lose my appetite.”

Namgung Yeonhwa pushed away the bowl containing the honey-preserved jujubes and frowned.

“Dang Ri-seo. If you were a physician, you might have skill but you wouldn’t be popular.”

“How can you not be popular if you have skill?”

“Exactly. I guess you’re going to achieve that difficult feat.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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