Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 112

Though a dazzling victory had been won, the atmosphere within the castle remained rather chilly.

This was because the King had been wearing a fearsome expression for some time.

He repeatedly glanced at Jae’s bandaged hand, then looked away, sighing heavily.

And when blood continued to seep through the bandage, he glared at the servants.

“When is the physician arriving?”

“I… I just sent for him, Your Majesty.”

“So, I’m asking when he’s coming…”

At that moment, Roderick, who looked ready to explode, restrained himself.

Jae had quietly taken his wrist.

Roderick sighed deeply and asked the servants again.

“So, could someone please inform me when the physician is expected?”

They weren’t prophets; there was no way they could know such a thing.

As the servants hesitated, Deborah watched them with utter disdain. She had already dispatched someone from the Queen’s Palace to summon the physician long ago.

In fact, she had acted the moment Jae pricked her hand.

Deborah was perpetually ashamed to be working with such clueless people. She ended up speaking on behalf of the head servant.

“Your Majesty.”

“What?”

“The Queen’s Palace sent someone a while ago, so he should be here shortly.”

The head servant, momentarily failing to mask his annoyance, glared at Deborah, but she remained as haughty as ever.

The King nodded and touched his forehead.

Then, he let out what must have been his umpteenth sigh.

“Haa.”

“Your Majesty, why do you keep sighing like that?”

When Jae asked with an innocent smile, Roderick closed his eyes for a moment.

He looked as if he was about to lose his temper for the first time in a long while.

“Do you even realize how dangerous what you just did was?”

“It was just a tiny prick; what’s so dangerous about it?”

“It’s not just those kinds of things that are dangerous. Sometimes, even after the bleeding stops, wounds can fester.”

“Your Majesty, you can just pour strong liquor on it in that case.”

As Jae spoke as if it were nothing, the King almost burst out laughing.

Then, he turned serious with a frightening look and finally snapped.

“Where did you even pick up something like that?”

“……”

“Who’s been filling our little bean’s head with methods used on the battlefield!”

As the King raised his voice, everyone flinched and bowed their heads.

The only one laughing and unafraid of the King was Jae.

She looked at the King, pondered for a moment, and then opened her mouth.

“Your Majesty, I’m sorry to say this after making you so angry.”

“……”

“But is it okay to say it anyway?”

“Haa… Say whatever you want.”

“Don’t get angry at night. It’s really bad for a person’s energy, for no other reason.”

Night was a time when people’s emotions were particularly prone to wavering.

It wasn’t for nothing that vengeful spirits attacked people so fiercely at night.

“Evil spirits just wait for moments like that.”

“……”

“And once you’re invaded, then day and night don’t matter anymore. Time just diligently goes about its business.”

Time was too honest, even when people were struggling.

Sometimes, that felt cruel.

Because that unceasing solemnity made people feel even more pathetic.

The servants and knights were listening attentively to Jae’s words.

The maids, with faces that said they were too used to it, simply nodded, thinking, ‘She’s starting again.’

And the King sighed even louder than before, touching his forehead.

He was actually dumbfounded.

Jae, who had inflicted blood on herself, was worrying about others.

“Are you, in this situation, perhaps worrying about me?”

He looked around and said to the people watching.

“What am I supposed to do with her?”

“……”

“Someone, anyone, please come out and say something for me. I feel like I need to win at least once at this point.”

However, the servants and knights wore extremely troubled expressions.

‘No way we can win against the Chief of the Pro-King Faction, who even His Majesty can’t beat—.’

Everyone just wanted to escape this situation and avoided eye contact, and just then, the physician arrived.

The physician, who had been dragged in by the maids in the middle of the night, looked utterly bewildered. The King and Deborah, who were watching, narrowed their eyes.

It was a look that said, ‘What’s taking you so long?’ The physician hesitated when Jae suddenly held out her palm, but soon carefully unwrapped the bandage.

And as he disinfected the wound, the physician became increasingly puzzled.

He unconsciously looked around.

This was a castle. The knights looked perfectly fine, but the Queen was the only one with a wound, which was very strange.

“So… how did… who did this to Her Majesty the Queen…”

Jae immediately replied to his muttering.

“I did it.”

“Y-you don’t mean you harmed yourself…”

The physician barely swallowed his words, but his shocked gaze unconsciously turned to the King.

He couldn’t think of anyone other than the husband as the culprit who would drive the Queen to do such a thing.

It was a natural train of thought for a physician who had often seen Roderick’s violent behavior (or so he thought).

Of course, Roderick was going crazy.

He let out a hollow laugh and looked at the ceiling.

“Yes, it’s all my fault. The reason my wife is like this is because I’m the worst son of a bitch in the world.”

“……”

“But isn’t it a blessing that she doesn’t leave the house, even though she doesn’t want to live with me?”

“……”

“Our Queen is originally generous.”

The physician bowed his head, utterly flustered, and Jae shook with laughter.

When Roderick looked at her as if asking if she found it funny, she barely managed to compose herself.

And belatedly, she explained to the physician.

“I don’t know exactly what you’re misunderstanding, but it’s not His Majesty’s fault. I hurt myself by accident.”

“Yes… I spoke out of turn.”

The physician, watching the King’s expression, finished disinfecting the wound, applied medicine, and quickly wrapped it in a bandage.

However, the King’s mood, after rechecking the affected area, seemed even worse than before.

He touched his forehead and asked the physician in a low voice.

“The scar.”

“Yes?”

“If even a tiny scar forms on that small hand, will I be able to open my eyes without feeling sorry every time I see it?”

“……If you take good care of it, it won’t leave a scar. Even if a small one remains, it will be so faint that it won’t be noticeable.”

“That better be true.”

“Yes, I can guarantee that.”

The King nodded briefly.

Shortly after, the physician fled the scene as if escaping.

From then on, Roderick began to send Jae protesting glances. He rested his chin on his hand with a face full of things to say, and the air in the room became heavy once again.

The castle people wondered, ‘Shouldn’t we leave now?’ and cautiously watched.

Now that the treatment was over, it seemed like it was time for a marital spat.

However, the knights who had gone out on the search had not yet returned, and the royal couple had not given any particular instructions.

In the meantime, Jae began to gradually sort things out.

“Your Majesty, it’s very late now. If you have nothing more to say, shouldn’t we go to sleep?”

Roderick spat out abruptly, as if he had been waiting for it.

“I’m sorry, my dear. But I don’t think I can sleep right now. I’ve learned something I didn’t really want to know.”

“What is it?”

“When a person is upset, they can’t sleep.”

“I told you not to be like that. What are you going to do by holding onto something that’s already happened?”

“Ah, something that’s already happened…”

The King muttered with a lingering tone, but Jae ignored him, pretending not to hear.

She looked around at the people still waiting and first instructed the head maid on what to do.

“Deborah, you can turn off all the candles now. Nothing will happen tonight.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Then I will quickly take care of it.”

Deborah was the most perceptive person in the royal castle.

When she created an opportunity for Jae to slip away naturally, she winked at all the maids. And finally, she glanced at the head servant.

‘His Majesty seems quite upset today? I can see why he’d be upset.’

‘But are you guys going to keep doing that all night?’

The head servant, despite his gentle nature, cursed with his eyes at Deborah’s haughty expression. The head maid cleanly ignored him and left the room.

Jae then looked at the knights and servants.

They were waiting for the King’s command, wondering if they could finish up as well.

However, the King showed no sign of opening his mouth.

In the end, Jae diligently winked in place of the King.

It meant to talk about it tomorrow and for everyone to just go out.

People hesitated but left the room one by one.

After confirming that the door was closed, Jae took Roderick’s hand.

And with a much more relaxed heart, she asked.

“Your Majesty, are you going to keep sulking like this?”

“Yeah, I’m going to keep doing this.”

“Stop it.”

“……”

“Okay, I was wrong. I wanted to win too much, so I didn’t have time to worry about Your Majesty’s feelings.”

She placed her hands on Roderick’s shoulders and lightly kissed his cheek.

Then, with a clear face, she said, “There, is that okay now? Are you all better?”

“Next time, I’ll try to think of a more moderate method.”

However, the King was silent again.

Rather, he slightly raised one eyebrow and just stared intently at her.

As the King made an even more serious face than before, Jae became a little embarrassed.

It was because she thought that this might not work after all.

Or perhaps he had seen through her shallow intentions to gloss over it with a childish kiss. It was also true that she had subtly broken her promise not to harm her body.

Watching his expression, she hesitated and then moved again.

And this time, she lightly touched her lips to his.

The King raised one eyebrow even higher than before.

“……Can’t we talk about it tomorrow and get some sleep?”

“……”

“Huh?”

“……Okay, I understand.”

That answer sounded like it was forced out.

Glad for even that, her face quickly brightened.

Jae excitedly spread out the blanket as if shaking it to prepare the bed.

However, Roderick grabbed her wrist.

“But are you really thinking straight? After doing this?”

“What did I do?”

“You just poked someone who was trying to stay still again.”

Jae stared at him blankly, as if dumbfounded.

“……Oh dear. I think you might have misinterpreted my signal just now.”

It was meant to soothe his feelings, not that kind of intention.

“No, I received it very accurately.”

“It’s because Your Majesty keeps getting angry over nothing… No, anyway.”

“I don’t know about the past, but I don’t want to disappoint my wife with something like this.”

Jae, covering her mouth and laughing, thinking, ‘What is he saying? Is he really crazy?’, shook off his hand holding her wrist.

Then, she just covered herself with the blanket.

“You’ve been playing with people’s feelings, lifting them up and down, and now you’re going somewhere again. Come here quickly.”

People were still anxiously waiting outside.

However, contrary to their worries, the marital spat didn’t even begin.

Rather, the couple’s conversation quickly became intimate.

The King, exuding a strong animalistic scent, burrowed into the blanket.