Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 117

As Her Heart Led, Episode 117

#117.

After a lengthy farewell to Ham’s spirit, Lee Jae quickly packed her belongings and opened the door. The King had already left the room before dawn.

With soldiers mobilizing both inside and outside the territory, the King had much to oversee.

Before leaving the Queen’s palace, the King gave the knights on guard a somewhat peculiar instruction.

“Don’t forget to have someone carry the Queen’s luggage.”

It seemed like such an obvious thing to say.

Therefore, the knights found the instruction unusually specific.

The King’s expression was as stoic as always, but given the current sensitive situation, they wondered if he had become more particular.

However, when the small figure of the Queen appeared in the doorway, the knights immediately understood the King’s meaning.

What she was carrying was, to put it mildly, the size of a supply unit.

“Your Majesty, what is all this?”

Lee Jae chuckled.

*Is it that strange? I don’t know how many times I’ve heard this question,* she thought.

“My weapons. It’s a bit of a burden, but please take care of it.”

A couple of knights dazedly accepted the luggage, and Lee Jae took the lead and began to walk.

Leaving the Queen’s palace, she intended to head to where the King and soldiers were gathered.

But she stopped midway and looked towards the lake.

She wondered if she should say goodbye to the boy king [a young, spectral king who resides by the lake].

Lee Jae pondered for some time.

But in the end, she pretended not to see him and continued walking.

Otherwise, the resolve she had so firmly made would weaken in an instant, and she would feel regret.

However, just as Lee Jae had let go of her worries, the boy king appeared before her.

Lee Jae stared at him blankly, then slightly lowered her head in greeting.

She tried to head towards the King and soldiers again.

But from then on, the boy king followed her without saying a word.

Lee Jae eventually had to dismiss the people around her for a moment and speak her mind.

“Why are you following me now?”

Her tone was somewhat accusatory.

But the boy king was the one person to whom Lee Jae could be both most polite and most sharp-tongued.

He was not someone who could be affected by how Lee Jae spoke, whether she pleaded or criticized.

Originally, those who possessed much and had reached a certain level were not easily swayed by others’ words, nor did they waver.

He replied nonchalantly.

“Going to watch.”

“…Are you going to keep following me?”

“Yeah. You don’t like it? But I’m going my way, and your opinion isn’t really necessary.”

It was true, but Lee Jae looked at him with great suspicion.

“I’m really asking this without any expectations, because I finished clearing my mind a long time ago.”

“You’re not following me with the intention of helping…”

“Yeah, there’s no way.”

Lee Jae denied it herself before she even finished speaking.

She could see the corner of the boy king’s mouth turning up in a mischievous way.

So she expressed her feelings after having faced him for a considerable time.

“I’ve seen many ghostly figures in my life, but you’re definitely a strange ghost.”

“What is.”

“If you follow me like this, even if I’ve cleared my mind, wouldn’t it be natural for unnecessary thoughts to resurface? I don’t think this is just a matter of my composure.”

The boy king snickered.

“Gae-Jae [a playful nickname]. I’ve been telling you all along that it’s not that I *won’t* do it, but that I *can’t* do anything for you.”

A presence that always watches from the side but doesn’t give answers when needed.

Sometimes resentful, but a frustrating presence that one relies on.

He actually resembled the image of God that Lee Jae imagined the most.

So there was no way that she, who had only lived for twenty-five years, could see through the intentions of the guardian spirit who had watched over the human world for five hundred years.

But Lee Jae had been vaguely feeling something for some time.

Perhaps it was after discovering Hailey’s letter.

The boy king often said things like that. *Don’t try to find out the secrets of heaven in a dangerous way. The punishment is heavier than you can bear.*

He might have thought that Lee Jae shouldn’t know the secrets of heaven too early. Because then the slim possibility that Hailey had barely opened could fly away.

The King had finally recovered a strong enough aura that the vengeful spirit could not possess him. The King and Lee Jae trusted each other’s existence more than anyone else.

But what if Lee Jae had recklessly touched the secrets of heaven and something had gone wrong before that?

In the end, the King would have also died suddenly before long.

*둥고자비 [dung-go-ja-bi]: To climb to a high place, you must start from a low place.* [A Korean proverb emphasizing the importance of gradual progress.]

So there is a time and order for everything.

Lee Jae, who had inherited Hailey’s long-cherished desire, could not die too early.

Anyway, Lee Jae, who didn’t dislike the boy king’s presence, smiled and walked again.

And when she arrived at the promised place, the King was instructing the people on every detail.

“Your Majesty.”

“Oh, you’re here?”

Lee Jae walked towards the King, and he greeted her kindly even in the tense atmosphere.

The King naturally put Lee Jae in his arms and stroked the back of her head a couple of times. Feeling like she shouldn’t be doing this in this place, she fidgeted and carefully slipped away.

And at that moment, Lee Jae witnessed a slightly unfamiliar sight.

The head maid, who should always be around her, was walking lightly somewhere.

It was the head steward, the head maid’s longtime colleague and rival.

Deborah took out a handkerchief from her bosom and tied it to the head steward’s horse reins with skillful hands. The head steward hesitated, looking very embarrassed.

“Why are you giving this to me…?”

“Don’t misunderstand, it’s not because I think you’re pretty.”

“…”

“Just so you don’t get hurt.”

*It means it’ll be boring to work without you, so come back alive,* Deborah added, motivated by loyalty from working together for a long time, maintaining a dignified expression until the end.

Only the head steward, who had never asked for it, nodded awkwardly.

Lee Jae, who was secretly glancing at the scene, had a somewhat surprised look.

It was as if she had seen a ghost.

She eventually whispered to the King to confirm if what she saw was correct.

“Your Majesty, what did I just see?”

“My dear, it’s polite to pretend you didn’t see something like that.”

“Yes, I know that much, but I didn’t realize they weren’t on bad terms.”

“You’re just realizing that now? Those two work for the fun of doing that.”

It was when the King and Lee Jae were whispering quietly.

Deborah started walking again.

“The head maid is coming this way. I think she’s coming to you.”

Both the King and Lee Jae looked puzzled.

Because the head maid was rummaging through her bosom again.

This time, Deborah took out a handkerchief of a beautiful color.

Then, after bowing her head once, she reached out towards the rough wooden bow that Lee Jae was holding.

The head maid’s tone as she tied the handkerchief was very polite and careful, unlike when she spoke to the head steward.

“Your Majesty, Queen, please return safely.”

“…”

“I always sincerely wish for Your Majesty’s well-being. I hope my wishes can also help protect Your Majesty. It would be really nice if that were the case.”

Lee Jae lowered her head for a moment and gave a faint smile.

It was because it was the words that Lee Jae had once said to the King in front of the people.

But at the time, she was inwardly resigned.

She always lacked certainty and faith.

Perhaps it was because she had been fighting alone in a battlefield for too long.

Kang Lee Jae was no longer alone.

Nevertheless, her heart still ached sometimes.

Because this wish was so precious, as much as she had assumed it would be difficult to receive, and the countless misunderstandings she had made in her life flashed through her mind.

When she opened her eyes in Hailey’s body, she had presumed.

That this life would be unfortunate without fail. But now that she thought about it, was that really the case?

Countless misunderstandings that arise when one cannot reconcile with oneself and the old past.

Lee Jae always had to acknowledge with solemnity and humility. *I wasted too much of my life with that misunderstanding.*

“Yes, Deborah. Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”

Unable to say anything more, she lowered her gaze for a moment.

Then, Roderick, who was particularly sensitive to that expression, clicked his tongue lowly and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“Head Maid. If you make our Queen cry like this, what am I supposed to do, who has the duty to comfort her?”

“…Why are you driving people crazy again? I’m smiling. And what duty is there in this kind of situation?”

Despite Lee Jae’s rebuke, Roderick carefully examined her complexion. And the corners of her lips really started to rise little by little.

Once again, she raised her head high and looked closely at the faces of the people gathered. She could see the sharpened gazes of many people.

Lee Jae also made her gaze a little clearer.