Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 130

Only Deborah and Jade had seen Kang Yijae’s bizarre creation beforehand.

And the three had differing opinions.

‘I think he will be surprised.’

‘But he will still like it. It’s made with sincerity, isn’t it?’

‘He’ll laugh? Of course, he’ll like it too.’

The King, arriving in the back garden, was speechless for a while.

Because a pair of very…assertive sculptures stood at the edge of the garden.

They were enlarged versions of Kang Yijae’s early works, into which she had poured her heart and soul.

The King ran a hand over his face, sighing deeply.

And Yijae’s prediction came true.

The King, who had been clutching his forehead, soon began to shake with laughter.

The voice that came out sounded like a groan of agony.

‘My dear… what on earth is this?’

‘I carved them with the carving knives Roderick bought me from the workshop last time.’

I couldn’t not reciprocate the precious gift of the carving knives. Give and take is the way of the world.

So, as you said before, I freely unfolded my world of art.

‘Actually, there were parts that couldn’t be done with the carving knives, so I also used a hammer.’

Yijae said with a grin, and the King, who had been constantly fidgeting, now completely covered his face.

‘I’m having a hard time right now, so let’s talk after I’ve calmed down a bit.’

Yijae nodded, but the King suffered for a while because of his unstoppable laughter.

He finally realized what he had done back at the Glasdin estate.

What on earth did I buy her?

It was a long time before the King managed to suppress his laughter.

He was finally able to appreciate the totem poles carefully.

The sculptures were a little taller than his wife, but their faces resembled those in the room.

But strangely enough, they felt much funnier and more endearing.

Was it because he had gotten used to them, because the sculptor’s heart had become more peaceful, or because the viewer’s perspective had changed?

He simply conveyed his impressions to Yijae.

‘They’re wonderful fellows.’

‘Right, aren’t they?’

‘Yes. But my little bean, didn’t you put too much… heart into this one?’

I think it would be okay to be a little more frugal with things like this. Her hands are too big for strange things.

But this was on the smaller side of what Yijae knew as average, and she took it as a joke instead of giving a detailed explanation.

‘Aren’t they cuter because they’re big?’

‘Well, they’re definitely funnier because they’re big.’

‘Then it’s a success. I made them half to make you laugh, Your Majesty.’

‘Did you?’

Yijae nodded, and Roderick, who had half lost his mind from laughing, belatedly realized.

The Queen had been going back and forth to the back garden like a fox going in and out of a cave to make this.

‘Why are you telling me that now?’

‘Your Majesty, no one wants to reveal their ambitious work in an unfinished state.’

‘Other people must have seen it. You couldn’t have buried this heavy thing here all by yourself…’

As he spoke, the King realized another fact.

He immediately glared at his friend standing behind him.

*I wondered. But how come you didn’t tell me about this?*

In fact, he was very annoyed that his wife was whispering with another man, so he subtly raised his foot, and Jade avoided his gaze and pretended not to notice.

Yijae smiled and grabbed the King’s sleeve, shaking it.

‘Jade helped me move them too. Actually, I bothered him a bit.’

It seemed like she had used him too much for the price of writing a talisman [a magical charm] and moving a mantra [a sacred utterance]. Yijae was secretly sorry, but the King nodded as if she had done a good job.

‘You did a very good job.’

‘Why didn’t you hit him a few times? The commander of the Knights has never been beaten by anyone with a sword in his life.’

Jade, who was listening, felt a little wronged.

That was before the royal family’s energy awakened, but he had been losing to the King in sparring matches every time these days.

Even before that, he had hardly ever won against the King in martial arts.

And the people watching felt somewhat strange.

The sculpture was endlessly scary, but the husband seemed to like it very much.

The blue eyes that looked closely at the sculpture were warm, and the hands that caressed it as if touching a person were affectionate.

The King said with great amusement.

‘Yijae. Then can’t I have this? I want to put it in front of my room.’

‘It’s Roderick’s. I was originally going to put it there, but Roderick sleeps in my room anyway.’

The King nodded as if she was right, but Yijae added primly.

‘If we ever sleep in separate rooms, I’ll move it for you then.’

*We have Jade, don’t we? Jade will help again.*

‘Ah, don’t make jokes like that, it’s scary.’

Roderick hugged Yijae tightly, but she chuckled and wriggled out of his arms.

She left the people behind and suddenly started walking somewhere.

Yijae headed to the warehouse, which was also her workshop. And a moment later, she came out of there with a carving knife in her hand.

The King looked at Yijae with a very puzzled expression, and she smiled at him once before squatting in front of the totem pole.

Because it wasn’t over yet.

She had the most important task left.

Yijae carved nicknames into the totem poles standing side by side.

Roderick on the lower part of one side. Yijae on the other side.

Roderick, who was bent over and looking at his name being engraved, had an ambiguous expression.

‘……My dear.’

‘Yes.’

‘I never wanted you to go that far… no. Thank you.’

The King stroked his forehead for a while.

He was so grateful that she was thinking of him this much, but it was hard to say thank you right away because of the way it looked.

The King realized that there was still some awkwardness between the sculpture and himself.

In the end, he covered his eyes and laughed again.

The King, who had finished the meeting early, was waiting for the Queen to come to his room.

It was then.

The spirit of the box was trying to sneak out of the house when it saw the King and quickly hid.

The King, who was staring at it, tilted his head and got up from the bed.

He tapped the old wooden box with his finger.

But after waiting for a long time, there was no response.

The King finally opened the lid of the box, and the spirit, whose house roof had been blown off in an instant, curled up and trembled.

The King frowned deeply.

*What did I do to make it tremble like that?*

And when the King frowned, the spirit curled up even more than before.

He sighed and opened his mouth.

‘Hey.’

-……..

‘I’m talking to you.’

The spirit, rolling its round eyes around, said with the cutest expression it could muster.

-Huh? Me?

But the King’s reaction was more prickly than expected.

‘You’re not using honorifics.’

‘………’

‘Well, let’s just say that’s up to you.’

‘………’

‘Come out for a bit.’

The King turned away from the wooden box and strode back to the bed.

Soon after the spirit of the box crawled onto the bed, he propped his chin up and carefully observed the spirit.

‘Can you go outside this room?’

The King spoke, but the spirit only looked around and couldn’t answer right away.

The King sighed deeply. He wondered who he was talking to.

In fact, even after his vision opened, he had never talked to beings other than humans. Unlike his wife, he had never felt the need to do so.

But this time, the King showed patience and asked again.

‘Didn’t you hear me? I don’t like asking things many times.’

-……I can go out, but I can’t go far. I have to come back quickly. That’s my home.

The spirit pointed to the wooden box with its chubby fingers, and the King chuckled as he looked at it.

The box that the spirit called its home actually looked like it was about to fall apart.

But the King knew that the house was sturdy in some ways.

It was the result of his wife repairing it with talismans and constantly pouring energy into it.

He sighed shallowly, thinking that the little thing was putting its strength here and there.

‘I’m talking to you.’

-Me?

‘Yes, you.’

-………

‘From now on, if anyone hits on the Queen, you have to tell me. If the Queen is planning something strange like last time, tell me that too.’

-………

‘If anything dangerous happens, you have to come to me right away.’

-……….

‘Do you understand? Oh, and don’t tell the Queen about what we just talked about.’

The King was now making a strange request to the arm-sized spirit.

And after finishing his words, he quietly observed the spirit’s reaction.

Yijae had told the King. *It’s just a naive spirit like a child.*

But she had forgotten that the spirit of the box had extorted a talisman with its cute appearance even at their first meeting.

The spirit immediately set a condition for the King’s request.

-Then will you not glare at me in the future?

Then Roderick, who had been wearing a fairly relaxed expression, immediately hardened his expression.

*So it was you.*

The spirit flinched again, but did not give up while watching.

It asked while slowly moving its butt back.

-Will you play with me like Yijae too?

‘What?’

-Then will we be friends!

The King was so dumbfounded that he let out a hollow laugh.

*He wondered what was up with the King.*

But he eventually nodded briefly.

Because if his wife’s safety was at stake, there was no such thing as a losing deal for him from the start.

‘Haa… Okay, let’s just say that.’

The spirit, who had found a new person to play with, was soon delighted.

The sight seemed pure, and in some ways, it seemed cunning.

He was still dumbfounded, but to be honest, the King was satisfied.

Anyway, he had easily achieved what he wanted.

The royal castle was eventually a space full of all sorts of solicitations and secret conversations.

And the one who is contributing to it now is the owner of this castle, who has planted a watchman without his wife’s knowledge. The King was the same.