Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 23

#23.

Lee Jae, who had been pondering without Roderick’s knowledge, devised a plan.

With no one to particularly consult, she asked the spirit of Ham.

“I’m going to embroider the corner of a handkerchief as a substitute for a talisman [an object believed to have magical powers]. What do you think? Will it be effective?”

-Lee Jae. Is Lee Jae a hidden master?

“No, I was a kitchen maid for a hidden master.”

However, Lee Jae’s skills, having received elite education while doing chores, were quite decent.

She thought.

Our Yeongsan Grandmother wasn’t really someone who should have wasted away in a mountain village in Chungcheong. She should have appeared on TV at least once and made more money. But her personality was so eccentric that she couldn’t do business.

Lee Jae ambitiously embroidered all sorts of violent Chinese characters, breaking them down on the handkerchief.

Then, after putting down all the talismans she carried, she went out with the handkerchief and was disappointed. The effect was less than expected.

If it had been effective, perhaps factories would have made more money than shamans [traditional healers or spiritual intermediaries].

Originally, handwriting has power. And writing cannot be done in just any color.

There was a reason why some shamans bit their fingers or used animal blood.

Lee Jae was disappointed, but she still embroidered diligently. There was nothing else she could do.

And people were a little surprised that the queen, a daughter of Duncan, had such excellent sewing skills.

She was better than most court ladies or maids.

She played with high-quality fabric and thread like a fish in water.

However, the king seemed very displeased with this situation.

“I thought you were frugal, but you’re very generous. I was mistaken.”

“What do you mean?”

“Who are you making so many for?”

She could just say they were all for him, but she didn’t know why she was becoming so stingy.

Lee Jae liked it when Roderick teased her from time to time.

Sometimes it was fun, and she wanted to hear more of his words.

“I asked for a handkerchief to use, not for you to embroider.”

Lee Jae chuckled. She didn’t want to do it either if she could avoid it.

“Anyway, I won’t say anything, so get some sleep.”

“Pardon?”

“I won’t say anything even if you give them to all the people except me, so take a break while you do it.”

“It’s because your face hasn’t looked good lately.”

The king was right.

Each time a handkerchief was completed, Lee Jae’s face became noticeably paler.

No one knew, but she was pouring much more prayer and energy into it than when she usually wrote talismans.

Wouldn’t the effect be a little better if she put her heart into it as much as possible? She knew better than anyone that the world wasn’t such an easy place.

After a few days, Lee Jae eventually fell ill.

When the queen refused all audience requests, rumors of her illness quickly spread.

Roderick had to grit his teeth at the backlash from the nobles, led by Duncan.

He came to Lee Jae’s room and said in a somewhat annoyed tone.

“You’re clearly protesting against me.”

“…I didn’t intend to.”

“Let’s see if I ever ask you for a handkerchief again.”

“…I’m sorry if I’ve caused you trouble.”

Roderick sighed.

“…Does it hurt a lot?”

“No, I’m really okay.”

“You’ve only been in the royal family for a month. How can a person get sick so often?”

If you calculate that well, you can also check how many times you weren’t in your right mind.

Lee Jae, who couldn’t bring herself to say such a thing, chuckled.

She rubbed her right cheek against the pillow and closed her eyes because she was so tired.

And the king, who had only heard perfunctory answers, seemed a little frustrated.

He pressed Lee Jae’s shoulder with his finger, who was lying on her side, and turned her to lie on her back.

“Can’t you at least tell me comfortably where it hurts? I’m worried, that’s why I’m doing this, but what’s with your attitude? Am I wrong?”

Lee Jae flinched.

She tried to get up because he seemed really angry, but the king pressed her forehead again.

“…I know you’re worried. Thank you. I’m just tired and want to rest. And I apologize again if I’ve caused you trouble.”

When the queen spoke again with an attitude that kept a distance of about a thousand meters, Roderick sighed deeply.

“Don’t talk like that. I understand that you didn’t like this marriage, but I don’t intend to treat you badly.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty. And I didn’t particularly dislike this marriage.”

Of course, she was embarrassed and thought it was a life full of ups and downs.

But this time, she just thought this marriage was her destiny.

Our destinies always come upon us in that way, and Lee Jae has always lived in accordance with it.

Roderick nodded, though he didn’t really believe it.

“You’re stuck in the middle, so your position is difficult, but just try to adapt a little. I’m still your husband, so dislike me moderately.”

“…I don’t dislike Your Majesty.”

Roderick seemed to believe that even more.

Because he laughed as if he found it amusing.

“Really? Do you even know my name?”

“Is there anyone in Cayenne who doesn’t know Your Majesty’s name?”

Roderick Peruth Blairek.

Reign, beast, all sorts of dignified words were used in the name, but Lee Jae honestly didn’t think it was a good name.

There are letters that should not be used in a person’s name.

If the name characters used are too strong, the person will be crushed by the name.

So our ancestors sometimes gave trivial words as their children’s names.

That is actually affection.

They knew very well that too much expectation and attention would make people suffer.

If the king hadn’t been born with such great fortune, he would have been crushed by his name and would have lived his whole life without ever being able to spread his wings.

“You can call me Roderick or Rod in private.”

“Thank you. But I’ll just call you Your Majesty out of courtesy.”

“What, why again?”

“We still need a proper distance.”

She didn’t want to be sick like this every day.

However, when she saw the vengeful spirits following Roderick, she couldn’t help but want to fend them off.

It was similar to not being able to turn off the lights and go to sleep once you saw a cockroach, even if you didn’t see it before.

But Roderick, who didn’t know this situation, seemed a little frustrated when he heard those words.

“Is the ability to scratch people like this with just one word a secret passed down in the Duncan family?”

Rather than feeling sorry, Lee Jae covered her face and laughed because it was funny.

The king looked at her covering her crumbling face and realized that he really liked the little Duncan.

He was very annoyed every time she pushed him away, but either way, he liked it when the queen smiled.

He poked Lee Jae’s arm.

“Tell me honestly. You’re a fox, aren’t you? I think I saw a fox in the forest with the same color as your hair.”

The king was aware that he was being dragged along.

But Lee Jae was a person with a slightly different perspective from others, and she reacted as if it were absurd.

“What fox? You’re overestimating me too much.”

“I said that because I was annoyed. Did that sound like a compliment?”

If you knew how high the probability is that a fox spirit seduces a man, you would understand my reaction.

They almost never fail.

This is an incredibly high batting average even in ghost society.

In the end, the king didn’t get any answers about where it hurt, what the problem was, or anything.

But he decided to stop there.

His heart had softened as he talked while looking at her smiling face.

He stood up from the chair and said.

“Go to sleep quickly. You have to sleep early to grow taller.”

“I’m an adult, so I don’t grow anymore. And it’s not like I’m short.”

“Do you really think I’m telling you to grow taller? I’m telling you to rest and get well soon. I’m leaving.”

After Roderick left, Lee Jae buried her face in the pillow and laughed.

His dual attitude of grumbling about everything but secretly worrying was funny.

Lee Jae quickly got up, as she had only exhausted the energy flowing within her body.

The day of the hunting competition that the royal family and nobles had been hosting every year dawned.

Certainly, there was a much larger number of people waiting at the entrance to the hunting grounds than for the king’s personal hunting schedule.

The king, who had finished preparing to some extent, looked at Lee Jae, and she slowly approached.

Hailey was small, and Lee Jae was a very cautious person. People who know that bad luck can reside in every step always straighten their posture and keep their bodies clean.

But Roderick, who had been watching her careful steps, snorted.

“It must be hard to live in the world because you’re so short.”

“Why are you picking a fight again?”

“I’m trying to hear that ‘Euaaa’ sound once.”

But he, who had been enticing a smile, soon tilted his head.

“I really can’t figure it out.”

Lee Jae asked, puzzled, as Roderick frowned.

“What is it?”

“It feels like the air is different when you come.”

“I thought it was a mistake, but strangely… I don’t think it is.”

Lee Jae was flustered and hardened her expression, but people had a hard time managing their expressions for other reasons.

It seemed like the king was flirting again.

Did he want to say something like she was as refreshing as oxygen?

“Well, I was just saying. I didn’t mean anything bad. Don’t worry about it.”

Lee Jae glanced at him and rummaged through her bosom to change the subject.

When she took out the handkerchief she had prepared from her bosom, the king stared at it intently. And the court ladies had to make ambiguous expressions.

The queen was really good at sewing, which was not befitting of her background.

However, the problem was that the works born from her hands were strange again.

They couldn’t understand why the queen had to use her delicate sewing skills in that way. It was amazing that the handkerchief could somehow look dangerous.

Lee Jae tied one of the three handkerchiefs to Roderick’s horse reins.

It was a prayer to ward off evil spirits.

The other two were spells to wish for victory and to destroy karma [the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences].

As she neatly folded and organized the other handkerchiefs, Roderick raised one eyebrow.

And Lee Jae handed it to Roderick.

“This is a spare. But it would be good if you carried it in your bosom during the competition.”

“…Were they all for me?”

“Then who would I give them to? My husband is here.”

Why is this fox saying that now?

“…Why did you prepare three?”

“Just think of it as making three years’ worth in advance.”

It was a worldly strategy to make up for the lack of quality with quantity.

Also, she had many Chinese characters she wanted to break down, and she thought she might not live long with her ill-fated destiny.

Roderick stared blankly at the strange patterns engraved on the bottom of the handkerchief.

He still couldn’t figure out what she wanted to express this time either. But he could tell that it was made with sincerity because the skill was so elaborate.

“Why did you do this all yourself instead of having people do it? Your fingers are so small.”

“You have no romance. If you’ve decided to give something, you should do it yourself, even if it’s a little difficult.”

And Lee Jae realized something the moment she spoke.

Since she was the one praying, she had to do it herself.

“Okay, thank you. I’ll cherish it and carry it with me. I’ll use it well.”

Lee Jae smiled.

She shouldn’t feel rewarded, but she did.

He had a habit of ruling over others, as his name suggested, and he sometimes spoke bluntly.

He was also a man with a physique that was sometimes intimidating.

But Lee Jae’s eyes began to see something different from some point on.

It looked a little cute that he was fiddling with the handkerchief with his big hands. Maybe he was a little shy.