Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 26

#26.

After Roderick left for the hunt, Lee Jae found herself with more free time. This was because all the influential nobles who might request an audience had joined him on the hunt.

She jotted down the things that were bothering her on a piece of paper.

1. Go to His Majesty’s bedroom

2. Talk to the boy ghost again

3. Exorcise the vengeful spirits in the castle and purify the castle

4. Finish reading Hailey’s diary

5. Understand the history of the Cayenne Kingdom

Each one was a daunting task, but Lee Jae found number 4 the most challenging.

Around this time, Lee Jae began to have serious doubts.

Why was Hailey’s diary so difficult to read, even though it consisted of short sentences?

Moreover, Hailey hadn’t written in her diary at all for about a month before her death.

Perhaps she had been planning to die since then.

「March 11, 499

Lawrence told me to dream of finding happiness within this place instead of running away.

He said he would become the queen’s knight.

So that we could be together, even if only in that way.

I know that it can’t be as he wishes.

It’s painful.」

“Ah… I can’t read any more.”

Lee Jae covered the diary again, distressed.

The stinging sensation became more severe after encountering Lawrence in the diary.

Before she knew it, Ham’s spirit appeared at Lee Jae’s side, looking into the diary with her.

The two of them, propping up their chins in the same pose, looked just like friends.

“Hey. Isn’t she practically a vengeful ghost by now? Her resentment is too deep.”

-Lee Jae.

“Yeah.”

-I don’t know!

“……Why are you guys so unhelpful?”

She immediately added the next item.

6. Go to the river where Hailey threw herself.

She wanted to comfort her if she couldn’t leave and remained a vengeful spirit, and help her find peace.

Disturbed, Lee Jae repeatedly opened and closed the ten volumes of the diary.

And there was such a diary entry on the opened page.

「September 10, 497

Father is about to do something terrible.

I will tell him he shouldn’t.

But he won’t listen, and I don’t want to be slapped again.」

What did Duke Duncan do?

This time, there was no memory of it.

Still, when flipping through the diary, there were often traces of Hailey trying to understand her father.

She seemed to have a fundamentally gentle nature.

Lee Jae spoke to Ham’s spirit again.

“Which do you think is the worse parent, one who abandons their child or one who abuses them?”

-Both are bad parents!

“……That’s right.”

Lee Jae sighed.

But then, she realized something a little strange.

Memories are incomplete.

But usually, except for very impressive memories, aren’t later memories clearer than past memories?

Lee Jae rummaged through her memories like flipping through a book.

And she realized that her recent memories were more vague than Hailey’s childhood memories.

In fact, there was almost nothing left of the last year.

Why is this happening?

Lee Jae covered the diary with a confused face.

Jade and the King’s knights kept a close watch on Roderick.

Because the king didn’t seem interested in hunting at all.

In fact, he had been like that throughout the hunting competition.

Roderick caught only one deer and then kept a sullen face.

Riding at a very slow pace, Roderick found a suitable place and stopped his horse.

“Let’s take a break here.”

Knowing that the king hadn’t slept well for several days, they dismounted without complaint.

Someone brought a blanket to sit on, but Roderick waved his hand away.

He leaned against a tree trunk and fell into thought for a moment.

It was about the queen, and he realized that he hadn’t been able to escape from it throughout the hunt, and he let out a hollow laugh.

He took out bizarre works of art with a unique style that the current era could not accommodate from inside his jacket. It was a handkerchief and a bracelet made by carving wood.

People glanced at the king, who was chuckling as he looked at them.

But while looking at the bizarre works, the king’s blue eyes became increasingly sharp.

Each bead on the bracelet had scribbles engraved on it.

Roderick had also seen Lee Jae carving it with sharp eyes.

This time, he shook the handkerchief and spread it out.

And he stroked the embroidery placed at the bottom.

Roderick held the handkerchief and the rosary side by side and looked at them carefully.

‘What is this.’

They weren’t exactly the same, but the patterns were strangely similar.

Roderick raised his head and narrowed his eyes.

A very sharp intuition was about to pass through his mind.

But that was then.

Roderick frowned and put down the handkerchief and bracelet.

“Come out!”

Suddenly shouting, he took out a dagger and threw it.

The knife passed through the knights, and the knights were very embarrassed and turned their eyes to the direction the king had thrown the knife.

Their faces turned blue when they saw the snake wriggling on the floor where it was stuck.

The warhorse that the poisonous snake was about to bite lifted its front feet and neighed.

The horse’s owner approached with a sheepish face and calmed the horse.

Roderick said to the knights who were guarding with an annoyed face.

“Do a better job.”

“……Yes.”

“If you want to walk to the castle, keep doing that. I won’t stop you.”

“……I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

Roderick sighed and put the bracelet and handkerchief back in his arms.

He was thinking of getting some sleep because he was sleep-deprived.

However, he continued to be unable to shake off his thoughts about Lee Jae.

It was almost as if he was possessed by a fox spirit with apricot-colored fur [a mythical creature known for its beauty and cunning].

‘I want to tell you to only do it to the extent that your pride is not damaged. But I won’t say that. Your Majesty also has your own justification.’

‘So, the only answer I can give you is to come back unharmed and healthy.’

Roderick muttered.

“This is more scary than telling me not to do it. Is this why married men listen to their wives?”

As the king spoke to himself again, Jade and the knights’ expressions became serious.

It seemed that the king was getting strange these days.

However, the king’s madness, which had frequently recurred during the hunt, was quiet this time.

There was no problem except for a little lack of sleep.

“Jade.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“This time, you work hard instead of me.”

“Yes? What do you mean.”

Jade asked back because he couldn’t understand what he meant.

“Whether you win or catch a lion, it’s up to you, but hunt instead of me anyway.”

“……You’re not going to do it?”

Roderick stroked his chin for a moment.

After thinking about it again, he strangely didn’t feel like it, so he nodded briefly.

“You don’t need to catch a lot, but catch much more than Albert Duncan anyway. If you mention reinstatement again, I’m going to sell you off and trample on his pride.”

That was the king’s justification.

He was annoyed by continuing to hear the Duncan family’s request for reinstatement [restoration to a former position].

Originally, he was going to do it himself, but it was better not to do it at all if he wasn’t going to participate actively.

The commander of the Knights was the king’s wing and guard.

It was enough to express the king’s will by having him do it instead.

When Jade stood up from his seat after understanding the situation, Roderick added.

“Ah, and catch more than Lawrence too.”

Jade made a sullen expression at the words full of personal feelings.

Jade was the best knight in Cayenne.

They quickly produced satisfactory results and were on their way back to the castle in time for the closing ceremony.

On the other hand, unlike Jade, Roderick’s bag was very meager. All he had was one deer.

In fact, he caught the deer because of Lee Jae.

So, Roderick ended up listening to Lee Jae’s words.

Returning to his wife empty-handed would have damaged his pride.

Thud, thud, they were riding at a rather slow pace.

Suddenly stopping his horse, Roderick stared blankly at something.

“Jade.”

“Yes?”

Jade checked the direction the king was looking at and nodded.

“It’s a squirrel.”

A squirrel with its tail caught in someone else’s trap was staring at them.

Roderick got off his horse and approached it.

People didn’t know why the king was doing that again, so they stared at each other while following the king down.

The squirrel clearly had a look of wanting help.

However, when Roderick approached, it made a fuss, barking and barking!

It struggled as if it wanted to run away, but it couldn’t get out because its tail was caught.

When Roderick hesitated a little and stepped back, the squirrel made a tearful face again. This time, it was a desperate look asking for help.

So, Roderick sighed and approached the squirrel again.

Then the squirrel barked and barked again, struggling.

Roderick rubbed his eyes and asked around.

“Why is it doing this?”

He eventually decided to secure a safe distance between them.

He squatted down a few steps away and began to look at the squirrel with his chin in his hands.

Is it telling me to come, or telling me not to come?

Is it asking for help, or just telling me to go?

……Is it lonely, or is it okay?

A wary of people, but also a desperate expression that needs people’s help.

“Jade. Let go of that little bean [slang for small creature]. I want to take it to the Queen.”

It was very rude to touch prey caught in someone else’s trap.

But the king was someone who could easily ignore that much.

“Are you going to use it as a coat decoration?”

“No, I’m just going to show it to her. Heal it. I’ll take it alive.”

Jade had a somewhat troubled expression. There were many royals who raised cats in the history of the royal family, but there were none who raised squirrels.

He asked cautiously.

“Wouldn’t an expensive coat be better?”

“Well. Hailey doesn’t seem interested in that kind of thing.”

“………”

“The Queen doesn’t lie like that.”

Roderick shrugged as if he didn’t know either and got back on his horse.