Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 3

#3.

After the ceremony and banquet, the King retired to the guest room behind the banquet hall, already two glasses of strong liquor to the good.

Refilling his empty glass, the Commander of the First Knights inquired, “What do you make of her?”

“Well, I’m not sure,” the King replied.

They were, of course, talking about Hayley Duncan, the new Queen.

“You must win her over to our side. Surely Your Majesty possesses enough charm?”

The King stared at the Commander of the First Knights, a look of disbelief on his face.

“Even if she’s young and seemingly innocent, she’s still a Duncan. It won’t be easy. And frankly, she doesn’t exactly *seem* innocent.”

He shook his head, tapping his glass, lost in thought.

“Do you truly believe Duke Duncan was behind it all?”

The pro-royal faction suspected the Duncan family in the mysterious deaths of the previous marriage candidates. It was widely known that the Duke, politically cornered, desired to become the King’s father-in-law.

The King’s lack of an heir was a significant political weakness, and he wouldn’t have willingly created such a powerful in-law had those two brides-to-be not met untimely ends.

If Hayley Duncan survives and remains in this castle, it would provide ample reason to suspect the Duncan family’s involvement.

However, if she were to die, the possibility of another culprit could not be dismissed.

They had been keeping a close watch on Hayley.

But Hayley Duncan had fallen into the water and survived.

Whether by design or accident, it suggested she wasn’t keen on becoming Queen.

The pro-royal faction began to consider how they might use her now.

As the King drained his glass, the Chief Secretary carefully poured more of the amber-colored liquor, asking, “Your Majesty, shouldn’t you be heading over now?”

The King chuckled, as if the suggestion was absurd. “Why? Do you think I would abandon my bride on our wedding night?”

He was, after all, the kind of person who *could* do that if necessary.

That was the nature of the throne.

However, their true concern wasn’t the groom’s manners.

Roderick Peruth Blairek.

The King’s nervous breakdowns and insomnia had been worsening lately.

Rumors circulated that he was descending into madness, and even his closest aides struggled to quell or deny them.

As the night deepened and the King continued to consume high-proof liquor, their concerns grew. The Commander of the First Knights spoke up again.

“Even if you can’t win her over, please don’t treat her too harshly. There’s no benefit in making an enemy of her.”

“Hmm…”

“On one hand, isn’t she also pitiable?”

The Commander of the Knights, a close friend who had trained in swordsmanship alongside the King, was a leading figure in the King’s inner circle. He held no affection for the Duncan family either.

He had only initiated the conversation hoping to lighten the King’s mood, even if just for today, their wedding day.

It wouldn’t be a sweet marriage for either of them, but tonight was, after all, the couple’s first night.

However, Roderick raised an eyebrow.

“…Pitiable? I’m not sure that word is appropriate, but it’s certainly not a fitting sentiment for your position.”

“Your Majesty, she is still a young lady. Hayley, or rather, the Queen Consort, is she not caught in a game of chess between Your Majesty and the Duke?”

“And Hayley Duncan is the chess piece that Duke Duncan is using.”

“The general consensus in society is that she has a rather delicate disposition.”

The King had received reports and heard such rumors.

However, he narrowed his eyes, as if contemplating something.

Tapping the small glass on the table, he frowned and then smiled.

“Well, I don’t think that’s quite right. She was trembling, but she said everything she had to say when ordered.”

“…In any case, I believe you have nothing to lose if you treat her well.”

Clicking his tongue, Roderick pushed the glass aside and stood up.

“You’re being unusually talkative today. Even so, she’s a Duncan. Plant people in the Queen’s residence and don’t let your guard down.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“I’m leaving. Don’t follow me; it’s just around the corner.”

The Commander of the Knights bowed, paying his respects to their King.

The King’s back was straight as he gracefully left the room, and his mind seemed clear.

He didn’t seem to be in a particularly bad mood either.

In fact, he seemed a little better than usual.

Even though he said all that, perhaps this marriage wasn’t the worst thing for him. Hayley Duncan was a beauty, after all.

But others thought he might simply be relieved.

The ominous accidents that occurred every time marriage talks arose had become a blemish on the royal family, along with his perceived madness, so it was only natural.

The people left in the guest room each let out a sigh of relief.

However, as the King walked down the lonely corridor, a black aura swirled around his back.

The King’s nerves began to fray rapidly again.

Kang Yi-jae sighed softly. She had ended up getting married.

As the King had requested, she wore the crown.

But even after the wedding and banquet, the maids were still bustling around.

Because an equally important procedure remained: the first night.

While dressing Yi-jae, the head maid kept glancing at her.

Hayley Duncan was a twenty-one-year-old who had just debuted in society.

Nevertheless, she was a relatively well-known figure.

The Duncan family, whose distant ancestors were from a foreign race, was famous for producing only beautiful people, regardless of gender.

She was also known for her cheerful and innocent personality.

Wasn’t her nickname, secretly coined by those who sought to belittle her, “Pretty Idiot?”

But today, Hayley seemed calm, even pensive.

*The ominous rumor that she had jumped into the water, not caught the flu, was true,* people thought to themselves.

“We will be waiting outside. Please call us if you need anything. His Majesty will be here soon.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but you must not speak informally to us anymore.”

Yi-jae, who had inadvertently spoken politely to an elder, was taken aback.

However, the head maid was waiting for her answer, as if it didn’t seem too strange. Her attitude was very polite.

“I’ll try…”

After the head maid bowed and left, Yi-jae, who had sighed deeply, stood in front of the mirror.

In fact, she was a little embarrassed.

It was for a slightly different reason than the head maid thought.

It was this outfit, with its strong implications of what was to come, that was the problem.

“Is this considered wearing something, or is it considered taking something off?”

Looking at the slip that revealed all the curves of her body and even faintly showed what was underneath, she sighed once more.

Yi-jae was twenty-five years old, but she had no experience in that area.

She had never seriously dated a man.

Because she had wandered around mountain valleys and remote villages with Granny Youngsan, who had raised her, she rarely had the opportunity.

Even if she had lived in a big city, the result might have been the same, so that was just an honorable excuse.

People usually call it an honorable death [a Korean idiom for a noble but ultimately pointless sacrifice].

But she didn’t have an aversion to relationships. She even had some desire to experience one.

That was for a reason quite different from curiosity or sexual desire. Among the many types of vengeful spirits, the resentment of virgin ghosts and bachelor ghosts was particularly deep.

Yi-jae was sometimes curious.

*How important is that in our lives that singles have to be unhappy even after death?*

*What sin did singles commit so greatly?*

For a fulfilling afterlife, she was willing to do it a couple of times before she died.

But Yi-jae soon let out another sigh.

“This kind of thing… can’t be comforting.”

Her life was already unfortunate and full of ups and downs.

But since coming here, it seemed to have gotten much worse.

Everything was messed up.

“How did I end up like this?”

For a moment, resentment towards her fate surged, but she tried to find peace of mind by looking at the unfamiliar face in the mirror.

However, that attempt failed too quickly.

Yi-jae opened her mouth blankly and looked at the door.

The King was leaning against the door, and his condition, which had seemed neat and tidy until the wedding, looked very strange again.

He soon brought in a tremendous number of vengeful spirits.

There were far more than when she visited the Duncan family’s mansion.

“No, good heavens, how did this happen again…”

*What on earth are you doing behind my back?*

*Did you go to a battlefield in the meantime?*

*Did you go to a graveyard alone in the middle of the night!*

Yi-jae, who had been bewildered, glared and tried to look only at the King’s face, as she had done before. And she tried to think only good thoughts.

He was born with good features, after all. His nose and chin suggest good fortune.

He must have a good bone structure since he has a good body. He must have a lot of money since he is the king of this country.

*If my father arranges a marriage like this, wouldn’t it be okay to have one…?*

“So, you’re the Queen.”

“…”

“The Duke is very diligent in selling his children.”

*I guess it’s better not to have a father like that.*

The King, staring intently at Yi-jae with his blue eyes, staggered to the bed. He was holding his forehead with one hand, as if he had a terrible headache.

Yi-jae, who had been standing blankly in front of the mirror until then, soon came to her senses and looked at the door. The maids’ anxious expressions could be seen through the crack.

Kang Yi-jae pondered for a moment.

Should she leave the door open to prevent any possible accidents, or should she close it now to silence the people?

However, before she could make any decision, the pale-faced maid quietly closed the door.

“…Wasn’t that a bit much just now?”

The King had a sword.

Even to those who didn’t know anything, he didn’t seem to be in his right mind.

Feeling that it was too much, Yi-jae stared blankly at the door for a long time.

And when she turned back to the bed, he looked even more deranged than before.

Stumbling to the bed, she sat awkwardly about three spans [a traditional Korean unit of measurement, roughly the distance between the thumb and forefinger when stretched] away from the King.