Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 40

Roderick was waiting for Ijae in his room, because she had once again asked to sleep there.

Roderick thought she sometimes showed an inexplicable stubbornness.

But the truth was, he couldn’t exactly say, “I’m a bit crazy, and if you sleep in this room, you’ll hear strange voices.”

So, he simply listened to Ijae. In fact, from the beginning, he had been indulging her every whim, thinking of her as a little bean or a little fox.

Just then, the door opened slightly, and a glimpse of apricot-colored hair appeared before the servants could even announce her arrival.

Roderick couldn’t help but smile and covered his mouth with the back of his hand.

“What are you doing? Just come in quickly.”

“Excuse me.”

Ijae quickly scanned the room and approached the bed.

She had gone to her room because she had something to bring.

It was finally time to unveil her ambitious creation to the world.

The king pretended to dislike it but was actually the most amused.

Wishing to show it off, she puffed out her shoulders and confidently presented it.

“Your Majesty, this is the gift I mentioned before.”

Roderick genuinely didn’t want to reach out this time, so he covered his forehead for a moment.

Ijae smiled and carefully pulled Roderick’s wrist.

And she firmly placed the King Yeomra [one of the Ten Kings of Hell in East Asian mythology, a judge of the dead] statue in his palm.

Roderick chuckled and admired the completed sculpture. The one she gave him before was at least funny.

“Hailey.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“I’m really curious about what’s at the end of all this.”

Ijae giggled.

“Did I do something terribly wrong to you while carving this?”

“Why do you ask?”

“He looks really angry right now.”

Ijae burst into laughter at the satisfactory evaluation.

“The first strike is always the most important in a fight.”

“………”

“Your Majesty, I needed a strong and fierce friend. Actually, I always need friends.”

“…Okay. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll support you without reservation, so unleash your artistic world.”

Roderick was so dumbfounded that he wanted to cry, but he decided to go along with it for now.

The queen’s face was filled with pride. It was enough if she was happy.

However, when he tried to place the statue on the bedside table, Ijae immediately stopped him.

“Your Majesty, please put it on the bookshelf.”

“Why?”

“It’s the perfect placement for it.”

King Yeomra is one of the Ten Kings of Hell. He was like a judge questioning sins.

It would be a warning to the vengeful spirits, ‘Did you live your life properly?’ but there was no need for Roderick, a living person, to get close to the King of Hell.

Roderick sighed but got up from the bed.

He placed the statue on the bookshelf and said,

“Hailey.”

“Yes?”

“I think my room is getting weirder and weirder.”

Ijae burst into a bright laugh, and Roderick also laughed, dumbfounded.

What’s so funny to her right now?

Roderick stared at Ijae for a moment, then nudged her shoulder.

As soon as Ijae’s bottom touched the bed, he climbed on top of her.

He could see her round eyes widening, but before she could say anything, he covered her lips with his.

Soon, a wet, smacking sound filled the room. She was so embarrassed that she tried to turn her head, but Roderick grabbed both her cheeks and wouldn’t let go.

A gargling sound, like scratching her vocal cords, came from her throat.

As her mouth was blocked, a nasal sound also escaped.

Roderick seemed stimulated by the moan and licked the inside of Ijae’s mouth.

Saliva continued to mix, and some of it dripped down the corners of Ijae’s mouth.

The kiss kept stealing her reason.

She belatedly realized that they were pressed against each other from the waist down, and that this kiss was igniting his desire.

Finally, as Roderick’s large hand traced the line of her body, Ijae turned her head.

‘Stop it, please.’

“Let go…”

Roderick fixed her cheeks again and mixed his tongue with hers, but Ijae, who was panting as she received the kiss, pushed his chest with a trembling hand.

It was a weak touch with almost no strength.

But he eventually straightened his back.

“Haa, haa…”

As Roderick sat aside, she slowly pulled the blanket over herself.

His blue eyes were still full of vivid desire.

Roderick, who was breathing heavily, swept back his hair.

And he slightly lifted the blanket to check on the state of the fox hiding inside.

“Why are you pushing me away?”

“…………”

“Why do you keep pushing me away?”

Ijae tried to pull the blanket up again, but he grabbed the end of the blanket and wouldn’t let go. He wanted to hear an answer.

“Is it because you don’t like me, or are you scared?”

“I’m just… embarrassed.”

He looked like he didn’t understand.

“Why are you embarrassed? You’re fine, and I’m the only one getting worked up, so I should be embarrassed.”

Eventually, Roderick completely lifted the blanket and put his hands under Ijae’s armpits.

He lifted her up and laid down, this time sitting her on top of him.

She was suddenly straddling him and tried to get up in embarrassment.

But Roderick grabbed her hips and wouldn’t let go.

Ijae’s movements subsided as she realized that struggling would only make her rub her lower body against him.

As she hung her head, Roderick stroked her spine.

His touch seemed to urge her on, and also to soothe her.

She felt a chilling sensation, but perhaps because she was looking down at him, she didn’t feel like hiding or running away.

As Ijae, who had been restless, became a little more comfortable, he asked.

“Hailey, can you give me just one kiss?”

Ijae looked into Roderick’s blue eyes for a moment and then lowered her waist. She started with a light peck, and when Roderick opened his mouth, she carefully mixed her tongue with his.

It was a clumsy but sincere kiss.

Roderick raised the corners of his lips, and as a low chuckle escaped, Ijae straightened her body.

“Are you laughing because I’m so bad at it?”

Roderick was in a happy mood.

He desperately wanted to go further, but he was quite content with the current state. His heart was strangely ticklish.

At first, she was a queen who would push away even if he just held her hand, and tremble even if he hugged her in her sleep. It was like a cat that never let him near suddenly coming to sit next to him one day.

So he could look forward to the future with a fluttering heart.

“Because I like it when you kiss me.”

“That’s why I laughed.”

Ijae didn’t answer, but Roderick didn’t seem to mind this time.

He put his hands under her armpits again and lowered her next to him.

He gave her a pillow and carefully pulled the blanket up to cover Ijae’s shoulders.

Before falling asleep, she was lost in thought, listening to Roderick’s uneven breathing.

‘Is it because you don’t like me, or are you scared?’

In fact, she was very scared.

His enemies were out there, but he kept trying to be nice to her.

And Kang Ijae was helplessly growing fond of him.

Even though she knew it was impossible, she kept wanting to help him.

She was just afraid of this situation and these feelings.

Ijae opened her eyes wide in the deep dawn.

She had been waiting for Roderick to fall asleep and had dozed off, so she got up, blaming herself.

The vengeful spirits were huddled in a corner of the room because of the King Yeomra statue she had carved.

She examined the faces of the vengeful spirits with a sharp gaze.

She was looking for the weakest ghost.

The young king had told her not to waste her energy on unnecessary things, but comforting the souls who had died unfairly was also a shaman’s job. She couldn’t just shove amulets at them.

She grabbed the spirit of a young child who appeared to have starved to death.

The spirit, who had been wary of Ijae, quickly opened up when she began to soothe it. A child was a child.

-I was so hungry, but my mom didn’t come…

-I asked people for help, but no one helped me.

“I see. You must have been very lonely.”

-Everyone is bad. They’re all going to bully me.

She sighed as she sat cross-legged with her back straight.

Shamans originally transferred emotions quickly.

This was because they had to empathize with the unjust circumstances in order to resolve their resentment.

In addition, the child’s story had many overlapping parts with Ijae’s past.

Tears quickly welled up in her eyes.

Ijae comforted it a little more and then tried to persuade it that she would send it to a good place.

But that’s when it happened. A low, sunken voice flew into the back of her head.

“Hailey. What are you doing there?”

“Aaaah!”

Roderick, who was sitting on the bed, raised his eyebrows at the intense scream.

It seemed like the queen’s body had briefly floated into the air and then come down.

“…Ah, you startled me.”

“I’m sorry, but I was much more surprised.”

As Ijae was surprised, the young child’s spirit was also startled and disappeared into the vengeful spirits.

She followed the spirit’s retreating figure with a desperate gaze. It was like dropping her nose into a perfectly cooked meal [missing a great opportunity].

But they weren’t the only ones surprised.

“Your Majesty the Queen, what’s wrong?!”

“I’m coming in!”

“Your Majesty, are you awake?!”

The knights’ shouts were heard from outside the room.

Roderick answered instead of the frozen Ijae.

“Don’t come in.”

“…Your Majesty, are you awake?”

“Yes. It’s nothing. It seems the queen had a nightmare.”

Roderick casually answered and quelled the commotion.

But his eyes, looking at Ijae, were full of doubt.

That was because it was dawn.

But the queen was sitting in the middle of the room, cross-legged with her back straight. The king, who witnessed the scene, was the one who should have been surprised, not Ijae.

“Hailey.”

“What are you doing there?”

She gritted her teeth as she calmed her surprised heart.

She had to answer shamelessly.

“Meditation.”

“At this hour?”

“…………”

“There?”

“…I was doing it on the bed, but I was afraid Your Majesty would be surprised if you woke up.”

“It’s scarier to do it there.”

Roderick stared at Ijae with a suspicious gaze for a moment.

He felt like she was lying again.

But he eventually sighed and got up from the bed.

“Still, how can you sit on the floor like that? You shouldn’t sit on a cold place.”

“…………”

“You’re a weak little bean, so you have to be more careful.”

He picked up Ijae and moved her to the bed.

As Roderick settled down and lay down, she hesitated but eventually settled down as well.

Roderick carefully observed Ijae.

She was looking at a corner of the room with lingering eyes.

Even yesterday morning, she had been staring intently at that place.

What is she looking at? He glanced at it too, but there was nothing there.

“Sleep more. Do your meditation when it’s bright.”

Roderick pulled the blanket over her and patted her collarbone.

And at that moment, he realized another strange thing.

The queen’s heart was beating like crazy. Was she so startled by being suddenly called?

But her face was full of anxiety and worry, not just surprise.

It was so strange that Roderick frowned.

Why is the queen being like this?