Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 43

#43.

The meal with the royals proceeded in a rather comfortable atmosphere.

This was because the King’s brother’s attitude was consistently gentle.

The Queen Consort seemed curious about him as well, glancing at him repeatedly.

Seeing her reaction, the King couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Your Majesty, the Queen Consort, you are as beautiful as I’ve heard.”

The King’s brother offered a conventional compliment, the kind one might use as a greeting.

Lee Jae was about to respond with kind words as well, but Roderick spoke first.

“Actually, that’s my complaint.”

Both she and Edgar looked at him, but the King, resting his chin on his hand, remained nonchalant.

“I live in constant anxiety, worrying that someone might seduce the Queen Consort. I can’t even get angry at her.”

“Your Majesty, what are you doing…”

Lee Jae tried to stop him, but the King continued.

“The only fortunate thing is that our Queen Consort is truly thoughtful.”

“………….”

“Of course, there’s the problem that she’s thoughtful even towards me. But well, that’s a minor issue.”

“Edgar, the life of a man who has gained a beautiful wife is ultimately like this.”

Roderick was essentially saying, ‘So, don’t you guys get married.’

Of course, no one took it at face value.

Lee Jae, speechless, asked with her lips.

‘Your Majesty, what on earth are you doing?’

Roderick also replied with his lips.

‘Why? What about it?’

The Head Knight, watching them from afar, thought.

‘Why are the two of them talking only to each other, with a guest present?’

However, the King’s longtime friend roughly knew why he was acting like that.

The King was just subtly bragging about his Queen Consort.

He was diminishing his own worth to lavishly praise his wife.

The King’s brother smiled awkwardly, but he would soon be even more embarrassed.

Because the King reached for the Queen Consort’s plate as she was about to start eating.

“Give it here. I’ll do it for you.”

It had been happening every time lately. But the person present was the King’s brother.

Feeling self-conscious, Lee Jae pulled the plate closer to herself.

“It’s okay. I’ll do it.”

But the King kept reaching out.

“Give it, quickly.”

“………….”

“Do you think I’m doing this because my arm can’t reach?”

Eventually, the King received the plate and cut the food into manageable pieces, causing the King’s brother to wear a very peculiar expression.

‘Was my brother originally such a mannerly man?’

His attitude towards the Queen Consort was very affectionate.

Lee Jae realized that the King’s brother was looking at Roderick with increasingly strange eyes. She offered with a smile that was more awkward than before.

“Please continue with your meal, King’s brother.”

Edgar, who had paused slightly, smiled kindly.

“Your Majesty, the Queen Consort.”

“Yes?”

“Please, just call me Edgar comfortably.”

“Oh, I can’t do that.”

As the two created a pleasant atmosphere again, Roderick chuckled.

However, he gradually fell into a strange sentiment.

He suddenly wondered, ‘What was the beginning like between me and the Queen Consort?’

The first meeting was probably at the Queen Consort’s debutante [a formal ball for young women entering society].

But Roderick was disappointed because there were no particularly memorable memories left.

Why didn’t I talk to her a little more back then? It must have been because of Duncan.

If I had spoken to her a little more… I would have been able to know more about what kind of person the Queen Consort was than I do now.

He scratched the end of his eyebrow in regret.

“What were you studying, King’s brother?”

“I am researching archeology, history, philosophy, and so on.”

“You seem to have very diverse interests.”

“I’m just a scholar with diverse interests but no achievements.”

Roderick, who had been listening to the conversation, interjected appropriately, this time building up his brother’s image.

“That’s too modest.”

Lee Jae also smiled and added.

In fact, her interests were similar to his.

Shamans who were not interested in philosophy and history were all quacks.

The tributary cannot overcome the mainstream, and there is no human who is not influenced by the great currents of the world. Even Yeongsan Grandmother was knowledgeable in Korean medicine.

“That sounds very interesting. I want to learn too.”

Then Roderick, staring intently at Lee Jae, said.

“Then do it. Just do it.”

“…Was that okay?”

“Yes. Your husband and your in-laws only have money, so what are you worried about?”

“………….”

“Has anyone ever stopped you?”

Of course, no one had ever stopped her.

But they had suspected her of borrowing books she couldn’t even read.

Lee Jae looked genuinely happy.

She sensed that the realization of the fifth item on her bucket list, ‘Understanding the History of the Cayenne Kingdom,’ was imminent.

She planned to ask the King to teach her the royal family’s writing system when she had the chance.

In fact, it was a waste of time. Lee Jae had Hahm-ui’s spirit, a high-performance reader. It was as good as any artificial intelligence.

The King’s brother continued.

“Actually, research is just an excuse; I just wandered around here and there. I’m a bad brother who dumped all the burden on my brother.”

Roderick chuckled, seemingly not intending to refute.

But Lee Jae shook her head.

“I’m still envious.”

“What do you mean?”

“Actually, I wanted to travel around here and there too. I wanted to wander wherever my feet took me.”

But I couldn’t do that. Because I knew my destiny to some extent.

I still don’t know if that life was right.

As Lee Jae made a slightly bitter face, Roderick sighed this time.

At the same time, he was thinking that the Queen Consort must be feeling stifled in the royal palace.

“Hailey. Don’t make that face.”

“What face?”

“Even if you make that face, it’s not going to happen.”

“What’s not going to happen?”

“If you’re going to go, go with me later after the abdication. You keep saying you’re going somewhere alone since last time.”

As he spoke, Roderick realized.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t sleep without the Queen Consort.

It was that he was heading towards a level where he couldn’t do anything without the Queen Consort.

First of all, if she wasn’t next to him, even the air felt unpleasant.

“I wasn’t saying I was going anywhere right now.”

“Ah, so you’re saying you’re going to do it someday. So it was a declaration of will.”

“………….”

“Go with me later.”

“………….”

“Let’s go to the temple together first.”

But when Lee Jae didn’t give a definite answer, Roderick looked at his brother and said.

“That’s how frugal she is with her expressions.”

The King’s brother was feeling the same emotion that the Head Knight had felt.

The three of them were having a meal, but the King and his wife were using him as a side dish, constantly having conversations that they needed to have.

He praised her as a beauty, but the King complained that she kept looking elsewhere.

When he said he was studying, the Queen Consort subtly revealed her desire.

The King wanted to look good, so he told her to do whatever she wanted, but then said they should travel together.

The King’s brother was involved, but they were stories that the King’s brother couldn’t understand at all. At this point, the King’s brother was being used in the middle.

The King, who seemed a little frustrated, swept his hair back and said.

“Eat that first.”

“I know you enjoy talking to Edgar, but if you leave food because you’re talking, I won’t feel like I’ve taken care of you.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Lee Jae usually ate like a clergyman pursuing non-possession [referring to a simple and abstemious diet].

She had extremely bland tastes, but she still touched this and that when Roderick took care of her. She couldn’t ignore his sincerity.

“But don’t force yourself to eat.”

“…Are you telling me to eat, or are you telling me to stop eating?”

What am I supposed to do?

“Actually, I don’t know either.”

The two, who had been bickering until just three minutes ago, shrugged and laughed at the same time.

Edgar eventually looked around with a troubled face.

He had heard that the King’s health was not good in many ways, but that was not the case at all.

His body seemed healthier than before, and his mind seemed at ease.

He just seemed very much in love with the Queen Consort.

As the meal came to an end, Lee Jae felt a little disappointed.

Because the conversation with the King’s brother had been quite enjoyable.

Seeing that, the King chuckled and suggested tea time.

What he thought was that the Queen Consort was a very unknowable person, because sometimes she seemed to like and miss people.

As the King’s attendants brought tea, he spoke to Edgar again. It was a request.

“This time, you suffer a little for me.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I also regret it. But when things calm down, you’ll be able to start doing the things you like again, so please put in some effort.”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

But Roderick realized that Lee Jae had been glancing elsewhere since earlier.

He had arranged a seat because she seemed to be missing it, but where was she looking again?

She was looking at the people standing by the wall, waiting.

Because there was an unfamiliar face among them. After much deliberation, Lee Jae realized.

“Ah, you’re a foreigner.”

So even among Westerners, there are subtle differences depending on nationality?

As Lee Jae looked at Roderick as if seeking agreement, he was a bit dumbfounded.

Even if she doesn’t look in the mirror, she seems to have that kind of interest.

Of course, Lee Jae wasn’t not looking in the mirror, as the King said.

It was just that her perspective on appearance was different from others, and there were many times when she looked at things other than appearance.

“He is my friend whom I met while studying abroad. He has helped me many times.”

As the King’s brother introduced him, the man bowed his head.

It was different from the Cayenne knights’ salute, but the disciplined movement showed that he was a fairly skilled martial artist.

Lee Jae was purely impressed, but Roderick seemed displeased with something.

“I have something to say to the King’s brother. Everyone except the 1st Knight Division, get out.”

Then everyone except Jade, a couple of knights, and the Chief Attendant left the room. Lee Jae also tried to get up, tidying her clothes.

But Roderick grabbed Lee Jae’s wrist.

“Where are you going? You have to stay by my side.”

“…Why do I have to?”

I’m neither a knight nor a chief attendant?

Were you not going to have a secret conversation?

The King, frowning, found a suitable excuse.

“You’re royalty. Have you forgotten what I said at the banquet hall?”

He knew that the Queen Consort was not someone who would go around gossiping, not even to the Duke. Rather, there were times when she was too tight-lipped.

Eventually, as Lee Jae sat awkwardly next to him, he pulled her shoulder and hugged her.

“Edgar.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I will give you a hundred knights and a thousand soldiers, so go safely to the border. It’s good to live freely, but how can you always travel with only a couple of people?”

The King continued with a cautious attitude.

“I’m telling you this in case you misunderstand, but I’m not sending you there to die. When you think you’ve achieved a reasonable feat, protect yourself and come back.”

“………….”

“Never forget that you are a member of the Cayenne royal family. If something happens to me… you have to take responsibility for this country.”

Lee Jae flinched. It seemed that she was not the only one who heard the underlying meaning.

“Your Majesty.”

“What are you saying?”

“Please take back those words.”

There were complaints everywhere. But Roderick didn’t even pay attention.

This was a statement that the King could sufficiently make to a royal family member with succession rights.

So he didn’t care whether the dark-haired men were feeling sorry or wailing. It was none of his business.

But the apricot-colored fox was different for Roderick.

She was too small and precious.

Lee Jae was staring up at the King. Roderick paused when he discovered a mixture of disappointment and protest in her eyes.