Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 45

#45.

After seeing the King off on his campaign, Ijae handled a couple of receptions.

After that, she stayed holed up in her room, writing charms until sunset.

Because the day of the final battle was near.

The vengeful spirits, which had numbered over a dozen, had dwindled to five.

It was thanks to her steadily exterminating them.

At this rate, she thought she could exorcise them all within three or four days at the latest.

After that, Ijae was planning to create a barrier inside the room.

It wouldn’t be easy since the place was the King’s room, but she had spent countless nights constantly contemplating where to hide the charms.

Picture frames. Behind the bookshelves and display cases. Under the bed. The shape and direction of the barrier.

“Your Majesty, the King is coming.”

Deborah delivered the message with a pleased smile.

Well, it wasn’t that far of a distance, and the King had come to pick her up after finishing his work.

Ijae hurriedly put the charm in her bosom, and Roderick came in with a smiling face.

“Hailey, what were you doing?”

“Just… stuff.”

“You could have at least said you were waiting for me.”

Ijae chuckled. Even if she saw the King in the morning and then again in the afternoon, she was happy. So, she just needed to say she had been waiting.

But why couldn’t she do that simple thing?

Was it because the King was also a bit of a prankster?

“That’s just unnecessary formality.”

At that, Roderick, who had been wearing a slightly displeased expression, gave Ijae a peck on the cheek.

“Isn’t it mutual courtesy to receive an inquiry with an inquiry, and a kiss with a kiss?”

“I don’t think the latter applies.”

“I can’t fool you, can I?”

Roderick chuckled and held out his hand.

And he familiarly put his arm around Ijae’s shoulder as she took his hand and stood up.

Walking down the hallway, the two continued to converse.

The King seemed to be in a good mood, and Ijae also enjoyed listening to his words.

But the problem arose when the King opened the door to his room.

“Ugh… Ugh.”

“Hailey?”

Ijae, who was completely unprepared, gagged and covered her mouth. Then, silence fell.

Ijae looked around the room with bewildered eyes, as if she couldn’t believe it.

And the whispers of the attendants reached the King’s ears.

“Oh my… Could she be pregnant?”

“Already?”

“It’s not too early.”

Roderick turned around with a dumbfounded expression.

After confirming the expectant gazes of the head chamberlain and the head maid, he stated firmly.

“No.”

“It’s not that.”

The King’s attendants and the Queen’s maids always engaged in a battle of nerves.

Their experience was all within a close margin.

However, none of them could surpass Deborah.

In the end, the head chamberlain, who had been pushed back in the battle of nerves, took on a difficult role.

“Your Majesty, I’m not sure what methods you have employed, but there is always a probability that….”

“Do you think I’m a child who doesn’t even know that? I said no.”

Probability only existed when something had been done. The King, who was inexplicably heated, spoke.

“I’ll call you if I need you, so stay outside for now.”

“……”

“Tsk. I said it’s not that, so shut up and get out.”

Roderick brought Ijae inside and immediately closed the door.

“Hailey.”

The Queen seemed to be out of it. Roderick was perplexed as he looked at Ijae, who was standing blankly.

“Did you get indigestion?”

“……”

“Why are you suddenly like this?”

“……”

“Shall I call a doctor now?”

Roderick thought that the Queen was reluctant to be examined by a doctor.

She would sometimes say that she didn’t even need medicine.

The King had long suspected that the Queen was hiding an illness.

Ijae shook her head again this time.

“It’s not that.”

“…Hailey.”

“I’m really okay.”

But Ijae’s complexion was pale, and she still couldn’t come to her senses. Just as Roderick was wondering if he should call a doctor by force, she staggered and moved towards the King’s bed.

Ijae was feeling a great sense of despair right now.

There were definitely only five left. She hadn’t created a barrier, and she knew that more vengeful spirits could enter since the room’s owner was the King.

But the number of vengeful spirits wasn’t just back to the original level; it had swelled to nearly twenty.

What on earth was going on?

“Hailey, are you really okay?”

“…Yes. I’m okay.”

Ijae answered absentmindedly and reached out to the bedside table.

She stared blankly at the severely split Cheonha Daegunjang [Great General of Heaven] and the two halves of Jiha Yeojanggun [Female General of the Underworld].

Roderick, who discovered it later than Ijae, was flustered. It was something completely outside of his expectations.

But after a while, he had to be even more flustered. The Queen was suddenly tearing up.

“Uh… why are you crying?”

“What should I do? I’m sorry.”

Roderick scratched the end of his eyebrow, more embarrassed than ever before.

Was it that precious to the Queen? If it was that precious, why didn’t she keep it and gave it to me?

He took the Cheonha Daegunjang, which was more than half split, from Ijae’s hand.

“It’s just a little cracked.”

“Hailey, it’s nothing. This much is okay.”

“I’ll continue to cherish it even if it turns to dust, so don’t be so upset.”

Ijae’s face became even more tearful at those words.

Your Majesty, what about Ijae? Ijae is already too broken. What am I going to do?

With trembling hands, she placed the two halves of Jiha Yeojanggun in his hand.

Roderick nodded with a strange expression. Was the Queen perhaps upset about this last time?

He didn’t think she was that kind of person, but he said while thinking.

“Of course, this too. Isn’t it too obvious?”

“Hailey.”

“I received your sincerity and wishes, so it doesn’t matter what the shape is.”

Roderick tightly gripped the statues in his hand.

Ijae, nodding, closed her eyes tightly and bit her lip to calm herself.

She knew it too. She could carve another totem pole, and she could get rid of the vengeful spirits again. If she lost her composure, things that could be done would go wrong.

But it was also hard to bear the feeling that all her hard work had been in vain.

Why is this happening? How far do I have to go?

As her face showed no signs of improving, Roderick became even more anxious. He wanted to ask what he could do to help.

After a while, Ijae opened her eyes and checked the state of the Yama statue [King of Hell] before returning to the bed. It was fortunate that at least the Yama statue was in good condition.

“Your Majesty, I’m okay. I don’t hurt.”

Her face was much calmer than before. But her complexion was still not good, so Roderick couldn’t hide his worried expression.

“Hailey. You can be honest with me. I won’t do anything that will harm you.”

“Are you really okay?”

“…Yes.”

Ijae gave a faint smile and lay down on the bed.

“I guess I was just a little tired. People are sometimes sensitive about trivial things.”

“So, I need to go to sleep quickly. Your Majesty, please go to sleep soon too.”

Roderick only looked at her for a long time. He thought to himself.

Lie.

But as Ijae closed her eyes, he couldn’t help but lie down next to her. It goes without saying, but Roderick, who was very uncomfortable, couldn’t fall asleep easily.

The face of the Queen, who had lost her composure and was suffering, kept flickering in his mind.

After a long time, he patted Ijae’s collarbone. It was a careful and affectionate touch, as if comforting her.

She felt something welling up inside her. Barely suppressing the feeling that she was about to cry, Ijae desperately waited for him to fall asleep.

Waiting for the King to fall asleep had become a battle for her. Ijae always won that battle easily.

No one who could see that sight would be able to fall asleep.

Ijae carefully stroked Roderick’s eyes. He didn’t move as he was sound asleep, but her fingertips kept trembling, so she quickly took them away. Ijae, who had escaped from Roderick’s arms, plopped down in the middle of the room. And she stared blankly at the vengeful spirits.

Yeah, there’s no way my life would be this smooth.

But not that person. Why is the world doing this to that person? Is someone casting a curse in this room?

As she clutched her head and agonized, the tears she had been holding back finally fell, drop by drop. Ijae looked at Roderick, who was asleep.

If something happens to me.

‘I won’t do anything that will harm you.’

Your Majesty, that’s why I told you not to be so nice to me.

In fact, you’re the only person who has ever talked to me this much….

But what am I going to do if something happens to you? How can I just watch it happen?

Ijae sobbed and collapsed to the floor.

Did she say she wanted to wander around wherever her feet took her, wherever her heart led her?

But she was already a traveler who had walked through desolate landscapes for a long time.

If you’re walking through the desert, yearning for water, you’ll fall into a lake when you find one. She knew that she was thirsty and that she was pathetic for begging. She even thought it might be dangerous.

Reason always said. This is a mirage. Stop here. If you fall in any further, you’ll die.

Even so, she couldn’t stop her heart from constantly turning to the King.

Clutching her face and sobbing for a long time, she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and stood up.

Before long, the day would dawn, and the King was no longer someone who lacked sleep like before.

There was no more time to be like this.

Ijae went to the bedside and brought the candlestick. Shedding tears, she burned several charms. And she glared at the vengeful spirits with fierce eyes.

“단이감행귀신피지 [Decide boldly on what you intend. May the wicked spirits flee].”

After wiping her eyes a few more times, she recited again.

“백전불굴，견인불발 [Never wavering… the human heart].”

And my heart.

Taking a deep breath and controlling herself, Ijae stretched out her hands wide and gathered her energy.

It was a spell to destroy several minor spirits rather than one powerful vengeful spirit.

“The streams will inevitably be broken countless times. Even so, they will one day meet the sea.”

“Even if your darkness sometimes makes it difficult for us, the heavenly principle is stern, and humans will not kneel before the darkness.”

There was still energy left at her fingertips, but she coughed and withdrew her strength.

Ijae looked at the vengeful spirits with confused eyes. Were five gone?

Or six?

She had almost returned them to their original level, but she was too tired to even stand, so she plopped down.

“Haa, haa….”

Ijae, who was coughing as if she was about to throw up, burst into tears.

On the floor, there were traces of tears that she had shed, drop by drop.

Ijae wanted to erase it so much that she rubbed it countless times with her palm. The traces of sadness and frustration did not dry in an instant, but Ijae kept telling herself.

“It’s nothing. I’m not a child, and I have enough strength. I won’t cry.”

She crawled to the bed. And with trembling hands, she grabbed the bed and climbed up. Barely reaching his side, Ijae caressed Roderick’s face.

“Are you okay? You have to… be okay.”

She collapsed as she lay down, shielding Roderick from the vengeful spirits.