Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 51

#51.

Lee Jae remained fixed, gazing out of the small carriage window.

Watching her, Roderick chuckled softly.

“She must have really been eager to get out.”

“What are you looking at so intently?”

“Just looking.”

“Just looking at what, exactly?”

“Everyday things. People, streets, scenery.”

Lee Jae subtly glanced behind her.

“You’ve been asking too many questions lately.”

Having returned to the castle just a few days after waking up in Hailey’s body, Lee Jae hadn’t had a proper chance to see the outside world.

Hailey’s memories made it feel familiar, but seeing and experiencing it firsthand was a different kind of pleasure.

Like the difference between reading a book and living it.

Roderick wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

“If I don’t, you won’t tell me things accurately.”

“It’s nothing important anyway.”

“Still.”

Lee Jae simply smiled.

“So, does the Queen find the outing enjoyable?”

“Yes, it’s nice.”

“Anyone would think I’ve imprisoned you.”

After saying it in a slightly disgruntled tone, Roderick frowned.

Could the Duke have possibly prevented her from going out as she pleased? He had opposed her relationship with her former lover, so it was entirely possible.

The King now felt sorry for the Queen even when she spoke casually.

He pushed the curtain further aside.

“Alright, look and enjoy yourself. If you want, we can stay out for a few days.”

“How could someone like Your Majesty sleep outside? Are you planning to stay in some inn?”

Lee Jae asked as if it were absurd, and Roderick replied as if it were nothing.

“The King and Queen staying overnight would be a great honor for the nobles.”

“Wow, the nobles must hate that.”

“They probably do.”

The two chuckled.

Roderick instructed the coachman to drive slowly for the Queen’s sake, and Lee Jae was able to enjoy the scenery with a much more relaxed heart.

However, as the carriage entered the shopping street, Lee Jae’s eyes widened.

Roderick, who had been resting his chin on her shoulder, also raised an eyebrow.

It wasn’t that the scene was shocking to him, but the Queen’s complexion, which he reflexively checked, was not good.

A gaunt little boy was cowering and being beaten. The King clicked his tongue.

‘To show such a terrible sight to the Queen.’

Instead of coming out so quietly, should he have spread the word that the King’s carriage was going to pass by?

“J-Just a moment…”

“Hailey.”

“Could you stop for a moment?”

Roderick was planning to instruct others instead of stopping the carriage.

He turned to open the opposite door because Jade always drove on that side to protect the King.

However, the Queen couldn’t wait and abruptly opened the carriage door.

And immediately jumped out.

“Hailey!”

He was taken aback, having barely missed the hem of Lee Jae’s dress. Unlike the Queen, who usually moved with great caution, she was incredibly fast.

Lee Jae approached the cowering little boy and carefully looked at his face.

His face was bruised and swollen, as if he had been hit.

When the blood that had beaded on his lips trickled down, her hands trembled slightly.

Was the boy about eight? Maybe seven?

Lee Jae gently hugged the little boy and asked the man in front of her.

“Why, why… are you hitting him?”

“…”

“He can’t even defend himself properly yet.”

Roderick, who had already gotten out of the carriage, frowned deeply at those words.

Lee Jae tried to ask calmly.

But seeing the stick in the merchant’s hand, she trembled slightly.

The flustered knights tried to intervene, but the King raised his hand to stop them.

Seeing even that, the man immediately bowed his head.

“He, he’s a thief. That kid stole something from my store.”

At those words, Lee Jae whispered into the boy’s ear.

“Did you really steal?”

The boy nodded.

Lee Jae sighed.

“Okay, I understand.”

As she stroked the side of the crouching boy’s head and ear, he burrowed further into her chest.

Seeing that, Roderick raised an eyebrow.

Jade, who was watching, said.

“Your Majesty, he’s just a kid who doesn’t know anything.”

“I know.”

Lee Jae stroked the boy’s gaunt back and asked the merchant.

“What did he steal?”

She looked around before the man could answer.

And found a few pieces of bread lying on the ground.

Lee Jae sighed and asked persuasively.

“Still, you could have taught him. You could have lectured him, telling him this isn’t right… couldn’t you have?”

“…”

“Or called his parents.”

But the little boy shook his head in Lee Jae’s arms.

“I don’t have a mom.”

Those words were, in fact, Lee Jae’s sore spot.

Hesitating, she whispered in the boy’s ear after much deliberation.

“Don’t you have a father either?”

When the boy made a sullen face without answering, Lee Jae made the same pouty face.

“Okay, I understand. Sorry for asking. But stealing is wrong, okay?”

*If you tell the truth like you just did, someone will help you. No, actually, maybe there isn’t such a person. I thought I would have a clearer answer about that when I became an adult. I’m sorry.*

After stroking the boy several more times, Lee Jae stood up and approached the man. The man had broad shoulders and arms, and Lee Jae looked like a fox in front of a bear.

“Even so, how can you hit a child with a stick? How can an adult hit a child until they bleed? Are you even an adult?”

“W-Well, what am I supposed to do? The food is ruined, and I have no way to get compensation…”

But at those words, Lee Jae bit her lip and stared intently at the man.

It was an accusing look.

“Honestly, you knew when you hit him. From the beginning…”

Lee Jae lowered her voice, worried that the child would be hurt by her words.

“You knew he didn’t have parents from the beginning, didn’t you?”

“…”

“There’s no way to get the money back, and there’s no one who will come and argue even if you hit him, so that’s why you did it, right?”

If the boy had looked even ten years old, Lee Jae wouldn’t have done this. But from the moment she saw the stick as big as an adult’s arm, she was deeply distressed by the memories that surfaced.

As Lee Jae took another step closer, Roderick paused.

He wondered if he should stop her now. Lee Jae grabbed the man’s sleeve and shook it as if begging him not to do that.

“Why isn’t there a way? You could make him do chores to pay for the goods, or have him clean something. If you don’t want to bother, there’s the constabulary [police force]! How is this different from venting your anger…?”

Feeling her emotions rising as she spoke, Lee Jae choked up.

She finally let go of his sleeve and slapped the man’s thick arm, saying, “Ugh, you human!”

“If you’re going to be like this, you might as well die. With that size, with those arms, you’re hitting a child! If you’re not going to be of any help to world peace, just die!”

The man clutched his arm, flinched, and took a step back.

And looked at Lee Jae in bewilderment.

The King’s party was just as bewildered.

Roderick made a “huh” sound and rubbed his forehead.

He looked at the commander of the knights. The commander of the knights was also looking at the King with a troubled expression.

Roderick sighed and said.

“Kill him. Her Majesty wishes for world peace.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Suddenly, the knights rushed forward, and Lee Jae, who was too surprised, blocked the man.

“W-Wait a minute. Why are you doing this? There’s no need to kill him.”

Then the King looked at the commander of the knights again.

The commander of the knights looked back at the King with a troubled expression again.

Roderick sighed.

“Spare him. Our Queen truly wishes for world peace.”

The King strode over and pulled Lee Jae’s arm.

He took money out of his pocket and handed it to Jade.

“Take care of it. And that kid too.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

He pulled the hesitant Lee Jae once more.

It was a gesture as if he was arresting a troublemaker.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Stop it and come quickly.”

Lee Jae kept glancing back, worried, but Jade was talking to the merchant about something.

Roderick opened the carriage door and shoved her inside.

Then he followed and immediately rubbed his forehead.

Seeing the King sighing and looking serious, Lee Jae began to watch him carefully.

But soon a chuckling sound leaked from him.

Her eyes widened.

“Why are you laughing?”

“You’re really driving me crazy.”

Lee Jae became a little sulky when he showed no sign of stopping his laughter for a while.

Roderick stopped laughing only after Jade had finished everything and the situation was completely resolved.

As the carriage started again, Roderick nudged Lee Jae’s leg with his knee.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“Are you sulking?”

“Why would I be sulking?”

“You seem to be?”

“I’m not.”

He chuckled.

“Do it to me too.”

“Do what?”

Lee Jae asked, puzzled, and Roderick held out his arm.

He couldn’t forget the sight of her slapping the man’s arm, saying, “Ugh, you human!”

Lee Jae, realizing what the King was teasing her about, glared at him coyly.

“Why? I want to be scolded by you too.”

“…Did you have that kind of taste?”

“I didn’t know, but I guess I did.”

“Oh my god, I knew you were a pervert, but I didn’t know it was this bad…”

He laughed as if it were amusing and pushed his arm out a little more.

Lee Jae was disgusted.

“No way. Why would I hit Your Majesty?”

“That’s not hitting. It’s the sweet rain of skinship.”

Lee Jae, looking at Roderick in disbelief, looked around the carriage.

There weren’t any vengeful spirits, so why was this person suddenly acting like this?

He gently grabbed Lee Jae’s cheek, who was looking at him suspiciously, and let go.

“Don’t grab other men’s sleeves like that.”

“…”

“I almost got jealous.”

“Um, I think your condition is very serious. We need to go to the temple quickly.”

Lee Jae said jokingly, but Roderick soon explained calmly.

“What if my hand had reflexively flown out? Do you think a man who hits a child wouldn’t hit a woman?”

If that had happened, Roderick would have killed that man not for the sake of humanity, but for his own personal peace.

After a moment of silence, Lee Jae nodded in agreement.

“Yes, I’m sorry. I got too excited. I made a mistake.”

Roderick smiled silently and stroked her apricot-colored hair.

The Queen had definitely been agitated a little while ago, and Roderick actually had an idea why.

What kind of ordinary person would see a child being beaten and say, ‘Don’t hit him because he can’t defend himself yet’? He felt a pang in his heart, but after thinking about it carefully, he shook his head and hugged her.

“It’s okay from now on. Because I’m by your side.”

He gently stroked her back.