Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 69

As Lee Jae poked her head out, people looked puzzled.

“Your Majesty, what’s wrong now?”

Lee Jae closed the door very carefully. Consequently, the others also became very cautious. She just stared at the knights for a while.

The standoff dragged on, and the people’s anxiety deepened.

It was then. Lee Jae suddenly started running. She was the type to stand still and then suddenly shout, “Eek!” and run off.

The problem was that her stride was very short, and the knights possessed incredible athletic abilities.

They ran alongside her as if they were doing a light morning exercise. Ah, they could probably match her speed even running backward.

But Lee Jae was very serious.

“Don’t follow me.”

“Where are you going?”

“That’s something I can’t tell you.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s a very secret matter.”

“Yes?”

Lee Jae kept running, “Da-da-da.” When the knights showed no sign of falling behind, she said,

“I’m playing tag.”

“Yes?”

“I’m playing tag with His Majesty. Don’t you know tag? Ah, was it hide-and-seek?”

The knights exchanged glances. In the moonlight?

“If I get caught here, it’s all over. Our future will be pitch black.”

“…Is hide-and-seek that serious?”

The Queen is definitely still young, the knights thought.

“Can you keep a secret? Don’t tell them which way I went? People really need to keep their mouths shut. Then at least half of it is gone, ha… especially…”

Lee Jae stopped running.

And she bent over, clutching her knees and catching her breath.

“Um, you there, have you written anything recently? A signature…”

If you mess that up, your whole family will be ruined.

Lee Jae waved her hands around her mouth, using only sign language to indicate that she shouldn’t say it out loud. It was a professional habit from her shaman days.

The knight nodded about six times in a daze.

Lee Jae also nodded. And then she ran again.

“Then go. Go back to your post. Cough, it’s hard for me to run while talking.”

As the Queen seemed to be breathing heavily, the knights stopped as if possessed. Then Lee Jae accelerated her sprint even more.

The place she headed to was the King’s bedroom.

The guards standing in front of the King’s door were flustered.

In principle, the King’s bedroom could not be entered without the King’s permission.

But the other party was the Queen. And the apricot-colored fox once again used her innocent appearance and said.

“I’m, I’m playing hide-and-seek.”

“…Yes?”

“His Majesty will come to catch me soon. What should I do? I’m so… scared?”

“………”

“I guess you can’t help me.”

She couldn’t burden the soldiers with this.

Lee Jae nodded her head as if she had made up her mind.

“I’ll take all this burden on myself. Everyone, please remember me.”

She flung open the door and went inside.

And locked the door from the inside. It was a success.

The look in her eyes, as she faced the wall, soon turned fierce.

Lee Jae took out a talisman [a paper inscribed with supernatural symbols or formulas] from her bosom and immediately reached out to Youngga.

Lee Jae couldn’t return to her bedroom last night.

She had exorcised three vengeful spirits, but two still remained.

She also wanted to go to a safe place and sleep, but after committing the act, she was strangely more afraid of the King than the vengeful spirits.

In the end, she spent the whole night in the King’s bedroom, trembling with anxiety, before falling asleep.

And when she opened her eyes again, it was already dawn.

Everyone was bowing their heads as if being punished.

In the center of it all, the King stood with his arms crossed.

Lee Jae flinched and sat up.

The King, raising one eyebrow, opened his mouth.

“Hailey.”

“………”

‘Hailey?’

“…………”

“Can we get an answer?”

“…Yes.”

Lee Jae unconsciously gathered her hands politely.

“I was about to break down that door yesterday, but I held back until today’s sun rose, thinking you might be asleep.”

Lee Jae reflexively looked at the door. It was intact for all that.

“The chamberlain brought the key.”

“I see.”

“Now that I’ve caught you, is it my turn to hide?”

“…Would you like to?”

Actually, I can find you easily.

I can just grab a passing *jabgwi* [a low-level spirit] and ask.

Lee Jae asked with a servile smile.

Roderick, feeling a surge of emotion, flicked her forehead with his index finger.

“Is this a joke to you?”

“…………”

“You run away while your husband is in the bathroom? Girl, you really know how to make a person miserable.”

Then the people cleared their throats, “Ahem.”

No, how hard it must have been for her. She looked really desperate yesterday.

People thought that the King should also reflect on himself at this point.

“You pretend to be docile, but you cause strange accidents from time to time. I thought you were a baby fox, but you were a wild fox.”

“I told you that I’m the type to suddenly shout, ‘Eek!’ and run off.”

“Do you think this is a compliment?”

Lee Jae curled up even more politely.

Roderick sighed deeply and swept his hair back.

Then he sat on the bed and touched her forehead with his hand.

Lee Jae didn’t know what he was doing, so she just stared blankly.

Then Roderick put the back of his hand on her cheeks, the back of her neck, and other places.

Lee Jae realized it then. He was worried about whether she had a fever or if her body was cold.

“Your body…”

“…………”

“Hailey, your body.”

“What about it?”

“…Are you okay? Is there anything wrong with you?”

“Of course. Doesn’t it look like it?”

Lee Jae thought.

Surely this person suspects that something happens when I come here. Without knowing exactly what it is.

‘You, a remarkable person who can see through the core with your mind’s eye even without spiritual sight. But don’t worry about me. Because I’m okay. I could do this much.’

Roderick, who had been staring at Lee Jae, soon hugged her.

He didn’t say anything more.

But Lee Jae thought that he was sad now.

So, she smiled faintly and gently stroked his back as if to comfort him.

Lee Jae processed a few documents that came to her in the morning.

Then she immediately went for a walk.

The maids couldn’t understand why the Queen was in such a good mood.

Considering that she had run away in the middle of the night and caused an unbelievable accident, the Queen looked refreshed. The head maid asked.

“Your Majesty, is there something good happening?”

“Huh?”

“Your steps seem light.”

“…Really?”

Lee Jae suddenly stopped and scanned her body.

She always had to keep her posture neat, but it seemed like she kept having to run here.

This is why ascetics keep leaving the secular world and secluding themselves.

Lee Jae became more careful with her steps again.

But she was actually very refreshed now.

Because there were only two vengeful spirits left.

She would be able to handle them all in a day and even purify the energy.

Then she would put up a dense barrier.

‘Are you okay? Is there anything wrong with you?’

The King seemed to have definitely noticed something strange this time.

However, Lee Jae had no intention of telling him the exact truth.

Especially about the vengeful spirits, she intended to remain silent.

People without spiritual sight cannot accept such a world.

If they heard things like, “There’s a ghost on your shoulder, they’re cursing you, they look like this…” of course, that person’s daily life would be shattered.

So, the language of shamans inevitably affects human lives.

Then, is it the vengeful spirits that control our lives, or the fear that stems from them?

Lee Jae sat on the flower bed and stared blankly at the lake.

The maids and knights were all anxious that Lawrence might appear again.

The Queen’s old lover seemed to know the Queen’s daily routine.

Because he appeared at the exact same time every time.

But because the Queen didn’t talk to him and ran away every time, he was getting more and more haggard day by day.

Then the King would hear the news again and be very angry. They were both like crazy men because of one woman.

One was emaciated and hovering around the Queen, the other was dripping with madness and protecting the Queen in his arms, and in between, the Queen was carving wood and brewing medicine. It was chaos.

But fortunately, the guest who came to see the Queen today was not Lawrence.

“Oh? Hello.”

“Greetings. It’s a beautiful afternoon.”

The man was clearly a military officer, but he bowed to Lee Jae instead of saluting.

It was probably because he wasn’t from Cayenne.

Lee Jae stared at him intently.

A man with an exotic appearance, a friend who was always with the Prince.

Lee Jae realized that the man was waiting to be invited to sit down.

“Would you like to sit down?”

“Then I’ll be a little rude.”

Oh, my. You’re too kind.

As the man sat down, Lee Jae asked.

“But do you have something to say to me?”

“Rather than that, I was just curious about Your Majesty. I heard you’re from the Duncan family.”

“Yes. Well, it just happened that way.”

That damn Duncan.

She was honestly starting to get tired of it.

But the man smiled and introduced himself.

“I am Lennon Elias.”

Lee Jae tilted her head slightly. Where have I heard that name before?

Is this Hailey’s memory?

Lee Jae’s own memory, Hailey’s memory, knowledge newly acquired here.

Her memories were currently a mess.

“Have we perhaps met before?”

The people who had been relieved that it wasn’t Lawrence tensed up in an instant.

Your Majesty, what’s with that cliché line that seems to be seducing the opposite sex?

But what was even more absurd was that the man was the same.

“You don’t know me?”

This was a disaster. The people turned pale.

“Um, I’m sorry, but I don’t really know. My memory isn’t very good.”

“Well, that could be the case.”

Lennon smiled calmly and looked at the lake.

So Lee Jae also turned her gaze back to the lake.

“Is the border situation very bad?”

“Yes. Well, it’s not stable.”

Lee Jae’s complexion darkened with worry.

The man, who had been watching her closely, asked.

“What does Your Majesty think will happen to the western border?”

Lee Jae sighed and massaged her legs.

“How would I, who am only in the castle, know? People who have been to the border would know better.”

“Doesn’t Your Majesty know?”

“…Yes?”

Lee Jae looked at him with a ‘what is this guy’ look.

The man, meeting her gaze, nodded.

“I see. I thought you were Her Majesty. Well, that could be the case.”

“…………”

“Your Majesty, would it be okay if I met Duke Duncan? I would like to ask for your arrangement.”

Lee Jae was silent for a moment. She was wondering why he wanted to meet him, but she was worried about whether she could say such things to an outsider.

But in the end, she shook her head.

“I’d rather you didn’t.”

“…Why?”

“It’s hard for me to say this myself, but my family is at odds with the royal family. Of course, I know that you are not a Cayenne noble, but aren’t you here as a friend of the Prince?”

“………”

“Just by you meeting the Duke, the Prince’s position becomes difficult.”

Then Lennon tilted his head. It was an ambiguous expression.

After a long silence, he said to Lee Jae.

“Your Majesty is on His Majesty’s side.”

It was a word that felt ominous.

Lee Jae sensitively felt that strange energy.

She nodded her head forcefully as if to shake it off.

“Yes. I am His Majesty’s ally, his wife, and a friend who will not betray him.”

Lee Jae’s voice was calm, but it was filled with conviction and will.

The man stared at her for a long time.