Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 7

As Her Heart Leads – 7

#7.

Lee Jae sipped her tea, observing the King.

He took only one sip of his tea and had been staring intently at Lee Jae ever since.

The intensity of his gaze made Lee Jae a little self-conscious.

As expected, Roderick, leaning back, asked,

“Hailey Duncan.”

“Yes?”

“What are you thinking?”

“…Don’t you like the tea?”

Lee Jae took another sip, but she honestly didn’t think it tasted very good either. She would have to reconsider whether the Head Maid and she were truly compatible over a longer period.

“No. I’m wondering why you’re acting like this.”

“………”

“And it seems the tea doesn’t suit your taste, not mine.”

Lee Jae almost spat out the tea, but she managed to swallow it down.

“If Your Majesty judges even my preferences, I…”

Fortunately, Roderick chuckled at the joke.

He had the same look as if he was saying, ‘You’re lying again,’ but he certainly didn’t seem to dislike jokes.

However, he looked exhausted as he swept back his dark hair, like a wounded beast.

Moreover, even now, the vengeful spirits were constantly looking for an opportunity, ready to pounce as soon as the King and Lee Jae were slightly apart.

Consequently, the King’s nerves were gradually becoming more sensitive.

‘He’s really making me anxious.’

Lee Jae, watching the scene with anxious eyes, smiled bitterly.

Most people wouldn’t realize it, but seeing things like this was exhausting.

‘Right, he’s not someone I can just pass by. This is for you, Kang Lee Jae. So, just once.’

Forcing herself to rationalize, Lee Jae soon got up from her seat and approached the King.

And as she quietly sat down next to him, Roderick raised an eyebrow.

When Lee Jae glanced up at him, he asked,

“Why?”

When he asked like that, there wasn’t much to say.

However, Lee Jae could see the vengeful spirits, which had been hovering around Roderick, cursing her as they moved away.

She looked up at him, who was looking down at her, and asked,

“Haven’t you been sleeping well lately?”

“Yeah. A little.”

“………”

“Does it show?”

Lee Jae nodded.

“A little… actually, a lot.”

Looking forward again, she sighed softly and hesitated for a moment.

Then, she gently took his hand, which was resting carelessly on his knee.

Jade squeezed his eyes shut, unable to watch.

She thought she had gone too far. The King had considerable animosity towards the Duncan family, and the consensus among the Queen’s maids was that nothing had happened on the King and Queen’s first night.

Although the Queen’s pajamas were in an unbelievably strange state, her body and the sheets were completely dry.

Moreover, the two had never slept in the same place even once since their wedding night.

However, Lee Jae wasn’t doing this to be affectionate and hold hands.

She was currently maintaining a perspective similar to that of a shaman or a medical professional.

But she wasn’t sure if it was better to appear like the former.

Lee Jae pressed down on somewhere on his palm and glanced at Roderick.

Roderick was truly dumbfounded this time, but he frowned and smiled because of the Queen’s youthful face, which seemed somewhat intimidated, fearing he would shake her off.

“What are you doing?”

Fortunately, he didn’t shake off her hand, and Lee Jae felt a small relief.

He didn’t seem to be such a jerk as to shake off his legal spouse’s hand.

“I’ve tried it, and it helps me sleep.”

“………”

“I also have… had insomnia.”

Roderick smiled crookedly. For some reason, it seemed that the Queen had even given up trying to hide her lies this time.

However, Lee Jae really knew the pathways through which energy flowed in the human body.

People who have been weakened for a long time can never overcome vengeful spirits, and in fact, they can’t even perform a *gut* [a shamanistic ritual] immediately even if they visit a shrine.

This was always Lee Jae’s job, taking care of the odd jobs.

When the King remained still, she carefully reached out her hand to his shoulder and pressed down on somewhere again.

And she began to press and check his body in turn.

The reason she touched his hand first was that she couldn’t shake off the worry that Hailey’s neck would be cut off if she carelessly pressed on places like his neck.

Lee Jae hadn’t seen the King in good condition very often.

And the King didn’t seem to have any intention of asking why now.

He was just staring blankly at what the Queen was doing with her small hands, as if he was dumbfounded.

“Does it hurt anywhere?”

“No. Not really.”

“Tell me if it hurts too much.”

“Yeah, thank you very much.”

Roderick chuckled as he replied.

And the expressions of the people watching became strange.

In fact, they were very anxious.

The King became cruel even with the slightest annoyance, and sometimes he became cruel even when there was nothing particularly annoying.

But Lee Jae was very serious on her own. She felt even more clearly this time what she had felt when she laid him down on the bed that night.

‘This person really has innate energy.’

It was a form that appeared in people who were widely known, destined to achieve great things, and who had established themselves in a field.

Such people usually don’t get involved with vengeful spirits.

How badly did he live to have those things keep sticking to him?

However, as a result of suffering from bad things for many years, his energy was tangled and blocked.

And it was much more dangerous for people with such strong energy when their pathways were blocked. It was common for them to become hemiplegic [paralysis affecting one side of the body].

She couldn’t dare to touch such people, and it was entirely up to Granny Youngsan.

Lee Jae pressed down on somewhere between his spine and shoulder blades.

“Hmm.”

When Roderick made a low sound, she immediately pressed down between his neck and ear.

And she constantly chanted in her mind. ‘Connect. Connect.’

‘Done.’

As the blocked energy circulated, Roderick seemed to feel a sense of exhaustion instead.

Like someone who had been in a cold place and had just entered a warm room.

In fact, if he were an ordinary person, he should have already fainted the moment the vengeful spirit left.

Lee Jae quickly pulled his half-asleep shoulder and laid him on her lap.

“Umm.”

Roderick mumbled a couple more unclear sounds after that.

The sounds the King made unconsciously actually sounded a little strange.

The languid and pleasant moans evoked a certain act.

But this was very wholesome and natural, and Lee Jae, pressing between Roderick’s eyebrows, was working so hard that she was sweating profusely.

Finally, when the King fell completely asleep, breathing evenly, Lee Jae leaned back against the sofa with a dazed expression.

“Haa…”

Was this life meant for serving others, and God gave me a little extra lifespan for that?

But this was not a perfect solution either.

The King had only gained a little more strength to endure this situation.

‘I’m sorry. I don’t think I can do more than this.’

Meanwhile, Jade, who had been worried about what kind of bloodshed would occur, approached hesitantly.

He stared at the sleeping King with a curious look. The beast that had been rampaging just half an hour ago was now a gentle lamb.

The King’s attendants, who had been cowering in the corner, were also glancing at the scene over their shoulders.

“Is he really sleeping now?”

“…I think so.”

“………”

“Well, it’s refreshing to get a massage when you’re tired. He must have been very tired.”

Even as she spoke, Lee Jae knew that this didn’t seem very natural.

But Jade seemed to want to talk about something else rather than that.

“He hasn’t been sleeping properly for the past few days. He originally has some insomnia, but he’s been very sensitive lately…”

As the Captain of the Guard made excuses for the violence that had occurred earlier as vaguely as possible, Lee Jae just nodded.

They were all in the same boat, facing an uncomfortable situation.

“…People can be a little sensitive sometimes.”

“………”

“It’s okay. I wasn’t too surprised.”

“…Yes.”

“But is the person who left earlier okay?”

Lee Jae asked, belatedly feeling a little concerned.

She knew the situation, but it didn’t seem like good rumors would spread no matter what.

Jade just sighed.

The Head Attendant, who had already approached, covered the deeply sleeping King with a blanket of soft material.

And after a while, Deborah also approached the sofa.

Lee Jae looked puzzled as Deborah glared at the Head Attendant as if she was going to kill him.

However, Deborah, who had completely changed her expression, asked Lee Jae,

“Shall I bring a blanket for Her Majesty the Queen as well?”

Only then did the Head Attendant realize his mistake and look chagrined, but Lee Jae shook her head.

“No, I’ve finished my tea, so I should go.”

And Lee Jae tried to carefully remove her lap from under the King’s head.

He didn’t seem likely to wake up easily, but she didn’t want to disturb his sleep.

Roderick didn’t wake up easily as she intended.

However, he stirred slightly as Lee Jae moved away little by little.

He grabbed the hem of her clothes around her waist.

And he burrowed a little deeper into her arms.

The low voice, “Umm,” came out unconsciously again this time.

Deep silence fell once again among the people.

Everyone had awkward expressions.

If she had thought this was a gesture of such affection, Lee Jae would have been embarrassed like the others.

Of course, she was uncomfortable too. But because she knew it didn’t mean that, Lee Jae tried not to care too much.

Roderick had simply instinctively sought out and grabbed the clear energy. Because of the amulet she possessed. Or because of her pure energy.

If his reason was alive, he wouldn’t have done this, but Roderick’s body, which had been suffering from gloomy energy for a long time, was unconsciously looking for a comfortable place.

The problem was that other people didn’t know that.

Lee Jae reached out her hand to the Head Maid, who had a subtle expression.

“…I think it would be good to give me a blanket too.”

Then the Head Attendant quickly brought a blanket and handed it to the Head Maid.

Deborah, who received it haughtily, wrapped it around Lee Jae’s body with meticulous hands.

Lee Jae didn’t feel the severe nausea she had felt last time. Pressing the pathways through which blocked energy had to pass was a kind of skill and knowledge.

However, she felt deeply tired again today, having concentrated for quite a long time.

As expected, life became difficult when entangled with such people.

Lee Jae buried herself in the blanket and closed her eyes.

She occasionally felt the urge to twist her body because she was bothered by the warm breath on her abdomen and the hand that kept grabbing her waist, but she repeated in her mind.

This person is a patient. He’s my husband, but still, he’s a patient for now.

Then I should be compassionate. Good thoughts. Kind thoughts.

Get away, my perverted demon.

And before long, Lee Jae fell into a deep sleep, no less than Roderick.