Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 74

The king gave various instructions to his attendants, mostly concerning the menu.

In truth, Roderick wasn’t entirely pleased with Lee Jae’s eating habits.

Foxes were definitely omnivores, but his apricot-colored fox had a diet leaning almost entirely towards herbivorous.

However, today was a day when he had to agree with whatever the queen said, even if she called black white.

Soon, Lee Jae’s plate was piled high with salads and fruits.

“Here, eat as much as you like.”

“Please eat too, Your Majesty. Don’t worry about me.”

Lee Jae said with an awkward smile.

Her still distant attitude made Roderick want to sigh.

But what’s spilled cannot be gathered, and this was the karma he had to bear.

“Hailey.”

“Yes?”

“About saying you didn’t know how to get properly angry, I sincerely apologize again.”

“………”

“You’re really scary when you’re angry. Do you know I almost cried?”

Lee Jae shook her head.

“I wasn’t angry.”

“Then why do you keep avoiding my eyes?”

“I was so worried because you wouldn’t even see me. If your husband says nonsense, you should kick him or scold him, not avoid him.”

“How can I scold Your Majesty? You say strange things sometimes, really.”

Considering that, she knew she had snapped back sharply.

Embarrassed by that, Lee Jae glossed over it and focused on her meal.

The king kept watching Lee Jae, taking care of her meal.

However, as always, she couldn’t eat much.

Roderick wasn’t pleased that she was only picking at her food, but on the other hand, he understood.

With such a small frame, there didn’t seem to be room for more.

“Eat some more.”

“I’m full.”

“Still. If you eat a lot and your belly gets full, I’ll pat it for you.”

At those words, Lee Jae couldn’t help but chuckle.

And as his wife smiled with a much more relaxed face, Roderick felt even more restless.

The king was now just a husband doing his best to soothe his heartbroken wife.

Roderick got up from his seat and sat next to Lee Jae.

Then he tasted the drink she had taken a sip of and left.

“It’s not very sweet. Is it not to your taste even at this level?”

“No. It’s delicious.”

“Then let’s finish at least this much.”

“You need to eat at least this much to move around and live.”

Unable to ignore his consideration, Lee Jae eventually gulped down the remaining drink. Watching her with a smile, Roderick wanted to try a playful flirtation. He wasn’t sure if she would accept it, as they hadn’t reconciled long ago.

“Let’s see if your belly is full now.”

Roderick poked her belly with his finger.

Lee Jae flinched, but this time he was gently kneading the young fox’s belly.

It couldn’t possibly be full from eating just that little, but her belly, without any abs, was different from his firm one.

Lee Jae looked at him with eyes that seemed to ask what he was doing.

But Roderick, liking the soft sensation, chuckled and gently grabbed her chin.

“Can I kiss you?”

“………….”

“Tell me if you don’t want to.”

Lee Jae hesitated, but Roderick nibbled at the tip of her nose and licked her cheek.

Lee Jae’s neck shrank back.

She looked like a young animal cornered in front of a predator.

Roderick stroked her shoulder soothingly, and she gradually leaned back in her chair.

Jade and the head attendant exchanged glances.

The king was, as always, not kissing the queen but eating her as dessert.

And the queen, who had been tightly closing her eyes, had melted and drooped.

Your Majesty, Queen, have you perhaps become a liquid?

Roderick, who had straightened the limp Lee Jae again, gently stroked her hair.

“Hailey.”

“Yes.”

“What are you doing this afternoon?”

“Nothing special.”

“Then go on a date with me.”

Lee Jae nodded and stood up before he could even offer his hand.

Roderick, looking at that with a bit of regret, wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her up.

Instinctively grabbing his shoulder, Lee Jae let out a hollow laugh.

“Your Majesty, I didn’t fall that hard. I’m all better.”

“All better, my foot. Do you think I don’t know your gait?”

“I’m fine, so please put me down.”

“No.”

“………….”

“You shouldn’t have run away. Who told you to fall like that? I was so sad I almost cried.”

As Lee Jae muttered, Roderick chuckled.

“I’m upset and not feeling well either, that’s why.”

He lifted her up effortlessly with one arm, striding forward.

His face showed no sign of feeling any weight.

After walking for a while, Roderick paused, considering where to take her. His options were limited.

Torn between the lake and Arthur’s forest, he soon decided on the lakeside.

He just had a feeling that his wife liked looking at the water more than the forest. That was actually a very accurate judgment.

Arriving at the lakeside, Roderick sat Lee Jae down on a flower bed and gestured for the people to leave. And as the people moved away, he carefully lifted her dress.

“What, what are you doing?”

Startled, Lee Jae pulled down her dress, but he didn’t let go.

The fluttering hem of the dress stopped around her knees.

He frowned, looking at Lee Jae’s knees, where faint bruises remained.

Lee Jae became embarrassed when she realized that he was just trying to check the injury.

He fiddled with her slender ankles as if to check the condition a little more.

Then, Lee Jae, feeling pain this time, frowned.

Roderick clicked his tongue and lowered the hem of her dress again.

“I’m really okay.”

“If you’re going to run, don’t fall.”

“………….”

“I can’t bear to look at you, you’re so pathetic.”

However, since this was also his responsibility, Roderick sighed.

He had said he would break Laurence’s legs if the queen fell, but it was his own legs that needed to be broken.

His wife’s words that what he said carelessly sometimes came true were so right.

Roderick came back to her side, and they were silent for a long time.

Lee Jae kept staring at the lake, and Roderick stared blankly at her.

He wanted to talk to her countless times, and he wanted to exchange jokes like before.

But he didn’t know how to talk to her again.

Perhaps this was just him being preemptively anxious.

But he kept feeling upset, wondering if the queen had completely closed her heart.

She was already someone who held many secrets tightly, and he was afraid that she would never open her heart again.

He had many things to ask, but he was afraid that he would never regain her trust.

‘Is your name really Lee Jae?’ he wanted to ask. But who would reveal their secrets to someone they don’t trust?

Roderick nudged her thigh with his knee.

Lee Jae glanced at him.

“Is your heart still not completely soothed?”

“It’s not that.”

“What can I do to make you treat me comfortably again?”

Lee Jae forced a smile. After thinking for a while, she opened her mouth.

Her profile looked like someone who had already exhausted a lot, but on the other hand, it looked like she had unloaded a burden.

“Your Majesty.”

“Yeah.”

“Actually, what I said earlier, I meant it.”

“What?”

Lee Jae replied in a voice as calm as the lake.

“I also misspoke that day. I also apologize. From the beginning, it was a arranged marriage that was necessary for both families, and now it’s not a matter of who resents whom. The Duncan family committed the sin first.”

“………”

“I don’t want to be someone who blocks Your Majesty’s path.”

“……What?”

“Don’t worry about me, and if that’s what you need, do it. If that moment comes… then don’t hesitate and just tell me once first.”

Roderick was flustered and grabbed her wrist.

“Ah, why do you keep saying that!”

“………….”

“Hailey. I told you that’s not what I meant.”

“………….”

“Ah, please.”

Roderick was really anxious and felt like he was going crazy. And at the same time, he realized.

That he had pushed his wife not to the border, but to the end of the world.

It wouldn’t be easy to narrow this distance like before.

His wife wasn’t just angry with him for a moment. She had been hurt too much.

“Don’t abandon me. You’ve shaken my heart like this, so you have to take responsibility.”

“………”

“I can’t live without you. I really can’t.”

‘No. Your Majesty will be fine.’

‘You can sleep without me now, and you’ll be safe. Probably.’

‘Actually, I don’t think there’s much left I can do for you.’

As Lee Jae only smiled faintly, Roderick pulled her hand and rubbed it against his cheek.

“Let’s go on a trip. A temple is good, a river is good, anywhere is fine. You just say it. I’ll take you everywhere.”

“………….”

“If you get some fresh air, you’ll feel better. You wouldn’t want to go to your parents’ house, would you?”

Lee Jae nodded. Seeing that nod, but not feeling relieved, Roderick hugged her tightly.

‘Don’t let me go. Stay by my side.’

Lee Jae only stroked his back with a gentle touch.

The couple, who spent a tender yet awkward time together, returned to their residence late in the evening.

People thought that the end of this couple’s fight was really not deviating from expectations at all. They seemed to have reconciled, but their temperatures were very different. The queen was smiling with a gentle face, and the king was agonizing alone.

How to mix one more word, how to hear one more laugh. The king had never won against the queen in the first place.

In front of Lee Jae’s room, he asked.

“Can I kiss you again?”

“Will you?”

Lee Jae grabbed his collar and pulled him down.

As he lowered his head, she kissed him, hugging his waist.

With the gentle touch of her embrace, Roderick felt his heart melt away.

He caressed Lee Jae’s lips.

“Will you see me tomorrow too?”

“Of course.”

“Keep your promise.”

“Why do you even make a promise like that? Anyway, I understand.”

Lee Jae quietly waited for his words to continue.

But when he didn’t say anything more, she nodded.

Saying to see her tomorrow seemed to mean he was going back now.

“I’m going in. You have to have good dreams tonight too.”

“Okay. You sleep well too.”

He really wanted to go in with her.

But he turned away, looking at the door with regret.

If he clung on any more, this fox might really hide away.

Lee Jae woke up in the middle of the night because of a chilling malice.

At that moment, a familiar voice shook the air.

It was the spirit of Ham.

-Lee Jae, wake up quickly!

Hurriedly getting up, she opened her eyes wide.

Because she saw an unbelievable sight.

A huge number of vengeful spirits were rushing towards the room.

The room’s barrier was on the verge of collapsing, and the spirit of Ham was barely holding it back.

But the spirit’s body was gradually fading.

Lee Jae went to the window and knocked away one of the vengeful spirits with her bracelet.

Reaching her hand outward, she shouted to the spirit.

“Go away! If you do this, you’ll disappear!”

The coffer [a container for valuables or sacred objects], which was already cracked, had widened a little more.

The spirit was a weak thought-form that could hardly handle even one snake ghost.

Seeing her home being destroyed, the spirit of Ham was tearful, but said to Lee Jae.

-Lee Jae. You have to go to the king now.

“Huh?”

Even in her confusion, she looked at the spirit.

-I saw something scary going somewhere else.

Lee Jae was flustered and withdrew her energy, lowering her hand. Thinking about it, it was strange.

It was the king who carried around a lot of vengeful spirits with exorcism, not her.

There was no reason for so many vengeful spirits to flock to a room without the king.

At that moment, she realized.

Someone was throwing mud at both sides [creating conflict between two parties]. Then the king was in danger.

Anxious, she said to the spirit.

“I’ll be right back. I’ll really be right back.”

-…Okay.

“I’m sorry.”

The spirit nodded, but tears welled up in its big eyes.

-Lee Jae. I’m scared too.

“……I’m so sorry. I can’t leave that person alone.”

-……I know. That’s the person Lee Jae likes.

Lee Jae opened Ham and rummaged through the talismans [paper inscribed with magical spells].

But as Ham made a cracking sound and broke a little more, she looked at the spirit.

The spirit, pouring out its power, was continuing to fade.

She couldn’t bear to take all the talismans, so she put only two or three in her arms.

Putting her hand on Ham, Lee Jae infused the spirit with energy, closed her eyes tightly, and turned around.

And hurriedly ran out of the room.

Vengeful spirits continued to fly into the room where the owner had disappeared.

The barrier shook with a loud noise as if it would collapse at any moment.

It was a sound that only people with spiritual eyes could hear.

It was at that moment. A mysterious blue light emanated from somewhere.

The blue light slowly began to fill the room.

Lee Jae, the guardian general of the underworld, was attached with glue [metaphorically bound to the place].

One statue contained the hearts of two people, and that heart slowly drove out the darkness and began to protect the room.