Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 82

#82.

Lee Jae cautiously opened the door and peeked her head in.

She acted as if she were entering someone else’s room.

Roderick gestured, as if it were his own room, signaling her to come to the bed quickly.

“Your Majesty, why are you here so early?”

“I missed my little bean, and I couldn’t focus on work.”

Oh? That wouldn’t do. Lee Jae suppressed a smile and stepped inside.

However, Roderick soon raised an eyebrow.

She didn’t come to the bed; instead, she sat at the table.

Lee Jae began organizing something on the table, making notes on a piece of paper.

Eventually, Roderick got out of bed.

He approached Lee Jae, slipped his hands under her armpits and legs, and lifted her.

“Eek! What are you doing?”

“I thought you were waiting for me to pick you up and move you.”

“I never said that.”

He ignored her and placed her on the bed, following her up.

Sensing a very dangerous signal, Lee Jae tried to get out of bed again.

But Roderick easily prevented his wife’s escape.

He wrapped his arms around Lee Jae’s waist and dragged her back.

Held in Roderick’s arms, she tried to push against his chest with her small hands.

“Your Majesty, I’m busy.”

Roderick looked puzzled.

“Busy? With what?”

“I have a lot to do.”

“So, what is it? Who is making my wife busier than the king?”

It’s you.

Lee Jae paused to think. In fact, she had a mountain of things to do, and her only concern was where to start.

“First, I need to make some charms.”

The king and her room had their barriers completely destroyed after the last incident.

Of course, the king’s condition was very good.

So good that Lee Jae sometimes felt like she was seeing the boy king again.

Not only could ordinary vengeful spirits not approach, but even insignificant *japgwi* [low-level spirits or minor nuisances] would crumble upon getting near the king.

Roderick still looked puzzled.

“I gave them all back to you. Is something missing?”

Lee Jae gave an awkward smile.

She didn’t want to blame anyone, but the previous charms had long been reduced to trash.

“Charms can’t be reused once they’re torn or damaged.”

“…Was that so?”

“Yes.”

The knights were generally rough in their handling.

They didn’t even know what the paper was.

At least the Chinese characters written on it had to be intact to be usable, but the ones on the wall were already tattered beyond repair.

All she could salvage were the ones she had kept in the box.

The king looked embarrassed at her words.

He was unfamiliar with the fact, but he realized he had damaged his wife’s belongings.

Feeling inexplicably sorry, he scratched the corner of his eyebrow.

“Lee Jae.”

“Yes?”

“Shall I have Jade kick him once for you?”

Lee Jae stared at the king with wide eyes.

‘Jade? Why all of a sudden?”

“He made something you put so much effort into unusable.”

She chuckled softly, thinking he was saying the strangest things.

She relaxed her body, having been looking for a chance to escape from the bed.

And she took his hands, which were looking puzzled.

“Your Majesty, Jade is worried about you. You know that, right?”

“………”

“It’s hard to meet someone like that even twice in a lifetime. In fact, it’s difficult even once for some people. And some people don’t even recognize such a connection when it comes their way and let it pass.”

“…………”

“That’s what you call a *gwiin* [a benefactor or noble person]. You can always make more charms, but you should be grateful to have such a person by your side.”

Lee Jae’s face, smiling gently, showed no regret for the ruined charms.

Rather, it was filled with satisfaction and relief after having said everything she wanted to say.

So Roderick felt even more sorry.

“What to do? You’re so kind.”

“………”

“You’re a big problem too.”

“…I told you, I’m not that kind of person.”

Lee Jae didn’t really want to hear such words.

Feeling awkward, she replied vaguely and tried to slip out of bed again.

But Roderick completely laid her down on the bed and showered her face with frantic kisses.

He said to Lee Jae, who was shrinking from the ticklishness,

“I understood what you meant. I know Jade is important to me.”

“………”

“But Lee Jae.”

‘…Yes.”

“I think my *gwiin* is probably you.”

Lee Jae smiled, crinkling the corners of her eyes at those words.

However, even as she smiled, she shook her head. She wasn’t born with the grand aura of the king or the knight commander.

But the king’s words were touching and appreciated, so she hugged him back.

After two escape attempts, Lee Jae finally decided to postpone today’s work a little. She had a mountain of work piled up, but she thought it would be okay to afford this much leisure as newlyweds.

And Roderick, who had succeeded in luring out the apricot-colored fox, grinned.

She was so self-controlled that it wasn’t easy to play with her.

In fact, he even liked that about her.

Watching her with great pleasure, Roderick impulsively blurted out.

“I can’t carry you around like this every time.”

“………”

“Doesn’t our talented wife have a knack for getting even smaller here?”

Lee Jae glared at him, dumbfounded.

“Where would such a talent be? I’ve never even heard of it.”

“Why? I’m not asking for much. You’re already a little bean, so if you get just a little smaller, you’d fit in my pocket.”

“………”

“Come on, use your power.”

She was getting tired of saying she wasn’t small anymore.

Lee Jae nodded, saying, “Okay, I’ll try.”

Roderick chuckled at her nonchalant answer and shook her gently in his arms.

And when he wrapped himself around her and put his leg on top of her, Lee Jae frowned, wincing.

She was aware that she was small, but she seemed to forget how sturdy his physique was.

Hey, Your Majesty, you should look in the mirror too.

“Your Majesty.”

“Why.”

“If you keep putting your leg on me like that, it’s heavy and it hurts.”

Roderick quickly put his leg down.

And this time, he laid Lee Jae on top of him, hugging her tightly around her chest. It was a new position.

Lee Jae blinked, looking up at the ceiling, wondering what this was.

The king seemed to be thinking of becoming a bed in addition to being a pillow and blanket.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“No. This bed feels too hard.”

“Ah, the blanket is heavy, and the bed is hard.”

“………”

“Can’t you just hug me without pretending not to know? Do you hate your husband’s embrace that much?”

Roderick said gruffly and changed his position once again, placing her on top of him.

Lee Jae put her hands on his firm chest and looked down at him. Unlike his complaining words, his blue eyes were full of joy.

In fact, Lee Jae was feeling what it was like to live with a strong husband these days. With a flick, she would be in this position, and with another flick, she would be in that position.

He effortlessly put her in all sorts of embarrassing positions.

Lee Jae felt like she was flying around the bed, relying on his arm strength.

It was convenient because she didn’t have to move herself.

“Lee Jae.”

“Yes.”

“Wife.”

“Yeees.”

“Shall we do it?”

Lee Jae quickly gave him a sharp look.

She became suspicious of his intentions for waiting in the room.

“You came early with this in mind?”

That was the correct answer.

“I told you, I came because I missed you.”

That was also the correct answer.

Lee Jae pondered for a moment.

The king was at a level where he was hitting vengeful spirits with his shoulder every time he walked these days.

However, she was concerned about leaving the room in this state.

If an even stronger curse came flying, Lee Jae was not confident that she could block it with the collapsed barrier.

*Yubimuhwan* [유비무환 – a Korean proverb meaning ‘preparedness prevents worry’]. If you are thoroughly prepared, you have no worries.

Lee Jae eventually gave a tentative answer.

“We did it yesterday.”

“Ah, I see. There must have been an unwritten rule that if we do it yesterday, we can’t do it today.”

“I’m learning another thing like this.”

Of course, there was no such unwritten rule. But Lee Jae knew that if she didn’t say this, her husband would try to do it in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

She wondered how she had endured that while sharing the same bed all this time.

She wondered if it was especially worse because they were newlyweds and asked.

“But Your Majesty, do people usually do it this much?”

Roderick shrugged.

“I don’t know. Why would I want to know about other people’s bed affairs? I’m not interested.”

“No, it’s not that I’m particularly interested… I was just a little curious.”

Lee Jae hesitated, and Roderick chuckled. His round-eyed wife really had curiosity in her eyes.

“Hey, little bean.”

“Yes?”

“You didn’t marry someone else; you married me. I’m your husband.”

“………”

“Then shouldn’t we do it when we want to? What, do you want to do just the average amount based on what others do?”

She nodded, agreeing with his words.

Roderick grinned as he looked at her.

He felt that his apricot-colored fox was about to give in.

She was so bright and quick-witted that it was impossible to coax her with shallow tricks.

Roderick, who thought he had almost won her over, played his last card to get a definite answer.

“So, are you really not going to do it today? If you don’t want to, get off. You, being like this, is very stimulating.”

Then Lee Jae stared at him intently. It was a gaze that seemed to penetrate him.

She soon nodded nonchalantly.

“Shall I?”

As she crawled down, Roderick quickly grabbed her hips.

“Tsk. Are you really going to get off just because I said that? You didn’t hesitate for a moment.”

“Then why do you test people?”

Lee Jae smiled brightly, and Roderick sighed deeply.

She had a face that was really pretty, annoying, and maddening.

“So, is it fun to tease your husband with things like this?”

“Well, a little?”

“Okay. If you’re having fun, I guess that’s all that matters.”

Lee Jae, who was laughing and shaking her body, stroked his arm gently as if to appease him.

“We’ll only do it once. I want to too, but it’s because I have other things to do, so you can’t be upset.”

“What, get upset over something like this? I’ve been rejected by you as easily as breathing.”

No, when did I ever reject him like that? It was an unfounded accusation.

Lee Jae tilted her head.

Then she crawled down again.

But Roderick grabbed her again this time.

He asked Lee Jae, who was looking down at him, puzzled.

“Do you want to try being on top?”

Lee Jae, who had been calm all along, flinched noticeably at that moment.

Because she flinched so much, Roderick, who had brought it up, also paused.

It was a daunting suggestion for her, who had little experience in this area.

But on the other hand, it was also a very familiar position.

Because the king enjoyed having her sit on top of him while talking.

Lee Jae looked at him very suspiciously.

She wondered if he had been aiming for this from the start.

“…Your Majesty, you had a plan all along?”

“Of course. The king has to draw the big picture.”

“Isn’t there no need to draw even such a picture?”

“I just made it up.”

But he eventually lifted Lee Jae and put her down on the bed himself.

It was because he read the hesitation on her face, even though she didn’t say it.

Roderick smiled a little because he found her embarrassed face cute after being caught.