Follow Your Heart [EN]: Chapter 88

As Her Heart Led – Episode 88

#88.

After that exchange, Ijae took a short break.

As she silently pondered, the maids began to watch her with concern.

Deborah cautiously offered her a glass of water.

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“I didn’t expect them to bring up such personal matters, so I wasn’t prepared.”

Ijae shook her head.

“What’s wrong with that? What could be more important than marriage?”

“Well, yes…”

Deborah felt the same way as Ijae.

Marriage was one of the most important events in a person’s life.

She could understand them wanting to be congratulated by royalty.

However, she was concerned because the Queen seemed troubled.

Ijae maintained a composed expression throughout, but Deborah, who had been attending to her closely, could sense the subtle differences.

The Queen, who had told them to follow the path they had chosen, seemed somewhat lonely.

Just then, another visitor arrived, causing the head maid even more distress.

“Your Majesty, Duke Duncan is requesting a brief audience.”

As the guard reported in a troubled tone, Deborah narrowed her eyes.

‘Are they all ganging up on me today? But why does the Duke keep coming without an appointment?!’

Does he think our Queen is a pushover?

Well, there was some truth to that.

And Deborah knew very well why the Duke came without an appointment.

He knew that if he made a request in advance, it would be rejected somewhere along the way, so he simply bypassed the process.

In fact, the King had a hand in it.

The King had repeatedly ordered that the Queen and the Duke should not meet.

The problem was the Queen’s attitude, as if she had been waiting for him.

Ijae chuckled, a meaningful smile on her face.

A golden opportunity. A rare and precious chance.

Those weren’t exactly the words she wanted to use when meeting the Duke, but it was indeed an opportunity she couldn’t miss.

She had even considered summoning the Duke herself if he hadn’t come first, knowing that her husband was interfering.

“Let him in. Apologize to the people who were waiting. Tell them I haven’t seen my father in a long time, and I’ll just have a brief chat.”

“…Your Majesty.”

Deborah looked at Ijae with a pleading expression.

She worried about how annoyed the King would be when he heard about this.

“With all due respect, you’re not exactly a close father and daughter.”

“Just pretend you don’t know.”

“…Please, at least refrain from a private meeting.”

Ijae smiled silently and handed over her empty glass. Deborah eventually sighed and stepped back.

Ijae straightened her back and waited for the Duke to enter.

Soon after, the Duke appeared in the reception room, and she quickly scanned his face, trying to read his fortune [ability to see someone’s future].

Ijae tilted her head.

‘I really can’t figure him out.’

She had been feeling this way several times recently.

The Duke was like that, but so were the King and the Prince.

Their fortunes seemed to be changing every time she saw them.

A person’s fortune was bound to change, but not so drastically in such a short period.

Yet, the fortunes of the people around her kept changing.

Ijae continued to wonder, belatedly offering her greetings.

“It’s been a while. How have you been?”

“…Why does it seem like Your Majesty is welcoming this old man so warmly?”

Ijae flinched slightly, but the Duke didn’t seem to mean much by it.

“How is your health these days?”

“I’m fine. What could be wrong?”

“That’s a relief.”

Words without sincerity were exchanged. And the two of them remained silent for quite some time.

According to the King, the Duke was like a viper [treacherous person].

Ijae was wondering how she could probe him without arousing suspicion. But one strange thing was that the Duke also seemed to be observing her.

‘Why is he looking at me like that?’

Just as she was becoming uncomfortable with his gaze, the Duke opened his mouth.

“Your Majesty.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“What do you think will become of the Daimon reconstruction movement in the future?”

A cold silence descended upon the reception room.

It was too sensitive a topic to bring up so directly.

Moreover, the Queen and the Duke’s roots were on that side.

However, Ijae was taken aback for a slightly different reason than others.

She felt a strange sense of déjà vu [feeling of having already experienced the present situation] from the Duke’s words.

‘What does Your Majesty think will happen to the western border?’

Wasn’t the first person to ask that the Prince’s friend?

Why do people keep asking me things like that? Have I been giving off too much of a shaman [spiritual healer] vibe?

But even the most skilled shaman would find it difficult to predict the outcome of a war.

“Father, you’re asking strange things. How would I know?”

“…”

“I just hope this turmoil passes quietly.”

She answered cautiously, but the Duke shook his head.

“Your Majesty knows, doesn’t she?”

“I do?”

Ijae, who had been trying to probe the Duke, realized that the Duke was actually probing her. He never took his eyes off her, as if he were trying to find a clue.

Strange words were spoken once again.

“Your Majesty, it’s not me. It’s not Albert either.”

“…”

“Then could it be Your Majesty?”

“So, what isn’t it?”

A little frustrated, she ended up asking as if she were pressing him.

“…What are you talking about right now?”

But Duke Duncan simply stared at her without answering.

The two of them observed each other with eyes mixed with suspicion and distrust.

It was a staring contest that yielded no results for either of them.

The Duke, who had been sharply watching her, bowed after a long silence and left the reception room.

Ijae was so bewildered that she looked at the head maid.

Deborah simply shook her head, as if she didn’t know either.

The fox’s plan to probe the viper had ended in such a futile failure.

The King had a sulky look on his face for the first time in a while.

Ijae, feeling guilty, was just staring at the plate on the table.

But eventually, unable to withstand the piercing gaze, she spoke first.

“Your Majesty, are you angry?”

“Yeah.”

“…”

“I was wondering when you’d say something.”

Upon hearing the news that the Queen had received the Duke, the King was very displeased.

Yet, as everyone expected, he couldn’t bring himself to raise his voice at the Queen.

“I told you clearly not to do it, didn’t I?”

“I didn’t call him. Father came to see me.”

“…’Father,’ my foot.”

The commander of the knights and the head chamberlain exchanged glances.

‘He is her father, but why is His Majesty so upset?’

“The Queen has the right to refuse any audience.”

“…”

“Fool someone else. Huh? Do you think I don’t know you met him because you thought it was a good opportunity?”

Having nothing to say, Ijae kept her mouth shut.

It was true that she had called the Duke in because she thought it was a good opportunity.

But what made her feel most dejected wasn’t that.

It was the fact that she had been stubborn, but there were no results.

“Keep doing that, huh?”

“I’m sorry.”

Rodrick sighed deeply and held out his hand.

It meant, ‘Enough, just bring the plate quickly.’

Sensing this, Ijae quickly handed over the plate.

The married man grumbled as he cut his wife’s meat for her again today.

“Am I doing this for nothing? I’m doing this because I’m worried.”

“…”

“You look like you can’t even catch an ant, but you’re strangely brave.”

Ijae was just trying to listen silently.

She knew she had done something wrong.

But when she sensed a strange nuance in the King’s words, she couldn’t help but ask.

“…Why do you think I can’t catch one?”

At that, Rodrick looked her up and down.

It meant, ‘Do you really not know?’

His wife was so small that she looked like she would be blown away by the wind.

In fact, the King would often be lost in thought whenever he saw her wrist. ‘I could break that with just a little misjudgment of my strength,’ he thought with a sense of crisis.

But Ijae still had an expression that she couldn’t understand.

Her strength wasn’t in her body.

She said with a slightly sulky face.

“Do I look very insignificant in Your Majesty’s eyes?”

“I’ve never said anything that harsh.”

He immediately made excuses, but Ijae looked around. Sensing that there were many ears listening, she gestured for the King to come closer for a moment.

The King leaned towards Ijae, and she whispered as if telling a great secret.

“Your Majesty, do you know how many vengeful spirits I’ve beaten up in my life?”

“…I wouldn’t know.”

“I’m actually a ruthless slaughterer in this cold ghost society. Do you understand?”

“…………”

“Everyone trembles and runs away when they see me. Of course, there are exceptions.”

People wondered what kind of secret story the King and Queen were sharing. They perked up their ears, but the Queen was usually quiet when she spoke. When she made up her mind to whisper, nothing could be heard.

But soon after, they were able to see a very strange sight.

The King moved away from her with a blank face.

He put down his knife and fork and suddenly covered his face.

People widened their eyes, but the King began to shake his shoulders slightly from then on.

Ijae reached out and poked his shoulder.

“Are you laughing at me right now? I’m serious.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“No, I’m serious!”

“Yeah, I know. When did I say no?”

“But why are you laughing?”

“…”

“Actually, it was a bit of a bluff. Is it that obvious?”

Rodrick finally took his hand off his face and burst out laughing.

The King couldn’t easily stop laughing, and Ijae smiled at him, a smile that even felt proud.

“Your Majesty, are you feeling better now?”

“I was never angry at you in the first place.”

“Then did I do something unnecessary? But I’m satisfied because Your Majesty laughed.”

“That’s very kind of you. I’m so grateful that I’m crying.”

The King covered his forehead and sighed belatedly. It was truly driving him crazy.

Where did someone like that come from? The Queen was doing everything on her own: being cute, funny, and pitiful.

The King shook his head and sighed repeatedly before deciding to fulfill the duties of a married man that he had put down.

He picked up his fork and knife.

And began to diligently cut his wife’s meat again.