FYH Chapter 77

Had it been half an hour?

Suddenly, Lee-Jae rose from her bed with a smooth, precise motion. Her posture was straight, as usual—but her gaze was very different. Clinging to her back was a wraith that had silently slithered its way into the room.

Its long hair hung down in soaked strands. A drowning spirit. A person who had drowned.

Under normal circumstances, Kang Lee-Jae would never have been swayed by such things. But her body and spirit were utterly drained.

With empty eyes, she opened the window.

“…”

Outside was nothing but pitch-black darkness. Just like the future she once imagined.

Lee-Jae stepped over the sill and disappeared into the night. Her destination: the lakeshore.

A vast, shadowy body of water. Towering, deep.

She stood at its edge, her face devoid of expression, eyes cast downward out of habit. The spirit clinging to her whispered on, urging her forward.

— Let’s go in. Come with me. 

“…”  

— I’m so lonely. Aren’t you, too? Let’s be together.

Like a soulless doll, Lee-Jae gave a small nod. She stepped into the water.

The night was a blend of shadow and moonlight. The lake’s surface gleamed black—horrifyingly beautiful. When the water reached above her knees, she heard a voice pierce through the fog of her mind.

— Kang Lee-Jae. Snap out of it.

“…”

— I said snap out of it. You’re too young to be losing your mind already.

Suddenly, clarity returned to her eyes. She flinched, glanced around, and realized she was standing in the lake. She flinched again.

“What… What is this?”

Lee-Jae looked up into the air. The Boy King stared down at her with a face full of exasperation.

If even you get charmed by some pathetic spirit, what hope does the country have?

The spirit, frightened by the divine aura that accompanied him, tried to flee from her. But this time, Lee-Jae didn’t let go. She sighed.

You know, maybe I really am cursed to drown. In my past life, in this one… Maybe some fate just don’t change.”

Surprisingly, she didn’t seem particularly shaken. She looked more resigned than anything, and the Boy King, though scoffing, pitied her quietly.

Lee-Jae struck the spirit’s forehead with the prayer bead bracelet on her wrist—smack.

“I’d listen to your sob story, but I’ve got way too much trauma about water to be fair about it. And besides—do you hear him up there?”

— …

“You’re the first King of Cayenne, and you even said it.”

— …

“Humans are subjective creatures by nature.”

— …

“Hurts, doesn’t it? When someone hits your weakest spot.”

Without a single talisman, she summoned her energy and exorcised the wraith. Then she looked up at the Boy King, her eyes clouded with something like sorrow.

“What now?”

— What do you mean, ‘what now’?

“Didn’t you see? I think I’ve gotten real good at exorcism. Like, really good.”

— …

“I just wanted a strong, rough friend. But instead, I’m turning into the strong, rough one.”

She spoke with genuine sadness, and the Boy King let out a short, disbelieving laugh. But she wasn’t joking—she meant every word.

“Maybe I really did destroy something I shouldn’t have the other day. I told you—it felt ominous.”

— You’ve got to be kidding me.

He muttered sarcastically, but Lee-Jae didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, she calmly expressed her gratitude.

“Thank you for helping me that day. If there’s a punishment I’m meant to face… I’ll accept it.”

The Boy King smiled faintly. He said nothing more, but she didn’t mind. Truthfully, she didn’t care anymore.

So she simply stood there for a while, gazing out over the beautiful lake.

“…You know,” she murmured.

— Yeah?

“Being in the water like this… it feels strange. This is what moss smells like, huh?”

— What are you trying to say?

“It was cold in my memory, but it’s warmer than I thought. Not bad, actually.”

The Boy King looked utterly dumbfounded by her commentary.

— So that’s what this was. You didn’t get charmed—you let your mind go on purpose?

Lee-Jae chuckled softly and took a moment to feel the water. Then she stepped forward. She had a feeling she wouldn’t get another chance like this.

— Hey, what are you doing? Are you crazy? That part’s deep.

“Why not? You told me before to try going in. Honestly, your whole Royal family is a bit back and forth. A person should be consistent.”

— …

“Oh, right. You’re not a person, are you?”

— You’ve really gone mad now, haven’t you?

Lee-Jae nodded calmly.

“Maybe I have. But I want to feel this a little more. I don’t want to keep running away.”

— …

“You wouldn’t know, since you’ve only ever lived a successful life, but when someone keeps failing over and over again… they end up like this.”

— You’ve got to be kidding me. Kang Lee-Jae, you think I’ve never tasted failure?

She looked up at him, and he clicked his tongue with something like pity.

— I know failure. What I don’t know is—

“What’s that?”

— I never expected you to snap like this.

Lee-Jae laughed.

“I told my husband the same thing. I’m the kind of person who bottles everything up and then bolts when no one’s expecting it.”

People usually call that a ‘meltdown.’

The Boy King looked like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

— And you say that like it’s something to be proud of. Your husband must be so charmed. For the record, I did try to stop you.

Lee-Jae nodded again and took another step. The water now swirled around her waist.

In truth, she was trembling. She was afraid of this grand, vast lake.

Be careful around water. Stay away from the edge.

Grandmother’s warnings had always been right.

She’d proven it herself—by dying.

But those warnings had forced her to live a life of constant retreat. It had never made her happy. Her will had never factored into any of it.

That’s what happens when someone lives by others’ words. Every small step becomes impossible. You can’t even follow the pull of your own heart.

She was afraid of the water, yes—but she’d always wanted to feel it.

So had that old life really been the right one?

— Kang Lee-Jae. Maybe you were meant to feel the ocean at least once.

She still didn’t have the answer. And she was still scared. So she stayed where she was, gazing silently at the moonlight.

And then—

The calm of the lake broke with a loud splash. The King was storming toward her with a furious expression, water barely reaching his hips even though it was up to her waist.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around. His blue eyes burned with anger.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

The Boy King watched from above and shook his head.

— I told you, didn’t I? How long has it been since you made up, and you’re already having a domestic spat?

He clicked his tongue in dismay before disappearing—but not before a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

Lee-Jae blinked in surprise and looked around at Roderick and the others. The knights and maids all wore the same look: complete shock.

But her embarrassment faded quickly. She was too relieved to see the King. Her lips curled into a faint smile.

“Your Majesty. You’re alright now, aren’t you?”

“What?”

“I knew you would be… but still, seeing you healthy like this makes me really happy.”

“You really think now’s the time to be saying crap like that…?”

Roderick bit off his words, jaw clenched. Fury was boiling inside him.

Finally, when it spilled over, he lost all composure and shook her by the shoulders. His voice, loud and hoarse, was thick with frustration and pain.

“You said you wouldn’t die! You promised me, over and over, you wouldn’t do this! Is that all your promise meant?!”

“…Your Majesty.”

“What do you want me to do, huh? What will it take for you to never do this again?!”

Lee-Jae swayed like submerged waterweed as he shook her.

Roderick was not a man who feared much. Even when eerie spiritly whispers echoed in his ears, they never truly frightened him—they just made him angry.

But now, the King was terrified.

He was afraid she’d leave him. Completely. In a way he couldn’t pull her back from.

His shouting began to crumble into pleading, his blue eyes filling with anguish.

“Do you want me to let you leave the palace? You said you wanted to wander. Should I let you go, just for a while? Would that help? Can you say something, for once?!”

“…”

“I still can’t divorce you. I can’t live without you.”

Lee-Jae, who had been staring at him wide-eyed, let out a breath of laughter that sounded like air escaping a punctured balloon. That made Roderick clench his teeth again, overcome.

“You… You think I’m joking right now?”

He looked like he was going to say more, but stopped when she gently removed his hands from her shoulders.

But she didn’t let go of them. Instead, she held them tightly.

Eyes lowered, Lee-Jae fell silent, lips parting a few times without words. Then she finally looked up at him with sorrowful eyes.

Her hands, soaked in lake water, should have felt cold. But his large hands, for some reason, felt warm.

Then what was it that had made her so impulsive tonight?

The moonlight?  

The feel of the water she finally dared to touch?  

Or the man in front of her, who shouted out of fear for her life?

Lee-Jae gazed at him, long and wordlessly, before finally speaking.

“Your Majesty.”

“…Yeah?”

“Please stop being angry and listen to me, okay?”

“…Fine.”

His voice still bristled with heat, but she smiled faintly.

“I wasn’t trying to die. The water was just beautiful, that’s all.”

“And you expect me to believe—”

“I never jumped into that river.”

“…?”

A single tear slipped from Lee-Jae’s smiling eyes.

“Because I… I’m not Hailey Duncan.”

At that moment, Roderick’s expression froze.

But the look in his blue eyes began to shift—flickering with a different kind of light, one that bordered on awe.

He said nothing more. Just silently led her out of the lake.

 

* * *

 

The atmosphere in the Queen’s wing was icy.

The King, his face thunderous, was holding the Queen’s hand, and water dripped steadily from both of them, soaking the hallway floor as they walked.

Everyone around was watching nervously.

It was a massive scandal that the Queen had jumped into the water again. Too many had seen it this time, and there was no way to silence them all.

No one dared to guess how the King would react, so they simply bowed their heads.

But to their surprise, Roderick calmly handed Lee-Jae over to the head maid.

“Boil my little fox, will you?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Give her a warm bath. She’s going to catch a cold like this.”

With that, everyone understood: He’s going to cover it up.

Then Roderick turned to Lee-Jae.

“You. Wash up and wait in your room. I’m going to bathe too.”

“Yes.”

“If you run, I swear, I won’t let it slide.”

Lee-Jae glanced at him, timid, and nodded quickly.

Truthfully, she was already regretting everything. If people thought she was mentally unstable, that would actually be a relief. She was terrified she’d be interrogated—or worse, tortured.

Still, she forced herself to think reasonably. No, I’ve seen it myself—my husband’s not the kind of man to go that far. If his wife seems out of her mind, he’d just call for a physician.

As Lee-Jae headed toward the bath, the King shot a deadly glare at the maids and knights nearby. His gaze was so sharp, everyone trembled.

“Dry her hair properly and make sure she’s seated warm. If she even coughs a little, consider yourselves dead.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

“How in the world did none of you notice the Queen leaving her chambers? There’s a limit to how patient I can be.”

“…Understood, Your Majesty.”

“Start acting like you have a brain.”

No one had imagined the Queen would climb out the window—but even so, all they could do now was bow their heads lower.