“Your Majesty, are you inside? I have an urgent report.”
Until now, most reports had been delivered in either the study or the King’s bedchamber.
But recently, a number of pro-king officials had started coming to the Queen’s quarters instead. The newlyweds simply refused to be apart.
Every evening, after his duties were done, the King always made his way to wherever the Queen was.
“Wait a moment. I’ll come out,” said the King.
Lee-Jae hurriedly tried to get up.
“Please handle it here. I’ll wait in the study.”
If someone had come at this hour, it was clearly important. Rather than both of them moving, it made more sense for her to excuse herself.
But Roderick firmly pressed her shoulder down to keep her seated.
“Just stay. What kind of madman would I be to send you out instead of my place?”
However, just as he stepped off the bed, the King paused in thought.
On second thought, there wasn’t really any reason to speak in private.
There was nothing here that the Queen couldn’t hear. And the wife he knew was more tight-lipped than anyone else.
Sometimes to the point where it was frustrating beyond belief.
He glanced at her outfit, confirmed she was still in her everyday clothes, and returned to his seat.
“Jade, come in.”
Lee-Jae looked at him in puzzlement, but since he was holding her in place from behind, she had no choice but to remain seated.
When Jade entered a moment later, he froze at the sight of the affectionate couple on the bed.
I waited plenty long before coming in, so… why are the two of you still glued together like that?
Are you showing off on purpose, Your Majesties?
Still, the Knight commander scratched his chin. He was trying to remember if this was something safe to report in front of the Queen.
The King often issued orders to him that were better kept out of the public eye—sometimes even out of the Queen’s.
Noticing Jade’s hesitation, Lee-Jae quickly clamped her hands over her ears.
But Roderick laughed and gently pulled them away.
“It’s fine. There’s nothing I need to hide from my wife.”
Jade, however, thought with a sour face:
Is that so? Then why did Your Majesty secretly beat up Lawrence? Didn’t you also bribe the duke’s physician?
And didn’t we draft a sixty-page report on Her Majesty?
If those aren’t secrets, what is?
But the King didn’t care one bit about his old friend’s expression.
He simply leaned in and whispered into his wife’s ear.
“I mean it. I won’t even keep a secret stash.”
Lee-Jae glanced at Jade and whispered back softly.
“Your Majesty, I don’t mind if you do. And the royal assets were yours to begin with. That’s not really a ‘secret stash,’ you know.”
“Our Queen really knows how to keep things separate—even in marriage. What’s mine is yours.”
“Where on earth did you learn that math?”
“Good question.”
Jade’s expression continued to sour.
They had summoned him, and yet once again the King and Queen were talking among themselves.
But now the King’s eyes were fixed directly on him. So Jade finally spoke.
“Your Majesty, the knights who caused trouble at the western garrison have all been transported. They’ve been restrained in the—uh—the location you mentioned.”
He had nearly said underground prison, but caught himself in time.
One look at the Queen’s small frame and round eyes had made him instinctively censor himself.
The Royal underground prison was used whenever the palace wanted to avoid outside scrutiny.
But it also held a symbolic meaning—it showed the King’s absolute determination to extract the answers he wanted.
Roderick clicked his tongue for a similar reason. He hadn’t wanted to keep secrets—just hadn’t meant for her to hear something this unpleasant.
He glanced at Lee-Jae, but she remained expressionless, deep in thought.
“Their condition?”
“They’re stable. We’ve only done the most basic questioning so far… but according to the western commander, they’re not exactly in a coherent state.”
“Not coherent, how…”
The King murmured to himself, then gave a small nod.
“Alright. Let’s do the interrogation after tomorrow’s meeting.”
After briefly glancing at Lee-Jae, he reached out and covered both her ears with his hands.
“Don’t let them bite their tongues.”
“Pardon?”
“Keep a close watch so they can’t take their own lives.”
“Understood. You don’t have to worry about that.”
Once he heard his answer, Roderick slowly removed his hands from her ears.
Lee-Jae glanced at him briefly, but said nothing and simply sat quietly.
The Knight commander’s report continued for a little while longer.
When it finally concluded, Roderick gave a short nod.
“Alright. You may go now.”
“Yes, then please enjoy the rest of your evening, Your Majesty. And you as well, Your Highness.”
“Thanks. Have a peaceful night, Jade.”
The Knight commander gave a crisp salute and exited the room.
Lee-Jae was silent for a while, and the King subtly studied her face.
It was hard to guess what she was thinking when she clammed up like that.
Was that situation too uncomfortable for her? Roderick scratched his brow.
Just then, Lee-Jae turned her head and stared straight at him.
“Your Majesty, is something going on again at the western border?”
Her eyes were filled with a mix of emotions.
Roderick took a moment to read them—worry, and a hint of suspicion.
He answered honestly.
“Some knights caused trouble again. They set fire inside the garrison.”
“And this time, you’re planning to interrogate them personally?”
“That’s right.”
While the two grown men had been choosing their words carefully and plugging ears, Lee-Jae had been lost in entirely different thoughts.
Certain words suddenly flashed through her mind.
‘Your Majesty, how do you foresee the future of the Daemon Restoration Movement?’
‘Your Majesty, what do you think will happen at the western border?’
Why did they ask her things like that?
Did they somehow know Hailey was a seer?
But no matter how much she thought about it, it didn’t seem like they were asking with any certainty.
Hailey had written in her diary that she would never tell anyone—and the result had been nothing but loneliness.
Unable to come to a clear conclusion, Lee-Jae furrowed her brows and asked the King,
“Your Majesty, why do problems keep happening at the western border? And always inside the garrison, too?”
“Who knows. We’ll probably find out when we interrogate the prisoners.”
“But you said they’re… not in a state to communicate?”
Tilting her head at the strangeness of it, Lee-Jae suddenly flinched.
Then she turned fully toward the King and looked up at him.
Her eyes were trembling.
The King clicked his tongue with a wry smile. He could tell she was now entertaining the same suspicion that had crossed his own mind moments ago.
Which meant he could also guess what she was about to say next.
He wondered whether this time, he should cover his own ears instead of hers.
“Can I come with you? I won’t get in the way.”
“…”
“I mean… isn’t there no one else who can see it but me anyway? I’ll leave right away if I don’t see anything.”
Instead of covering his ears, the King rubbed his face and ran a hand through his hair.
It was troublesome, but there was no flaw in what she said.
He didn’t want to burden his wife any more than he already had.
But she was the only one who could confirm it. He—and the Royal family—undeniably needed her.
Then why, he wondered, did I react so stiffly and emotionally when she once said to use her? Why did I take it so hard, when this is all I can do for her?
“Lee-Jae. I regret it.”
“Regret what?”
The King let out a soft laugh. It was a complicated one, layered with many emotions, but his tone—as always—was half-joking.
“Should’ve kept at least a few secrets, even if I don’t make any emergency funds.”
“Your Majesty, you can’t just change your mind that fast.”
“Didn’t you say consistent people are rare?”
Lee-Jae went quiet for a moment, then gently tried again.
“Your Majesty, our negotiation is still valid, right?”
“That was a verbal contract. I never signed anything.”
“Let’s not break the trust between us as husband and wife.”
Roderick gave a faint chuckle.
“That’s what I want to say to you. Keep your promise. No doing anything dangerous.”
“Then give me your answer.”
Lee-Jae nodded multiple times with a bright smile, and Roderick lightly cupped her soft cheek before letting go.
Lee-Jae was now waiting for word from the King’s side.
She sat at the table, continuing to write talismans. Then she glanced at the wooden chest.
A spirit was crawling out slowly.
“Wow, you’re really hard to see these days, huh?”
The spirit scampered over and clung to her leg.
Rolling its big round eyes, it asked:
— Did you miss me?
“Mm-hm. But what brings you out today? You’ve been ignoring me lately.”
— Playing with Lee-Jae is more fun.
Lee-Jae let out a soft laugh. For something like that, the spirit sure seemed very attached to its new home lately.
It was the result of the energy she had carefully infused into the box.
Is this what they call a successful remodeling effect?
She was lost in that silly thought as she tidied up the talismans and said,
“But what should I do? I’m busy today. I have to head out in a bit. Let’s play when I get back.”
The spirit’s face puffed up in a pout.
“What? Are you sulking?”
— No! I’m not sulking at all!
But then the spirit shouted back and started rubbing its face.
It was checking whether its nose had grown.
The sight was so cute that Lee-Jae had to cover her mouth to hold back a laugh.
Watching the spirit crawl back into the chest, she tucked the talismans into her dress.
Then she pulled out another piece of paper.
It was a bucket list she had written not long after arriving at the palace.
- Visit His Majesty’s bedchamber
- Talk to the Boy Spirit one more time
- Exorcise and release the lingering spirits in the palace
- Read all of Hailey’s diary
- Understand the history of the Cayenne Kingdom
- Visit the river where Hailey threw herself in
“Check.”
Lee-Jae marked circles and triangles beside each item, evaluating her progress.
Then she was struck once again by how short-sighted people could be.
She had touched nearly every item on the list, yet none of the fundamental problems had actually been solved.
What am I supposed to do now?
She was lost in thought when Deborah carefully spoke up.
“Your Majesty, it seems the meeting has just ended.”
“Really?”
“Yes. His Majesty also sent word. He said you may go straight to the study.”
Lee-Jae rose from her seat.
She straightened her outfit and nodded to the Head lady-in-waiting.
Her eyes, once full of worry, quickly regained calm—like someone fully prepared.
