Follow Your Heart

The Sharp Memory of the First Night

Chapter 1

Kang Yi-jae’s life could be defined in one sentence.

“A life of misfortune.”

She was abandoned by her parents and raised in an orphanage. To make matters worse, around the age of seven, she started experiencing strange visions.

She eventually ended up being taken in by Youngsan Halmae, a famous shaman from Chungnam.

She had Yi-jae run errands for her and fed her in return.

But, of course, Kang Yi-jae’s life didn’t get any better after that.

Still, looking back, there was one stroke of luck.

She didn’t have parents who beat her. She’d been beaten, but at least her parents weren’t the ones who did it.

‘What kind of room is this?’

As Yi-Jae was thinking that, the Duke of Duncan stormed in and started slapping her.

“You’ve ruined the family’s great plan! How could you be so thoughtless? Jumping into the water the day before the wedding!”

Whoever said that those who’ve been beaten take it was better was to lie. Only those who’ve never been beaten say things like that.

Anyone who’s been beaten knows. It’s hard for anyone to take a beating.

Yi-jae’s eyes darted around as she curled up, and her gaze fell on her hands.

‘Are my hands really this soft?’

They couldn’t be. Yi-jae’s hands, her hands were hardened by years of rough work in the countryside, were beyond repair by any modern beauty treatment.

With that realization, a flood of memories rushed into her mind.

She grabbed the Duke’s wrist, which was holding her hair, and looked at him. Her voice trembled, but her words were smooth.

“Father…”

The memories were fragmented, but Yi-jae had an uncanny sense of perception.

“You… how dare you! Because of you, our family is finished! Do you know what a chance this was?”

“Honey! Calm down! You’re going to kill her!”

The Duke of Duncan was a tyrant in his home, and the Duchess couldn’t stand up to him.

It’s better to have no parents than to have parents like that.

As Yi-jae thought that, she glanced around the room, still being shaken by her hair. This was Hailey Duncan’s room, the former owner of this body.

‘Hailey, are you in there? I’m not an evil spirit… I’ll leave. Please help me.’

No response.

Yi-jae kept mentally knocking at her chest, but all that was left were memories. And the strongest memory of all was the memory of her own death.

Hailey Duncan died by the water. She saw the shoes left by the water’s edge. She must have jumped in herself.

If this much time had passed, she’d either become a vengeful spirit or already vanished.

As Yi-jae pushed the Duke’s hand away, he raised his hand again to strike her.

“Hailey! You fool! Do you know how much effort I put into this marriage!”

Yi-Jae shielded her face with her arms and curled up.

She could tell that if she took that blow directly, she’d be back in bed right after waking up.

But she quickly realized that the room had fallen into an eerie silence. The atmosphere in the room had changed in an instant.

It wasn’t just her imagination.

When she lowered her hands, the fine hairs on her arms were standing on end.

It was a feeling Yi-jae knew all too well.

The sensation of suffocation and nausea, like confronting something vile.

When Yi-jae cautiously looked up, the Duchess also stiffly turned her head as if forcing her neck to move.

And when she made eye contact with the man standing in the corner in the dark blue robe, she collapsed to the floor.

“…Your Majesty.”

The Duke of Duncan also looked startled but quickly composed himself and asked with a stern expression,

“…What brings Your Majesty here?”

The man, who had been leaning against the wall, brushed aside his knights and slowly walked forward.

“What a rare sight.”

“…”

“Is this how the Duke’s family handles discipline?”

When the Duke fell silent, the man gave a mocking smile.

“Get out. I need to speak with my fiancée alone.”

As the Duke stared at him grimly, the faint smile on the king’s lips completely disappeared. He looked extremely annoyed.

“Didn’t you hear me? Get out.”

The king’s knights dragged the Duke and Duchess out of the room, and Yi-jae slowly got up from the bed.

She had jumped into the water, saying she wanted to die, and actually died, yet as soon as she woke up, her parents were grabbing her by the hair.

But Yi-jae couldn’t tell if it was better or worse to have such parents around.

Anyway, she was now Hailey Duncan, and the man in front of her was her fiancé.

Attempting suicide just before a royal marriage would surely be a huge scandal.

No matter where she goes, she was always unlucky and cursed.

Yi-jae knelt on the rug and bowed her head. She tried to suppress the chills running through her body.

But it seemed like he could tell she was trembling.

“Why are you shaking so much?”

Soon, something hard touched her chin.

He was lifting her chin with his sheathed sword.

“You just asked, didn’t you? Why are you trembling so much?”

‘Because there are too many vengeful spirits behind you.’

There were more spirits clinging to the king’s shoulders and back than the number of knights he had brought with him.

Yi-jae had been through a lot, but she had never seen or even imagined anything like this.

She couldn’t say that out loud, so she bit her lip and just looked into the man’s eyes. They were deep, dark blue.

But when Yi-jae stayed silent again, a hint of irritation flickered in those blue eyes.

“Don’t tremble, Hailey Duncan. You’ve indeed committed a grave sin against me, but I haven’t come here to kill you just yet.”

“When you say it like that… it just makes me more scared.”

‘What am I even saying right now?’

‘I’m sorry, Hailey Duncan.’

‘The body you managed to preserve is about to lose its head because of me.’

But surprisingly, the king let out a small laugh at her words.

His eyes seemed to show a mix of amusement and annoyance, as if he was wondering, *How should I kill her?*

He again used the tip of his sheathed sword to lift her head and spoke.

“Anyway, don’t tremble. I’m just here to talk for now. I realized I’ve never exchanged more than a few words with you.”

Yi-jae nodded her head firmly, feeling like she might actually die if she missed this chance.

She had woken up in a messed-up situation, but she didn’t want to die pointlessly here.

Seeing her take a deep breath, the king seemed to think that they could finally have a conversation and let the tip of the sword drop to the floor.

“Did you really hate this marriage so much? Enough to take your own life?”

“…”

“Wasn’t it the Duncan family that proposed this marriage in the first place?”

Yi-jae couldn’t understand either.

But this guy didn’t seem normal.

Yi-jae could sense that more clearly than anyone else.

But since she hadn’t done anything wrong, no matter how much he questioned her, she had nothing to say.

“Hailey Duncan. It seems your father didn’t teach you this, but I hate having to ask the same question. Answer me.”

In the end, she gave the best answer she could.

“It’s not… like that. It’s not because I didn’t want to.”

But the king’s slight smile seemed to say otherwise. He didn’t believe her. With a tone that was both casual and sharp, he asked,

“Then is it because you couldn’t forget another man?”

“…”

‘I don’t have a man… Oh, Hailey Duncan does. Right, she does.’

Having lived most of her life alone, Yi-jae felt even more wronged and clammed up again.

The king seemed to interpret her silence differently.

“I don’t care if you have some man in your heart.”

Actually, it wasn’t just that he didn’t care—he looked like he was annoyed by it.

As he tapped the tip of his sword on the expensive rug, the king said,

“As much as I’d love to support your pure-hearted devotion, but I can’t go down in history as an even more ill-fated king. So my judgment is that you should live a long life, even if it’s not the one you want.”

“…”

“But if you insist that you must die…”

He bent down to meet her eyes and said,

“Hailey Duncan. Die with the crown on your head.”

The king’s words were symbolic.

Yi-jae suddenly realized the silence around her. It wasn’t her imagination.

Even the pale ghost behind him, with its mouth stretched in a twisted grin, was sticking its head out, waiting for Yi-jae’s response.

‘Ah, I really saw it this time.’

Meeting its eyes, Yi-jae inwardly gasped and lowered her head again.

“If you’re going to refuse, this is your only chance. I won’t give you another choice after today. You know I’m being very lenient with you right now.”

After a long hesitation, Yi-jae tightly gripped her clothes and lifted her head.

The situation was confusing and terrifying, but she didn’t want to die like this.

“May I ask just one thing?”

As Yi-jae, who had been staring at the floor, quietly opened her mouth, the king raised an eyebrow. His response was surprisingly casual.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“If I refuse, then what… will happen?”

He nodded kindly.

“The marriage was postponed because the bride caught a severe flu. If you refuse, it won’t be the flu, but a fatal disease that you’ll have.”

“…”

“And if you catch a fatal disease… well, you’ll have to die, won’t you?”

He chuckled.

Yi-jae felt a wave of absurdity stronger than fear.

“What kind of choice is this…”

…so unfair.

She swallowed the last words, but the king, smiling with his eyes, seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.

He was calmly saying, ‘I will kill you.’

In the end, the king didn’t come to give her a choice. He had come to inform and threaten her.

“If I’ve explained enough, now it’s your turn to answer, Hailey Duncan.”

“…”

“Are you going to jump into the water again?”

After everything that went down in just one day, her mind was totally blank.

But the answer to that question was clear.

Kang Yi-jae was not the type of person who would do something like that.

She answered firmly,

“I won’t take my own life. Never. At least not before I wear the crown, just like Your Majesty said. I promise you that much.”

The king nodded briefly.

“Well, I’ll take your word for it.”

But despite his words, he didn’t seem to fully believe her.

And who would? It was hard to think otherwise. Who would believe someone who jumped into the water just a few days ago and woke up today saying something like this?

This time, Yi-jae’s expression spoke for her.

‘You’re lying, aren’t you?’

She hadn’t meant to show it, but it seemed the king noticed it anyway.

He nonchalantly corrected himself.

“Let’s just say I’ll overlook my fiancée’s mistake.”

Then he called out to the knights guarding the door.

“Bring the Duke and Duchess back in.”