Hailey observed the king for a long time with a sharp gaze. But soon, she tilted her head in confusion. It was quite a rare phenomenon.
Although it had faded after being tormented for so long, there was definitely some energy still flowing in the king’s body. It was almost sacred, and that energy felt like the aura of the palace. It also resembled the Western spirits she had seen earlier in the hall.
But how could someone like him be surrounded by so many vengeful spirits? Normally, people couldn’t even move properly with just one or two spirits attached to them.
If anyone were to die young, it seemed more likely to be the king rather than Hailey, who had thrown herself into the water.
At that moment, Hailey noticed a ghostly figure behind the king, whispering something with a twisted grin.
Knowing she shouldn’t listen to that wicked voice, Hailey quickly addressed Roderick.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“………”
“Your Majesty, um, are you in a lot of pain? Can you lift your head?”
However, Hailey felt a chilling premonition from that expression that others wouldn’t notice, causing her to shiver.
She shouted urgently.
“What’s wrong with you?! Get a grip!”
“………….”
“You’re not like this!”
She didn’t know what kind of person he was, but at least he wasn’t someone like this.
Suddenly, a murderous intent radiated from him.
So Hailey shouted without thinking.
Roderick frowned.
His face was in pain, but at least that was better than nothing.
Hailey realized her voice had slightly penetrated his mind.
She could see the vengeful spirits gnashing their teeth behind him, and this time she grabbed his shoulder and shook him desperately.
“You can’t give in after holding on for this long!”
“………”
“No, you were fine until just now! Why are you acting like this on the first night?”
Unconsciously, Hailey’s voice wavered with emotion, and she bit her lip.
Meanwhile, Roderick, who had been pressing his aching head for a while, suddenly collapsed against her.
He completely surrendered his body to her.
“… Are you asleep?”
“………”
He seems to be okay now.
She sighed with relief.
“Well, at least you’re okay now. Just, um… don’t get up. Keep sleeping. Sleep tight.”
Hailey laid Roderick in the center of the bed. His solid body was so heavy, that she struggled for quite a while to get him settled.
Still, she thought, at least he was strong enough to survive all this.
As she pulled the blanket up to his chest, she noticed a faint smell of alcohol.
She clicked her tongue lightly.
“You really shouldn’t be drinking, but you did.”
He must’ve had just a drink or two, but in his condition, even that was dangerous.
Soon after, Hailey realized the reason behind it.
A shabby-looking spirit was lurking around the king.
“…Seriously, this is just too much.”
Concern was clear on Hailey’s face.
There was a ghost with a missing leg bouncing around the room, her expression grew even more miserable.
Hailey was someone who could sleep with a couple of ghosts.
That was just how she was raised.
But there were too many of them, and after all the trouble she’d caused, she just wanted to sleep quietly, and the king looked like he was having a rough time even in his dreams.
It was clear he was in pain even while sleeping.
When did this all start for him?
Hailey stared at the king with a troubled expression for a while.
What she was about to do was a heavy burden for her as well.
There’s a saying in Western philosophy.
“Those who fight monsters should take care not to become monsters themselves.”
“If you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss also gazes back at you.”
Of course, she knew they used it in a more refined sense, but the same goes for ghosts.
If Hailey acknowledged them, they would also acknowledge her.
If she got involved with them, they would get involved in her life too.
And she knew from past experiences that it would only make her life more miserable. Nothing good ever came from getting tangled up with ghosts.
But after hesitating for a while, Hailey finally stood up.
“Let’s just say I’m doing this in return for him stopping the Duke from hitting me. Even though it feels like I’m losing more than I’m gaining… just this once.”
The bedroom was as big as a house, but the castle had a separate study.
All she needed was a single piece of paper, but unable to find it, Hailey ended up tearing the hem of her skirt.
Then, she bit her finger hard.
With a few strokes of her blood, she wrote down some Chinese characters and placed the cloth piece by the bed.
“………”
She wasn’t sure if this technique would work here too. But what she learned from Yeongsan Halmae was that it all worked out in the end, no matter where you are.
Hailey stared directly at the group she had been ignoring until now.
In response, they all turned to her with wide, gleaming eyes.
It was a chilling sight, but she held her ground and didn’t back down. If you showed weakness, it was over.
“Listen, spirits. Time moves differently between the living and the dead.”
She stepped closer to them.
“The world of the living and the dead should never mix.”
“………”
“Unclean beings.”
“………”
“Return to where you belong.”
She sat quietly until the dark energies slowly vanished from that spot and scattered outside the room.
Finally, when the atmosphere calmed down, Hailey let out a deep sigh of relief.
She had spiritual sight, but she wasn’t exactly a skilled shaman.
She hadn’t formally trained under anyone.
So, this was just a temporary measure.
She didn’t have the power to exorcise them completely, so she had only pushed them away for a bit.
…But at least that meant he could sleep soundly for a day.
After pushing the blood-stained fabric under the bed, a wave of dizziness and nausea hit her.
As she gagged and retched, she collapsed into a corner of the bed and fell asleep.
Hailey woke up again because she felt a piercing gaze on her.
Frowning, she looked out the window and saw that the sky was still dim.
When she turned her head toward the source of the gaze, she saw a man with jet-black hair sitting beside her, staring at her quietly.
It was her husband, whom she had married just yesterday.
Startled, Hailey shot up from the bed.
Roderick, who had been watching her closely, raised an eyebrow.
“Is that… my fault?”
He was pointing at her skirt, which was half-torn at the bottom.
Realizing she had slept like that without even covering herself with a blanket, she hastily pulled down the hem of her slip.
But even then, it barely covered her undergarments.
“I don’t remember us having such a wild night.”
Roderick, who seemed to have moved on from the event, was much calmer than Hailey.
He looked at her with a questioning expression.
“Well. As soon as you arrived… you fell asleep.”
“………”
“I’m not blaming you or anything. Not at all.”
Her words sounded like a complaint, which annoyed her, so she quickly added that. Even then, she kept pulling down the hem of her slip to hide her small undergarments.
Perhaps feeling sorry for her, Roderick turned his gaze to the window and tossed her a blanket.
“Cover yourself.”
“…Thank you.”
As she covered herself, he turned his gaze back to her.
“If it wasn’t me… then who did that to you?”
“………”
Hailey kept her mouth shut. After a long silence, she remembered he didn’t like being asked multiple times, but the king looked very calm.
He had finally slept deeply for the first time in a while, and his mind felt unusually clear.
In fact, he was in great shape.
“Are you trying to say that a stranger came into this room?”
“No, not at all.”
The stranger could have been you yesterday.
“Then.”
“I think… it was me.”
Roderick looked genuinely puzzled, and Hailey gritted her teeth and replied.
“I guess I felt a bit hot and uncomfortable in my sleep…”
Her silly answer made him frown slightly.
“You were already barely wearing anything to begin with.”
“………”
He glanced at the thin straps barely crossing her shoulders.
“Do you get hot that easily?”
“It’s not that… I just had my reasons.”
Even she knew how ridiculous that sounded. Who pulls their clothes up because they’re uncomfortable and hot while sleeping?
But she couldn’t say the truth, so she just looked gloomy.
Seeing that, the king didn’t press any further and got out of bed.
Maybe he already saw her as a strange person.
“Get some more rest.”
Hailey looked at him with a resentful expression, but Roderick was already slowly leaving the room.
‘What the heck, if you’re going to pretend you didn’t hear that, it makes me feel even more… embarrassed. I won’t do this again.’
It was a sharp memory of their first night together.
