Follow Your Heart

Lee Jae watched from a distance as the king’s knights gathered and moved out. She couldn’t clearly see Roderick, hidden by the crowd of people surrounding him.

But it didn’t take her long to figure out that he was at the center. After all, there were more than a few wandering souls swirling around them, much more than when they first set out.

“Where did he pick up all these ghosts this time…?”

Is this guy cursed or something?

As she stood there dumbfounded, watching them head toward his bedroom, Lee Jae sighed.

‘Not there. How is anyone supposed to recover in a place like that?’

Feeling anxious, she rushed back to her own quarters.

Her previous resolve to stay out of things crumbled once again, without much resistance this time, and she didn’t even bother trying to justify it.

Bursting into her room, she immediately started tearing down the talismans on the walls, while the spirit inside the chest shot her a wide-eyed look.

The barriers she had painstakingly put up were swiftly undone by her own hands.

– “Lee Jae! What are you doing?!”

“…”

– “Nooo! Please don’t! This is the first peace I’ve found in years!”

“I’ll fix it later. Just get inside your house and hide for now.”

– “My house is ruined… It’s not safe here anymore… It’s like being wide awake and getting robbed in broad daylight…”

The spirit whimpered, trembling inside the chest, but Lee Jae ignored it. She stashed the ripped talismans all over her body.

When a person’s body and mind weaken, evil spirits gain strength.

She’d heard Roderick was injured enough that he might be worrying about an heir, so she geared up and headed toward the king’s chambers.

The atmosphere outside his room was tense, to say the least.

Rumors had already spread that the king’s madness had flared up again during the hunt.

Apparently, even as he returned wounded, he still clutched his blood-stained sword, dripping with the blood of beasts.

Naturally, the guards tried to stop the queen from entering.

“It’s best if you don’t go in right now,” one of the royal guards advised, and when Lee Jae hesitated, Deborah gently took her arm, trying to lead her away. But the queen shook her head.

“Deborah, I thought you said I could enter the king’s chambers. Just ask once more, please.”

“….”

The head maid made a sorry face. It was hard to refuse when the person you served was asking so earnestly.

As the doctor, who arrived slightly late, was finally let inside, Lee Jae just slipped in right behind him.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

As soon as she entered, she started gagging.

Thinking it was from the smell of blood, a guard offered her a handkerchief, but she waved him off and made her way through the knights.

The moment she laid eyes on Roderick sitting on the bed, she gritted her teeth.

Roderick was injured, that much was true.

But the number of spirits in the room had increased, joined by the ones he had somehow dragged back with him.

However, despite the rumors of his grave injuries, the wounds actually seemed pretty minor.

At this level, there was no need to tear down all the talismans from her room.

‘Is that damn Western ghost messing with me?!’

Then again, ghosts were known for messing with people. Isn’t their whole thing about preying on people’s weaknesses, luring them in?

She soon conceded that the Western spirit wasn’t completely wrong.

If mental scars were also considered wounds, then Roderick had been suffering fatal injuries every day, without a doctor to diagnose or treat him.

Lee Jae took a step closer to him.

And naturally, as she inched forward, the atmosphere around the king gradually shifted.

The more the pressure on him lifted, the paler Lee Jae’s face became.

“Your Majesty, are you alright?” she asked in a small, cautious voice.

Roderick stared back at her with piercing blue eyes, cold and wild, like someone on the verge of losing control.

His arm bore the marks of an animal’s claws, and blood was still streaming from his palm, yet he clung tightly to his sword, making the doctor bow his head repeatedly in fear.

The king’s knights were tense.

They hadn’t been able to stop him from charging at a wild beast in the forest. They had to watch helplessly as he hacked at its already lifeless body. Rational decisions like shooting the beast from a distance didn’t seem to occur to him.

As Jade thought that he might actually have to risk his life to stop the king this time, the queen approached the bed.

Small and delicate like a skittish young animal, she moved with a quiet determination.

Lee Jae sat down cautiously, about three hand-widths away from Roderick.

‘Evil cannot overcome righteousness.’

‘Destroy the wicked and reveal the good.’

‘That’s the law here. You evil spirits, it’s time for you to return to your own world, where your rules reign.’

She muttered these phrases to herself a few times before touching the back of Roderick’s shoulder. When her bracelet made contact with the ghost clinging to him, her wrist burned as if she’d been scalded.

She couldn’t help but wince, but she kept rubbing Roderick’s back gently.

– “If you keep interfering, I won’t leave you alone either.”

‘Sure, do your worst,’ Lee Jae grinned defiantly at the ghost. As the spirits began to slowly drift out the window, she took hold of Roderick’s wrist.

He stared at her, and the people around them held their breath as Lee Jae carefully pried his fingers open, one by one.

With a clang, the sword fell to the floor.

“If you keep holding on, your wounds… might open up again.”

She smiled, though her face was pale from the oppressive atmosphere still weighing on her.

After a while, as the spirits drifted farther away and Roderick’s blue eyes regained clarity, he kept staring intently at her.

“You’re okay now, right?” she asked.

Though he didn’t respond, Lee Jae was sure he was stable enough and gestured for the doctor.

The frail, hesitant doctor approached, having seen his fair share of tense situations, but still moved slowly. Jade had to shoot him a glare to get him to hurry up.

Lee Jae remained by Roderick’s side for a while longer, ensuring that the area was clear of spirits. Once she was satisfied, she began to move around the room.

No one paid much attention to her odd behavior as they were all too focused on the king.

While muttering something under her breath, she continued banishing spirits. Purge, calm, destroy, then purge again.

Aside from some lingering souls, there were also animal spirits—creatures that had died in the hunt.

Luckily, there were no malevolent spirits around.

As she made her way back to Roderick’s side, his eyes were completely clear now. Though his palm was still bleeding through the bandages, he wasn’t paying any attention to it, his gaze fixed solely on Lee Jae.

For the first time since entering the room, Roderick spoke.

“Why did you come here?”

“…”

She was at a loss for words.

You’re not supposed to deal with this guy with any sort of emotion, but she couldn’t help but feel a little hurt.

‘I didn’t come because I wanted to, you know. The ones who’ve been beaten know pain better, and the ones who see ghosts are the ones most terrified of them.’

“So what if I came because you were injured? I’ll leave now that you’re better.”

A little upset, Lee Jae adjusted her clothes and stood up from the bed. Her voice had a slight chill, tinged with undeniable frustration. The maids scrambled to prepare to leave.

But suddenly, Roderick grabbed her wrist. The hand wrapped in bandages.

“Don’t go. Stay a bit longer.”

Everyone gasped.

What was happening right now?

The queen hadn’t done anything particularly extraordinary, but the king had calmed down, and now he was clinging to her, asking her not to leave.

But Lee Jae furrowed her brow, annoyed by something else.

“Your Majesty, aren’t you supposed to avoid using that hand?”

She tried to pull his hand away, but unlike when he was gripping the sword, she couldn’t get a single finger off this time, no matter how hard she tried.

“I get it, now let go. I said I get it.”

“….”

“Your hand… is bleeding more now.”

Looking down at his bleeding palm, Lee Jae suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of exhaustion and frustration. With a bit of irritation, she lightly smacked his shoulder.

“I knew this would happen! No more hunting trips from now on!”

Meanwhile, as the queen slapped the king’s shoulder, the servants all winced and glared at the queen’s maids. Normally, the maids wouldn’t have backed down, but even they were too shocked to react.

Didn’t she just say she was scared earlier…?

But Roderick merely chuckled. His pale face from the blood loss showed a faint smile as he asked,

“Why?”

“…”

“Why, Hailey Duncan?”

“…”

“Why can’t I go?”

There were plenty of answers she could have given—because it’s dangerous, because you’re hurt—but after seeing that he was now even dragging animal spirits along with him, Lee Jae was exasperated.

“Maybe I just love animals too much!”

Everyone else now thought that the queen, like the king, had also gone slightly mad

Roderick let out a small laugh again.

He glanced over his bloodstained body, then, with a slow gesture, dismissed everyone from the room. Though some people were anxious, they eventually left, albeit hesitantly.

He wasn’t planning on explaining everything to her. But he couldn’t stay silent, either.

Hailey Duncan was his wife, after all, and had already been shaken twice by the horrifying scenes he’d been through. This was the least courtesy he could offer.

“Hailey Duncan. Honestly, there’s nothing that can be done about this.”

“……”

“It might sound irresponsible and incompetent, but I had no choice.”

The truth is, I’m falling apart, bit by bit, every day.

It was a vague statement, and he didn’t seem intent on explaining further.

But Lee jae lowered her head in response. She understood perfectly, more than anyone, what he was really saying—and what he couldn’t say.

Roderick knew exactly what he was doing. He was also painfully aware that he could no longer control it of his own will.

Lee jae managed to lift her head slightly, but she had to lower it again. His expression, while fatigued, was calm, and his gaze was so clear, it was unsettling.

“……”

Too clear.

Is that really the gaze of someone who’s committed such atrocities? What on earth is going on?

Looking into those pure, unclouded eyes, Lee jae saw the reflection of her own face, which looked much more troubled and conflicted.

Despite everything, she couldn’t suppress the waves of frustration and emotion welling up inside her.

How can you say you’re fine? You’re human. Don’t pretend otherwise.

Most people in your position would be trembling with fear and torment. They’d be wishing for death long before they even got close.

And causing that kind of torment? That’s exactly what malicious spirits aim for.

Meanwhile, Roderick was looking at Lee jae with a slightly confused expression. He hadn’t said anything particularly upsetting, yet she looked like she was on the verge of tears, head bowed low.

“Hailey Duncan.”

Still with her head down, Lee jae replied.

“Yes.”

“Are you mad?”

Her response was a bitter, almost sarcastic laugh.

“No.”

“Seems like you are.”

“……”

“Guess what I said was pretty pathetic, huh?”

“I told you, no. I don’t even have the right to be angry.”

“You’ve got less self-respect than I thought. But you’re definitely someone who has the right to get mad when you need to.”

“……”

“You’re a queen and a Duncan, after all.”

Lee jae let out another bitter laugh. The one who hated the Duncans was the king. And besides, Lee jae wasn’t even really Hailey Duncan.

“If that’s meant to be a compliment, I’ll accept it. But no, I’m not angry.”

“If you’re not mad, how about sticking around and talking a bit more?”

“……What do you mean by that?”

“Listening to you… oddly clears my head.”

“……”

It was a figure of speech, but Lee jae could tell he was being unusually open.

But it’s not because of me.

It’s because the evil energy around you is starting to fade.

Still, Lee jae simply nodded in silence.

They exchanged a few more words after that. Before long, Roderick started to show signs of fatigue, and Lee jae remained by his side until he fell asleep.

As she quietly watched him breathing evenly, Lee jae hesitated for a moment before reaching out. She gently parted his glossy black hair and pressed her fingers against certain spots on his head.

As his breathing grew more peaceful, she rummaged through her robe. Selecting a few talismans from a bundle, she moved toward the candle holder.

Lee jae burned the talismans, muttering under her breath the entire time.

It was a prayer for peace and tranquility.