FYH Chapter 101

The Commander of the knights continued.

“We still haven’t found him. His whereabouts are still being tracked, and we’ve dispatched part of the 1st Division to the western military camp because of the issue.”

Roderick frowned slightly.

“Then what is there to report?”

“The day His Highness left the camp… it seems there was another person who vanished with him.”

At that, Roderick’s face twisted in mild irritation.

“And you’re only telling me this now?”

“………”

“Is the 2nd Division commander smart or just plain dense? I honestly can’t tell.”

Because he had been the one to recruit that particular officer, Jade was forced to take the scolding in his place.

But the fact remained—there had been a flaw in the reporting process.

 “Your Majesty, as you know, His Highness departed on two separate expeditions. It appears this companion accompanied him both times. …They weren’t a knight or a regular soldier, so I believe the report was overlooked.”

Jade explained calmly, but the King didn’t look appeased. In fact, he looked even more displeased.

“I’m not saying we should charge a civilian with desertion or behead someone just because they accompanied a royal. But the location was a military base. Isn’t it basic protocol to track all movement in and out?”

“The border isn’t some child’s playground. How could this be handled so…”

The King stopped mid-sentence and glanced toward Lee-Jae.

He had likely raised his voice a little too much, given the gravity of the matter.

But Lee-Jae didn’t look startled at all.

If anything, she seemed lost in her own thoughts again.

Roderick rubbed his forehead, a bit awkwardly. Seeing this, Jade thought to himself:

Even when His Majesty is completely lucid, her presence alone wields astonishing power.

It reminded him of how her mere presence used to put people to sleep—without a single word.

Jade reached a very intuitive conclusion:

From now on, all reports should be made in front of Her Majesty.

“We’ll determine responsibility later. Keep tracking the prince’s movements.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Good. You’re dismissed.”

Once the knight commander gave a salute and left, both the King and Lee-Jae fell silent.

Each was lost in their own thoughts.

Roderick was thinking about the Prince’s mysterious companion.

There had only ever been one person who accompanied him every time.

Though they’d met briefly, the King remembered the man’s features in surprising detail.

That was because Lee-Jae had once commented, “Oh, you must be from abroad,” and struck up a conversation with him.

Roderick tended to remember anything that had caught his wife’s interest.

Meanwhile, Lee-Jae was thinking about the Prince himself.

She recalled that something about his appearance—his face—had subtly changed.

Was it because she’d met with Duke Duncan earlier that day?

His appearance had also begun to shift in strange ways, and the feeling lingered uneasily in her mind.

“Your Majesty.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“It’s about the Prince.”

“Geez, you’ve been really fixated on him lately.”

“…Isn’t it about time you stopped saying things like that?”

“I am just doing my best to protect what’s mine, shedding blood and tears in the process.”

“…You mean your brother?”

Don’t say things like that. You’ll make me forget you’re a descendant of the Boy King, Lee-Jae thought as she glared at him in mock irritation.

Roderick gave an exaggerated shrug.

“Just saying. So, what about him?”

“Has something happened to His Highness?”

Roderick gave a small nod.

“When that trouble at the border began, we dispatched Edgar on behalf of the royal family. But a little while ago, he vanished without a trace.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s the sort of issue that would give the nobles ammunition against us, so we’ve been handling it quietly.”

“When did this happen?”

Lee-Jae’s eyes widened, and the king fell into thought, trying to recall.

After a while, he finally said:

“The royal court and military sent a message to that region not long ago. We instructed them that if the soldiers caused trouble again, they should be brought back to the capital rather than executed on the spot. I planned to interrogate them myself. You remember that, right?”

“Yes.”

“The day that message arrived… he suddenly disappeared.”

But even as he finished his explanation, the King furrowed his brow.

A vague, unshakable sense of unease had just passed over him.

Tilting his head, Roderick slowly rested both arms on the table and stared quietly at Lee-Jae.

The King naturally began consulting with his wife.

“But why do you ask?”

His attitude was open and candid—he wasn’t hiding anything.

But Lee-Jae, in contrast, hesitated slightly.

She had lived her entire life without a family.

In truth, she had harbored resentment for a long time toward the parents she’d never even met.

Still, she knew enough to understand that most people took offense at hearing negative talk about family.

She took a moment to carefully choose her words.

“When I saw the Prince last time… he didn’t look well. It’s been on my mind.”

And Your Majesty’s face has been growing clearer lately. Even the Duke’s appearance is shifting for the better. What is going on?

Faced with a question she couldn’t answer, Lee-Jae let out a long sigh.

She rested both arms on the table, mirroring the King, and leaned toward him.

Then, still deep in thought, she asked:

“So the Prince left the military camp with his friend?”

“Yup, that’s what I’ve heard. …Do you remember that man?”

“Of course. Do you remember him too, Your Majesty?”

“Oh, very vividly. So vividly, in fact, I just got the chills.”

Lee-Jae leaned back slightly with a soft tsk sound.

The discontent was plain on the King’s face.

“Why are you getting all prickly again?”

“You showed interest in that guy, didn’t you?”

“…I mean, I guess I did. But it’s not for the reason you think.”

The morning the Prince departed for the border the second time, Lee-Jae had been actively avoiding the King.

They’d been in the middle of a marital spat.

Roderick had been trying to get in a word with her, trailing after her—and then saw her talking to some man she barely knew.

That had clearly rubbed the King the wrong way.

“Well, I’ll admit, he was a striking-looking fellow.”

“Was he?”

“He looked a bit like someone from your side of the family… actually, scratch that. Terrible phrasing. Forget I said that.”

Realizing how poorly the words came out, the King quickly corrected himself.

Lee-Jae let out a quiet chuckle.

“Anyway, like the Duncan family, he had an unusual aura.”

“…Did he?”

“Yeah. Isn’t that why you kept looking at him and talking to him?”

“No, it’s more because… he was saying strange things.”

As always, the King was simply describing things exactly as he experienced them.

And then, it happened.

Fragmented memories flitted through Lee-Jae’s mind.

“Your Majesty the Queen, what do you think will happen to the western border?”

“You already know, don’t you? I thought you were the Queen.”

“So Her Majesty is on the king’s side.”

It had been a fleeting conversation—one that had brushed past her before.

Was it during a previous audience with the Duke?

Lee-Jae remembered feeling a strange sense of déjà vu, wondering if she’d let her shamanistic aura slip too obviously.

But now, pieces of the puzzle were falling into place on their own.

— The change in the Prince’s face.

— The Prince and his friend vanishing at the same time.

— The murderous energy aimed at the King the night of the departure ceremony.

Lee-Jae’s expression gradually darkened.

Roderick looked taken aback.

He reached out and gently shook her arm.

“Lee-Jae, what’s wrong?”

“………”

“Did I say something I shouldn’t have? You suddenly don’t look well.”

Lee-Jae laid her hand over his to reassure him, as if to say no, it’s not that—but her face remained grave.

She was mentally retracing the conversation she’d had with Duke Duncan just hours earlier.

He had said:

“Someone came to my estate a short while ago.”

She remembered clearly—

That man had asked her personally:

“Would it be all right if I met with Duke Duncan? I’d like you to arrange it.”

…What was it again? What was that man’s name?

Lee-Jae kept digging through her memories, then found herself glancing instinctively around.

She wanted to find the Head Maid, who was seated relatively nearby.

Lee-Jae wanted confirmation.

But the King had long since dismissed the attendants, and no matter how she tried, she would not be able to get the answer she sought from anyone else.

The Cayenne Dynasty—five hundred years of history.

A name belonging to a family that vanished from the continent even before the kingdom’s founding—only royals or historians might recognize it on the spot.

Even fewer could accurately grasp the extent of that family’s power.

Even the King hadn’t thought much of their name until he met Lee-Jae.

In five long centuries, only two families had preserved their influence: the Blakes and the Duncans.

“Xenon… Lennon…?”

Lee-Jae’s lips moved in a whisper, repeating names that hovered on the edge of memory.

After a long moment of reflection, she finally buried her face in her hands and bowed her head.

The thoughts she was having were just too terrifying.

Startled, the King immediately stood and sat down beside her.

“Lee-Jae. What’s wrong, seriously?”

“………”

“Come on, look at me. Let me see your face, will you?”

Without knowing the reason, he tried to comfort her.

He gently touched her shoulder, and then carefully took her hands away from her face.

In her exposed eyes shimmered both confusion and worry.

After hesitating for a long moment, Lee-Jae finally spoke.

“Your Majesty… something’s not right.”

“What is it?”

“There are things in this world that are like puzzles you just can’t solve, no matter how hard you try.”

“……Yeah.”

“Humans are weak alone. And the power I have… it’s weaker still. No matter how I plead, how I use my abilities, how I beg… the gods don’t answer easily. Even knowing that, sometimes I had no choice but to keep praying. There was nothing else I could do.”

“But when I talk with you, Your Majesty… it feels like I can find those missing pieces. That’s what amazes me.”

“……It’s the same for me.”

“But, Your Majesty—there’s no guarantee the picture we complete will be beautiful. Sometimes the future that emerges isn’t the one we wished for.”

“If that moment really does come… What should I do? And what about you?”

Lee-Jae gazed at him endlessly.

Then she cautiously pulled him into an embrace.

“Your Majesty… What do we do? I think that man… he might be an Ilias.”

If he really inherited his family’s powers…

Then your brother is with someone incredibly dangerous right now.