After that day, Roderick stopped visiting the Queen’s residence.
The King’s people all thought: something must have happened.
However, the King seemed to want to see the Queen more than ever even though he stopped visiting.
Monitoring the activities of the Duncans was part of his routine, but he was not the type to take a personal interest in them.
Therefore, all of the King’s servants thought he had become strange.
There was one particular incident that confirmed their suspicions.
As the King spent a considerable amount of time examining the jewelry, people began to steal glances at him. The items were gifts from a territory with a mine, a sort of tribute.
People wondered if there was a serious problem or if this was a sign of his madness returning. This had never happened before.
People were starting to get nervous, but Roderick was just looking at one bracelet. To be exact, he was looking at the bracelet and thinking about the Queen.
‘I made this bracelet, too, so can you give me that piece back?’
“She’s definitely a strange woman.”
As the King laughed, Jade, his trusted attendant, and the chamberlain exchanged worried glances, interpreting the King’s odd behavior as a possible bad omen.
But contrary to their concerns, Roderick was in very good shape today.
He had been refraining from visiting the Queen’s chambers because he thought she might feel uncomfortable.
After all, he was her husband, was it truly necessary to treat him like a common criminal?
Still, he couldn’t deny that their marriage had been forced upon her. And that he had acted like a pervert to her the other night.
Roderick lifted the bracelet and peered for a long time.
“Jade.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Take this to the Queen.”
Jade hesitated briefly, surprised by the sudden command, but quickly accepted the bracelet with a respectful nod.
“Did you see the bracelet she’s wearing now?”
“…Yes, I saw it.”
Roderick smiled with a grimace.
“Tell her it’s awful. A real monstrosity.”
“…”
“It’s impossible to tell if it’s ahead of its time or hopelessly outdated.”
Why is the King picking a fight with the Queen, who hasn’t even done anything?
The courtiers and attendants silently wondered. However, they sensed there was something more to it. It didn’t feel like Roderick was truly trying to criticize her.
His words had the tone of playful teasing, the kind of remark that someone might make when trying to get the attention of someone they were intrigued by.
The King’s servants exchanged knowing looks.
As expected, something must have happened that day.
On the other hand, the Queen’s maids had to confirm once again that nothing had happened.
This is because not only the bed and body condition but also the clothes were clean this time.
Despite being in the same room, the passionate fire didn’t ignite.
Both were attractive and in their prime, so what was the problem?
Moreover, the Queen didn’t seem upset at all by the King’s obvious distance.
It was actually like that.
Of course, Lee-Jae was a little disappointed. She wondered if she had offended him.
But when such a well-built man pressed down on her, she couldn’t maintain her composure for a moment. In that sense, the King’s question about whether she was scared wasn’t entirely wrong.
However, Lee-Jae was not very heartbroken because she was a person who was used to being turned away.
Abandoned by her parents, shunned as an orphan, and isolated because of her spiritual gifts.
People always kept a consistent distance and attitude towards her.
That was Kang Lee-Jae’s last life.
Around that time, Jade and the King’s attendant visited Lee-Jae’s chambers to deliver a bracelet sent by Roderick.
“What’s this?”
“His Majesty says the bracelet you’re wearing now is not to his liking.”
Actually, he said it’s a monstrosity… that it’s a work beyond the comprehension of this era… but how could I say that to the Queen?
Despite his reticence, Lee-Jae was slightly annoyed.
“Why is he judging my taste right now…”
“He always talks like that.”
Jade explained, subtly defending his friend.
Lee-Jae, who had many questions about Roderick, widened her eyes and asked.
“Really?”
“Yes. He used to be like that. Recently…”
Sometimes his actions are more brutal than his words.
“Well, anyway, he didn’t say anything like he picked it up on the way. He doesn’t usually say things that aren’t true.”
Jade and the King’s attendant chuckled at their inside joke, and Lee-Jae awkwardly joined in the laughter.
Deborah glared at them, annoyed that the messengers were all half-wits who couldn’t deliver a proper message. It was clear that the bracelet was a thoughtful gift, but they couldn’t even present it properly.
Lee-Jae gazed at the bracelet sent by the King.
“…”
The bracelet seemed like an extension of an apology, or perhaps a statement that the carving tool was not allowed. That wasn’t entirely wrong either. Among the carving tools Lee-Jae used, there were some as sharp as daggers, which could be used for self-harm.
And Roderick didn’t trust the Queen consort enough to give her such a tool.
But either way, Lee-Jae wasn’t upset and smiled slightly. She left the bracelet she was wearing on her right wrist and put the king’s bracelet on her left wrist.
Unknown to the king, her real weapon wasn’t just a carving tool but this prayer bead bracelet. So even if she had a pretty bracelet, she couldn’t take off her weapon.
“Please convey my sincere thanks to His Majesty.”
Jade and the king’s attendant bowed respectfully and withdrew.
* * *
In her spare time, Lee-Jae immersed herself in Hailey’s diary again.
Along the way, she felt the urge to throw away Hailey’s diary several times.
Was this the violent feeling of the King tormented by a vengeful spirit?
Was there a problem with Hailey’s writing habits, or did Lee-Jae herself have dyslexia?
Kang Lee-Jae’s knowledge here relied on Hailey Duncan’s incomplete memory.
However, Hailey’s interests were very different from Lee-Jae’s. Also, she didn’t seem to be a very knowledgeable person.
In the end, Lee-Jae decided to put away the unfriendly diary and seek out the royal historian.
“Is there something like a royal genealogy? Is this it?”
When the Queen took out a book and asked, the thin historian looked a little embarrassed.
“That is only for the royal family to see. I will provide you with other records.”
Lee-Jae looked a little puzzled. She alternated between the embarrassed historian and Deborah. But in the end, she couldn’t get an answer and asked carefully.
“I am His Majesty’s spouse… So I’m the Queen but I am not considered royalty?”
The historian turned pale, as if realizing he had made a grave mistake.
“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant. There is a special script that only certain members of the royal family can read. This is a copy transcribed in that script. I assumed you had not learned it…”
“…”
Lee-Jae smiled with a grim look on her face.
That’s like a tycoon who spoke in a foreign language even during meals.
However, she knew that such secret records existed even in her own world. If that was the case, this must contain the most accurate and truthful information. Lee-Jae nodded.
“Give it to me first. I’ll take a look and bring it back.”
The ladies-in-waiting looked puzzled. Given the recent coldness between the King and the Queen, they wondered why she didn’t ask for help reading or learning it.
In truth, Lee-Jae believed she could actually read it.
After all, she lived in a room used by generations of Queens for hundreds of years, with that eerie presence.
Returning to her room, Lee-Jae immediately summoned the spirit of the chest.
“Come out here for a moment.”
– Me?
“Yes, can you read this?”
– …
The spirit rolled its large eyes back and forth. Lee-Jae, who read the answer in the silence, snorted.
“If you’ve been playing and eating for hundreds of years, pay for the talisman.”
– There was no such agreement! And I may have lounged, but I never ate!
“…What an enviable businessman.”
However, from the spirit’s perspective, Lee-Jae’s existence was a misfortune and a disaster.
Faced with the moment he had to work for the first time in his life, the spirit seemed confused.
– No, Lee-Jae. This is ridiculous. As expected, it’s a world where if you close your eyes, your nose gets cut off.*
[*TN: The idiom means that the world is a harsh and competitive place where people will take advantage of you if you let your guard down.]
“You never had a nose to begin with. You’ve been scamming me all this time.”
– …
Eventually, the child-like spirit obediently read the royal genealogy aloud to Lee-Jae.
– Arthur Lux Blarec, the first and male King. He passed away at the age of 38 in the 20th year of the Cayenne calendar. Conquered the Daemon Empire, which ruled the continent with evil sorcery, using the holy sword. Subsequently declared the independence of the vassal states and the founding of Cayenne.
– Ryan Blarec, 4th King. Celebrated the 100th anniversary of Cayenne’s founding with an active policy of ethnic integration. Promoted marriages between the royal family and the Melon, Russell, and Duncan families.
– Roderick Ferus Blarec, 27th King. Born in the year 470 of the Cayenne calendar. Ascended to the throne in the year 497 of the Cayenne calendar.
“…”
– That’s it?
“Why is it already over? Is that all there is about His Majesty?”
– That’s because he’s still on the throne. Achievements are usually recorded by the next king.
“Ah.”
Lee-Jae nodded at the fair and reasonable words.
And as she was writing something down on the paper, she soon realized something.
“His Majesty is twenty-nine years old. He looks younger than his age.”
Lee-Jae was four years younger than Roderick, but Hailey Duncan was eight years younger. Lee-Jae suddenly laughed.
She had thought of how the King occasionally used strange wording, but now she understood why.
‘Yes, thank you so much’, ‘do you want to chat’, ‘you’re not going to talk to me anymore?’
He would sometimes speak in a blunt manner, but if she looked upset, he would switch to a softer tone, as if trying to comfort her.
So that’s why you don’t cut off my head even when I act cheeky.
However, in front of the wandering spirits, we are all just children anyway.
“…”
But Lee-Jae soon frowned.
A person’s fortune usually changes every ten years. That meant Roderick was approaching that point.
And a nation’s fortune changes every five hundred years.
Kingdoms often rise and fall in cycles of five hundred or a thousand years due to the strong influence of national fortune.
It was the Year 499 of the Cayenne calendar.
The King’s personal fortune would soon align with the nation’s fortune.
And the timing of the King’s fortune and the nation’s fortune changing was overlapping.
Thinking it was very coincidental, Lee-Jae rolled the pen she was holding between her fingers.
