FYH Chapter 25

Waking up at the crack of dawn, Lee-Jae sat cross-legged. In her previous life, meditation had been a daily ritual.

There was nothing quite like it to clear her mind and steady her energy. Although she had neglected it for a while, fearing the townspeople might find it odd, neither the King nor Deborah had said anything about it. Lately, she had found herself meditating more frequently.

How much time had passed? Opening her eyes, Lee-Jae muttered to herself again. It was a habit—justifying her thoughts and decisions to herself whenever she faced difficulties.

“That’s right. I can’t become a widow just a month after getting married.”

She was born an orphan with the ability to see spirits. Yet, without divine favor to back her, she had lived a life where she fit nowhere—not here, not there. Her short-lived life had led her to marry the first man she met, but if even this failed, she feared the despair would be insurmountable.

Since she had declared that “if there’s a cause, one should take responsibility,” Lee-Jae felt she, too, had to hold herself accountable for those words.

Resolved, she filled a shallow bowl with clear water.

For shamans, tools beyond talismans served as their weapons—what they called mugu*. Some used fans, others colorful banners, and some employed bells. For Lee-Jae, her mugu were her bead bracelet and her bow.

[*T/N: The general term for the tools used in Korean shamanic rituals]

When a shaman entrusted their mugu to someone, it was akin to giving away a piece of their very soul. It wasn’t as significant as handing over their heart, but it was at least equivalent to lending a kidney. It was an act far nobler than simply sharing two chicken drumsticks.

Having already given the bracelet to the King, Lee-Jae now sat before the bowl of clear water and took a deep breath.

She burned two talismans over the water, letting their ashes fall into the bowl. Then, placing her index and middle fingers over her solar plexus, she began to chant an incantation.

There were no malicious spirits in sight, so her chant was calm and expansive—meant solely to fortify the King’s strength.

“Observe the extraordinary person, do not harm the talented.”

“In the world, sometimes a person with great energy is born.”

“No matter where he is or what he does, you dare not harm the one born with great fortune on his back.”

Though her breath grew heavier, oddly enough, it was bearable.

Grandmother*, perhaps harsh conditions really do make you stronger. Life, after all, isn’t theory—it’s practice.

[*T/N: Up until this point, Lee-Jae has been using the informal term of grandmother for the shaman that took her in but starting this chapter, she switches to the more respectful formal one.]

Pouring the ash-laden water out the window, she coughed lightly a couple of times before collapsing onto her bed.

* * *

Today, Roderick had a slightly sullen expression.

As he plucked the bowstring, he spoke.

“Should I just shoot him?”

Jade flinched, following the King’s gaze to confirm the target of his remark. Standing before them, unnoticed until now, was Lawrence, his back turned to them.

Was this a sudden bout of madness again? There had been no prior signs. Why was this happening now? This wasn’t part of the usual pattern.

“Your Majesty…”

“Relax. It was just a passing thought.”

Given his past behavior, the King’s dark sense of humor often left those around him uneasy.

Watching the King’s expression carefully, Jade cautiously added,

“Well, nothing came of it anyway. It was purely emotional. Duke Duncan kept a close watch and fiercely opposed it.”

Roderick raised an eyebrow at the mention of the relationship’s physical aspect.

“Why would you drag something so crude into this? That was before the marriage. Even the Queen is entitled to some privacy.”

“…Frankly, I’m inclined to agree with Your Majesty this time.”

Before the marriage, and considering it was a private matter, why was the King so annoyed? Besides, it was the King himself who said to Hailey, four days before the Royal Wedding, that he didn’t care about any man she might have in her heart.

“The Duke’s opposition was perfectly reasonable. He must have planned for his daughter to ascend as Queen since the day she was born.”

So, am I supposed to be grateful for that now?

Still scowling, Roderick suddenly recalled something.

“Jade, you said Lawrence broke things off with Hailey, didn’t you? I think I read that somewhere.”

“Yes. After the Royal Wedding plans became public, the pressure seemed to get to him, so he ended it first.”

“Lawrence? Breaking things off with Hailey? Does he even have the right to do that?”

“Pardon?”

Jade was so taken aback that he asked again, but the King seemed entirely serious.

“He’s got nothing to his name except becoming a knight at an early age. His personality, his looks… Objectively speaking, even his family’s standing pales compared to the Queen. Isn’t that obvious?”

“…Lawrence is one of the top swordsmen in Cayenne. If we’re talking about precision, he surpasses both Your Majesty and me. He has incredible potential ahead of him, and you’ve acknowledged that before. Right now, you’re being… a bit irrational.”

It was the kind of statement only a friend could make. Jade continued,

“…Still, they couldn’t keep meeting forever, could they? I think they ended it at an appropriate time.”

Roderick knew that, too. But something about it still didn’t sit right with him.

“What I mean is, Hailey should’ve been the one to end it, not Lawrence. Besides, the Queen that day… didn’t look like she had moved on at all.”

What truly irked Roderick was that point.

The Queen was usually a calm and collected individual. Even if she chose to stay silent at times, she had never once shed a tear in public.

Yet that day, she had lost control of her emotions, her body trembling violently.

But she couldn’t control her emotions and trembled. Eventually, she shed tears, which bothered him throughout the hunt.

‘Is this causing you trouble because of me?’

But when she cried and apologized… he wanted to embrace her and kiss her. And before he realized it, he actually had.

Watching Roderick’s growing fascination with the Queen, Jade finally spoke.

“You seem to have grown much closer to the Queen. …Do you like her that much?”

“Well.”

Roderick’s ambiguous answer was neither a confirmation nor a denial. Yet his gaze remained fixed on the handkerchief tied to his horse’s reins.

To Jade, that was an answer far clearer than any words.

“She’s an odd woman the more I get to know her.”

“…”

“She seems to open up, but then again, it’s like she hasn’t at all.”

“…”

“She’s definitely hiding something, I can guarantee that. But at the same time… she’s strangely honest. I can’t figure out what she’s thinking.”

As the King frowned, Jade glanced at him sideways.

“Then why not push her a little? Test the waters and figure out what she’s thinking. You’re not a novice at this, Your Majesty. Honestly, it’s painfully obvious how much you care right now.”

In Jade’s opinion, if the King was this curious about the Queen’s feelings, he was already in far too deep than he realized.

What made it worse was that the Queen didn’t seem nearly as curious about the King’s feelings.

In fact, compared to the frequency with which the King sought out the Queen, the times she initiated contact were laughably few—perhaps twice at most, when she invited him for tea.

But unbeknownst to either of them, those moments were when Roderick needed her presence the most.

Roderick scoffed at Jade’s suggestion.

“You clearly don’t understand. If I pushed her like that, the Queen would retreat all the way to Cayenne’s borders. She knows I’m suspicious of her.”

“…”

The more he thought about it, the stranger it all seemed.

“Doesn’t she seem completely uninterested in her family affairs? It’s almost as if she hates them.”

“Isn’t that only natural? Considering what kind of father the Duke was, even I can understand.”

“But how is it that she entered the Royal Family without a single supporter? How does that even work? You were the ones who initially reported her as being loyal to her family.”

“…”

“Yet she’s already undermined her father twice—without hesitation, I might add.”

Jade nodded in agreement with the King’s assessment.

“I understand that the initial reports were inaccurate. I’ve already ordered a more thorough investigation.”

Roderick, however, looked irritated.

“What good is realizing that now? You all need to be half as perceptive as the Queen. Do you know how sharp her intuition is?”

“…”

“Hailey can tell at a glance whether I’ve slept or not. And not just that—if I tell her I haven’t, she knows whether I’m lying.”

Of course, Kang Lee-Jae was perceptive, but this particular insight wasn’t based on intuition.

Once again, misunderstandings were deepening.

Jade, who had become an undeserving target of the King’s frustration, looked at Roderick with a complicated expression.

He sometimes reminded himself that it was impossible for him, an outsider, to truly understand the dynamic between a married couple who occasionally shared a bed.

If he spent as much time talking to the Queen—or even sharing a bed—he was confident he could figure her out, too.

But Jade wisely kept his mouth shut.

The King was still glaring at Lawrence’s back as if it offended him, casually plucking the bowstring.

Roderick was one of the few who could match Jade in combat. If the King’s unpredictable temperament turned against him, Jade would be in trouble.