Follow Your Heart

Lee-Jae sipped her tea and looked at Roderick.

He savored a sip of tea and kept staring at Lee-Jae for a while.

Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, Lee-Jae was a bit on edge. As expected, Roderick, who was sitting diagonally, finally asked,

“Hailey Duncan.”

“What?”

“What are you thinking?”

“…Don’t you like this tea?”

Lee-Jae drank the tea once again, but she honestly thought it wasn’t that good either.

She would need more time to reconsider whether the head maid and she were truly in sync.

“No. I’m just wondering why you’re acting this way.”

“…”

“And it seems the tea doesn’t suit your taste, not mine.”

Lee-Jae almost spat out the tea but managed to swallow it.

“If Your Majesty can even judge my preferences, then I…”

Fortunately, Roderick chuckled at the joke.

He had a look that said, ‘You’re lying again,’ but he clearly didn’t dislike jokes.

However, as he ran his hand through his black hair, he looked very tired, like a wounded beast.

Moreover, the vengeful spirits were still lurking, waiting for any opportunity to strike as soon as the King and Lee-Jae were slightly apart.

Consequently, the King’s nerves were becoming increasingly sensitive.

‘He’s really making me worry.’

Lee-Jae watched the scene with anxious eyes and smiled bitterly.

Most people wouldn’t understand, but seeing such things was truly exhausting.

‘Yes, he’s not someone who will just pass by. This is for you, Kang Lee-Jae. So, just this once.’

Lee-Jae, who had tried to rationalize, soon got up from her seat and approached the King. And as she slid into the seat next to him, Roderick raised one eyebrow.

When Lee-Jae glanced up at him, he asked,

“Why?”

When asked like that, she had nothing to say. However, Lee-Jae was able to confirm that the spirits who were wandering around Roderick cursed her and moved away.

She asked him, who was looking down at her at an angle.

“Have you been having trouble sleeping lately?”

“Yes, a little bit.”

“…”

“Does it look like that?”

Lee-Jae nodded.

“A bit… Actually, a lot.”

She looked straight ahead again and sighed shallowly, hesitating for a moment.

Then, she took his hand, which was casually placed on his knee.

Seeing this, Jade closed his eyes tightly.

He thought she had gone too far.

The King had considerable animosity towards the Duncan family, and it was common knowledge among the Queen’s maids that nothing had happened on the first night of the royal wedding.

The state of the Queen’s nightwear was strange, but her body and the sheets were completely dry.

Moreover, the two had not slept in the same place even once since their wedding night.

However, Lee-Jae was not doing this out of affection.

She was acting from the perspective of a shaman or a medical practitioner.

But whether she looked more like the former or latter, she wasn’t sure herself.

Lee-Jae, who pressed somewhere in the palm of his hand, glanced at Roderick’s face.

Roderick was truly at a loss for words, but seeing the Queen’s tense face, he chuckled awkwardly.

“What are you doing?”

Fortunately, he did not shake off her hand, and Lee-Jae felt a small sense of relief. It seemed he was not so heartless as to push away his legal spouse’s hand.

“I tried this, and it helps me sleep better.”

“…”

“I also had… insomnia.”

Roderick smiled wryly. This time, it seemed like the Queen had given up trying to hide her lies.

However, Lee-Jae truly understood the flow of energy in the human body. People whose energy had been weakened for a long time could never overcome vengeful spirits, and in reality, even if they visited a shrine, they couldn’t immediately perform an exorcism.

This was always Lee-Jae’s responsibility.

As the King remained still, she carefully extended her hand to his shoulder and pressed a spot firmly. Then she began to press various points on his body to check.

The reason she started with his hand was that she couldn’t shake off the fear that pressing a vital spot like the neck might cause Hailey Duncan’s head to be chopped off.

Lee-Jae had rarely seen Roderick in a calm state.

And it seemed like the King had no intention of asking why.

He just watched in disbelief as the Queen did her thing with her small hands.

“Does it hurt?”

“No, not really.”

“If it hurts too much, let me know.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Roderick chuckled as he responded.

The expressions of the onlookers became strange. In truth, they were very anxious.

The King had become cruel even over the slightest provocation, and sometimes even without any provocation.

But Lee-Jae was very serious. She had felt it more clearly this time, than on the night she put him to bed.

This person truly had a strong innate energy.

It’s the destiny of those who are born to achieve great things, those who establish a prominent family lineage.

Such people usually don’t get entangled with vengeful spirits.

How much evil must he have done to have these spirits clinging to him?

However, after years of being tormented by these negative influences, his energy was blocked and stagnant.

And for people with such strong energy, having their energy pathways blocked is much more dangerous. It could lead to paralysis or worse.

Such people were beyond Lee-Jae’s abilities, and they were the domain of Granny Yeongsan.

Lee-Jae pressed a spot between his spine and shoulder blade.

“Hmm.”

When Roderick made a low sound, she immediately pressed the spot between his neck and ear.

And she silently chanted, “Open. Open.”

‘Done.’

Roderick seemed to feel relaxed as the blocked energy circulated. Like a person who had just entered a warm room after being in a cold place.

In truth, if he were an ordinary person, he would have fainted the moment the vengeful spirit left.

Lee-Jae quickly pulled his half-asleep shoulder and laid him on her lap.

“Hmm.”

Roderick made a couple of unclear noises after that as well.

The sounds the King made unconsciously were somewhat strange. They were pleasant and soothing moans that evoked a certain act.

But this was a very innocent and natural thing, and Lee-Jae, who was pressing his forehead, was now sweating profusely from the effort.

Finally, when the King fell into a deep sleep with steady breathing, Lee-Jae leaned back against the sofa, looking exhausted.

“Haah…”

Was this life meant for her to serve others, and that’s why God gave her another life?

But this was not a perfect solution. The King had simply gained a bit more strength to endure this situation.

‘I’m sorry. This is all I can do for you.’

Meanwhile, Jade, who had been anxiously waiting for another bloody incident, approached cautiously.

He looked at the sleeping King with amazement. The wild beast that had been raging just half an hour ago was now as gentle as a lamb.

The King’s attendants, who had been huddled in the corner, also peeked over their shoulders to watch.

“Is he really asleep?”

“…It seems so.”

“…”

“Well, it’s natural to feel refreshed when you’re tired and someone messages you. He must have been very tired.”

As she spoke, Lee-Jae knew that this didn’t look very natural.

But Jade seemed to want to say something different than that.

“He hasn’t been sleeping well for the past few days. He has always had some insomnia, but recently he’s been very sensitive…”

When the knight commander tried to explain the recent violent incident as diplomatically as possible, Lee-Jae just nodded. Both of them were in an uncomfortable situation.

“…People can be sensitive sometimes.”

“…”

“It’s all right. I’m not too surprised.”

“…Yes.”

“But what about the person who left earlier? Will they be okay?”

Lee-Jae asked belatedly, feeling a bit concerned. She knew the situation, but it didn’t seem like it would lead to good rumors.

Jade just sighed.

Soon, the chamberlain approached and covered the deeply sleeping King with a soft blanket. A moment later, Deborah also came closer to the sofa.

Lee-Jae looked puzzled as Deborah glared at the chamberlain as if she wanted to kill him. However, Deborah quickly changed her expression and asked Lee-Jae,

“Should I bring a blanket for the Queen as well?”

Only then did the chamberlain realize his mistake and looked embarrassed, but Lee-Jae shook her head.

“No, I’ve finished my tea, so I should go.”

Then, Lee-Jae carefully tried to remove her knee from under the king’s head.

It didn’t seem like he would wake up easily, but she didn’t want to disturb his sleep.

Roderick did not wake up easily, as Lee-Jae intended. However, as she slowly moved away, he stirred slightly.

He grabbed the hem of her clothes around her waist and snuggled closer to her.

A low “mmm” sound escaped his lips unconsciously.

“…”

“…”

There was once again a deep silence among the people. Everyone looked uncomfortable.

If Lee-Jae had thought this was a gesture of romantic love, she would have been embarrassed like everyone else.

Of course, she was uncomfortable, too. However, she tried not to care too much because she knew well that he didn’t mean it like that.

Roderick just instinctively found and grasped pure energy. Because of the talisman she possessed. Or because of the pure energy she had on her.

If he were conscious, he wouldn’t have done this, but Roderick’s body, which had been tormented by dark energy for a long time, was unconsciously seeking comfort.

The fact that others didn’t know this was a big problem.

Lee-Jae reached out her hand to the head maid who had a strange expression.

“…I think I need a blanket too.”

The chamberlain quickly brought a blanket and handed it to the head maid. Deborah, who received it with a dignified expression, carefully wrapped it around Lee-Jae.

Lee-Jae did not feel the severe nausea she had felt before. Pressing the blocked energy pathways was a kind of technique and important knowledge.

However, Lee-Jae, who had been concentrating for a long time, felt a deep sense of fatigue today as well. Indeed, life became difficult when involved with such people.

Lee-Jae buried herself in the blanket and closed her eyes.

She occasionally felt the urge to twist her body because of the warm breath on her abdomen and the hand that kept clutching her waist, but she told herself,

This person is a patient. He is my husband, but first and foremost, he is a patient.

So I should be compassionate. Good thoughts. Kind thoughts.

Evil spirit of lust within me, begone.

And not long after, Lee-Jae fell into a deep sleep, just like Roderick.