FYH Chapter 71

It was a coincidence that Roderick ran into Lee-Jae, who was returning from a walk, just as he was heading out for an audience. On any other day, he would’ve been glad to see her. But today, hers was the last face he wanted to see.

Still, he stopped walking when Lee-Jae approached him with a gentle smile.

“Where are you headed, Your Majesty?”

“…”

Seeing her smiling so brightly only made his heart sink deeper. And lonelier.

Yeah. I forced you into this marriage.

You jumped into a lake to escape it, and I threatened you to stop.

And now, I’ve fallen for you, and I’m jealous.

I’ve done the very thing you told me not to do.

I destroyed the man you once loved.

God, I’m pathetic.

But shouldn’t you be more clear about where you stand?

Suddenly, he couldn’t suppress the emotion boiling up inside him.

“Hailey.”

“Yes?”

“There’s been a marriage proposal from the Kingdom of Bodore.”

“…What?”

“Do you hate hearing that kind of thing?”

It was petty jealousy.

Sometimes it worked in your favor.

But sometimes… it just didn’t.

Lee-Jae was the kind of person you should never try that with.

“Bigamy is… illegal…”

She fumbled through the words, clearly flustered, then stopped.

Is he going to leave me again?

Some people carry deep-rooted trauma.

For Lee-Jae, it wasn’t snakes or monsters—it was abandonment.

That was her true fear.

A stifling tightness rose in her throat.

She couldn’t breathe.

She kept clenching and unclenching her fists, helplessly.

She glared at Roderick with eyes full of hurt—but quickly dropped her gaze again, lips trembling.

Then why did you fight for me? Why did you treat me so kindly?

Roderick saw it all. Every expression on her face.

He could see the pain he was causing the woman he loved.

But the part that made him loath himself most…

was the cruel, selfish satisfaction of knowing she was hurt.

He truly was the worst kind of man.

Still, he wanted to be sure.

Isn’t it me that you love now?

“Do you hate it?”

Lee-Jae, still biting her lip hard, looked up.

“And if I do?”

“…Then I won’t do it.”

He had already turned down the proposal—but he lied.

Yet Lee-Jae said something none of them expected.

“And if I don’t?”

“…What?”

“Then will you do it?”

Roderick was caught off guard. So was everyone else.

Even while trembling, the Queen’s eyes had sharpened.

She was like a young beast—fighting with everything she had left to defend herself.

“If that’s how it is, then go ahead. Do as you wish.”

She turned her back to him.

But before she could walk away, Roderick grabbed her wrist.

He spun her around roughly.

“You’re really okay with that?”

Lee-Jae’s gaze turned ice cold.

“Why do you care what I think? You’re the one who makes all the decisions—what you want or don’t want. Don’t test me like this. Pushing the decision onto me now—that’s cowardly.”

She tried to shake off his hand, but he wouldn’t let go.

Tears welled in her eyes, thick with anger and grief.

“Your Majesty, people who get abandoned… don’t get choices.”

“…”

“If you leave, then I’m just left behind.”

“…”

“If you’re asking me whether you should throw me away or not… then you really are a cruel man.”

It’s easy to help people.

But I’ve always found it hard to hold their hands back.

I was afraid they’d call me dirty again. Afraid he’d shake off my hand.

No matter how much I washed, people still said I was filthy. No one wanted to be my friend.

But does that mean I should get down on my knees and beg you not to throw me away? Beg you not to let go of my hand? No. I will never do that.

Everyone watching felt a strange heaviness.

The Queen’s tone was sharp, but she looked so pitiful that it hurt to even listen.

It felt like her pain was cutting through them too.

Roderick, barely holding himself together, pleaded.

“Can’t you just say no? Just once? Is that really so hard?”

“…”

“You’re so good at telling me what to do—do this, don’t do that—so why can’t you say don’t do this now?!”

But at that, Lee-Jae’s expression turned even colder.

That was all I could offer you. Just that.

She slowly pried his fingers off her wrist.

Her strength was faint, but she struggled with all she had, biting her lip so hard it bled.

Roderick had no choice but to let go.

“Then go find a woman who doesn’t say do this or don’t do that. Live happily ever after with her.”

“…What?”

Lee-Jae’s voice was icy as she turned her back on him and walked away.

Her pace quickened, and soon she broke into a run.

The ladies-in-waiting couldn’t glare at the King, so they took it out on the attending servants instead before rushing after the Queen.

The King stood still, watching her retreating figure.

They say love makes fools of everyone.

Jade thought the King looked like a complete fool—helpless in the heat of his own emotions.

It was Roderick himself who had once said that if you pushed the Queen even a little, she’d retreat all the way to the Cayenne border.

But after three months of desperately closing the distance…

He’d now managed to shove her away all at once.

Still wearing a hardened expression, Roderick was overcome with shame.

He cursed harshly under his breath—and slammed his fist into the wall.

 

Lee-Jae sat by the lakeside, sniffling and sobbing.

She had asked to be left alone, so the knights and ladies-in-waiting kept their distance.

The only one who stayed by her side was the Boy King.

As Lee-Jae continued to cry without a word, he began to fidget awkwardly.

— Stop crying.

“…”

— Ah, I’m really bad at comforting crying girls.

“I didn’t ask you to. I want to be alone, so don’t bother. I have nothing to say.”

The Boy King scratched his head, clearly uncomfortable.

— Come on, cut him a little slack. That guy just… hasn’t dated much.

“I’ve never dated anyone.”

— Really? Figures.

“Figures? That’s pretty rude. But… I have liked someone before.”

— Just don’t tell Roderick that. He’ll probably lose his mind again.

At the mere mention of Roderick’s name, Lee-Jae lowered her gaze, looking gloomy.

The Boy King watched her carefully, then added,

— He’s just totally crazy about you right now. That’s all this is.

“…”

— He wants to move things forward, but it’s not going his way. Some other guy keeps hanging around you, and every time you see him, you’re crying. I get it. But to others, the way you treat Lawrence—it’s easy to misinterpret.

“…”

— And you’ve got a lot of secrets. So yeah, it’s no wonder he’s losing it a bit.

“…”

— Just try to have a little mercy. You’re good at that, aren’t you?

The Boy King, as always, instinctively took the side of his descendant.

Lee-Jae nodded faintly, murmuring, “Yeah,” but her face was still drained of all strength.

Trying to lighten the mood, the Boy King changed the subject.

— So, this person you liked before—what were they like?

— You turned down even a handsome ghost like me, so now I’m curious.

Lee-Jae gave a small laugh. Her face warmed as she slipped into the memory.

“It wasn’t anything special. I was young, and still pretty pure at heart.”

— …

“One day, someone showed up where I lived—someone kind of like me. He came to study under the person who raised me, who was very skilled.”

It was an implicit reference to shamanism. The shrine where Lee-Jae had lived often saw such visitors.

“But he died. Took on something beyond his ability. He had such a kind heart—wanted to help everyone who was struggling. A total fool. Such a dummy.”

— …

“He had a bit of a limp, actually. Said he’d been born that way. If you looked closely, you could see it in the way he walked. Maybe that’s why I felt so drawn to him. It felt like we both carried some kind of misfortune from birth.”

— …

“Because of that, I got to help him with things he couldn’t do himself, and it made me feel a little proud. Maybe deep down, I even felt a bit superior to him, in a childish sort of way. That’s pretty awful of me, huh?”

When she asked with a bittersweet smile, the Boy King shook his head.

“Anyway, after he died so pathetically, I hurt my leg really badly in the mountains once. I couldn’t walk for almost a month. Eventually, I recovered—mostly—and I went down to the village. Until then, I’d been so frustrated not being able to move. I was just happy to walk again.”

— …

“But then I realized something. There wasn’t a single person in the whole world who walked slower than me.”

Everyone passed her by.

With her unrecovered leg and slow pace, even making it across the street during a green light became impossible.

That’s when Lee-Jae realized it again—

The world was built for what was average and ordinary.

And for those like her, who fell outside that category, it could only ever be a lonely place.

“I thought about him a lot then. He never once asked me to walk slower for him. And remembering that made me feel so guilty. I thought I was doing something for him, that I liked him—but I couldn’t even match his walking pace. It was arrogance, really.”

— Why’s your whole life story so depressing?

Lee-Jae gave a soft laugh.

“Right? Want to hear something even more depressing?”

— If it’ll make you feel better, go ahead.

“The truth is…”

— Yeah?

“In my last life, I drowned.”

The bBoy King nodded.

— That’s why you keep seeing it, huh?

“Something like that.”

From a young age, Lee-Jae had been told to stay away from water.

The shaman who raised her, Grandma Yeongsan, was someone who placed a high value on her own life.

She was cautious with her words and selective with the people she dealt with.

But even she had repeatedly warned Lee-Jae to avoid the water.

And Lee-Jae knew what the weight of those words meant.

Ever since, she had always avoided water.

The sea was unimaginable to her.

She’d never so much as dipped her toes into a mountain stream.

But not long after Grandma Yeongsan passed away,

Lee-Jae came down from the mountain—

and died in a traffic accident.

The overturned bus sank deep into a river.

She couldn’t even describe how empty it had felt.

You could avoid small accidents in life—but the larger currents running through your entire existence?

Those were unchangeable.

That kind of despair.

“Maybe my life just… can’t be saved.”

— …

“You know that saying—‘You live the way you’re made’?”

— That’s not true, Kang Lee-Jae.

The Boy King denied it, but Lee-Jae shook her head.

“But now I wonder… does it really matter that much anymore? Maybe I’ve just gotten tired of fighting it.”

With that, she fell silent.

And the Boy King, unusually, remained at her side.

For a long while, Lee-Jae sat there, calming her heart while watching the lake.

It was late at night by the time she returned to her chambers.

The newlyweds, after an explosive fight, spent the night apart for the first time in a long while.

The King slept in his own room, and that night, neither of them could sleep.

And from that day on, an unusual sight began to appear in front of the Queen’s residence.