Memories of the First Night (Part 1)
Kang Lee-jae’s life could be summed up in a single phrase: cursed from the start.
Abandoned by her parents, she grew up in an orphanage, but her misfortune did not end there. Around the age of seven, she began seeing strange things.
A renowned shaman from Chengnam named Yunsan Halmai took her in, caring for her as a young assistant.
Predictably, Kang Lee-jae’s luck showed no signs of improving after that.
Yet on second thought, there was one silver lining.
At the very least, there were no longer people beating her simply for being an orphan.
Just as Lee-jae was turning that thought over in her mind, Duke Duncan barged in and began slapping her across the face.
The claim that someone used to getting beaten can endure it well is a lie told only by those who have never suffered a blow in their lives.
Anyone who has been beaten knows that taking hits is never easy for anyone.
As Lee-jae cast a wary glance around, her hands suddenly caught her eye.
‘Were my hands ever this soft?’
It made no sense. Lee-jae’s hands, worn rough from grueling labor in the mountains and remote villages, were in a state that even modern cosmetics could never fix.
With that sudden realization, countless memories flooded into her mind.
Lee-jae looked up at Duke Duncan, who was still clutching her hair, and gripped his wrist. Though her voice shook, the words rolled off her tongue with natural ease.
There was a truth many might not know: the feelings the dead leave behind on their favorite belongings are far more potent than most imagine.
How much more so, then, if the soul had inhabited the body until just moments ago?
The memories were largely incomplete, but Lee-jae possessed spiritual senses dozens of times sharper than an ordinary person’s.
Duke Duncan was a tyrant within his household, and Duchess Duncan never dared confront him directly.
Having no parents at all was vastly preferable to having ones like these.
While Lee-jae brooded bitterly, she was jerked back and forth by the Duke, who still held her by the hair. She surveyed the room, which originally belonged to Hailey Duncan.
‘Hailey, are you here? I’m not an evil spirit… I’ll get out right now, so please help me.’
No answer came. Lee-jae tried thumping her chest, but only more foreign memories surged in. In the end, the clearest memories a human retains are those tied to the moment of death.
Hailey Duncan had drowned in the water. Her neatly discarded shoes had been sitting right there, proving she had jumped of her own accord.
Given how much time had passed, she had likely either turned into a vengeful spirit or faded away entirely.
While Lee-jae was lost in thought, the Duke, having finally let go of her hair, raised a heavy hand.
Lee-jae shielded her face with her arms and cowered.
She knew that if a blow landed with that much force, she would be knocked straight back into bed the moment she woke up.
Yet she soon realized a chilling silence had settled over the space. The atmosphere in the room had shifted abruptly.
It was far more than a mere hunch.
When she lowered her arms slightly, she noticed the hair standing on end along her skin.
It was a feeling she knew all too well.
A suffocating tightness in her chest, a wave of nausea, as though she had crossed paths with something repulsive.
As Lee-jae cautiously lifted her head, she saw Duchess Duncan staring blankly behind her, as if forced to crane her neck.
The instant the Duchess made eye contact with the man clad in dark blue standing behind her, her knees gave out and she collapsed to the floor.
Duke Duncan also looked visibly unsettled, but he scowled and managed to ask in a steady tone.
The man, who had been leaning against the wall, stepped forward slowly after gesturing for his soldiers to fall back.
"…"
When the Duke said nothing, the King let out a mocking smirk.
As the Duke continued to glare in fury, the smirk vanished completely from the King’s face, replaced by pure irritation.
The royal guards dragged the Duke and Duchess from the room, and Lee-jae slowly rose from the bed.
Their daughter had leaped into the water to end her life and truly died, yet the very first thing her parents did upon her waking was drag her around by the hair.
Even so, Lee-jae, who had lived as an orphan, could not say for sure whether having parents like this was better or worse.
Regardless, she was Hailey Duncan now, and the man standing before her was her fiancé.
Attempting suicide on the night of a royal wedding was beyond a scandal.
Her rotten luck seemed determined to follow her wherever she went.
Lee-jae knelt on the carpeted floor and bowed her head, fighting the tremors running through her body.
Yet the man before her seemed entirely aware that she was trembling.
She soon felt something hard press under her chin.
The King was tilting Lee-jae’s face upward with the scabbard of his sword.
It was because of the sheer multitude of tormented spirits swarming behind him.
There were more spirits than the soldiers he had brought with him, all clinging to his shoulders and back.
Though Lee-jae had seen her fair share of horrors, she had never witnessed or even imagined anything like this.
Unable to speak the truth, she bit her lip and stared into the man’s eyes. They were a deep, dark blue.
Yet when Lee-jae remained silent once more, a mounting impatience flickered within those blue depths.
What had she just blurted out?
I’m sorry, Hailey Duncan.
This body you barely kept whole is going to lose its head because of me.
Yet unexpectedly, the King smiled at those words.
His gaze, however, looked as though he was studying how best to kill her.
Lifting her chin once more with the scabbard, the King spoke.
Feeling that squandering this chance might genuinely cost her her life, Lee-jae nodded vigorously.
Waking up in such a terrible predicament was bad enough; she had no desire to die meaninglessly here.
Noticing her draw a deep breath, he seemed to think conversation was possible after all and lowered the scabbard.
"…"
Lee-jae could not make sense of it either.
Naturally, this man was far from ordinary.
Lee-jae could perceive that with greater clarity than anyone else.
Yet because she had not been the one to do it, she had nothing to offer no matter how harshly she was questioned. If anything, she felt utterly wronged.
In the end, she offered the best answer she could muster.
Yet the smile lingering on the King’s face said otherwise. It was practically declaring, You are a liar.
He clearly did not believe her. He pressed on in a cool, razor-sharp tone.
"…"
Was there another man… Ah, Hailey Duncan did have another man. Yes, she did.
Having lived most of her life in loneliness, the injustice of it all weighed doubly heavy on Lee-jae, driving her back into silence.
The King seemed to interpret her silence differently.
In truth, it was not mere indifference; he looked downright annoyed.
He tapped his scabbard against the carpet in a steady rhythm as he said, “I might like to encourage you to stay true to your love, but I cannot go down in history as an even more ill-fated king than I already am. So I believe you will have to live a long life—far longer than you might wish.”
"…"
Leaning down slightly, he looked her straight in the eyes and said, “Hailey Duncan, if you must die, do so with the crown upon your head.”
The King’s words carried heavy weight.
Suddenly, Lee-jae felt the world around her fall silent. These were no mere hallucinations.
Even the pale spirit grinning broadly behind him poked its head forward, waiting for Lee-jae’s response.
Ah, she had seen it clearly that time.
The moment her eyes met the spirit’s directly, panic seized her, and she dropped her head again.
Lee-jae hesitated for a long while before gripping her dress tightly and lifting her head.
The situation was bewildering and terrifying, but she had no wish to die like this.
Lee-jae spoke quietly, keeping her gaze pinned to the floor. The King raised an eyebrow at her unexpected request.
He nodded with deceptive gentleness.
"…"
A faint smile touched his lips.
A shock far greater than her fear washed over Lee-jae.
What kind of choice was this? It was utterly unfair.
Lee-jae swallowed her words, but the King, chuckling softly, seemed to know exactly what she was about to say.
He was saying, in cold blood: I will kill you.
In the end, he had not come to offer her a choice; he had come to issue an ultimatum.
"…"
After everything she had endured throughout the day, her answer was obvious.
Kang Lee-jae was never one to throw her life away on her own.
She answered with firm resolve. “I will not end my own life. Ever. At the very least, not until I wear the crown upon my head, just as you said. That, I promise you.”
The King gave a curt nod.
Yet despite his words, he did not look as though he truly believed her.
Thinking about it reasonably, who would believe that someone who attempted suicide yesterday and woke up today was speaking the truth?
Lee-jae’s expression mirrored the thoughts running through her head.
‘You’re lying, aren’t you?’
She had not meant to let it show, but the King seemed to have noticed all the same.
Smoothly, he amended his words.
Turning toward the guards stationed at the door, he commanded, “Bring the Duke and his wife.”