Previously
Roderick asks to share Lee-jae's bed to cure his insomnia, leading to an awkward but honest conversation where he apologizes for his perceived violence on their wedding night. Lee-jae realizes Roderick wasn't actually the one who tore her dress, though he remains unconvinced of his own innocence.
Who Are You? (Part 5)
After that day, Roderick stopped visiting the Queen's quarters.
The King’s attendants all thought to themselves, ‘Something must have happened.’
Yet, even though he ceased his visits, the King seemed to desire to see the Queen more than ever.
Keeping watch on the Duncan family’s movements had been part of his daily routine, but he was never one to take personal interest in them.
Hence, all the King’s attendants began to think he was acting strangely.
There was one particular incident that confirmed their suspicions.
As the King spent a considerable amount of time inspecting pieces of jewelry, people began stealing glances at him.
These jewels were gifts from a mining territory, presented as a form of tribute.
People wondered whether a grave issue had arisen, or if this signaled a return of his madness. Such a thing had never happened before.
Tension rippled through the onlookers, yet Roderick was staring at only a single bracelet. More specifically, he was looking at the bracelet and thinking of the Queen.
‘I made this bracelet too. Could you return my carving knife?’
As the King chuckled, Jade, along with the King’s trusted valet and the Head Butler, exchanged worried glances, taking the King's bizarre demeanor as a potentially ill omen.
Contrary to their worries, however, Roderick was in exceptionally good spirits today.
He had merely refrained from visiting the Queen’s chambers out of concern that it might make her uncomfortable.
He was her husband, after all. Was there truly any need to treat him like a common criminal?
Even so, he could not deny that their marriage had been forced upon her, nor that he had acted like a pervert toward her the previous night.
Roderick lifted the bracelet and studied it for a long while.
Startled by the abrupt command, Jade hesitated briefly before accepting the bracelet with a respectful bow.
Roderick flashed a mischievous grin.
"…"
Why pick a fight with the Queen when she had not done a single thing?
The courtiers and servants wondered in silence.
Still, they sensed that something else lay beneath the surface.
It did not truly seem as though Roderick meant to insult her.
His words carried the playful tone of banter—the kind of teasing remark one might make when trying to catch the eye of someone they find intriguing.
The King’s attendants exchanged knowing looks.
Just as expected, something must have happened that day.
On the other hand, the Queen’s maids had to confirm once more that nothing had taken place.
That was because not only were the bed and her person entirely untouched, but even her clothes had remained immaculate.
Though they shared the same chamber, no romantic spark had ignited.
Both were striking and in the prime of their youth, so what was the problem?
Moreover, the Queen did not seem bothered in the least by the King’s obvious distance.
And that was indeed the case.
Naturally, Lee-jae felt a twinge of disappointment. She wondered whether she had offended him.
Yet when a powerfully built man had lunged at her, she had lost her composure for a brief second. In that sense, the King asking whether she was frightened had not been entirely wrong.
Even so, Lee-jae was not particularly sorrowful, being someone thoroughly accustomed to rejection.
Abandoned by her parents, cast out as an orphan, and shunned because of her spiritual gifts.
People had always maintained a careful distance and a wary posture toward her.
Such had been the past life of Kang Lee-jae.
Around that time, Jade and the King’s valet arrived at Lee-jae’s room to deliver the bracelet sent by Roderick.
In truth, he had said: ‘It’s barbaric… A piece beyond the comprehension of this era…’ But how could one say that to the Queen?
Despite her usual restraint, Lee-jae felt slightly miffed.
Lee-jae, who harbored many questions about Roderick, widened her eyes and asked, “Really?”
At times, his actions proved even more barbaric than his words.
Jade and the valet chuckled at their inside joke, and Lee-jae joined in with an awkward laugh.
Deborah glared at them, irritated that these men were such fools that they could not even deliver a message properly.
It was obvious the bracelet was a thoughtful present, yet they could not even present it gracefully.
Lee-jae looked down at the bracelet the King had sent.
The piece felt like an extension of an apology, or perhaps a declaration that the carving knife remained forbidden.
Nor was that entirely misguided.
Among the carving tools Lee-jae used, there were several sharp blades like daggers, which could easily be turned to self-harm.
And Roderick did not trust the Queen enough to place such an implement in her hands.
Regardless, Lee-jae did not take offense and let out a faint smile.
She kept the bracelet she was already wearing on her right wrist and slipped the King’s bracelet onto her left.
The King did not know that her true weapon was not a mere carving blade, but the bracelet of Prayer Beads. So even if she wore a lovely bracelet, she could never take off her weapon.
Jade and the valet bowed respectfully and withdrew.
In her spare time, Lee-jae immersed herself once more in Hailey’s diary.
And throughout, she felt the urge to throw the diary away several times over.
Was this violent impulse what the King felt when tormented by a vengeful spirit?
Was there an issue with Hailey’s handwriting, or was Lee-jae herself suffering from dyslexia?
Kang Lee-jae’s knowledge in this world depended entirely upon Hailey Duncan’s fragmented memories.
Yet Hailey’s interests had been vastly different from her own, nor had Hailey seemed particularly knowledgeable.
In the end, Lee-jae decided to set the unhelpful diary aside and look up the royal history instead.
When the Queen pulled out a book and asked, the thin Librarian looked rather flustered.
Lee-jae appeared baffled. Her gaze shifted between the flustered Librarian and Deborah.
Failing to find an answer, she asked gingerly, “I am His Majesty’s wife… which makes me the Queen, yet I am not considered part of the royal family?”
The Librarian turned pale, as if realizing he had made a grave mistake.
Lee-jae offered a small smile, a look of intrigue settling across her features.
Even so, she knew such confidential records existed even in her previous world.
If that was the case, it was bound to hold the most accurate and unvarnished information, so Lee-jae nodded.
The maid looked bewildered.
Considering the recent chill between the King and Queen, she wondered why her mistress did not ask for help in reading or learning it.
In truth, Lee-jae believed she could already read it.
After all, she was living in quarters used by generations of queens for hundreds of years, alongside that strange spirit.
Upon returning to her chambers, Lee-jae immediately summoned the Box Spirit.
—Me?
-…
The spirit rolled its massive eyes back and forth.
Lee-jae, reading the answer in its silence, gave a scoff.
—There was never such an agreement! And I may have relaxed, but I have never once eaten!
Even so, from the spirit’s perspective, Lee-jae’s presence was nothing short of a walking calamity.
Faced with the prospect of having to work for the first time in its life, the spirit seemed utterly lost.
—No, Lee-jae. This is absurd. Truly, this is a world where they will slice off your nose the second you close your eyes.
This saying means the world is a harsh, competitive place where people will take advantage of you the moment you let your guard down.
In the end, the childish spirit obediently read the royal genealogy aloud to Lee-jae.
—Arthur Lucas Blairk, the First King. Passed away at the age of thirty-eight in the twentieth year of the Cayenne calendar. Wielding the Holy Sword, he vanquished the Demon Empire, which had ruled the continent through evil sorcery. Thereafter, he proclaimed the independence of the vassal states and the founding of Cayenne.
—Ryan Blairk, the Fourth King. Marked the centennial of Cayenne’s founding through an active policy of racial integration. Encouraged intermarriages between the royal family and the Mellon, Russell, and Duncan houses.
—Roderick Firth Blairk, the Twenty-Seventh King. Born in the year 470 of the Cayenne calendar, ascended the throne in the year 497 of the Cayenne calendar.
"…"
—That is all.
—That is because he still occupies the throne. Achievements are usually recorded by the succeeding monarch.
Lee-jae nodded at the sensible explanation.
As she jotted something down on paper, a sudden realization struck her.
Lee-jae had been four years younger than Roderick, but Hailey Duncan was eight years his junior.
All at once, Lee-jae chuckled.
She had wondered why the King occasionally used strange phrasing, but now she understood.
‘Yes, thank you very much,’ ‘Would you like to chat?’ ‘Will you not speak with me anymore?’
He spoke sharply at times, but if she seemed upset, he would shift to a softer tone, almost as if attempting to coax her.
‘So that is why you don’t take my head off even when I act rudely.’
Still, before wandering spirits, all humans were mere babes anyway.
Soon, however, Lee-jae’s brow furrowed.
A person’s fortune typically shifted every ten years.
Which meant Roderick was rapidly approaching that very juncture.
And the destiny of a nation shifted every five hundred years.
Kingdoms often rose and fell in cycles of five hundred or a thousand years under the immense sway of national fortune.
And now, it was the year 499 of the Cayenne calendar.
The King’s personal shift in fortune would soon coincide with the nation’s.
The turning of the King’s destiny and that of the realm overlapped.
Deciding it was merely a strange coincidence, Lee-jae twirled the pen between her fingers.