Previously
Kang Lee-jae observes Roderick training with Jade and notices dark energy dissipating from the King during combat. Roderick confronts Lee-jae about her sudden formal tone and later takes her to Arthur's Forest, a sacred royal site that repels the spirits haunting him.
The Sleeping Pillow (Part 1)
| In the year 497 of the Demon calendar, as the tyranny of the Demon Empire worsened, neighboring nations began preparing for war, and civil unrest erupted both on small and grand scales throughout the empire.
This was the origin of the Three Years’ War.
‘Lord of the Holy Sword.’
Little is known of King Arthur Lucas Blairk’s childhood.
Drawing upon his sacred power, he led the allied forces and defeated the dark hosts, and as defeat loomed ever darker over them, the houses of Demon began splintering one after another.
Several of these houses went on to form the bedrock of Cayenne’s nobility following the kingdom’s founding.
—From page 19 of The History of the Kingdom of Cayenne. |
Roderick shook his head. “We always say they have been suppressed entirely, yet it has dragged on for years.”
"…"
The movement to revive the Demon Empire, centered in the land where Demon’s ancient capital once stood, had troubled the Kingdom of Cayenne for years.
The late king had closed his eyes believing they were fully subdued.
Yet the moment Roderick ascended the throne, they began stirring once more.
When the King frowned and pressed a hand to his brow, the pro-monarchy nobles carefully watched his reaction, reading the room bit by bit.
Though matters had been strangely calm of late, the silence felt ominous.
Someone ventured a comforting remark to soothe the King’s mood.
Just then, the King’s father-in-law, Duke Duncan, spoke up as well.
Albert was Hailey’s brother and the eldest son of the Duncan family.
The King fixed his father-in-law with an odd stare, but Duke Duncan did not back down.
Even so, it was true that the royal family had been exceptionally severe with House Duncan.
Few people truly knew the inside story.
To outsiders, it seemed like nothing less than political suppression against the leader of the anti-monarchy faction.
Once again today, the King was merciless toward his wife’s family.
"…"
Having bickered with the nobility yet again, Roderick made his way straight to the Queen’s palace.
Strangely enough, whenever the King was irritated with the elder Duncan—the Duke—he sought out the younger Duncan—Hailey.
Stranger still was that he visited the younger Duncan even when he was in a good mood.
At times, he would walk to her quarters simply because sleep eluded him.
By now, every servant attending the King was well aware of this habit.
Barging into Lee-jae’s chambers without prior notice, Roderick blurted it out the moment he stepped inside.
Greeting the morning with such an opening line from the King, Lee-jae let out a laugh.
Reinstatement? To where?
When a matter came up that she knew nothing about, she kept her mouth shut.
‘I’ll have to look through Hailey’s diaries later,’ Lee-jae thought, sighing softly.
Thinking back on the diaries made her heart feel strangely tight, as if she were lacking in self-restraint.
Roderick, however, fell silent at the sound of her sigh.
With guarded eyes, he asked,
Those listening in appeared somewhat uneasy.
Of course, this was politics.
Even so, in any era, insulting someone’s parents and siblings was an invitation to strip off one’s insignia and brawl.
If she wasn't offended, that was odd in itself.
Yet the Queen merely smiled and shrugged.
With that, she resumed whittling what she had been carving before the King arrived.
This time, it was General Jihai.
Roderick peered down at Lee-jae with deep blue eyes.
His expression was laced with both curiosity and suspicion.
Jade straightened his posture and took a closer look at the Queen, who was absorbed in her woodcarving.
Hailey Duncan, ridiculed as a pretty fool, was indeed strikingly beautiful.
Yet no matter how he looked at her, she did not seem naive or foolish in the slightest.
Whatever the King threw at her, she responded calmly without taking offense.
Gentle and composed as her demeanor was, there was also a curious detachment about her.
Jade was beginning to understand what the King meant when he said the Queen was not so simple.
She truly was a Duncan.
The trouble was that while the King remained wary of the Queen, he was also strangely drawn to her.
Lee-jae paused for a moment and looked up at him.
Roderick gave a soft laugh. “Very well. But I do wish you could explain just why it’s so important in a way everyone can understand.”
The King’s words carried a slight edge.
Yet at this moment, everyone in the room except Lee-jae wholeheartedly agreed with him.
The wooden statue resting in Lee-jae’s room was already complete with eyes, a nose, and a mouth.
Only belatedly had the Queen’s maids realized it was not the kind of object they had imagined.
Granted, they were worldly city dwellers whose minds and morals had been thoroughly steeped in scandal.
Even so, the question of its actual purpose remained unresolved.
The finished piece looked nothing like an aesthetic decoration.
And now, once again, she was carving another bizarre figure.
In truth, it was not something meant to be carved amidst such a distracting conversation.
Yet Lee-jae could hardly tell him to stop talking.
Meanwhile, Roderick, who had been quietly watching her gouge out the statue’s eyes, remarked, “It’s a hobby that suits your age, and yet it doesn't.”
As the King continued his playful badgering, Lee-jae parried right back.
Feeling she had mocked him like a real brat, she lowered her head and burst into laughter.
Watching her shaking shoulders, Roderick looked utterly flabbergasted.
Gently pulling her knife-wielding hand away for fear she might hurt herself, he said,
Swallowing her laughter in an instant, she nodded as if confessing to it.
Ahem.
Lee-jae cleared her throat, smoothed over her expression, and offered him the newly finished carving.
When Lee-jae pressed the figurine into his hand, Roderick raised an eyebrow.
It looked like it had been better off before it was finished.
Lee-jae gave a faint smile. “Mind you, I am not giving this to you because it’s pretty. I am only giving it to you because I poured a great deal of effort into it.”
It was a gift he could hardly refuse.
Lee-jae nodded and moved to take the figurine back from him.
"…"
When Lee-jae passed it back, Roderick looked down at it with an odd expression.
"…"
"…"
The face of the statue looked far more likely to jolt someone awake from a deep sleep than protect them from a nightmare.
For some reason, as Roderick’s scowl deepened, Lee-jae bit her lip slightly.
She had wanted to leave even a small token like this in Roderick’s chambers.
The trouble was simply finding ‘that person.’
That very truth made life so much harder, and it saddened her.
Roderick, who had been frowning in silence, rubbed his face with one hand. “Stop it.”
A bright smile spread across Lee-jae’s face at his definitive answer, and she reached for the general statue beside her bed.
“It would be lonely on its own, so take them both.”
"…"
For a while, Roderick turned the figurine over in his hands as though playing with a child’s toy.
The longer one looked at it, the more its expression seemed comically amusing rather than frightening.
Then, he stood up abruptly. “I’m leaving.”
His tone was rather blunt as he turned to leave the room.
The King’s sudden departure in the middle of their conversation left the onlookers bewildered.
Yet his old friend Jade seemed to understand why the King was acting this way.
He appeared somewhat hesitant now.
Lee-jae watched the direction where the King had vanished, but soon looked away and began rummaging around.
Finding a fresh block of wood beneath the table, she began carving once again in silence.
Everyone wondered at the King’s state of mind, but somehow things would work out.
And so the onlookers turned their curious gazes upon Lee-jae.