Previously
Roderick finds Lee-jae by the lake and, mistaking her anger at the Boy Spirit for sadness, comforts her and brings her back to the palace. In their shared bedroom, they share a rare moment of intimacy and laughter, with Roderick promising to protect her and Lee-jae realizing she can see his true, non-tyrannical nature.
I Miss You Terribly (Part 4)
Lee-jae, who had been mulling things over without Roderick’s knowledge, came up with a solution.
With no one in particular to consult, she asked Haim's Spirit.
Still, Lee-jae’s skills, honed while doing all sorts of odd jobs, were quite good.
In truth, Grandmother Yunsan Halmai had not been a fraud.
She should have appeared on television at least once and made a fortune. But because her temperament was so eccentric, she never could manage a proper business.
Lee-jae embroidered the handkerchief with all manner of fierce talismans.
She felt a tinge of disappointment after pouring every talisman she knew into the handkerchief. The effect fell short of her expectations.
If this worked, she could probably make more money opening a print shop than she ever did working as a shaman.
There was real power in original handwriting.
The characters could not be written in just any color.
Among shamans, there were those who bit their own fingers or used animal blood for a reason.
Lee-jae was disappointed, but she still worked hard at the embroidery. There was nothing else she could do.
People were slightly surprised by the exceptional needlework displayed by the Queen, a daughter of the Duncan family.
She was far better at it than most maidservants.
Handling fine cloth and thread came as naturally to her as a fish to water.
However, the King seemed quite displeased with the situation.
She could simply answer that all the handkerchiefs were for him, but she did not know why he was being so prickly.
Lee-jae liked it when Roderick came by from time to time.
It was amusing at times, and she wanted to hear more from him.
Lee-jae chuckled.
She would not have done it either if she had had a choice.
"…"
The King was right.
Lee-jae’s face had grown noticeably paler with each finished handkerchief.
No one knew, but she was pouring far more prayer and spiritual energy into them than she normally used for a talisman.
If she put her whole heart into it, wouldn't the effect be a little better? Even though she knew better than anyone that the world was not an easy place.
A few days later, Lee-jae ended up falling ill.
Since the Queen declined every request for an audience, rumors of her illness quickly spread.
Roderick had to grind his teeth under the pushback from the nobles led by Duke Duncan.
He came to Lee-jae’s room, speaking in a somewhat irritated tone.
Roderick sighed.
If one counted carefully, they could see just how many times he had lost consciousness himself.
Lee-jae laughed, unable to bring herself to say such a thing.
She rubbed her right cheek against the pillow and closed her eyes, utterly exhausted.
The King, hearing only stiff, formal replies, looked slightly hurt.
Pressing two fingers against Lee-jae’s shoulder as she lay on her side, he eased her flat onto the bed.
Lee-jae was taken aback.
He seemed genuinely angry, and she tried to sit up, but the King pressed her back down by her forehead.
When the Queen spoke again as if she were a thousand yards away, Roderick sighed deeply.
Of course, she had been flustered and thought it had too many twists and turns. But this time, she took the marriage to be her fate.
Fate always struck without warning, and Lee-jae had spent her whole life adapting to it.
Roderick nodded, though he did not particularly believe her.
Roderick seemed even more amused by that.
Finding it genuinely funny, he chuckled.
Roderick Perus Blairk.
It was a name laden with every sort of imposing term, like ‘sovereign’ and ‘beast,’ and frankly, Lee-jae did not think it was a good name.
There were certain characters that should never be used in a person’s name.
If the name was too grand, it would weigh heavily upon the person bearing it.
That was why our ancestors sometimes gave their children humble, trivial names.
It was actually an expression of affection.
They knew all too well that excessive expectations and attention placed a person in a difficult bind.
If the King had not been born with an equally formidable constitution, he would have been crushed by his name, living out his days unable to accomplish anything.
She did not wish to keep him at arm’s length forever.
Still, seeing the malevolent spirits clinging to Roderick, she could not help wanting to strike them down.
It felt much like being unable to turn off the lights and sleep after spotting a cockroach.
Yet Roderick, oblivious to her thoughts, looked slightly stung by those words.
Lee-jae covered her face and laughed, finding it far more comical than something to feel apologetic about.
Watching her cover her pale face, the King realized that he genuinely liked this little Duncan.
Even though he felt annoyed whenever she pushed him away, it was lovely to see the Queen smile nonetheless.
He poked Lee-jae’s arm.
The King was well aware that he was being dragged along by her, yet he could not bring himself to stop.
Lee-jae, however, viewed things through a rather different lens than ordinary people, and her reaction was absurdly matter-of-fact.
If he knew how thoroughly a Fox Spirit could enchant a man, he would understand her reaction.
They almost never failed.
They had an extraordinarily high success rate, even within the spirit world.
In the end, the King got no answers about where she hurt or what the problem was.
Yet he decided to leave it at that.
Seeing her smiling face as they spoke had softened his heart.
Rising from his chair, he said,
After Roderick left, Lee-jae buried her face in the pillow and laughed.
It was amusing to watch his conflicting attitude—complaining about everything he felt compelled to grumble about, yet worried on the inside.
Lee-jae got up briskly from the bed, having simply exhausted the energy circulating through her body.
The day of the Hunting Competition, held annually by the royal family and nobles, dawned at last.
Far more people were waiting at the entrance of the hunting grounds compared to the King’s private hunt.
Having completed his preparations, the King caught sight of Lee-jae and slowly approached her.
Hailey was petite, and Lee-jae was exceptionally cautious by nature.
People who knew that misfortune could lurk behind every step always carried themselves well and kept their bodies braced.
Roderick, watching those careful steps, smiled faintly.
Yet Roderick, who had been caught up in quiet amusement, soon tilted his head.
As he frowned, Lee-jae asked curiously, “What happened?”
"…"
Lee-jae’s expression stiffened with embarrassment, though people often struggled to master their expressions for entirely different reasons.
It sounded as though the King were playing tricks on her again.
‘Was he trying to say I’m refreshing as a breath of fresh air?’
Lee-jae glanced away and reached into her dress to change the subject.
When she drew out the handkerchief she had prepared, the King watched her with keen interest. The maidservants could only wear bewildered expressions.
The Queen was remarkably skilled at needlework, far beyond what suited her noble status.
The problem was that the designs she produced were downright bizarre.
They could not fathom why the Queen would squander such delicate needlework in such a peculiar way.
Strangely, the handkerchief looked somewhat ominous.
Lee-jae tied one of the three handkerchiefs around Roderick’s horse’s bridle.
It bore a talisman meant to ward off evil spirits.
The remaining two carried a prayer for victory and talismans to dispel negative karma.
As she neatly folded the other handkerchiefs, Roderick raised an eyebrow.
Lee-jae handed the rest to him.
“Whom else would I give them to when my husband is right here?”
‘Why is this fox only now claiming that every handkerchief was mine?’
It was a sensible strategy: making up for a lack of quality with sheer quantity.
Roderick stared at the peculiar patterns embroidered across the bottom of the fabric.
He had no idea what she had tried to depict, yet even he could tell the stitches were remarkably intricate and made with great devotion.
The moment Lee-jae spoke, he seemed to realize something.
Lee-jae smiled.
She had not expected to feel gratified, yet it was deeply rewarding.
True to his name, he had a habit of dominating others, and there were times he uttered bizarre things.
He was also a man of such imposing physical stature that he occasionally appeared downright terrifying.
Yet at some point, Lee-jae had begun to see something different in his eyes.
Fiddling with the handkerchief in his large hands, he looked almost endearing.
Perhaps he was feeling a little shy.