Previously
While the nobles are away hunting, Lee-jae creates a list of tasks including investigating Hailey's diary and the kingdom's history. She discovers that Hailey's recent memories are missing and that Duke Duncan was abusive.
Listen Well to Your Wife (Part 3)
Word reached Lee-jae that the King had returned from the hunting competition.
Instead of asking others how he fared, she went out to greet him herself.
She could grasp his state far more accurately than anyone else simply by looking at him.
The moment she saw him striding toward her from afar, a faint smile spread across her lips.
Lee-jae knew it too.
Perhaps it was simply his destiny.
Even so, she was deeply relieved that he was safe.
Seeing Lee-jae’s smile and knowing she was glad to see him made Roderick feel a touch self-conscious.
Scratching the tail of his brow, he asked,
Lee-jae burst into laughter.
Even without asking, she could tell he was doing fine.
Still, she noticed that his energy seemed somewhat dull. He looked fatigued.
At that, he pulled a wooden bead bracelet from his pocket.
It was quite an eccentric way to admit he hadn’t slept well.
All the same, Lee-jae smiled brightly as she took the bracelet back, slipping it onto her right wrist.
Watching her face light up far more than before, Roderick raised an eyebrow.
"…"
When Lee-jae offered no defense and merely chuckled, Roderick laughed along, utterly exasperated.
The King had cared only about participating, leaving the glory of victory to his men.
In truth, such an act was far more honorable, but Roderick dismissed it as insignificant. He was simply curious about the Queen’s reaction.
Lee-jae chuckled softly.
No one else knew, but he had already won this time.
The misfortune could not harm him.
Yet Roderick was blunt.
"…"
Once again, she was driving him mad.
Roderick began to rub his face, but stopped when he realized how dirty his hands were.
Instead, he held out a hand toward Jade.
Jade handed him an exquisite cloth pouch.
From inside, he drew out a squirrel.
The living creature sat quietly upon Roderick’s palm.
It seemed to recognize the man who had saved it.
Lee-jae, however, recoiled in horror the moment she laid eyes on it.
Lee-jae waved her hands in distress and looked down at it.
The men, who looked like beggars after camping in the wild for a week, were utterly intimidated.
Good grief, what was this? The Queen, who looked as if she could do anything, had done nothing herself—yet her rebuke was shockingly logical.
Roderick muttered nonchalantly,
She genuinely could not comprehend why someone who went out hunting would bring back a living creature.
Did he think the squirrel was cute?
Lee-jae pondered it for a moment, then let out a laugh.
Lee-jae swallowed hard at his previous words, but in the end, she couldn't hold back her laughter.
Roderick tried to tap her rounded forehead, but seeing how filthy his hands were, he pulled back.
He examined the squirrel closely, his gaze softened compared to before.
Then he extended his hand a little closer to her.
The King had simply brought it back because he thought of the Queen, hoping it might delight her.
Yet she was Kang Lee-jae.
Her perspective was entirely different from everyone else’s.
Just as the hunt could not alter the King’s destiny, saving a single life could not change it either.
Even so, Lee-jae murmured,
At that, Roderick’s expression soured considerably.
Instead of hearing a thank you, he was being praised for a job well done, and the nuance felt rather bizarre.
What kind of consolation was this?
Without hesitation, Lee-jae reached out toward her husband—who was also, in her eyes, a potential patient.
Roderick hurriedly drew his hand back.
Yet Lee-jae reached out once more, and surprisingly, the squirrel made no fuss and showed no aggression toward her.
Perhaps it was because her pure spiritual energy resembled that of the mountains.
Staring at the squirrel as it scampered up Lee-jae’s head and hopped down onto her shoulder, Roderick remarked, “It must think you’re short too. It reached the top in no time.”
No, you are.
Roderick didn't answer, merely glancing away for a moment.
Lee-jae, looking at the King as though he were acting strange, took a step forward.
Her intention was to release the squirrel onto a tree near the lakeshore.
After freeing the creature, Lee-jae summoned the maids to give instructions regarding food and supplies.
Meanwhile, Roderick remained there with his knights, waiting for Lee-jae to return.
He wanted to talk with her a little longer.
Yet when Lee-jae returned with an easy heart, she noticed something odd in his presence.
An unprecedented dark energy was creeping toward Roderick.
It was a spirit—the ghost of a serpent—slithering across the ground.
From that instant, Lee-jae began to shudder.
Roderick asked if she was tired after walking so far, but Lee-jae’s mind was somewhere else entirely.
Roderick looked around.
He wondered who had whispered such gruesome tales into the Queen’s ears.
Lee-jae recoiled, staring at a spot on the ground in utter revulsion.
Her expression was sheer disgust.
“…You could kill anything else, but you cannot kill a snake.”
Though he couldn't understand why he was making excuses, Roderick found himself explaining in detail.
It was likely because Lee-jae looked so terribly unwell.
Yet her pale complexion showed no sign of returning to normal.
Snakes were naturally full of malice. And if the head still moved even after being severed, it meant the lingering soul clung on for a long time.
Unlike other spirits, they remembered the person who had killed them.
Even this one was a spiritual entity.
Yet the reason Lee-jae turned pale was not because of its deep resentment, but simply because she found snakes utterly repulsive.
Every single memory she had of encountering snakes while foraging for wild herbs had been horrifying.
Even if anyone else could kill it, Your Majesty cannot do such things right now.
The knights following him suddenly turned solemn. The King had been the only one to witness the danger and react quickly.
Those were not the words of a king.
"…"
Roderick found it so absurd he let out a laugh.
Lee-jae understood the situation all too well.
From then on, she stared intently at Roderick.
She was trying to overcome her visceral disgust.
In the end, however, she couldn't bear it any longer and covered her face with both hands.
Western snakes… they were far too huge.
Still mindful of his dirty hands, Roderick gently pushed her wrists away with his fingertips.
Lee-jae shook her head and tried to speak calmly.
Yet her emotions grew steadily harder to contain.
As Lee-jae bolted inside as if fleeing for her life, Roderick was so dumbfounded that he burst out laughing.
Yet the shock ran deeper than he expected.
"…"
Though Jade offered a rare word of comfort, Roderick did not recover so easily.