Chapter 108

After speaking with the Boy King, Lee-Jae went to find the King.

He was just coming out from a luncheon with the military officials.

“My lady must have some urgent matter—coming all this way to find me first.”

He teased her lightly, but judging by the grin tugging at his lips, he didn’t seem to mind her visit one bit.

“Have you had lunch yet?”

“Not yet.”

Roderick furrowed his brows slightly.

“What are you, a child? Are you not going to eat unless I make you?”

“I’m not a child. And eating a few hours late won’t kill me. Besides, Your Majesty, that’s not the point right now.”

“Oh? Then what is the point?”

Lee-Jae beckoned him closer with a subtle gesture.

Though puzzled, Roderick leaned down, and she whispered in a conspiratorial tone, like she was plotting a heist.

“Your Majesty, where’s the Royal treasure vault?”

“You’ve never been there?”

He returned the question, but inwardly, it made sense.

Lee-Jae never really showed much interest in things like that.

The fact that she was suddenly asking now was what felt strange.

He stared at her for a long moment, then gave a nod.

“Let’s go.”

“………”

“I’ll take you there. Let’s go together.”

When he offered his hand, Lee-Jae took it at once and followed him without hesitation.

The Royal vault was located on the lowest floor of the palace.

Dozens of royal guards stood watch outside its entrance.

When the King and Queen entered, the guards quietly shut the door behind them.

Lee-Jae frowned slightly.

The vault was dazzling.

The King was, as he once boastfully claimed, indeed very rich.

The gold and jewels weren’t neatly arranged—they were so abundant that they spilled out and lay scattered everywhere.

Soon, Roderick raised an eyebrow.

Lee-Jae was diving into the piles of treasure, digging through the gold and jewels like mad.

He let out a disbelieving laugh, then crouched down beside her and asked,

“What’s going on?”

“What?”

“You were never that interested in this kind of thing… were you?”

Lee-Jae glanced sideways at him.

In his eyes, she saw a hint of awkwardness.

A flicker of guilt.

So she responded half-playfully,

“Who doesn’t like money?”

“Oh, if that’s what this was about, you should’ve told me. Now I just feel like a lousy husband.”

The idea that his wife wanted something—and he couldn’t give it to her—didn’t sit well with him.

It bruised his pride more than he’d like to admit.

When she barely reacted to the bracelet he gifted her, he figured she just wasn’t into such things.

Maybe that was his mistake.

“So? What is it that you want?”

When he asked, curious now, Lee-Jae let out a belated smile.

Shaking her head lightly, she said,

“It’s nothing like that. I just wanted to see the holy sword.”

Roderick’s expression turned vague for a moment.

It was late—very late—for this sort of request.

Still, if his wife wanted something, he wanted to give it to her.

But this wasn’t about a gift.

“…Why the holy sword, all of a sudden?”

“Everyone needs a weapon of their own when they’re about to fight, don’t they?”

Finally, the King understood her intent.

Compared to the reconstructed Daemon army, Cayenne’s military was clearly superior.

Lee-Jae’s own abilities were proven.

The real question was: How powerful was Ilias?

And would the full might of the Cayenne Royal family ever truly awaken?

What role would they play in the coming battle?

Lee-Jae believed this—

Just as a divine artifact could awaken when frequently exposed to a spirit’s energy, perhaps the royal power, too, would awaken more easily if he kept the holy sword near.

Every weapon carried its own spirit.

That was the soul of the one who forged and refined it with everything they had.

Roderick nodded, then quietly pointed to one side.

“If you’re looking for the holy sword, it’s over there.”

At Roderick’s gesture, Lee-Jae’s head snapped toward him.

At his fingertips was a long glass case.

Inside, it held a single longsword—distinct from the piles of gold, silver, and various blades strewn about.

Its careful preservation marked it as something far more valuable.

Drawn to it as if in a trance, Lee-Jae slowly approached.

But soon, confusion clouded her expression.

It wasn’t the weight of time etched into the blade that unsettled her.

If anything, the sword was in remarkable condition for its age.

Clearly, it had been treasured and meticulously cared for over generations.

What troubled her was something else.

No matter how she placed her hand on the glass or tried to channel her energy into the sword—she felt nothing. No sacred resonance.

No sign of spiritual power.

Seeing her continue to frown, Roderick asked, puzzled,

“So… you’re saying I’m really supposed to fight with that thing?”

“………”

“I mean, no offense, but that old blade looks like I could snap it in two with my fingers.”

“………”

“Is it… different for the dead?”

He thought back to how his wife always wielded roughly carved wooden things as weapons.

“…Yes, that’s true. But, Your Majesty… are we certain that’s truly the sword King Arthur used?”

“The royal records passed down through the generations don’t lie. And if they weren’t sure, they wouldn’t have written it at all. That’s the unspoken rule.”

Lee-Jae nodded, though she still looked unconvinced.

“Are there… any other swords?”

Without a word, the King revealed more blades piled in a corner of the treasury.

They spent quite some time inspecting them.

But neither Lee-Jae—nor the King, whose spiritual sense had sharpened notably these days—felt anything unusual.

In the end, she could only look back at the holy sword with a deflated expression.

The negotiations with Bodore had gone smoothly—only the formal signing remained.

This also meant preparations to subdue Daemon were well underway.

Just the previous night, Bodore’s diplomatic envoy, along with the southern and western commanders, had arrived at the palace.

Roderick had come to see Lee-Jae before meeting the envoys.

“My lady, want to come with me?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. The terms are all agreed upon. It’s just a few words back and forth before we sign.”

Lee-Jae, flipping through her diary in the study, hesitated.

“Do I really have to be there? There aren’t any problems with Bodore, right?”

“Well… no, there aren’t.”

Though she asked calmly, Roderick didn’t look entirely comfortable.

There had been no issues with Bodore—but it wasn’t the first time the two of them had clashed over that nation.

Still, unless it involved Roderick’s personal safety, Lee-Jae had little interest in politics.

Truthfully, her presence would likely just distract him more.

“Then go ahead and have your talks comfortably. But if anything happens, please tell me. I’ll keep working in the meantime.”

Her composed answer left Roderick with no choice but to nod.

But once he left the room, closing the door quietly behind him, his expression soured.

Once again, he’d somehow managed to feel rejected over nothing.

As he walked toward the conference chamber, he muttered “Would it kill her to just sit next to me for a bit?”

The attendants behind him lowered their heads silently.

Only Jade, with a hint of amusement, asked,

“Your Majesty… do you really care for the Queen that much?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Though his tone was indifferent, the reply was immediate.

Sensing the King’s mixed irritation and disappointment, Jade added, “Perhaps Her Majesty was simply being considerate, knowing sensitive topics might be raised. She probably wanted to give you a more comfortable space to speak freely.”

“…She did say something like that.”

Roderick gave a halfhearted nod, and Jade began relaying bits and pieces of what he’d heard.

After all, gathering every rumor circulating within the palace and reporting them to the king—was part of his job.

“It’s true that the Bodore side was quietly disappointed. I mean, a marriage alliance is as classic as it gets—but is there ever a guaranteed solution?”

“Don’t spout nonsense.”

“If Your Majesty had been unmarried, surely you would’ve at least considered it?”

“That’s a pointless assumption. Either way, I’m glad the Queen came to me before all that. She calls things like that fate.”

Though his tone and expression remained blunt, if one listened closely, his words were closer to boasting.

But when Jade opened his mouth again, the King’s face finally twisted in a proper grimace.

“Actually, the Bodore princess herself was apparently rather positive about the idea.”

“Where the hell is that kind of talk coming from?”

“The Southern Commander came along with the Bodore delegation, didn’t he? Word slipped out from there.”

“What’s there to be positive about? She’s never even seen me.”

“Well, maybe she heard somewhere that the King of Cayenne is a strapping, handsome man. Honestly, it is a fairly well-known rumor across the continent, isn’t it?”

Objectively speaking, the King was a tall and handsome man.

And it was true that he was widely known.

But Jade was also intentionally teasing his old friend.

Roderick let out a snort of disbelief at the ridiculous comment.

“Has she not heard the part about the King of Cayenne being a lunatic who throws violent tantrums at the drop of a hat?”

Everyone following them froze for a moment.

It was too sensitive a part of the past to brush off as just history.

But Roderick no longer hesitated to speak of the madness he had once kept secret.

He’d already confided in his closest aides about the deeper truths tied to the kingdom’s history, the origins of their enemies, and even hints about the Queen’s powers.

He, too, was preparing for battle—step by step.

“…Didn’t you explain that the madness wasn’t without cause? And more importantly, it doesn’t happen anymore.”

“That’s thanks to the fox working her tricks so diligently.”

Jade looked slightly sour.

The King did seem a little irritated—but whatever the topic, it always circled back to the Queen as the end point of his praise.

“If you hear more weird rumors going around, just say this on my behalf: the King of Cayenne finally turned normal because he was afraid of getting dumped by his queen.”

“………”

“Or that he’s meekly groveling through life now.”

“Do you really have to say things like that…?”

That’s just too one-sidedly humiliating…

Roderick could read the thought on Jade’s face, and this time, he let out a laugh.

“Would that kind of pride protect peace in a household?”

“………”

“Enough useless talk. Let’s go.”

With a sigh and a flick of his hand through his hair, Roderick strode off toward the conference hall.