Chapter 112

They had won a dazzling victory, but the mood inside the castle was somewhat chilly.

It was because the King had been wearing a frightening expression for some time.

He kept staring at the bandage wrapped around Lee-Jae’s hand, then looking away, sighing repeatedly.

And when blood continued to seep through the bandage, he glared at the attendants.

“When is the physician arriving?”

“Ah, they just went to summon one, Your Majesty.”

“Then when exactly are they arriving—”

Roderick nearly snapped, but barely held himself back.

It was because Lee-Jae quietly took hold of his wrist.

Roderick let out a long breath and asked the attendants again:

“So. Would someone mind telling me when the physician will arrive?”

They weren’t a prophet—how were they supposed to know that?

As the attendants hesitated and stammered, Deborah gave them a look of utter disdain.

After all, the Queen’s Palace had sent someone to fetch the physician long ago—the moment Lee-Jae had stabbed her own hand.

Deborah was always embarrassed to be working with people so oblivious.

In the end, she spoke up in place of the chamberlain.

“Your Majesty.”

“What.”

“The Queen’s Palace sent for a physician quite a while ago. They should arrive any moment.”

The chamberlain, who failed to keep his face composed, shot a glare at Deborah, but as always, she remained poised and aloof.

The King nodded and rubbed his forehead, letting out what felt like the hundredth deep sigh.

“Haaah.”

“Your Majesty, why do you keep sighing like that?”

Lee-Jae asked with a smile, sounding as carefree as ever.

Roderick closed his eyes for a moment.

It was the kind of expression that said I might really lose it this time.

“Do you even realize how dangerous what you just did was?”

“It was a scratch the size of a fingernail. What’s the danger?”

“That’s not the only kind of danger. Even small wounds can fester and rot.”

“Your Majesty, if that happens, you just pour some strong liquor on it.”

Lee-Jae spoke like it was nothing, and the King let out a disbelieving laugh.

But then his expression turned grave, and he finally burst out:

“Where in the world did you learn things like that?”

“……”

“Who’s been going around teaching our little bean methods used on battlefields?!”

As the King raised his voice, everyone flinched and lowered their heads.

Everyone except Lee-Jae, who smiled, still unafraid of the King.

After staring at him for a moment, she opened her mouth.

“Your Majesty, I know I just made you really angry, and I’m sorry to say this now…”

“……”

“But can I still say it?”

“Haaah… Do whatever you want.”

“Don’t get angry at night. Not for any other reason—it’s just really bad for your energy.”

Night-time was when human emotions were most unstable.

There was a reason spirits always attacked most fiercely after dark.

“Malice waits for moments like that.”

“……”

“And once it takes hold… day or night doesn’t matter anymore. Time just keeps moving forward, doing its job, with no concern for us.”

Time was relentless—even when people were at their lowest.

Sometimes, that honesty felt cruel.

Its unceasing march only made people feel more small and pitiful.

The attendants and knights were silently listening to Lee-Jae’s words.

The maids just nodded knowingly, as if they were used to this—she’s doing it again.

And the King sighed even deeper and pressed a hand to his forehead.

What truly left him speechless…was that Lee-Jae had bled herself—yet was worried about him.

“Wait… are you seriously worried about me in this situation?”

He looked around and spoke to the others watching:

“What am I even supposed to do with this girl?”

“……”

“Someone, anyone—come say something in my place. I need to win at least once here.”

But the attendants and knights just looked utterly helpless.

No, Your Majesty—if even you can’t win against the lone head of the pro-king faction, how could we possibly…

Everyone averted their eyes, simply wanting to escape the situation. Fortunately, the physician arrived just then.

Dragged in by the maids in the middle of the night, the physician looked visibly flustered. Both the King and Deborah were already narrowing their brows at the sight.

Their expressions said: What are you dithering for?

When Lee-Jae suddenly held out her palm, the physician flinched, but then carefully began unwrapping the bandage.

As he disinfected the wound, confusion grew on his face. He glanced around unconsciously.

This was the royal castle. All the knights looked perfectly fine—so why was only the Queen injured? The situation felt very odd.

“Um… how did this happen? Who could have… to Her Majesty the Queen…”

Lee-Jae answered his mumbling directly.

“I did it.”

“Y-you mean… you harmed yourself…?”

The physician barely held back the rest of his words, but his shocked gaze instinctively turned to the King.

Because in his mind, only one person could have driven the Queen to such an act: her husband.

As someone who’d often witnessed Roderick’s rough temper, this was an obvious assumption.

Of course, Roderick was at his wit’s end.

He let out a hollow laugh and looked up at the ceiling.

“Sure. It’s all my fault. My wife’s like this because I’m a world-class bastard.”

“……”

“Still, she didn’t leave me, so I guess I should be grateful for that much.”

“……”

“Our Queen’s always been generous like that.”

The physician bowed deeply in embarrassment, while Lee-Jae stifled a laugh, her shoulders twitching.

When Roderick looked at her as if to ask, How can you laugh right now?, she barely managed to wipe the smile off her face.

Then, belatedly, she clarified things for the physician.

“I’m not sure exactly what you’re misunderstanding, but His Majesty didn’t do anything wrong. I hurt myself by accident.”

“Y-yes, I… I said something unnecessary.”

Stealing nervous glances at the King, the physician finished disinfecting the wound, applied ointment, and quickly rewrapped the bandage.

However, when the King checked the wound once more, he looked even more dispirited than before.

Massaging his forehead, he asked the physician quietly:

“Will it scar?”

“Pardon?”

“That tiny hand… if a scar remains, will I be able to look at it without feeling miserable?”

“…If you care for it properly, there shouldn’t be any permanent scarring. And even if there’s a slight mark, it’ll be faint—hardly noticeable.”

“That better be true.”

“Yes, I can confidently assure you of that.”

The King gave a short nod.

A moment later, the physician fled the room as though running for his life.

From that moment on, Roderick began casting increasingly pointed glances at Lee-Jae. Chin resting on his hand, he looked like he had a mountain of things to say. The atmosphere in the room grew heavier again.

The castle staff silently wondered, Can we leave now? The treatment was over—surely the couple was about to argue.

But the knights who had gone out on patrol had not yet returned, and the Royal couple gave no indication of what would happen next.

In the meantime, Lee-Jae began to calmly steer the situation back to normal.

“Your Majesty, it’s already very late. If you don’t have anything else to say, can we go to bed?”

Roderick immediately snapped back, as if waiting for that cue:

“Sorry, my dear. I don’t think I can sleep right now. I’ve just learned something I never wanted to know.”

“Like what?”

“That when people are upset… they can’t fall asleep.”

“Don’t be like that. What good does it do to cling to something that’s already in the past?”

“Ah… the past, huh…”

The King murmured the words with a weighty sigh, but Lee-Jae pretended not to hear.

She looked around at the people still waiting and gave her first instruction, starting with the Head Maid.

“Deborah. You can put out the candles now. Nothing more will happen tonight.”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Queen. I’ll tidy up right away.”

Deborah was renowned in the royal palace for her impeccable sense of timing.

When Lee-Jae smoothly gave her an out, she signaled discreetly to the maids. Then, with a subtle glance, she looked toward the chamberlain.

His Majesty seems particularly upset today. Can’t really blame him though.

But are you kids going to stay up all night like this?

Understanding Deborah’s haughty look, the chamberlain, despite his usually dignified nature, swore at her with his eyes. Deborah ignored him completely and left the room.

Lee-Jae now turned to the knights and attendants.

They were waiting to be dismissed, wondering if they could finally wrap up the night—just waiting for the King to say the word.

But the King didn’t seem inclined to speak.

Eventually, Lee-Jae took the initiative and gave a few meaningful glances in his place.

The message was clear: We’ll talk tomorrow. Just leave now.

Though hesitant, people started filtering out of the room one by one.

Once the door was fully shut, Lee-Jae took Roderick’s hand.

Feeling noticeably more at ease, she asked:

“Your Majesty, are you going to stay sulky like this?”

“Yup. I’m going to keep sulking.”

“Oh, come on.”

“……”

“Fine. I was wrong. I was too focused on winning and didn’t pay enough attention to your feelings.”

She placed her hands gently on his shoulders and gave him a light peck on the cheek.

Then, with a bright, hopeful expression as if to say “There, all better now?”, she added: “Next time, I’ll try to go about things more diplomatically.”

But the King remained silent.

Instead, he simply stared at her, one eyebrow slightly raised.

Seeing his expression more serious than before, Lee-Jae grew uneasy.

Maybe this really isn’t enough, she thought.

Or maybe he saw right through my childish attempt to gloss it over with a kiss.

After all, she had subtly broken her earlier promise not to get hurt.

Watching him warily, she hesitated… then moved closer again.

This time, she gently brushed her lips against his.

Roderick raised one eyebrow even higher than before.

“…Can we just talk about it tomorrow and go to bed now?”

“……”

“Please?”

“…Fine. Alright.”

His answer sounded as though it had been dragged out of him reluctantly.

But even that made Lee-Jae brighten with relief.

Cheerfully, she started fluffing out the bedding to make the bed.

But then Roderick caught her by the wrist.

“But hey, are you really sure about this? After everything?”

“About what?”

“You just went and stirred up someone who was trying to behave.”

Lee-Jae gave him a blank look, as if she couldn’t believe what he was implying.

“…I think you might’ve misunderstood the signal I just gave.”

She meant for him to let things go—not that.

“No. I understood it perfectly.”

“Your Majesty, this is really nothing worth getting worked up over—no, I mean, this is only happening because you kept being mad at me!”

“Whatever the case, I have no intention of disappointing my wife over this.”

Lee-Jae laughed behind her hand like he was truly out of his mind and shook off his grip on her wrist.

Then she simply dove under the covers.

“After pulling me in and playing with me like that, now where do you think you’re going? Get over here.”

Outside the room, people were still anxiously worrying.

But contrary to their fears, the fight between the King and Queen never even started.

In fact, the mood between the royal couple had quickly turned humid and heated.

The King, radiating animalistic desire, slipped into the bed beside her.