Chapter 113
The King and Lee-Jae had been busy since early morning.
They were on their way back from the underground prison.
The night before, the 1st Knight Division had captured a large number of suspicious individuals from the capital. Jade had given a brief report:
“I don’t know much myself, but none of them gave off any particularly strange impression. Most were just petty thieves. But since Your Majesty gave the order, we brought them all here.”
The King looked closely at the gathered suspects, then turned his gaze to Lee-Jae.
She was already looking back at him.
When the King shook his head, Lee-Jae smiled faintly.
It meant-he was right.
She spoke to Jade.
“There’s nothing unusual. Just punish them appropriately according to the crimes they committed.”
“Do as the Queen says.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Afterward, people began gathering one by one in the King’s study.
There was an important meeting scheduled.
The Royal family was currently focusing all its efforts on two things: eliminating the Daemon stronghold and tracking down the missing Prince.
They were waiting for the perfect moment to strike both at once.
And the western army commander, appointed as head of the suppression force, was performing far better than expected.
“Your Majesty, there was an engagement near the western border. The enemy lost two thousand men, though we also suffered about three hundred casualties.”
That was a major victory. Roderick nodded and asked:
“When exactly did the battle take place?”
“Three mornings ago.”
“Anything else unusual?”
“No other reports.”
Jade handed the King a hastily delivered letter from the border.
The King read it quickly and then passed it to Lee-Jae, his gaze lingering on her—seeking her opinion.
After a thoughtful pause, she spoke cautiously.
“I don’t know the full extent of Ilias’ power. But the summoning ritual he performed last night wasn’t something done lightly.”
Even renowned shamans couldn’t summon dozens of spirits at once.
And what he summoned weren’t just spirits—they were malevolent ones.
“It’s likely that he was unaware of the battle because he’s hiding within Cayenne. But even if he knew… wouldn’t he have had to conserve his strength?”
She recalled the story of the Boy King who said he’d aim for the head—meaning the King.
This reaffirmed that the strategy Roderick had devised wasn’t fundamentally flawed.
Even if the suppression force suffered heavy losses or, in the worst-case scenario, was annihilated, as long as the King survived, Cayenne could regroup and plan again.
Cayenne currently had overwhelming military superiority.
But if the reconstruction army was wiped out, Daemon would have no chance to recover.
They would lose their foundation completely.
A nation without an army could not survive.
That meant Ilias’ side would go all-in to eliminate the King before their army was destroyed.
For them, everything hinged on the King’s life.
But for Cayenne, there were two possible victories: either kill the Prince and Ilias, or annihilate the reconstruction army with overwhelming force.
The King looked around at the division commanders and military officials and spoke:
“The western commander is requesting reinforcements.”
“Yes, I’ve seen the request as well.”
Roderick gave a small chuckle.
“So the western commander had more fight in him than I expected.”
“……”
“I’ll assign three thousand more from the central army. Tell them that the Royal family always rewards results.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The King gave a brief nod and declared the meeting adjourned.
People began filing out of the study, discussing the results as they left.
But as everyone else stood, Jade remained seated.
Both the King and Lee-Jae gave him curious looks.
“Your Majesty, there’s been a reported sighting of someone believed to be the Prince—in the region of Roshlok.”
Jade had waited until the others left to maintain the utmost secrecy before planning the next operation.
The King narrowed his brows and asked, “Are you saying he made it through all the checkpoints?”
“There’s a high possibility he escaped before we launched the raid. And…”
The King nodded slightly, signaling him to continue.
“This may be terribly presumptuous, but… traveling between territories without going through checkpoints isn’t entirely impossible. And His Highness the Prince is a scholar—he’s very familiar with Cayenne’s internal workings.”
“…How credible is this information?”
The knight commander couldn’t answer that right away.
By protocol, only verified intelligence should be presented to the King.
But the Royal family now found itself in a situation where they couldn’t afford to overlook even a single clue.
Even with uncertainty, they had no choice but to consider dispatching a unit.
At that moment, Lee-Jae, who had been quietly listening to the two of them, cautiously interjected.
She reached out with her bandaged hand and gently grasped the King’s wrist.
“Your Majesty, may I try to confirm it myself?”
The King and the knight commander both turned their gaze to her in silence.
The royal garden, once called the Queen’s playground, remained unchanged.
Lee-Jae, now laying out the items she brought for her divination, looked as she always had.
The only difference was that more knights had gathered this time—
All close aides of the King, here to witness the Queen’s reputed archery with their own eyes.
Anticipation and curiosity were visible on their faces.
Lee-Jae’s demeanor was relaxed as well.
Only one person, the King, had an indifferent expression as he stared at the container filled with beast’s blood.
Lee-Jae glanced sideways at her husband and suppressed a laugh.
She had no intention of pushing her limits two days in a row.
With danger potentially lurking around every corner, she had to conserve her small reserves of strength.
“Careful with your hand.”
“I know.”
“…I wish I could shoot it for you. But I guess that’s not an option?”
“Nope. Don’t worry, really.”
Lee-Jae nocked an arrow onto the bowstring.
She’d fired dozens of arrows the day before—no warm-up was necessary.
Still, to show she was truly fine, she loosed a shot at the target.
The arrow struck dead center, just as before—but the gasps of awe came only from behind her.
The King still watched with dry, detached eyes.
It was a look that seemed to say, “Do you think I don’t already know you’re a master archer?”
Lee-Jae gave an awkward smile and scratched her cheek.
Then she began drawing a spell circle with beast’s blood on the paper she had brought.
When she held the completed paper up, Deborah quickly took it and affixed it to the target board.
Without hesitation, Lee-Jae poured her energy into the arrowhead.
‘O gods, if you hear the plea of this mortal, give me your answer. Is the Prince—or Ilias—present in Roshlok right now?’
The arrows Lee-Jae fired landed in a chaotic pattern around the target.
But a few of the knights who had been present last time noticed something.
There wasn’t any disorder.
Every arrow had landed in the exact same spots as before.
After a long while of studying the spell circle, Lee-Jae turned back.
She shook her head a few times and said,
“Jade, he’s not there.”
“…You mean he was never there to begin with?”
“Hmm. That I don’t know.”
Jade couldn’t hide his grimace.
It really did sound like grasping at straws.
Lee-Jae kindly elaborated,
“I don’t know whether he was never there or left midway, but either way—he’s not there now.”
Jade still looked troubled.
He had heard about the arrow breaking midair the previous night.
It wasn’t that he distrusted the King’s words.
In fact, he even knew the rumors surrounding the Queen—
That despite usually staying quiet during meetings, she had an uncanny way of seeing right through people.
Still, he found the whole situation hard to get used to.
“Your Majesty the Queen… Forgive my boldness, but I must ask. I mean no disrespect.”
“Go ahead.”
“…Are you certain about this?”
“Hmm, your question was pretty on point. I’d say that makes it certain enough.”
The King, who had been silently listening from the side, frowned.
He sensed the doubt in Jade’s voice.
Didn’t I tell him not to talk like that to the Queen?
But Lee-Jae herself didn’t seem the least bit offended.
To her, that level of skepticism was entirely natural.
In the world of shamans, it was far more common to have to prove things with results.
“Jade, sorry to ask something personal, but… you’re seeing someone these days, right?”
Jade flinched like someone who’d just seen a ghost at midnight.
His reaction alone made it obvious: yes, he was.
“Your Majesty, how—how did you know that?”
Flustered, Jade stumbled over his words.
Lee-Jae simply let out a mysterious little “hmm” and gave an unreadable smile.
At that moment, the King’s expression changed instantly.
He knew full well that Lee-Jae never spoke lightly about things like this.
“You have a girlfriend? How come you never told me?”
“Well… we haven’t been seeing each other that long. And honestly, it looks like we’re about to break up.”
Lee-Jae covered her mouth with her hand to hide a smile.
“Did you fight?”
“It’s not exactly that… but, yeah. Sort of.”
He admitted it like someone who had resigned himself to his fate.
“Knowing you, I doubt you did anything truly wrong. You probably just upset her a bit.”
Jade’s face darkened.
“Yes… I think that’s about right.”
“If you want to hold on to her, try. I don’t say things like this often, but… Jade, I don’t think that relationship is meant to end like this.”
“…Why do you say that?”
Lee-Jae took a good, close look at his face again.
There was a strong presence of the woman’s energy in his aura. It felt like a destined encounter.
For someone like Lee-Jae to sense that kind of resonance, even fleetingly, it meant this wasn’t just some passing fling.
“It’s up to you, of course—but it feels like a rare and meaningful connection.”
“I see…”
Jade looked conflicted, but the King added a few words of his own.
“Then treat her well.”
“……”
“If she feels like the one, then you should be the one to compromise and make the effort. What, is that going to kill you?”
Pulling Lee-Jae into his arms from behind and resting his chin on the crown of her head, the King looked at his friend with exasperation.
He looked as if he were using his tiny wife as a human shield.
Sensing an odd note of amusement in her husband’s tone, Lee-Jae lightly slapped his firm forearm.
“Why are you teasing him about his love life, Your Majesty? He’s your friend.”
“Darling, that’s just how men are. We tease each other—it doesn’t mean anything.”
Meanwhile, the knights who had been quietly listening in began to gather, ears perked up with curiosity.
The Queen bringing up something like this had piqued their interest.
For a moment, it seemed like the outdoor courtyard might turn into a full-blown counseling session.
But the King shot them a sharp, warning glare, silently telling them to cut it out.
Deborah, standing behind them, was even more direct—snapping that if they weren’t going to pay, they should go pray at the temple instead.
“Anyway, are you going to believe me now? I don’t usually say things unless I’m sure. It might sound strange, but there’s a real weight to saying things like this.”
“Yes, I completely understand. I apologize for being rude.”
After clearing his throat, Jade shifted the conversation back to a more official topic.
“Your Majesty the Queen, then… could you perhaps tell us where Ilias is right now?”
Lee-Jae let out a dry laugh, looking awkward.
What she’d just done wasn’t as easy as it looked.
A proper divination usually took at least a month to prepare—sometimes longer.
And more than that, a question like that was simply beyond her capabilities.
The King immediately narrowed his eyes.
He knew his wife—if she could help, even if it was difficult or thankless, she would’ve tried.
No matter what.
“Jade. Don’t talk to the Queen like that.”
“……”
“She doesn’t owe you anything. Don’t talk like you’re just claiming what you’re entitled to. Don’t throw expectations on her like it’s her duty.”
“But Your Majesty, we need to narrow down the location like a fox if we’re going to flush him out properly.”
“And stop using pet names like that with her.”
“……I’ll just keep my mouth shut, then.”
But Lee-Jae, who had looked slightly unsure, removed the King’s arms from around her.
She turned to Jade and said,
“I’m sorry. I really can’t do something like that.”
“But… I think I can at least check if he’s still in Cayenne.”
“………”
“I’ll give it a try.”
Lee-Jae picked up the bow she had set down on the ground.
Then she nocked an arrow to the bowstring.
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Ooohhh~~~ jade has a giiiirlfriend 😘😘😘😘😘😘 don’t blow it and say sorry like a man 😤