Special Story 3.4

The small family was strolling through the castle grounds, keeping the knights, attendants, and ladies-in-waiting at a distance.

After giving birth, Lee-Jae had been quite frail for a month or two, but her color and strength were gradually returning.

The King, who had always been tender toward his wife, had become even more devoted after the birth of their child.

Whenever Lee-Jae tried to step outside for a bit of fresh air, the King would somehow hear of it and appear before her.

Then, without hesitation, he’d scoop her up with the baby still in her arms and start walking.

He would stride purposefully until they arrived at the fountain or the lakeside.

Every time, they’d end up bickering.

“Please put me down. I’m heavy.”

“You, the baby—there’s no real difference to me.”

“I’m not a baby.”

“Sorry, but lately, you might as well be.”

The King had recently been wholly focused on caring for his wife.

People often couldn’t tell whether they should admire his devotion… or be awed by his strength.

As they walked, the King asked his wife, now finally strong enough to walk on her own: “My love, have you had lunch?”

“Yes.”

“What did you eat?”

Lee-Jae paused mid-step and looked at him, bewildered.

Did she really have to recite even that?

But the King was dead serious about this.

Lee-Jae had never been a big eater to begin with.

He hadn’t liked that even before—but after giving birth, her appetite had clearly shrunk further.

“You think I won’t find out? I’ll know if you’re lying.”

“…Please don’t ask Deborah things like that. She’s been taking good care of me.”

The King let out a soft laugh.

She was entirely mistaken.

Since Lee-Jae had been confined to bed for quite some time, the King often dined beside her, seated at the edge of her bed.

During those times, he could keep an eye on her meals.

But that wasn’t always possible. He tried not to schedule working lunches, but when meetings dragged on, there was little he could do.

So the King would discreetly summon the spirit of the chest.

If he asked while Lee-Jae was asleep, the spirit would always answer honestly.

“Did the Queen eat anything for lunch today?”

“Nope. Just a piece of fruit.”

“What? You just let her get away with that?”

“She said she didn’t feel like anything else.”

“Haa… She really doesn’t listen, does she?”

At times like those, the King and the spirit would sigh in dismay together.

Other times: “Did she eat anything today?”

“Lee-Jae ate meat! And lots of other things too!”

“Really?”

And at that, both the King and the spirit would rejoice together.

Little did Lee-Jae know—the greatest informant was someone closest to her.

And the King had no intention of ever revealing the truth.

When she noticed the King only smiling without answering, she gave him a puzzled look, but he simply took her hand and guided her to the fountain.

Lee-Jae sat down first and reached out to him.

She wanted the baby.

But the King shook his head as he sat beside her.

Handing over the baby after seeing the state of her arms would have been heartless.

“I’ll hold him. You, my love, soak your feet and relax.”

Without complaint, Lee-Jae nodded and slipped off her shoes.

She dipped her feet in the water and splashed a couple of times.

But the little crown prince had no intention of letting his mother rest in peace.

He kept leaning toward her, eager to be close.

When he began fussing, the King leaned in slightly.

The baby immediately grabbed his mother’s clothes with determined little hands.

The King gently pried them off, looking down at the wrinkled fabric with a heavy sigh.

“My love, it’s strange. Why does he already have this much grip strength?”

Lately, Roderick had come to believe that dreams really did come true.

Now that he thought about it, there were more than just one or two examples.

The baby prince’s given name and middle name was Leo—because not only did he have a commanding energy, but he had also been born with golden eyes, just like a lion.

Even in Roderick’s dream, the child had been fierce and unyielding, while Lee-Jae had nearly died in labor—yet he was born sturdy and strong.

But when she heard this, Lee-Jae just let out a small laugh.

It was amusing how the King asked the question with genuine confusion.

“Don’t you know the saying, ‘Blood doesn’t lie’? Who else would he take after?”

“Oh, is that it?”

Lee-Jae stopped playing in the water and scooted closer to her husband.

When she leaned in to look at the baby’s face, Roderick shifted him slightly so she could see better.

Placing her hands on his knee, she asked,

“Roderick. Isn’t he beautiful?”

“Yeah. It’s a big problem.”

“What is?”

“I think I’m going to be too good to Leo.”

She burst out laughing at the absurdity of it.

“And why is that a problem? Of course you should be good to him.”

“If I’m too good, he might grow up not knowing the world can be cruel. You know how many people will flatter royalty or lie to them.”

It wasn’t an unfounded concern.

He’d become disillusioned over the years by just how many nobles he couldn’t trust.

Looking down at the baby prince’s face, Roderick scratched his brow, troubled.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to be strict with him. You shouldn’t have made him this cute. Not that it would’ve helped—he’d have been cute anyway.”

“Roderick, enough.”

‘I mean, I agree, but you sound like such a fool right now.’

Lee-Jae tried to stop him, but Roderick still wore a look of genuine concern.

He muttered as if to himself.

“There should be at least one person who can say the hard things. And it’s not like I could ask you to do it, since I don’t want to hurt your feelings. So I guess I’ll do it. Fine. I’ll be the one.”

Hearing that, Lee-Jae shoved at his arm.

“I said enough already!”

Then she covered her face and laughed helplessly.

Roderick, watching her quietly, allowed himself a sly smile she didn’t see.

When she finally lowered her hands, traces of laughter still lingered in her expression.

With the corners of her eyes gently creased in amusement, she asked, “Did you get scolded a lot by your parents when you were little?”

“Not really. I don’t think so.”

He gave her a quick side glance, then chuckled—her face was full of innocent curiosity.

There wasn’t much to tell, but he reflected for a moment.

“I don’t remember this myself, but apparently when I was a kid, I once stared at the clouds and said someone had spilled milk all over the sky.”

Lee-Jae doubled over in laughter at the unexpected response.

“So you were born with a sense of romance.”

“My mother must’ve found it memorable too. She talked about it all the time. But later on, she kept saying I was growing up to be too intimidating.”

He frowned, saying that at one point, she even said he looked creepy.

“My father—the previous king—was built like a mountain. So honestly, shouldn’t they be asking him about that part? Why blame me?”

“Didn’t you just ask me earlier why our baby already has so much strength?”

“…Touché.”

Roderick nodded, admitting she had a point.

The more Lee-Jae thought about it, the funnier it became. She kept laughing.

Roderick spent a while just watching her happy face.

Then, just as the two of them were gazing fondly at each other, the baby began fussing again—clearly wanting their attention.

Both Roderick and Lee-Jae turned toward the baby prince at the same time.

Lee-Jae reached toward Roderick, signaling she wanted to hold and soothe him, but he shook his head—worried she might overexert herself.

Instead, Roderick lifted the baby high into the air.

“What are you doing? That’s dangerous!”

Lee-Jae grabbed his arm in alarm.

Roderick glanced at the small hand practically clawing at his arm and thought: Is this how husbands suddenly get smacked by their wives?’

He looked at her with an expression that said, ‘You really worry about everything,’ and leaned in to kiss her cheek—once, twice.

“My love, first of all, you don’t need to worry. I’m not going to drop him.”

“And also—I’m saying this now so you’re not shocked later—our son is a lot tougher than you think. He’s going to grow up… quite intense.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Roderick carefully observed the structure of his son’s bones once more.

He knew perfectly well—muscle could be built, but bone structure was something one was born with.

He glanced at his hesitant wife and let out a small chuckle before stretching both arms out toward the fountain again.

And perhaps, somehow, the baby sensed his father’s intention.

The lips that had been on the verge of a wail instead curled upward, letting out a bright, cheerful laugh—one that knew nothing of the world’s cruelty or darkness.

Roderick shook his head in disbelief.

“You really made him too cute. This is what happens when you put so much love into it.”

“I told you to stop.”

But before she could scold him any further, both Roderick and Lee-Jae found themselves laughing along with their son.

Maybe it was the feeling of being lifted high into the air, or maybe just the sheer delight of being held with such warmth—but golden light was beginning to radiate vividly from the little lion’s body.

The shimmer falling over the fountain looked like sunlight spilling from the horizon at dawn.

It was a sight too lovely to ever forget.

Seated side by side, Roderick and Lee-Jae took it all in, committing it to memory.

And for a long, long time, they remained within that moment—together.

〈The End〉

[*E/N: Hi everyone! I hope you had as much fun as we did with this! I’m definitely going to miss these two 🥂And Roderick and Deborah have my heart ✨]

[*T/N:That’s the end of the entire story, everyone! Thanks for reading along with us. I personally loved this book a lot and know it will remain a very special story for me. I definitely thought it could’ve been longer. There were some ends that I thought were loose like that seemingly random story about Lee-Jae’s past crush (who I thought was going to turn out to be Roderick’s past life). And the action scenes definitely could’ve been more detailed but I still loved the book.

Also, a moment of silence for Roderick, the green flag forest.

]