A King is Born on the Road

Iris let out a sigh of relief and asked Hayer.

“How will you prove that you have to cut the sacred trees?”

“Didn’t we decide to go to Siere? That’s where we get the answer.”

“But I…”

“What do you think of dressing up? There is also Cadella.”

Iris nodded at his suggestion, and soon said again.

“His Majesty won’t allow us to go to Siere either.”

Hayer smiled faintly at her words.

“His Majesty the King will also allow it. No matter what.”

Iris, not knowing why Hayer was so sure that the king would allow it, put on a worried expression.

“Do you really think so?”

“Yes. I can assure you.”

Hayer said calmly. He believed that the king, Eswa, would never be able to refuse his offer.

Hayer hid his heavy heart and smiled at Iris.

“Think about what to dress up as.”

“Hm…”

“You must never look like a princess.”

“…Should I dress up as a man?”

When Hayer burst out laughing at her words, Iris furrowed her brows and scolded him.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Is there anyone in the world who can fall for it?”

“You don’t know that.”

“Well, if you want to try, feel free to do so.”

Hayer said teasingly, then appeased her at once and apologized when she looked incredulous.

“I’m sorry, there are only rough guys around me. It might be believable if you say you’re Cadella’s age.”

In fact, to be seen as the same age as a boy who was only now in his twelfth year. His words were still teasing, so Iris stepped on his foot without a word. Hayer pretended to be hurt, not even feeling the weight.

Hayer grabbed her by the waist with both hands, gently set her down, and looked to the side to give her an escort. Then, vice-captain Hencke was looking at him with a very disapproving expression.

“You look really happy in this situation?”

“It’s fun. Very serious.”

“Anyway, Princess. Do you mind if I take you to the reception?”

Knowing each other’s feelings just by looking at each other’s eyes, Hencke politely asked Iris, aware that Hayer wanted him to escort her for a while.

Iris nodded and rebuked Hayer.

“How much longer is it from here to reception?”

Even when he heard Iris ask if she would be escorted for that short distance, Hayer looked imposing.

“It’s because the Royal Knights are not trustworthy.”

“Still.”

“I’ll be right there, so eat something delicious.”

Hayer said with a bow, and walked toward where the king was.

The king was busy dressing up for the reception, as if he were the main character.

Despite having a smooth face unique to the Lepos family, King Eswa wanted to look much younger than his age and wanted to increase his sexual appeal. In that sense, Hayer, who was young and beautiful as if the god of beauty had cherished him for nine months, was even more unwelcome to King Eswa.

The king, who had just been informed by the Royal Knights that Hayer was about to be arrested, came out into the simple office attached to the bedroom.

Sitting on the sofa and leaving his hair to his attendant, Eswa opened his mouth.

“You cut the sacred tree?”

At the words he had spoken without haste, Hayer replied with his hands behind his back.

“Yes. I cut it with my own hands.”

“I knew you’d do something terrible someday, but I didn’t know it would be this bad.”

After hearing Eswa’s sarcasm, Hayer said.

“Please let the attendant resign.”

“There is no reason to listen to a felon like you. I can’t forgive you for cutting the sacred tree for any reason. If you get out of here, you will go straight to jail.”

“I know who my father is.”

“……”

“My father, too, knows who I am.”

Hayer raised his chin slightly and looked down at the king. He could see the king’s expression hardening.

He immediately motioned the servant away. Eswa’s hair flowed down to his face after being groomed.

Eswa opened his mouth with a stiff face.

“You know who your father is?”

“Yes. The King of Siere, Karl Lassor, is my father.”

Hayer watched as Eswa clasped his ring-clad hands tightly.

It was more agitating. If the king had not known that Siere’s forces were gathering at the border and that Luwan had not prepared anything for it, he would have been less angry. Eswa knew that and was afraid. Nevertheless, it was such a complacent attitude.

He was lazy and evil from birth. Hayer could never see him as a member of the same family as Iris. It felt disgusting to tie her with that.

Despite the disgust buried in the corners of Hayer’s mouth, he could not be easily angry at Eswa.

Hayer continued.

“Karl Lassor has ordered me to come to Siere.”

“Hmm…”

“If I don’t go, he will definitely retaliate against Luwan. So while I’m on my way, I’m going to prove it. The reason why I have to cut down the sacred tree.”

Silence ensued for a while.

Hayer turned his head the other way, annoyed at seeing Eswa in distress.

After much thought, Eswa said.

“Good.”

“…Good?”

When Hayer asked again because it was ridiculous, Eswa continued.

“You finally have something to do for this Luwan.”

“……”

“Go to Siere right now. Go stop that crazy king of Siere. That is the only way for you, born with natural sin, to atone. If that happens, I won’t punish you for cutting the sacred tree.”

Hayer laughed at his words. It was a low, cold laugh.

Come to think of it, it was Luwan’s luck to have such a king. Both he and Iris Lepos were too precious to this falling country. No, she was.

What kind of people were the Luwans? The Kawat people Hayer guarded had to risk their lives every time they went to the land of Luwan. There were countless cases where people lost their lives after being caught by the violent Luwan people.

He thought of his subordinates who were killed by monsters. He thought of Tamati, who lost his life after cutting the sacred tree. Has Luwan ever been grateful to any of them?

Hayer opened his mouth.

“I will.”

He bowed his head and continued.

“Your Majesty, while I am at Siere, please protect Luwan.”

“You talk like I never did even once.”

“That too.”

Hayer continued with a strange smile.

“Then I’ll see you again at the reception.”

At his words, the king rang the bell without bidding farewell and summoned the attendant again.

While Eswa was dressing up, Hayer left the place.

───  ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅  ───

Iris was immersed in her thoughts as she headed to the wedding reception.

It was not hard to dress yourself up. If dressing up as a man is difficult, she could follow him pretending to be a maid.

But she had already been denied entry by the king of Siere. If she was discovered to be the princess of Luwan after crossing over to Siere, it was clear that serious problems would arise.

While she left for Siere, she thought she needed someone to pretend to be her, just in case. And there was no one more suitable than Madeleine Lepos, daughter of Kernin Lepos.

The problem was that she tried to pretend to be herself once.

Iris took pity on Madeleine for her life being threatened by Sid Lepos, but that didn’t make her trust her.

When Iris glanced at Madeleine for a moment, she was being scolded by Agatha for taking a big bite of the dessert. It was that no aristocrat should take such a big bite.

“Aristocrats are people too, but they can’t even eat to their heart’s content…?”

Madeleine grumbled, then spotted Iris and waved with a broad smile.

Iris smiled and headed to where they were before halting for a moment.

It was turned into a wedding reception, but if you look closely, there were traces of a party to celebrate the trip to the Traitor’s Labyrinth.

Agatha insisted that the tablecloth should be the colour of a wedding, so it changed to a cream colour with a bit more money. But the plants that adorned the tables and pillars were made up of things that represented heroes in Luwan, like laurels and daffodils.

Fortunately, Agatha was preparing for the party with more importance on beauty than heroism. No matter where she got it, the beautiful candlesticks made the atmosphere dreamy, and the music was great.

Iris saw the Royal Knights laughing and talking with the guests at the reception. Kernin, who had returned from the Traitor’s Labyrinth, was casually mingled with guests, and so was the sage, Zeniel Bronte.

Iris took a glass of apéritif wine and slowly headed toward Zeniel.

Zeniel, who talked to the new bride and groom and gave his blessings, noticed Iris and got up from his seat.

“Let’s talk for a minute.”

Zeniel smiled softly at Iris’s words.

“Sure.”

A short distance from the table with guests, Iris pondered what to ask the sage first.

After thinking for a long while, Iris asked.

“Did you say ‘while looking for the North Gate’?”

“Yes.”

Zeniel nodded and asked back nonchalantly.

“Are you surprised? I have memories of that time, Queen Iris… No, it’s not only the princess.”

Iris kept her mouth shut and stared at Zeniel, as if to say more.

Zeniel tilted his head to one side and continued.

“You can’t lie at all. If I were you, I would have yelled at myself for what I was saying.”

Iris, who slowly loosened her gritted teeth at his words, opened her mouth.

“To those who already know the truth, lying only hurts my mouth.”

Zeniel nodded carefully at her answer.

“The princess is right. As expected, she is the only royal who worked hard for this Luwan until the end.”

“Why did you save the sacred tree?”

Zeniel watched Iris silently at her voice, suppressed with anger.

When Iris saw this sage, she asked again the first thing she wanted to ask.

“If you knew so much, if you saw the future. Why on earth did you revive the sacred tree?”