A King is Born on the Road

“The Kawats don’t like the Leposes. Actually, they hate them. There is no reason for a Lepos to be king.”

At Ato’s words, Hayer sighed heavily and smiled.

“Ask for my opinion, too.”

“Is there anyone who doesn’t want to sit on the throne?”

“I’m not sure.”

Hayer answered and looked back at himself for a moment.

When he was young and jealous of his brother, he wanted to become the heir to the throne, but his desire to become the king completely disappeared from the time he cut down the sacred tree.

Along with atonement for the god Tilla, the sense of duty to cut down the remaining four sacred trees quickly grew.

He was no longer a royal, and will go down in history as a member of the Asheri family. A man who was born from the queen’s infidelity, but was raised as a prince and deceived the king.

What the people of Luwan’s royal and noble families feared the most was to leave a bad name in the history books. Hayer has been looking for a way to wipe out that infamy all his life.

Instead of spouting out his complicated innermost thoughts, Hayer said to Ato.

“First off, I’ll have to check where the other sacred trees are. Are there any monsters?”

“If the monsters are coming over from the forbidden land even where there are other sacred trees…”

“Must cut them. All four trees.”

Ato nodded at Hayer’s words, and then got down on one knee and said.

“Take me with you.”

“We also need someone to protect Kawat.”

“It’s okay. This place, it’s really going to be okay.”

“……”

“Captain, you have sufficiently guarded the Kawats. You raised many Kawats to be warriors. They have enough power to protect the village from monsters.”

At Ato’s firm words, Hayer sighed like he had no choice.

“I will go to the desert sooner or later. Be prepared.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Ato bowed his head.

Hayer looked at his oath, and turned to the shrine again.

Hayer Asheri thought, perhaps, deep down in his own heart, that he also wanted his name tied to that red thread after he died.

* * *

Honey was good as a snack, but it was a little difficult for Iris to eat honey in all foods.

Of course, it wasn’t that it was bad. In the first place, Iris used to eat two or three times as much food as she could normally eat at Sandra’s mansion to be polite.

Therefore, she ate the food as deliciously as possible for Freya, who prepared it.

Unlike herself, Don ate the honey happily and deliciously out of love. Iris thought that if she gave him a stone, he would probably chew it without realizing it.

She picked up the cheese drizzled with a lot of honey on it.

This place is not suitable for agriculture, so most of them were engaged in livestock farming. So meat was very common, and cheese was also easy to get.

Iris took a bite of the cheese, cut the meat, and put it in her mouth. Although the food culture is different, Freya’s food skills were still great.

“…How can it be so delicious?”

Freya was delighted by Iris’s self-talk.

“Does it taste good?”

“I think Freya is good at anything she does with her hands.”

“That’s the way it is.”

She spoke with pride. Then, she smiled with a face that showed a little bit of the hardships of life.

“Well, even so, these are skills that I gained from feeding, sleeping, and playing with my five younger siblings.”

Don, who was listening to her, said to Freya as if he had made up his mind.

“Freya, let’s go to the capital together.”

“What?”

“I’ll do my best. It would be a waste to let your skills rot in a place like this.”

“…A place like this?”

Freya’s speech became cold, but Don nodded without feeling anything amiss.

“Yes. You’re only using your abilities to raise your younger siblings here.”

“Only?”

It was the beginning of a fight.

…Or just getting scolded one-sidedly.

Iris gave a signal by putting down the spoon a little harshly, and then Don blinked and looked at the two women alternately.

Freya looked at Don as if she had nothing to say, but Don was just desperate. His mind seemed to be filled with only a sense of duty to take the pagan woman and protect her.

“I’ll be back.”

Freya said, and quickly left the restaurant.

Iris, knowing she had gone out to quell her anger, spoke instead.

“Where are you from?”

Then Don said with a big smile without any sense.

“My hometown is an area called Weissol, near the Asheri family. It’s a beautiful place! It’s not big, but there’s a really nice river…”

Fortunately, Don realized in the middle of talking and jumped out of his seat, so it seems that he wasn’t a very tactless person.

“D-did I make a slip of the tongue? How much? Did I make a big one?”

“It was a bit harsh to say ‘only’ to the person who was in charge of taking care of her younger siblings all her life.”

“Ahhh…”

Don sat down, clutching his head.

Iris was surprised that Don actually thought he was wrong for what he said.

That, too, belonged to the Knights of Tejas, and was an impossible idea if he had not worked with the Kawats for a long time.

Of course, Luwans normally rarely fall in love with pagans in the first place, but they would have thought that just deciding to take pagans to Luwan would be a great blessing.

Don asked Iris with a face as if he were about to cry.

“W-what should I do? How can I apologize?”

“How am I supposed to know? It’s a marvel that you’re in love with a pagan. You should know Freya’s heart better.”

“That’s… that’s right.”

Don nodded. And this time, he said it in a different sense.

“I think I’ve been with the Knights of Tejas, who have no sense at all, for too long. My wits have perished.”

“Hayer is not tactless.”

“The captain…”

Don continued, scratching the back of his head.

“To be honest, isn’t there something insidious about it? P-please keep this a secret!”

“Of course.”

“Since he doesn’t reveal his thoughts much, everyone tried to guess what the captain was thinking at first, but now everyone has given up.”

“Hmm.”

“Since joining the Knights, everyone has a desire to rise to the rank of captain. Sometimes… Honestly, I always feel like the captain is a lonely person, so the position feels very difficult.”

There was affection in Don’s voice when he said that.

Iris nodded in understanding.

Soon Don said.

“Flower! I’ll go get some flowers! Wait, please hold onto Freya, Princess!”

“I will.”

When Iris nodded, Don ran out with a slightly relieved face.

After a while, Freya, who had calmed her anger to some extent, returned and found that there was no Don, and asked Iris.

“Where did Don go?”

“He went to get some flowers to relieve Freya’s anger.”

“Iris, did you tell him why I was upset?”

Iris nodded at the words, and Freya sat back in her chair and said.

“It’s reassuring.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Is this how it feels to have a same-sex friend my age?”

Iris paused at Freya’s words.

Then Freya waved her hands urgently and said.

“I-I know! You don’t consider us as the royal family, and you don’t dare speak to the average Luwan. But this is Kawat…”

“Freya.”

“Yes.”

“I just felt the same reassurance as Freya.”

“……”

“That’s all.”

A smile slowly spread across Freya’s face at Iris’s unique bluntness but friendly answer.

While the two were talking, Don appeared with flowers.

Don apologized sincerely to Freya. After that, he held out the flowers with both his hands and said.

“I-I! I’m okay with being a son-in-law who lives with his wife’s family! If only Freya would accept it!”

“…Don, you’re all good, but you’re always too extreme.”

“S-sorry. That’s why the captain said it was burdensome…”

“Yes. It’s a little too much.”

“I’m sorry…”

“I’ll forgive you.”

“Really?”

Looking at the reconciliation between the two, Iris smiled and felt like she was about to cry.

Although the two were lovely, it made her heart ache at the thought of not knowing how difficult the situation they would go through would be in the future.

Iris pondered for a while what it was like to love a pagan.

afterword 

this chapter was so sweet i’m so happy iris made a new girl friend