A King is Born on the Road

“…Did you?”

Iris looked down in bewilderment.

“Yes.”

“I… thought you’d tease me as soon as I woke up.”

Hayer laughed at her stammering words, crossed his arms, and looked down at Iris as he asked.

“What on earth did you think I was going to make fun of?”

“Just… that… I don’t know.”

“Even if I tease you, it’s right that you tease me.”

“Why?”

“You didn’t see how pathetic I was because you were sick. I kept making mistakes trying to somehow not see your body…”

Hayer stopped talking. Then he swallowed his saliva without realizing it and said.

“…I did, at any rate.”

“What did you do? And why are you swallowing?”

“I don’t think you can do this much, Sister.”

《t/n: calling her ‘Sister’ because she was a nun》

“W-what is this much?”

Iris’s eyes widened.

Hayer rubbed his face with one hand in response to that expression.

“I have a lot of jokes I want to tell, but I won’t because I think you’ll kill me if I do even one.”

“I hoped you didn’t even say you had a joke.”

“You must have forgotten, you’re the one who brought this up. Didn’t I say I was going to keep my mouth shut until I lay in the grave?”

“They say, ‘If you’re going to tease me one day, tease me quickly’.”

“Ah, I looked like someone who would make fun of a sick person for changing clothes.”

“It’s true that I look a little… light.”

Hayer was frustrated by Iris’s words because she didn’t want to lose the argument.

“I’m heavy then. Fantastic.”

“I’m not talking about the weight, but because I saw it a lot, your body…”

Iris, who accidentally said that, covered her mouth with both hands. She couldn’t believe she said something that could make fun of herself right in front of Hayer.

Hayer’s expression became strange, and then, as if he had let it slide for now, he said.

“I’ll go out and prepare for departure, so rest a bit.”

“…Okay.”

Iris nodded and Hayer left the warehouse.

After getting ready for departure, the party headed for the capital again on horseback.

Hayer and Iris rode on the same horse as the day before, as the carriage was still in a bad place where it could not move.

It had rained so heavily the day before and it was dark, so even riding the same horse like this did not feel uncomfortable.

However, as the morning came, the view widened, and there was something to be nervous about compared to the day before, so both young people’s bodies were tense.

Iris patted the horse’s back and said, pretending not to know.

“I’m sorry. It’s heavy, right?”

“……”

Hayer also pretended to be indifferent and started the horse into a gallop.

* * *

Hayer looked up at the clear sky and thought for a moment about his biological father.

He had no information whatsoever. If there was a sage, he would have asked, but in fact, he didn’t want to know in detail, so he thought it was fortunate that there was no sage.

The Asheri family was located on the border, and the family itself was relatively ethnic. So there was a possibility that his father was a Siere. No, it was high.

Hayer laughed incredulously. A Siere who stopped by the Asheri family would have been a merchant with a high probability.

A merchant was better.

If his father is a Siere aristocrat in such a bad situation with the neighboring country…

Hayer sighed.

At the time his mother had confidence, the relationship with Siere wasn’t so bad. There were times when the Asheri family invited the nobles of Siere and treated them warmly. It was then, but it’s different now.

* * *

It was later than expected, but they safely crossed Hall and Everhart and reached the capital.

Everyone’s clothes were covered in muddy water because they ran on the mud for a few days. Hayer decided that it would be impossible to enter the palace as it is.

Hayer changed his mind immediately after checking Iris in dirty peasant clothes.

“…If you go into the palace like this, Her Highness Celios will try to kill me.”

At his words, Iris also checked her clothes. It was definitely a mess.

She asked.

“Are you going to a lodging?”

“Close to here… I’m going home.”

“Home?”

“Well, the Knights of Tejas had no place to stay in the capital, so I saved it.”

“It must cost a lot of money.”

“Yes. But well, the temple supports me a lot.”

He might have wanted to say something about the contradiction of ‘cutting down the sacred tree while receiving the support of the temple’, but fortunately, he swallowed the words, as if he recognized the surroundings.

They soon arrived at Hayer’s house in the capital.

The Knights of Tejas were all on the southern border, so there was no one except for three soldiers left for management purposes.

The capital was formed towards the sea. Since the waves were calm, buildings were built close to the sea. Hayer’s house was one of them.

The beach where his house was located was covered with pure white sand, and there was a completely different atmosphere from the outskirts of the capital. Laughter was heard, and there was no stench.

The place used as a base for the Knights was a splendid and beautiful building. It had an architectural style that was not found in the northern land where Iris lived, made of white paint on plaster.

A square-shaped corridor was arranged around the garden.

Iris entered the courtyard and looked around.

“You have such a nice house, but you’re not using it?”

“Is it nice…?”

Hayer looked around the corridor with disapproving eyes, not liking the house very much.

“It’s not bad. It’s not good. Because I wanted to get a place for all the Knights of Tejas to enter and rest in.”

“Really, the entire Knights of Tejas…”

Iris stopped talking without realizing it, then immediately continued.

“Everyone can come in and rest.”

Having a place in the capital for the entire Knights to be stationed, it was inevitable that someday, at least, it would seem that they had treason in mind.

In addition, this place was so attached to the sea that it was difficult to easily identify even if the Knights were hiding.

“Yes.”

Hayer responded calmly, knowing exactly why she had stopped talking.

Soon after, Hayer said, as if he was relaxed.

“The royal family is already paying a lot of attention. If all our Knights come here, there’s no way they’ll be stationed all at once. If I do that, the royal family will drag me right away and behead me, or I will be locked in the Traitor’s Labyrinth.”

“Ah…”

She had heard of the Traitor’s Labyrinth.

A place where you can’t get out once you’re trapped. The maze where only the people of the Lepos family can find their way through.

She was relieved to hear that it would be difficult to commit treason under the watchful eye of the royal family, but at the same time she was worried.

To get to the royal palace directly, Iris used a bathroom and took a bath. She couldn’t be so happy to take a bath while warming up in a nice bathtub after a long time.

As she was taking a long bath, Hayer said outside.

“I hung your change of clothes on the door. There’s no one in the hallway, so take it out and put it on.”

“Thank you.”

After Iris said that, she washed herself, wrapped herself in a towel, and headed to the door.

What Hayer hung on the door was a gorgeous dress that would not be insufficient to wear in the royal palace. It must have been borrowed from her mother, Celios, or ordered in advance before coming to the capital.

Iris wore a glossy, dark green dress over her body. Iris said to herself while wearing the white stockings prepared together.

“…You take care of women’s clothes very meticulously.”

She wondered why he knew so much about women’s clothes.

She heard there were only knights around.

Iris pursed her lips into a pout.

In fact, Iris thought it made no sense that he didn’t have a woman around him.

Still, remembering her time as queen before crossing the North Gate, she had never heard of a rumor that Hayer was dating a woman.

As far as Iris knew, Hayer was always a wanderer, and a knight who seemed to devote his soul to only one sword.

afterword 

dw iris he’s gonna devote himself to you too!! btw Traitor’s Labyrinth has many name variations (eg. maze of traitors, traitor’s maze etc.) i just chose what i thought sounded coolest lol