A King is Born on the Road

When Iris woke up the next morning, she moved her body around in wonder.

It was the first morning since she had crossed the North Gate that she had slept so well with no headache or even the slightest bit of fatigue.

“How did I fall asleep…?”

She remembered falling asleep while talking to Hayer, but she couldn’t remember the moment she fell asleep.

‘When did Hayer go?’

Iris left the room, trying to recall the night before. Then, she saw Hayer leaning on the railing of the stairs on the first floor.

“Hayer.”

Hayer looked up at the sound of him being called. Then he grumbled as he climbed the stairs.

“Didn’t you ask to go to Everhart today? You’re not ready at all?”

“I’m sorry. What should I do… Do you know why I slept so well?”

At Iris’s half-asleep words, Hayer asked again, puzzled.

“What kind of question is that?”

“Since the day I came out of the convent, I haven’t had a good night’s sleep, but yesterday I slept really well for the first time. I was wondering what happened… I haven’t had enough sleep in a while.”

She was asking Hayer why she had slept well, talking nonsense.

Hayer, who learned that she hadn’t slept well for the first time, furrowed his brows without realizing it.

“We just fell asleep while talking together. I woke up in the middle and left.”

“…Together? To—together?”

“Yes. Face to face. I almost couldn’t leave because you were tightly holding on to me with your hand.”

When Hayer took her hand and even reenacted it, Iris blushed with embarrassment.

She sighed deeply and turned around and said.

“Please wait in the carriage. I’ll be out shortly.”

Iris quickly returned to her bedroom.

Hayer looked at her back with a smile and stood on the stairs, waiting for Iris to get ready to go out.

Then, looking back at her room, he murmured.

“What on earth do you mean you can’t sleep well?”

For Hayer, who always sleeps so deeply that he feels refreshed when he wakes up, it was a concern that she couldn’t sleep well.

Fortunately, Iris was soon ready to go out.

After a while, a carriage with two people came out of the royal palace.

Passing through the streets of the capital, Iris could see that her and Hayer’s story was being talked about everywhere, even if they didn’t want to listen. The passing children were fighting with each other over who should play the role of Hayer Asheri.

“I’m Hayer Asheri!”

“No, you’re Meppo Behad!”

“That’s funny, you’re both Sid Lepos.”

Hayer, who was sitting in the carriage and listening to the same thing, murmured.

“It’s a response I’ve never received even when I was risking my life to stop the monsters.”

“I know.”

Iris also nodded, feeling the contradiction. Then she burst into laughter and covered her face with her hands and said.

“No one wants to play Sid.”

“The man who lost the woman he was going to marry to his younger brother and sent his proxy to the duel? I don’t think I’ll play that role even if I’m seven years old.”

Iris nodded in agreement with Hayer’s words. And asked him.

“Does your body seem fine after a day?”

“It’s very good.”

“I really like it too. For the first time in a while.”

“If I helped you sleep, let’s do it next time. I’ll sleep without moving.”

“…I’ll think about it if I really can’t sleep.”

Iris answered seriously. Her sound sleep yesterday was so sweet that she was taking Hayer’s teasing seriously.

Hayer, who had no idea that she was suffering from insomnia to such an extent, became perplexed and asked.

“Have you been sleeping that badly?”

“It’s just… I haven’t been able to sleep well in a while. It might sound like an excuse for someone who woke up late, but…”

Iris was ashamed to speak, thinking what a big deal it was that she couldn’t sleep, but Hayer was listening intently to her the whole time. For him, ‘sleeping well’ seemed to be a very important thing.

Meanwhile, the carriage entered Everhart.

Iris has been checking the sky since reaching Everhart. It was because she wished it would rain.

When it rains in Everhart’s large market, a spectacular view unfolds. It was while opening the tents that each merchant had.

Merchants from various countries set up unique tents reflecting their culture and made umbrellas for passers-by.

Everhart’s market was the only place in Luwan, which was extremely closed to religion, where any religion and culture could be mixed.

By the time Iris and Hayer got off, the sky was already dark. Iris entered the market thinking it might rain soon.

When she entered the flower shop, the florist treated Iris with all her heart, as if she had remembered her as the guest buying many of the same flowers before.

In particular, while wrapping the flowers, they served snacks made in their own country and they were very sweet and delicious. There was a strong fruity aroma.

When she bought the flowers and went outside, Hayer beckoned to her.

“Iris, come here.”

When Iris went to where she was beckoned to at Hayer’s words, there was a circus billboard.

Iris said in wonder.

“I’ve never seen it before. I’ve only heard of it.”

“Although performers are sometimes called to the palace, I’ve never seen a mobile circus like this before. Shall we go later?”

Iris nodded at his words.

Iris had never been to a place where there was no problem even if she didn’t go, except for ‘places to go,’ such as a theatre or boating. Somehow, it felt like she was on a date with Hayer, so she was excited.

Hayer said.

“Then let’s quickly go to Everhart Street first.”

《t/n: street, road, avenue, etc. idk which one》

“Yes.”

Iris nodded and followed Hayer.

Having never seen a circus before, she looked around the circus tent several times out of curiosity.

Hayer asked Iris as they headed to Everhart Street.

“So, what brings you to Everhart Street?”

“Ah. Dane came to see me. He wondered if I could know the news about Everhart’s eldest son, an old friend of Sandra Hall’s.”

“Ah, I see.”

Hayer continued with a click of his tongue.

“I’m not very close with the people in that house.”

“Really?”

“Actually, I’m not cursing because he died early, but the second son of that family was really human trash.”

As if having a bad memory, Hayer followed Iris with a disapproving look on his face.

“Let’s go together.”

“Yes.”

For Iris, Hayer’s companionship was reassuring, so there was no reason to refuse.

Not long after they entered Everhart Castle, the head, Eggers Everhart, appeared.

He seemed uncomfortable with Iris’s visit, who was getting closer to the throne, and Hayer, who he didn’t know when he would turn everything over.

Eggers Everhart was a man in his mid-sixties with a strict impression, and though the glasses neutralized the strict look, he made the people around him nervous.

Eggers Everhart, who was skinny, walked up to the two and asked.

“Why are you two here?”

Everhart was a trading city where gold was deposited and its value could be written down and used as currency. As befits the head of a place like that, Eggers was calculatung things as soon as they appeared.

From the beginning, he was of the faction that didn’t care which side became king, Sid or Iris. But in any case, when he had to choose between the two, he thought Iris was the right choice.

It was not for any particular reason. They were very sensitive to the rise and fall in gold prices, and it seemed that the day Sid was born was the day when gold prices were lowest. On the contrary, the gold on the day Iris was born was a medium price.

Iris said, facing the mysterious gaze of Eggers.

“I’m here to meet Ruben Everhart.”

“…The princess wants Ruben?”

There was no point of contact between Ruben Everhart and Iris Lepos, so it was natural for Eggers to be curious.

Iris brought out the words she had prepared.

“As you know, didn’t the royal family borrow a lot of money from Everhart?”

“Hmm.”

“If I were to become king, I would have to pay back all the money… To be honest, this doesn’t seem like money that can be repaid in a year or two. I’ll have to pay it back by maintaining a friendly relationship with Everhart for a long time. So, firstly, I came to greet the future successor candidate of the Everhart family in advance.”

Hayer was amazed to see how thoroughly Iris made it up.

Usually, she seemed like a person who was far from a liar, but when it became necessary, she lied skillfully. It was to the point where he was slightly concerned that he shouldn’t trust Iris this much.

afterword 

i hope they have enough time for their circus date LOL (they do)