A King is Born on the Road

As he listened to Ruben’s story, Hayer felt exhausted. So when he looked at Iris, she nodded and was just listening to Ruben.

Ruben said.

“In the first place, I should have killed him. Then Sandra wouldn’t have to kill him.”

“……”

“Sandra just did what I was supposed to do. So I’m rather grateful, and it’s only natural that I’m here.”

Iris was still listening to Ruben and Sandra’s story.

After the whole story, Iris said.

“Does Eggers Everhart know about what Leon Everhart did?”

“I don’t know. I… I didn’t tell him.”

“Why?”

“Leon ruined his reputation, and I killed him. If you know that, you’ll have a son whose honour has been tarnished, and a son who killed his brother. I thought it was better not to know.”

Then Hayer, who had been watching him quietly, said in a low voice.

“Hiding the truth is not a good thing.”

“That’s…”

“The longer you drag it on, the worse it gets.”

Ruben lowered his head at Hayer’s words. He nodded at once.

Iris continued.

“Let’s break out of prison.”

“…What?”

Hayer flinched when a sudden extreme conclusion came out while talking about revealing the truth to the head.

Caught off guard, he looked at Iris, but she looked calm as she said the words.

“I’ll do it if I can. You can’t stay here forever.”

Iris went on firmly.

Hayer thought for a moment before opening his mouth.

“I’ll help you. We’ll move you to the Hall family together.”

“I-I… Sandra’s getting married by now…”

Ruben uttered gibberish, unable to make a decision in front of an option he had never thought of before.

Iris shook her head.

“Not at all. Sandra said she would never do anything like love.”

Hayer asked in wonder at the remark.

“When did you two even talk about such deep things?”

“When we drank together.”

“Ah, on a day when you ate quite a lot.”

“…Do you think it’s a topic to point out to others that you’ve been drinking too much?”

Iris scolded him, but Hayer’s shoulders shook as he laughed, as if it was just fun teasing her no matter what.

Then, still with a smile on his face, he asked Ruben.

“Anyway, are you going to do it? Escaping from prison.”

“I… can I do it? No. And then the rest of it… what about you two? If you two go and I disappear, my father will blame you two.”

“The head will know in advance. About the escape.”

“What?”

“Because I’m going to tell him about the escape beforehand.”

At Iris’s unexpected words, the two men looked at her.

* * *

Eggers Everhart returned to the drawing room at the request of Iris, who returned from prison.

The wealth she discovered was enormous. It’s far short of the royal debt, but it’s clear that out of all the royals Eggers had ever seen, she had been the most helpful to Everhart.

Eggers asked Iris in a much more friendly tone than when they had first met.

“Did you have a good trip?”

“Yes. Thank you for your understanding.”

“What of Lord Hayer?”

“He’s still in front of the dungeon.”

“Still?”

While Eggers was puzzled, Iris spoke again.

“I have something to tell you, my lord.”

Iris took a sip of her tea and calmed herself down.

She felt her whole body stiffen at Sandra and Ruben’s story. The two sacrificed themselves for each other and the values they each pursued.

The relationship between the Everhart and the Hall family was supposed to be much worse off than this. However, those two prevented it.

Now she knows that. Therefore, it was time for Iris to think about her own values. Ruben considered his father’s honour, but Iris had a duty to prevent defeat.

She said to Eggers.

“Just now, in the dungeon, I heard about why Ruben killed his brother.”

“Yes, it was because he loved the woman who would become his sister-in-law.”

There was a clear anger in Eggers’ voice as he answered.

“No. That wasn’t it.”

Iris shook her head.

She put down the teacup and looked at Eggers with clear eyes.

Eggers Everhart was the man who had been leading Everhart for a long time. However, at this moment, he felt a chill running down his spine, as if he was looking into a tiger’s face from Iris’s face, who was staring at him.

Iris continued.

“Ruben, on the contrary, killed Leon Everhart for the honour of the Everhart family.”

“What do you mean?”

“Leon Everhart murdered Candace Hall, the eldest daughter of the Hall family. Ruben Everhart, who knew about it, murdered Leon Everhart.”

“…Nonsense.”

Eggers’ hands trembled.

He tried to control his emotions in front of the princess, but it was difficult for him to remain calm about what his child had to do.

Eggers said, banging his fist hard on the table.

“That can’t be true. No way!”

“Even if you deny it, it actually happened.”

“Do you have any witnesses?”

“Sandra Hall, Ruben Everhart, and a maid who was there that day…”

“It’s me.”

The maid, who had a conversation with Iris beforehand and accepted everything, raised her hand and stepped out.

It’s true that she spoke with the maid beforehand, but she didn’t promise to testify like this. Perhaps now this was her momentary choice.

When she spoke to Iris, she said she would only be a witness in case, but she couldn’t resist and revealed everything. She didn’t want to miss the opportunity for Leon Everhart’s reputation to fall to the bottom.

“It’s me. I saw it. Master Leon… no, Leon Everhart murdering Lady Candace Hall. And… and me.”

The maid’s fists trembled.

“He tried to drag me in and get drunk. Lady Candace was killed by Leon Everhart while trying to protect me. After that, Lady Sandra tried to protect me.”

The maid’s voice trembled.

It was the same with her that she had to keep her mouth shut for the relationship between the two families. She could feel the anger that had been embracing everything for a long time.

Eggers Everhart, who had been listening for a long time, managed to calm his shaking. Then he took out a cigarette and got up.

After a while, Eggers put the cigarette in his mouth, took a handful of gold coins from his drawer, and threw them to the maid.

“Take this, and leave.”

“My lord…”

“You are the cause of my son’s death, so I cannot keep you here. Leave now.”

“……”

“And… this is not a price to ask you to keep your mouth shut. So there is no need to keep secrets about my son. Feel free to say whatever, I won’t get involved.”

The maid took the gold and stood there for a while, then nodded.

Eggers lit the cigarette, staring blankly into space, and asked Iris.

“Why are you telling me that now?”

Iris looked at him with a wary expression and opened her mouth quietly.

“Ruben Everhart has 28 years left on his sentence, but I think he’s already paid enough for his sins.”

“So what?”

“So I’m going to let him escape.”

“…Ruben?”

“Yes. The eldest son of the head.”

“……”

“However, I don’t think the wound will heal even if I pull out the nail stuck in the head’s heart. So, even if he escapes from prison, I’d like to get the head’s permission before that.”

Eggers was silent and just stood there so the cigarette could burn.

He knew how much his eldest son loved Sandra. However, it was also true that he did not want to take a woman from the Hall family, whom he was not on good terms with, as the wife of his eldest son who would become the head of the family.

That was it. He didn’t know that that reluctance would cause him to lose both sons…

Eggers Everhart barely took an inhale of the cigarette that had almost burned out before he could smoke properly. Then he said to Iris.

“How can I allow him to break out of prison? I can’t do that.”

“……”

“But if Ruben disappears from the dungeon, I would think the princess wasn’t involved in it and had nothing to do with it.”

It was permission.

afterword 

everyone but leon ATE! omg 5 more chapters until the kiss (4 for the tension build-up)!!