“Think about it. At that time, there was no child in our village who was fed so well. They said that if your skin was white and soft, you wouldn’t look like the same human being.”
“…In any case, you thought he was a fairy and pushed him.”
“Isn’t that why I pushed a noble child? In fact, it was a death sentence.”
Annamaria continued.
“The guards came running and tried to grab me, so he said I was his friend. He said I was joking because we were friends.”
She fondly recalled the memory of that time.
“I didn’t know who he was at that time. It wasn’t until five years later that I found out that he was Dirpone’s second son.”
Iris listened carefully to her story, and recalled a conversation she had with them before crossing the North Gate.
She remembered that the story of Dirpone was always left out as a negative result.
The Dirpone family was especially known for being more militant among the belligerent Luwan people.
The current head of the household, Joosen Dirpone’s, second son, Sinya Dirpone, died in the war as she remembered. However, it was not known exactly where he died, so Iris had no choice but to bear in mind the possibility that he might have been killed along the way.
As Hencke once said, the life of the second son of a noble family was not very easy. It was considered perfectly natural to leave the family before the elder brother became the head of the household, and if he remained, he was often killed.
In any case, as Iris had never met him before crossing the North Gate, Sinya Dirpone seemed to have lived a life of seclusion. He was said to be so beautiful that rumors spread, but it was strange that he didn’t show his face in high society once.
While listening to Annamaria, they finally escaped from the narrow mountain path.
However, the path down from there was so muddy that even the horses slipped, and the party had no choice but to move on foot.
As their hooves kept slipping, the horses strained their legs to keep from going, and everyone had no choice but to urge the horses with whips.
Even Rayne, who ran so well, hated slipping, and turned his head and tried to climb up the hill again.
Iris didn’t want to use the whip, so she took the reins and looked at Rayne’s face and said.
“You have to go. What are you going to do when you get back from here? Are you going to the desert again? There’s no water there.”
While Iris was persuading him, Cyrus, the captain of the Siere soldiers, spoke to her from the side.
“Are you having a conversation, Miss?”
“I’m trying.”
“If you talk so calmly, you can’t use them when you really need them. Horses are smart animals. If they notice that their owner is weak and scared, they will just sit down.”
“He won’t. He didn’t.”
Iris, who was speaking so firmly, paused. It was because she was hiding her identity, but she was belatedly concerned if she could say this.
Fortunately Cyrus did not say much about it. The situation was too bad now to care about that tone of speech. It was also a task to urge horses that did not go, but it was even worse if the horse twisted its legs.
Iris saw people moving little by little. Beating them with whips and teasing them with carrots, the other horses moved bit by bit, but Iris’s horse didn’t budge.
Hayer, who was going down the hill with his horse the fastest, found her lagging behind, tied the horse to a tree, and went back up the hill. And he said, handing the whip to Iris.
“Use it. Sometimes you need a whip.”
“I heard horses are smart animals?”
“Therefore…”
“I’m afraid it’ll remember. Scolded for being scared. So I’ll give it a little more time.”
Iris said, and placed her cheek on Rayne’s head.
Hayer gazed at her like that, then went back to his horse.
He thought Iris would probably be barely able to move here. He was certain she would eventually take the whip.
Rayne stomped his hooves in frustration that he wouldn’t go.
Iris continued with a very serious attitude whether he did or not.
“Let’s go. If we stay out here, we’ll both starve to death. You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
Before they knew it, the party disappeared into the fog, and only she and Rayne remained in their spots.
In the midst of such a long confrontation, the horse seemed a little taken aback by being left alone.
Seeing that there was no crowd, Rayne finally started to move one step at a time.
Originally, Rayne was a species of wild horse, and herd life was ingrained in the body. Iris murmured, looking at Rayne moving only after losing the herd.
“I learned something new about you once more.”
It seemed that Rayne remembered that he would die if he separated from the herd of wild horses only after all horses were out of sight.
Iris let go of the horse’s reins when Rayne stopped because he was afraid of slipping and having his hooves sink.
“If you don’t follow me, you’ll lose me too.”
Saying so, she stepped through the mud one step at a time. Then, realizing that Rayne was slipping, she hurried back and wrapped her arm around the horse’s neck.
Hayer may be able to stop the horse from slipping on his own, but Iris had no chance. Eventually, she tumbled in the mud, pushed under the power of the horse.
Iris got up without showing any sign of pain.
“Look. I’ll hold you.”
Rayne got up right away and was watching the owner who was talking to him. Then they started walking down the muddy path again.
As soon as he heard Iris fall, Hayer, who was rushing up the hill, saw Iris through the fog and halted.
She was walking down the hill one step at a time with her horse, without the slightest care that she was covered in mud.
Hayer thought, perhaps, that there would be no war in the world if both the king of Luwan and Siere were like Iris Lepos.
But he also thought that if either of them were not like Iris Lepos, the country where she was king would be swallowed up by the other country.
Violence was the fastest way to work. When the mind was broken, orders were easily carried out.
The Knights of Tejas were not much different. Although they appeared relatively moderate, there was inhumane and harsh training for everyone to move in one body.
Iris arrived at Hayer’s spot before he knew it.
Her eyes widened of their own accord when she found him.
“Did you wait?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
Iris said, pulling Rayne’s reins and passing by him.
And so, the party managed to get out of the mud, and even there they moved without washing for a while longer. As the mud dried on her body while she walked, Iris continued to run her hand over her face. Still, she didn’t say anything about taking a break.
Then she looked up.
“It’s a river.”
Almost at the same time as she spoke, Hayer shouted loudly.
“It’s a river!”
Iris shut her mouth belatedly. A river wasn’t seen at all, but if she said that there was a river, they might have found out that she was from the Lepos family.
Fortunately, overshadowed by Hayer’s shout, no one could hear her, and Cyrus looked back at him and asked.
“Can you see the river, Sir Hayer?”
“I can see it. I’ve had great eyesight since I was a child.”
At his words, the knights of Siere, including Cyrus, smiled brightly.
Cyrus said.
“As expected, it’s the Lassor family. Originally, it is said that people of the Lassor family have very good eyes from generation to generation.”
“I resemble my father.”
“On the contrary, the progenitor of the royal family of Luwan was blind?”
At Cyrus’s words, the Knights of Tejas paused. It was because they were not sure at once whether that was just a question, sarcastic, or insulting.
Hayer replied indifferently.
“They say so. And the Leposes know how to find a way without looking.”
“Honestly, I don’t believe it.”
Cyrus smiled and went on.
“And there won’t be a day to find out. If a Lepos is in this land, I will cut them down as soon as I see them.”
Iris felt appalled at his words, but tried hard not to show it on her face.
The problem was the Tejas Knights, who were far from actors. When everyone’s face turned pale in an instant and they thought they would get caught, Hayer just smiled and said.
“If you say that, I’m in a difficult position. I am still using my mother’s family name, Asheri, but I can’t say I am not a member of the Lepos family because the temple of Luwan did not wholly declare that I am not the son of the king.”
“That is… of course Sir is an exception.”
“Is that so?”
At his question, the Tejas Knights were moderately pale, thinking that Hayer was from the Lepos family.
The party set off again, and fortunately the river soon came out. Along the river, it was the capital.
As soon as they found the river, the mud-covered party all jumped into the river, regardless of whether they were knights or soldiers. And they excitedly shook off the mud in the water.
Iris, too, was about to step into the river when Hayer grabbed her arm and pushed her back, shouting.
“Get out of the river! Get out right now!”
As soon as Hayer shouted, the Knights of Tejas quickly swam out of the river without even thinking. However, because the subject of the command was different, one of the soldiers who had been faltering in the river for a moment screamed.
It happened in a flash. A big fish opened its mouth and swallowed the soldier.
Blood splayed over the water and the rest of the soldiers ran out screaming.
The Knights of Tejas, who were familiar with monsters, immediately went into battle, and archers shot arrows to hit the fish. However, the Siere soldiers stood frozen in place.
Cyrus mumbled.
“In the river… If there are monsters in the river, drinking water in the capital…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Hayer mounted his horse.
“Let’s go to the capital. At once!”
“Think about it. At that time, there was no child in our village who was fed so well. They said that if your skin was white and soft, you wouldn’t look like the same human being.”
“…In any case, you thought he was a fairy and pushed him.”
“Isn’t that why I pushed a noble child? In fact, it was a death sentence.”
Annamaria continued.
“The guards came running and tried to grab me, so he said I was his friend. He said I was joking because we were friends.”
She fondly recalled the memory of that time.
“I didn’t know who he was at that time. It wasn’t until five years later that I found out that he was Dirpone’s second son.”
Iris listened carefully to her story, and recalled a conversation she had with them before crossing the North Gate.
She remembered that the story of Dirpone was always left out as a negative result.
The Dirpone family was especially known for being more militant among the belligerent Luwan people.
The current head of the household, Joosen Dirpone’s, second son, Sinya Dirpone, died in the war as she remembered. However, it was not known exactly where he died, so Iris had no choice but to bear in mind the possibility that he might have been killed along the way.
As Hencke once said, the life of the second son of a noble family was not very easy. It was considered perfectly natural to leave the family before the elder brother became the head of the household, and if he remained, he was often killed.
In any case, as Iris had never met him before crossing the North Gate, Sinya Dirpone seemed to have lived a life of seclusion. He was said to be so beautiful that rumors spread, but it was strange that he didn’t show his face in high society once.
While listening to Annamaria, they finally escaped from the narrow mountain path.
However, the path down from there was so muddy that even the horses slipped, and the party had no choice but to move on foot.
As their hooves kept slipping, the horses strained their legs to keep from going, and everyone had no choice but to urge the horses with whips.
Even Rayne, who ran so well, hated slipping, and turned his head and tried to climb up the hill again.
Iris didn’t want to use the whip, so she took the reins and looked at Rayne’s face and said.
“You have to go. What are you going to do when you get back from here? Are you going to the desert again? There’s no water there.”
While Iris was persuading him, Cyrus, the captain of the Siere soldiers, spoke to her from the side.
“Are you having a conversation, Miss?”
“I’m trying.”
“If you talk so calmly, you can’t use them when you really need them. Horses are smart animals. If they notice that their owner is weak and scared, they will just sit down.”
“He won’t. He didn’t.”
Iris, who was speaking so firmly, paused. It was because she was hiding her identity, but she was belatedly concerned if she could say this.
Fortunately Cyrus did not say much about it. The situation was too bad now to care about that tone of speech. It was also a task to urge horses that did not go, but it was even worse if the horse twisted its legs.
Iris saw people moving little by little. Beating them with whips and teasing them with carrots, the other horses moved bit by bit, but Iris’s horse didn’t budge.
Hayer, who was going down the hill with his horse the fastest, found her lagging behind, tied the horse to a tree, and went back up the hill. And he said, handing the whip to Iris.
“Use it. Sometimes you need a whip.”
“I heard horses are smart animals?”
“Therefore…”
“I’m afraid it’ll remember. Scolded for being scared. So I’ll give it a little more time.”
Iris said, and placed her cheek on Rayne’s head.
Hayer gazed at her like that, then went back to his horse.
He thought Iris would probably be barely able to move here. He was certain she would eventually take the whip.
Rayne stomped his hooves in frustration that he wouldn’t go.
Iris continued with a very serious attitude whether he did or not.
“Let’s go. If we stay out here, we’ll both starve to death. You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
Before they knew it, the party disappeared into the fog, and only she and Rayne remained in their spots.
In the midst of such a long confrontation, the horse seemed a little taken aback by being left alone.
Seeing that there was no crowd, Rayne finally started to move one step at a time.
Originally, Rayne was a species of wild horse, and herd life was ingrained in the body. Iris murmured, looking at Rayne moving only after losing the herd.
“I learned something new about you once more.”
It seemed that Rayne remembered that he would die if he separated from the herd of wild horses only after all horses were out of sight.
Iris let go of the horse’s reins when Rayne stopped because he was afraid of slipping and having his hooves sink.
“If you don’t follow me, you’ll lose me too.”
Saying so, she stepped through the mud one step at a time. Then, realizing that Rayne was slipping, she hurried back and wrapped her arm around the horse’s neck.
Hayer may be able to stop the horse from slipping on his own, but Iris had no chance. Eventually, she tumbled in the mud, pushed under the power of the horse.
Iris got up without showing any sign of pain.
“Look. I’ll hold you.”
Rayne got up right away and was watching the owner who was talking to him. Then they started walking down the muddy path again.
As soon as he heard Iris fall, Hayer, who was rushing up the hill, saw Iris through the fog and halted.
She was walking down the hill one step at a time with her horse, without the slightest care that she was covered in mud.
Hayer thought, perhaps, that there would be no war in the world if both the king of Luwan and Siere were like Iris Lepos.
But he also thought that if either of them were not like Iris Lepos, the country where she was king would be swallowed up by the other country.
Violence was the fastest way to work. When the mind was broken, orders were easily carried out.
The Knights of Tejas were not much different. Although they appeared relatively moderate, there was inhumane and harsh training for everyone to move in one body.
Iris arrived at Hayer’s spot before he knew it.
Her eyes widened of their own accord when she found him.
“Did you wait?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
Iris said, pulling Rayne’s reins and passing by him.
And so, the party managed to get out of the mud, and even there they moved without washing for a while longer. As the mud dried on her body while she walked, Iris continued to run her hand over her face. Still, she didn’t say anything about taking a break.
Then she looked up.
“It’s a river.”
Almost at the same time as she spoke, Hayer shouted loudly.
“It’s a river!”
Iris shut her mouth belatedly. A river wasn’t seen at all, but if she said that there was a river, they might have found out that she was from the Lepos family.
Fortunately, overshadowed by Hayer’s shout, no one could hear her, and Cyrus looked back at him and asked.
“Can you see the river, Sir Hayer?”
“I can see it. I’ve had great eyesight since I was a child.”
At his words, the knights of Siere, including Cyrus, smiled brightly.
Cyrus said.
“As expected, it’s the Lassor family. Originally, it is said that people of the Lassor family have very good eyes from generation to generation.”
“I resemble my father.”
“On the contrary, the progenitor of the royal family of Luwan was blind?”
At Cyrus’s words, the Knights of Tejas paused. It was because they were not sure at once whether that was just a question, sarcastic, or insulting.
Hayer replied indifferently.
“They say so. And the Leposes know how to find a way without looking.”
“Honestly, I don’t believe it.”
Cyrus smiled and went on.
“And there won’t be a day to find out. If a Lepos is in this land, I will cut them down as soon as I see them.”
Iris felt appalled at his words, but tried hard not to show it on her face.
The problem was the Tejas Knights, who were far from actors. When everyone’s face turned pale in an instant and they thought they would get caught, Hayer just smiled and said.
“If you say that, I’m in a difficult position. I am still using my mother’s family name, Asheri, but I can’t say I am not a member of the Lepos family because the temple of Luwan did not wholly declare that I am not the son of the king.”
“That is… of course Sir is an exception.”
“Is that so?”
At his question, the Tejas Knights were moderately pale, thinking that Hayer was from the Lepos family.
The party set off again, and fortunately the river soon came out. Along the river, it was the capital.
As soon as they found the river, the mud-covered party all jumped into the river, regardless of whether they were knights or soldiers. And they excitedly shook off the mud in the water.
Iris, too, was about to step into the river when Hayer grabbed her arm and pushed her back, shouting.
“Get out of the river! Get out right now!”
As soon as Hayer shouted, the Knights of Tejas quickly swam out of the river without even thinking. However, because the subject of the command was different, one of the soldiers who had been faltering in the river for a moment screamed.
It happened in a flash. A big fish opened its mouth and swallowed the soldier.
Blood splayed over the water and the rest of the soldiers ran out screaming.
The Knights of Tejas, who were familiar with monsters, immediately went into battle, and archers shot arrows to hit the fish. However, the Siere soldiers stood frozen in place.
Cyrus mumbled.
“In the river… If there are monsters in the river, drinking water in the capital…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Hayer mounted his horse.
“Let’s go to the capital. At once!”
