Previously
Heyer agrees to accompany Iris to the port city of Everhart once she recovers, frankly explaining how he warded off Sid with the threat of a duel over her hand. While recuperating, Iris plays chess against Litero Asheri, reflecting on the lessons and games Heyer taught her on the trek toward the North Gate.
A King Is Born on the Road
* * *
Iris looked down at the clothes laid out in the room. It was a light suit of leather combat attire.
With the maid’s help, she changed and reached beneath the bed for the spear she had hidden away. The space was empty.
“Annie, did you happen to see my belongings under here?”
“Oh, the young master took that.”
Then again, having hidden a weapon in someone else’s house, having it taken was only natural.
Iris nodded, then turned to Annie, who looked reluctant to part after growing fond of her over the past few days.
“Thank you. You saved my life. I will never forget it.”
“Come now, what’s this about saving your life… Just pay me back handsomely.”
Iris smiled and nodded at Annie’s cheeky reply.
That playful air lingered perpetually throughout the Asheri annex.
Yet Iris knew full well that the main estate was entirely different.
Flodin Asheri, eldest son of the patriarch Litero Asheri, had neglected his duty to guard the border throughout the war, and near its end, he had defected outright to the enemy nation, dealing Luwan a devastating blow.
Of course, House Asheri had not been the only problem. Thinking back now, countless people in Luwan were already dying, and the number of slaves kept growing.
An increase in slaves meant an increase in commoners unable to repay their debts and being sold off; the very people who should have formed the kingdom’s sturdy foundation had begun collapsing long ago.
Iris urgently needed to assess the situation in the port city of Everhart.
Annie hesitated a moment before speaking up.
“Um, could you perhaps buy me a handkerchief when you visit Everhart?”
“What kind? Which color?”
“Yellow! The more exotic it looks, the better.”
Iris nodded.
When Annie tried to hand over some coins, Iris waved them away.
“Nonsense. I’ll bring it as a gift.”
“In that case… I’ll leave it to you.”
Iris recalled that in the past, she never would have been able to make such an offer.
Originally, she had not known she was entitled to any money. Even after becoming queen, quite some time had passed before she realized it.
Once she reached the capital and obtained a royal signet from the archbishop to prove her royal lineage, she could borrow large sums anywhere in Luwan with that token.
Lenders parted with money readily enough, confident the royal house would settle any debt incurred by royalty.
On top of that, there had been wealth granted to Iris merely for being ‘royalty.’ Since no one had told her any of this back then, she had endured hard times without a single coin for quite a while.
After promising Annie the gift, Iris went to inspect the horse Heyer had provided.
The moment she laid eyes on the spotted white horse led forward by the stable hand, her steps quickened without her realizing it.
There was no mistaking it. It was the very same horse she had ridden toward the North Gate, the last one that had remained in the royal castle after growing wretched and worn.
“Heavens…”
Six years later, it had been aged and neglected into a pitiful state, but now it looked sturdy enough to gallop to the ends of the earth.
It was the mount that had stayed by her side for three full months. Iris could not help feeling she knew this creature intimately.
What it had loved six years later, it still loved now, and it offered its loyalty to Iris at once.
The stable hand remarked in wonder,
“He’s gentle, but he doesn’t open up easily to strangers… I’ve never seen him act like he’s met his lifelong master before.”
“He seems to be a fine horse.”
At her words, the stable hand nodded with pride.
“You have an eye for it, my lady. Yes, he is. Small as a mustang, perhaps, but his stamina is unmatched among the many horses of House Asheri.”
She already knew.
As they had journeyed north and the cold deepened, even when the Tehas Knights’ mounts had collapsed one by one, refusing to take another step, this one had never shown weakness. Steadfast to the end, he had carried Iris all the way.
Back then, because they had no choice but to use the horses for food one after another, Iris had deliberately withheld a name so as not to grow too attached. But things were different now.
Iris asked,
“What is his name?”
“Rain, my lady.”
“Rain.”
Iris nodded, wrapping her arms around the horse.
“So your name was Rain.”
Watching Iris share such an affectionate reunion with the mount, Heyer looked slightly perplexed, then whispered to the stable hand,
“They must have been lovers in a past life.”
“Oh, please. Grow up a little, young master.”
“How much more grown up do you expect me to get?”
Heyer grumbled as he mounted his own horse, then addressed Iris.
“The road from Asheri to the capital is fairly well paved. Even so, are you certain you prefer this over a carriage?”
“We don’t have much time.”
“Time for what?”
Iris paused at his question.
She parted her lips.
“…Your wound.”
“You may just call me by my name. We’ll be traveling far together, so we ought to be on friendly terms.”
“Then… you as well.”
“Very well.”
Heyer smiled and urged his horse into a run.
Two guards accompanied them to carry the baggage. Together with them, Iris set out for the capital.
* * *
The ride from House Asheri to the capital took three full days.
The capital was encircled by an immense expanse of water known as the River of the Moon. Snow rarely fell here more than once every few years, and with February setting in, temperatures rose above ten degrees Celsius.
Entering the capital required crossing the wide river, but across its long stretch lay only a single bridge. Consequently, several ferries operated solely to shuttle people and cargo between the banks.
Iris soon boarded a ferry alongside her horse.
It was a season where the sky resembled the water, and the water mirrored the sky.
The view was so clear she felt she could see to the edge of the world. Inhaling the damp air, Iris looked toward the castle of House Everhart visible far to the south.
Appearing behind her, Heyer waved a hand before her eyes to announce his presence.
“Everhart is heavily guarded, given the vast sums of money flowing through it. It would be wise to brace yourself.”
“I will.”
Iris had only heard talk of Everhart; she had never experienced its atmosphere firsthand.
House Everhart functioned as a treasury, appropriately exchanging the myriad currencies flooding into the port and keeping merchants’ gold secure.
The merchants had deposited their wealth there under the explicit premise that Luwan remained stable; the moment the kingdom began to falter, they had swarmed in to reclaim their gold.
When Everhart stumbled, Luwan had collapsed in a single stroke.
In the ‘Save Luwan’ game they had played on the road to the North Gate, the knights had prioritized defending Everhart and the Hall family above all else.
Bordering Everhart directly to the east, the Hall family were their bitter rivals, yet they cultivated nearly all the wheat distributed across Luwan.
Influenced by that game, Iris felt an intense pressure that those two families had to be safeguarded first.
Before long, the ferry reached the outskirts of the capital.
Here, even on the capital’s outer fringe, the roads were paved with sturdy stone, and the climate was far milder than at the convent she had left behind.
Yet the foul stench mingled in the air stung her nose. It was a vile odor she had never once encountered in the frozen winters of the north.
Outside the capital, even the most destitute drifter had at least a hovel to lie in, but not here.
Amid the buildings and paved roads of the capital, vagrants lay sprawled in sleep on the streets without so much as a straw mat beneath them.
Iris said to Heyer,
“First, we must go to the Great Temple and collect the signet.”
“I’ve already instructed the knights to meet us there.”
At Heyer’s reply, Iris nodded.
To her eyes, he was someone who had no need to mind anyone’s opinion, yet he was remarkably observant and quick to anticipate what others desired.
Perhaps it was because he took after his grandfather, Litero, Iris thought.
Steering their horses carefully past passing carriages on the road toward the Great Temple, they advanced at a steady pace.
Iris stepped into the Great Temple, a place she had visited frequently during her days as queen.
The temple comprised three buildings, and within the largest, central hall stood a colossal statue of Tilla, the God of All Creation.
The statue was a miraculous relic whose origins and craftsmanship remained entirely unknown, inspiring every devout believer across the continent to visit the Great Temple at least once before they died.
Iris bowed before Tilla’s likeness, clasped her hands, and offered a prayer. Yet for some reason, Heyer remained standing outside, never stepping into the temple hall.