Previously
Iris purchases a handkerchief for Heyer and buys out all the wild purple flowers growing under the Divine Tree to treat his wound. Returning to the tavern where the Tehas Knights are heavily drinking, she stops Henke from shoving the innkeeper into a pot and calls Heyer up to his bedroom.
A King Is Born on the Road
Fearing a single treatment would not suffice, she had bought enough flowers to make Annamaria gasp in disbelief.
If even these proved not enough, she resolved to drag her feet and hold Heyer back from returning to the border by any means necessary.
After all, he had claimed with his own mouth that he would behave, so she fully intended to hold him to that promise.
Anxious that she might wake him after he had barely fallen asleep, and loath to hurt him worse by pressing on a wound that already looked agonizing, Iris had applied the medicine in such a state of tension that her fingertips grew freezing cold.
Gently, she placed a clean cotton cloth over the treated wound and pasted it down securely on all sides.
Having finished her task, Iris spoke to him softly without realizing it, perhaps out of relief.
“You sleep just like a child.”
Saying so, she carefully brought her hand toward his hair.
Surely stroking his hair wouldn’t hurt, would it?
After a brief hesitation, Iris smoothed back Heyer’s locks.
The soft strands slipped through her fingers. It felt so nice that Iris could not help stroking his hair a few more times.
Having indulged herself, she slipped his arm loosely into his shirtsleeve, pulled the covers tightly over him, and left the room.
A moment after Iris departed, Heyer raised his head. He pushed himself up to sit on the bed and murmured quietly.
He placed a hand over the shoulder Iris had just treated.
Truth be told, Heyer still did not believe Iris truly knew a remedy. He had simply thought it better not to hope in the first place, rather than harbor pointless expectations only to be disappointed.
Whatever her reasons, and whatever she had done before leaving, a cool sensation spread across his back.
Perhaps it was just his imagination, but the pain that lingered even after taking potent medicine seemed to have dulled a little.
To be honest, he had intended to live with this wound forever. Believing it to be a divine curse, he had already accepted that no method would allow him to escape it.
Regardless, Iris’s efforts were something to be grateful for.
For some reason, he never felt like she would bring him harm. In fact, he doubted she could do much damage even if she tried.
As those thoughts drifted through his mind, the lingering touch of Iris’s hand in his hair bothered him, prompting him to shake out his locks with his hand.
Heyer clutched his face, troubled by the heat still coursing through him. Whatever else she lacked, Iris’s sheer clumsiness when dealing with men still lingered in this bedchamber, tormenting his night.
* * *
Worn out from the previous day's events, Iris had slept like the dead. When she headed downstairs for breakfast, she noticed every member of the knight order was actively avoiding her gaze.
Even Annamaria, with whom she thought she had grown quite close yesterday, was doing the same.
Iris dished out a modest portion of the morning meal prepared by the tavernkeeper and sat down beside Annamaria.
“Why is everyone avoiding my eyes?”
At Iris’s question, Annamaria spoke up reluctantly.
“Well… with our Commander, did you… you know, sleep together…?”
Startled by the question, Iris shook her head.
“It wasn't anything like that.”
“How could it not be! Your Royal Highness called our Commander up to the bedroom and… just went wild on him!”
Iris faltered at Annamaria’s words, then asked incredulously,
“So… you think I had my way with innocent Heyer?”
Every knight in the room nodded in solemn agreement.
Stunned beyond belief, Iris asked,
“What on earth are you all imagining?”
“W-Well, but Your Royal Highness is such an exceptional beauty that if you put your mind to it…”
“…If I put my mind to it?”
“You could keep a whole harem if you wanted…”
“…”
There was truly no telling what wild delusions they were cooking up.
Iris thought there had to be some grave misunderstanding regarding her image, as well as the way these knights perceived Heyer.
One knight sniffled and pleaded,
“Your Royal Highness, please don't abandon our poor Commander…”
“…Me? Abandon him?”
“He may look tough, but he's softhearted on the inside…”
She said,
“So what you're saying… is that you're worried I'll play around with Heyer and then throw him away?”
The knights nodded their heads in unison.
Speechless at the absurdity, Iris protested,
“I was living in a convent until just a few days ago! What nonsense are you talking about?”
They clearly mistook their behavior from the night before—singing, dancing, and guzzling alcohol like they were going to tear the tavern apart—for something far cuter and more delicate than it appeared to others.
Dumbfounded, Iris picked up her spoon and began to eat. Words simply failed her.
Throughout the three months traveling toward the North Gate, Heyer had known full well that Iris was growing fonder and fonder of him.
Even so, to his very last breath, he had seen nothing beyond his single duty to save Luwan.
While Iris deeply respected that devotion, part of her could not help feeling a bitter resentment toward it as well.
Would things have been different if their circumstances had been better?
Even as she hovered between life and death back then, Iris had often turned that question over in her mind.
She doubted it. Without realizing it, Iris gave a wry scoff at the thought of the man named Heyer Asheri.
Even if he were to fall in love, he would undoubtedly place that love second to his duty. Such was the man Iris had observed for three months.
That shrewd man must have already realized the realm was in turmoil. After all, the Asheri family at the border had been the first to notice the gathering storm.
Thus, he would never even attempt to love until he was certain Luwan had stabilized. Heyer was just that sort of person.
Dwelling on it made the knights’ misunderstanding feel all the more unfair and upsetting.
What was wrong with asking someone to leave their drinks and go up to a bedroom? Maybe they just wanted to play chess!
Even as she grumbled internally, she knew such an excuse would hardly convince anyone. But then she heard Heyer’s voice; he had come downstairs unnoticed.
Henke said,
“Right in the middle of drinking… you played chess?”
“There was an unfinished match from back at House Asheri. We merely concluded it.”
“Really?”
“Naturally, after that… my blood was running hot, but Her Royal Highness, having just left a convent, was utterly appalled by the mere thought of such things…”
“Heyer! What on earth are you saying right now!”
Iris raised her voice again in disbelief.
Heyer spared her a brief glance and carried on.
“…Yet I did not give up and kept making advances on Her Royal Highness. But then she struck me with a blow that felt like the afterlife was beckoning to me, which ultimately forced me to retreat. That is the whole story.”
“So you were the scoundrel, Commander?”
“Well, scoundrel is a bit harsh.”
Annamaria slammed her hand down on the table, shot up, and barked,
“Hey, everyone! The Commander was a bastard all along!”
“…I wouldn't go as far as bastard…”
Whether Heyer spoke or not, the entire Tehas Knight Order hurled curses at him, entirely disregarding his rank as commander, demanding to know how he could shamelessly hit on her until he got beaten down.
Flustered by the chaotic turn of events, Iris could only blink in silence.
Rather than subject Iris to uncomfortable rumors, Heyer had evidently decided it was better to paint himself as an incorrigible rake.
She watched him quietly as he grew visibly weary under the endless barrage of scolding coming from every direction.
She simply found herself wishing that his pain would not last too long.