On the other side of the corridor through the walls, she ran into the lower middle class of Virore Castle. They were all better dressed than the people Iris had seen in Luwan’s capital.
Being able to pay attention to one’s appearance meant that the problem of eating and living was solved. Therefore, it was possible to know that the quality of life of the Sieres were higher than that of the Luwans without looking closely at the inside.
In Iris’s view, the most interesting thing in Virore Castle was by far the capital.
It was surprising for Iris that even at the end of the desert, they were able to draw water and use it as much as they wanted.
As the Sieres were highly interested in architecture, they were also good at drawing water. The groundwater was pumped up enough, and the water that was drawn into the well-developed water pipes was gushing out from the center of Virore Castle.
There was a well-made pond made of stone where the water was spouting, and clear water was splashing. However, at first glance for Iris, they did not drink the water immediately.
Above all, when the Tejas Knights ran frantically and tried to drink water with their hands, people ran from the side and stopped them.
“Don’t drink it right away!”
The expression of the Tejas Knights, who were thirsty, crumpled. They wondered if they would not allow the Luwans to drink water, but fortunately, the people of Virore Castle had an explanation.
“The groundwater here is high in salinity, so you’ll be in big trouble if you drink it while you’re this thirsty!”
“…Is that so?”
Only then did the Knights of Tejas step back.
One child who saw it said.
“Mom! Can I give them water?”
The Tejas Knights, who had their hoods removed, were obviously thirsty and their lips were dry and cracked. When the child who felt sorry at the sight asked, the child’s mother was also surprised and gave him a bucket of water.
The child ran over, looked around, and handed Hayer the bucket of water.
“This water is salt-free, so you can drink it. You give it out evenly!”
“Yes, thank you. That’s nice.”
Hayer picked up the bucket of water and handed it to Hencke first.
Hencke moistened his lips with water, and said happily,
“Yes. It’s salt-free water. You can drink it.”
When he returned it to Hayer, he naturally handed over the bucket to Iris. Iris was surprised by Hayer’s restraint of handing over water without a sip, even though he must have been thirsty from crossing the desert.
Because it was a waste of time to postpone and yield to each other, Iris immediately drank the water and handed the bucket to the doctor, who was about to die. After everyone drank, Hayer drank the water last.
Meanwhile, the king, Carl Lassor, approached from afar.
Tension instantly flowed inside the castle, which felt friendly.
Iris was looking directly at the two of them. She looked at Carl Lassor, but also Hayer, who looked at his father.
Iris was curious about Hayer’s feelings from the time she heard that he was the son of Carl Lassor. Because the man he believed to be his father wasn’t, Hayer had to spend his childhood dotted with pain. But how did he feel when his father was the king of the neighbouring country?
While she was thinking, Carl Lassor got closer to the party.
Carl Lassor got off his horse and asked Hayer.
“Are you my son?”
Hayer opened his mouth at his words.
“I heard so.”
Carl Lassor was looking at his son with a satisfied face. In terms of appearance and, most of all, physique, the father liked his son, who had stamina that was not exhausted until the end even after passing through the desert.
Not only Iris, but the other Tejas Knights were also exhausted. They all leaned against the wall because it was hard to stand even after barely quenching their thirst. No matter how bad the neighbouring country was, they couldn’t just sit down in front of the king of another country, so they all struggled to stand still.
Iris was more tired than them and dizzy, but she was struggling to hold out. She wished they could go in and rest quickly, but Carl Lassor wouldn’t let them in as easily as he would test.
Iris turned to the other side, trying to forget the difficulties. It was because she thought it would be less difficult to observe interesting things.
The interior of the castle was quite wide. There were no very large buildings, so she could see far away, and there seemed to be quite a large number of people living here. Iris, who was looking at people like that, followed Carl Lassor as he moved.
Hayer didn’t seem to have any particular hatred for Carl Lassor.
While talking like that, Carl Lassor paused and walked to Iris.
“By the way, this female.”1
Iris stood tall at the movement of Carl Lassor approaching right in front of her.
She had goosebumps all over her body.
She still remembered the death of the Luwans in the white snow before crossing the North Gate. At the time, she didn’t think it was necessary to kill that much, but now she knew why.
Since the land of Siere was taken away by monsters, Carl Lassor wanted to give the land of Luwan to his people who had lost their hometowns. So like that, killing old people and children. Everything in Luwan was swept away like bugs in an abandoned house.
That’s impossible.
You’re still a human, but how can you do that?
Iris was not able to express her anger because she was pretending not to be a princess, but to be a woman from a commoner’s house who got struck in the eyes by Hayer. So while she was gritting her teeth, Carl Lassor asked Hayer.
“You must have brought your lover.”
“Ah, yes. We got along in the middle of it all.”
Hayer knew of her hatred to some extent, so he held Iris’s waist tightly in one arm to hide it.
Iris paused at his action. She suddenly came to her senses and raised her head toward Hayer.
Carl Lassor said with a click of his tongue.
“As you know, your wife will become the Queen of Siere someday. You can’t marry any woman.”
Hayer replied deftly to his words.
“I know that, but right now I’m going to meet someone I want to meet.”
Carl Lassor laughed at his answer.
“It doesn’t matter, but keep this in mind.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you try to place a woman as you please in the queen’s seat who does not satisfy me, I will not let you go.”
Iris felt goosebumps all over her body at the harsh voice of Carl Lassor. She felt the gaze watching her weighing down on her body. The pressure he gave was not normal.
Subsequently, she recalled Carl Lassor’s words, ‘the queen’s seat.’
On her way here, she had one question she wanted to ask Hayer the most. But even when she got here, she couldn’t bring the question up to him. Because she was afraid of the answer.
She really wondered what Hayer wanted to be. Maybe he wanted to be the King of Siere.
Or rather, was there any reason not to want to be king?
If so, what was her relationship with him now?
Iris imagined for a moment about becoming the Queen of Siere, which she had never thought about.
It was a very brief thought, but just that short thought made her want to vomit. She couldn’t breathe.
Iris stopped walking, grabbed the wall, and struggled, and Hayer stopped and returned to her. Then, without question, he took her in his arms and said to his father.
“I want my lover to lie down first.”
At his words, Carl Lassor called the attendant without saying anything. And after having each of the Knights of Tejas given a room, he told Hayer.
“Let’s have a drink at dinner.”
“Yes, I’ll be right there.”
Saying that, he held Iris and followed the attendant to the empty room.
The attendant said.
“You and the lady can use this room here.”
“Thank you.”
Hayer said, closing the door as soon as the attendant left. Then he patted Iris on the back, who was struggling to breathe, and laid her down on the bed in the room given by the attendant.
Hayer said in a playful tone.
“Regardless of the country, you hate it if you are a queen.”
While Iris was distressed from his joke, she smiled faintly without realizing it.
As she laid down and relaxed, her breathing returned little by little.
Hayer asked.
“Are you okay now?”
“I’m sorry, I guess it was because I didn’t have enough energy.”
“Uh-huh.”
Hayer pretended not to know her feelings and just nodded.
After that, he continued to make small jokes, thinking he could calm her down with jokes.
Hayer, who made her laugh like that, asked belatedly.
“By the way, did you hear whose room this was?”
Hayer himself was surprised by Iris’s condition, so he was constantly spilling out words and just passed through the attendant’s words. Then, almost at the same time as Iris, he remembered that the attendant told them to share this room.
They moved together the whole time, but it was still awkward and embarrassing to share the same room.
Hayer, who was usually not embarrassed, looked away embarrassedly.
“That… how do I use the storage? I actually hardly need it.”
“I don’t have a lot of baggage either.”
“That’s true…”
They had just thrown away the baggage they had from crossing the desert. So neither of them had more baggage than necessary. There was an awkward silence between the two for a moment.
afterword
1. female: the word used here means girl/woman but in an offensive/looking down upon way[↩️]
the way they only spent one night in this room too what a shame… but also how silly they feel shy about it like yall shared a bathtub and bed already and did the nasty???
On the other side of the corridor through the walls, she ran into the lower middle class of Virore Castle. They were all better dressed than the people Iris had seen in Luwan’s capital.
Being able to pay attention to one’s appearance meant that the problem of eating and living was solved. Therefore, it was possible to know that the quality of life of the Sieres were higher than that of the Luwans without looking closely at the inside.
In Iris’s view, the most interesting thing in Virore Castle was by far the capital.
It was surprising for Iris that even at the end of the desert, they were able to draw water and use it as much as they wanted.
As the Sieres were highly interested in architecture, they were also good at drawing water. The groundwater was pumped up enough, and the water that was drawn into the well-developed water pipes was gushing out from the center of Virore Castle.
There was a well-made pond made of stone where the water was spouting, and clear water was splashing. However, at first glance for Iris, they did not drink the water immediately.
Above all, when the Tejas Knights ran frantically and tried to drink water with their hands, people ran from the side and stopped them.
“Don’t drink it right away!”
The expression of the Tejas Knights, who were thirsty, crumpled. They wondered if they would not allow the Luwans to drink water, but fortunately, the people of Virore Castle had an explanation.
“The groundwater here is high in salinity, so you’ll be in big trouble if you drink it while you’re this thirsty!”
“…Is that so?”
Only then did the Knights of Tejas step back.
One child who saw it said.
“Mom! Can I give them water?”
The Tejas Knights, who had their hoods removed, were obviously thirsty and their lips were dry and cracked. When the child who felt sorry at the sight asked, the child’s mother was also surprised and gave him a bucket of water.
The child ran over, looked around, and handed Hayer the bucket of water.
“This water is salt-free, so you can drink it. You give it out evenly!”
“Yes, thank you. That’s nice.”
Hayer picked up the bucket of water and handed it to Hencke first.
Hencke moistened his lips with water, and said happily,
“Yes. It’s salt-free water. You can drink it.”
When he returned it to Hayer, he naturally handed over the bucket to Iris. Iris was surprised by Hayer’s restraint of handing over water without a sip, even though he must have been thirsty from crossing the desert.
Because it was a waste of time to postpone and yield to each other, Iris immediately drank the water and handed the bucket to the doctor, who was about to die. After everyone drank, Hayer drank the water last.
Meanwhile, the king, Carl Lassor, approached from afar.
Tension instantly flowed inside the castle, which felt friendly.
Iris was looking directly at the two of them. She looked at Carl Lassor, but also Hayer, who looked at his father.
Iris was curious about Hayer’s feelings from the time she heard that he was the son of Carl Lassor. Because the man he believed to be his father wasn’t, Hayer had to spend his childhood dotted with pain. But how did he feel when his father was the king of the neighbouring country?
While she was thinking, Carl Lassor got closer to the party.
Carl Lassor got off his horse and asked Hayer.
“Are you my son?”
Hayer opened his mouth at his words.
“I heard so.”
Carl Lassor was looking at his son with a satisfied face. In terms of appearance and, most of all, physique, the father liked his son, who had stamina that was not exhausted until the end even after passing through the desert.
Not only Iris, but the other Tejas Knights were also exhausted. They all leaned against the wall because it was hard to stand even after barely quenching their thirst. No matter how bad the neighbouring country was, they couldn’t just sit down in front of the king of another country, so they all struggled to stand still.
Iris was more tired than them and dizzy, but she was struggling to hold out. She wished they could go in and rest quickly, but Carl Lassor wouldn’t let them in as easily as he would test.
Iris turned to the other side, trying to forget the difficulties. It was because she thought it would be less difficult to observe interesting things.
The interior of the castle was quite wide. There were no very large buildings, so she could see far away, and there seemed to be quite a large number of people living here. Iris, who was looking at people like that, followed Carl Lassor as he moved.
Hayer didn’t seem to have any particular hatred for Carl Lassor.
While talking like that, Carl Lassor paused and walked to Iris.
“By the way, this female.”1
Iris stood tall at the movement of Carl Lassor approaching right in front of her.
She had goosebumps all over her body.
She still remembered the death of the Luwans in the white snow before crossing the North Gate. At the time, she didn’t think it was necessary to kill that much, but now she knew why.
Since the land of Siere was taken away by monsters, Carl Lassor wanted to give the land of Luwan to his people who had lost their hometowns. So like that, killing old people and children. Everything in Luwan was swept away like bugs in an abandoned house.
That’s impossible.
You’re still a human, but how can you do that?
Iris was not able to express her anger because she was pretending not to be a princess, but to be a woman from a commoner’s house who got struck in the eyes by Hayer. So while she was gritting her teeth, Carl Lassor asked Hayer.
“You must have brought your lover.”
“Ah, yes. We got along in the middle of it all.”
Hayer knew of her hatred to some extent, so he held Iris’s waist tightly in one arm to hide it.
Iris paused at his action. She suddenly came to her senses and raised her head toward Hayer.
Carl Lassor said with a click of his tongue.
“As you know, your wife will become the Queen of Siere someday. You can’t marry any woman.”
Hayer replied deftly to his words.
“I know that, but right now I’m going to meet someone I want to meet.”
Carl Lassor laughed at his answer.
“It doesn’t matter, but keep this in mind.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you try to place a woman as you please in the queen’s seat who does not satisfy me, I will not let you go.”
Iris felt goosebumps all over her body at the harsh voice of Carl Lassor. She felt the gaze watching her weighing down on her body. The pressure he gave was not normal.
Subsequently, she recalled Carl Lassor’s words, ‘the queen’s seat.’
On her way here, she had one question she wanted to ask Hayer the most. But even when she got here, she couldn’t bring the question up to him. Because she was afraid of the answer.
She really wondered what Hayer wanted to be. Maybe he wanted to be the King of Siere.
Or rather, was there any reason not to want to be king?
If so, what was her relationship with him now?
Iris imagined for a moment about becoming the Queen of Siere, which she had never thought about.
It was a very brief thought, but just that short thought made her want to vomit. She couldn’t breathe.
Iris stopped walking, grabbed the wall, and struggled, and Hayer stopped and returned to her. Then, without question, he took her in his arms and said to his father.
“I want my lover to lie down first.”
At his words, Carl Lassor called the attendant without saying anything. And after having each of the Knights of Tejas given a room, he told Hayer.
“Let’s have a drink at dinner.”
“Yes, I’ll be right there.”
Saying that, he held Iris and followed the attendant to the empty room.
The attendant said.
“You and the lady can use this room here.”
“Thank you.”
Hayer said, closing the door as soon as the attendant left. Then he patted Iris on the back, who was struggling to breathe, and laid her down on the bed in the room given by the attendant.
Hayer said in a playful tone.
“Regardless of the country, you hate it if you are a queen.”
While Iris was distressed from his joke, she smiled faintly without realizing it.
As she laid down and relaxed, her breathing returned little by little.
Hayer asked.
“Are you okay now?”
“I’m sorry, I guess it was because I didn’t have enough energy.”
“Uh-huh.”
Hayer pretended not to know her feelings and just nodded.
After that, he continued to make small jokes, thinking he could calm her down with jokes.
Hayer, who made her laugh like that, asked belatedly.
“By the way, did you hear whose room this was?”
Hayer himself was surprised by Iris’s condition, so he was constantly spilling out words and just passed through the attendant’s words. Then, almost at the same time as Iris, he remembered that the attendant told them to share this room.
They moved together the whole time, but it was still awkward and embarrassing to share the same room.
Hayer, who was usually not embarrassed, looked away embarrassedly.
“That… how do I use the storage? I actually hardly need it.”
“I don’t have a lot of baggage either.”
“That’s true…”
They had just thrown away the baggage they had from crossing the desert. So neither of them had more baggage than necessary. There was an awkward silence between the two for a moment.
afterword
1. female: the word used here means girl/woman but in an offensive/looking down upon way[↩️]
the way they only spent one night in this room too what a shame… but also how silly they feel shy about it like yall shared a bathtub and bed already and did the nasty???
