CH 20

She thought once wouldn’t be enough, so she bought enough flowers to the point where Annamaria freaked out.

If these flowers seemed to be lacking, she would have to somehow hang on to Hayer to prevent him from returning to the border.

Anyhow, since he himself said he was obedient, she was going to push the cause.

She was worried that she’d wake him up in the middle of his sleep, and she didn’t want to hurt him even more by pressing the wound that looked painful, so after applying the medicine in such a nervous state, Iris’s fingertips froze with tension.

She carefully covered the wound with cotton cloth that stayed stuck on.

Iris, who had finished her work, talked to him unconsciously, as if she was relieved.

“You sleep like a child.”

She said, and carefully put her hand on his head.

Would it be okay to pet his hair?

Iris, who was wavering, swept her hand through Hayer’s hair.

Soft hair ran through her fingers. It felt good, so Iris couldn’t stop and swept it a few more times.

After patting him like so, she tucked the arm of his shirt in, put it on him roughly, then covered him tightly with a blanket, and left the room.

After Iris left, Hayer looked up. He rose to his feet and then sat on the bed, muttering.

He put his hand on the shoulder that Iris had treated.

In fact, Hayer still didn’t believe that Iris knew the cure. Rather than having useless expectations that could be abandoned, he thought it was better not to expect anything in the first place.

He didn’t know what Iris was thinking or what she was doing after she left, but his back felt cool.

He didn’t know if it was just his feeling, but the pain he felt after taking the strong medicine seemed to have disappeared a little.

Frankly, he intended to stay with this wound forever. Because he thought this was a curse from God, he had accepted that he could not escape by any means.

In any case, Iris’s efforts were appreciated.

For some reason, he didn’t think she’d hurt him. In fact, it never even occurred to him that she might have tried to hurt him.

Hayer, who thought so, brushed back his hair with his hand, concerned that Iris’s touch would remain on his head for a while.

Hayer covered his face, troubled by the heat remaining in his body. Iris didn’t know, but her clumsiness at dealing with men still remained in this bedroom, tormenting his night.

* * *

The day before, Iris was so tired when she fell asleep, and when she woke up, she went down to the first floor for breakfast and noticed that everyone in the Knights was avoiding her eyes.

Even Annamaria, whom she thought she became very close to yesterday, was the same.

Iris sat next to Annamaria, carrying the small plate of breakfast prepared by the bar owner.

“Why are you avoiding my eyes?”

When Iris asked, Annamaria reluctantly told her.

“That… With our captain, so… go to bed…”

Iris shook her head in surprise at Annamaria’s words.

“It’s not like that.”

“What do you mean it’s not! The princess called our captain into the bedroom… You did!”

Iris paused at Annamaria’s words, then asked again.

“So… I took the innocent Hayer?”

All the Knights nodded in agreement at her words.

Iris asked because she was so dumbfounded.

“What on earth are you thinking?”

“B-but since the princess is so beautiful, if she made up her mind…”

“…What if I make up my mind?”

“You could have everything…”

“……”

She had no idea what they were imagining.

Iris thought there was a slight error in their impression of her and Hayer that the people of this Order saw.

One of the knights sniffed and whimpered.

“Princess, don’t abandon our poor captain…”

“…Abandon him?”

“He’s a weak-hearted person even on the outside…”

She said.

“So… Hayer and I… Are you worried that I’ll throw him away after playing with him?”

The Knights nodded at her words.

Iris said, finding it ridiculous.

“I was in a convent until a few days ago. What are you talking about?”

It was clear that they were mistaking the image of them and making it seem cuter than it actually was, but then again, they were singing, dancing, and draining alcohol as if they were going to smash the bar the previous day.

Iris picked up the spoon and began to eat with bewilderment. She couldn’t say anything.

Throughout the three months she headed to the North Gate, Hayer clearly knew that Iris had grown more and more fond of him.

Nevertheless, there was only one mission in his eyes: to save Luwan until the last minute.

While Iris respected the mission, she honestly also resented it.

Would it have been different if things were better?

Iris used to have such a question, even at moments of wandering between life and death.

She didn’t think so. Iris laughed scornfully, thinking of the man named Hayer Asheri.

Perhaps even if he has a loved one, he would put his mission above them. That’s the kind of man Iris had seen in those three months.

The clever man may have already noticed that the situation was chaotic. Because the first to notice the chaotic situation was the Asheri family on the border.

So he definitely won’t try anything like love until he’s sure that Luwan is stable. Hayer was that kind of person.

Thinking like that made the misunderstanding of the Knights more unfair and upsetting.

Maybe she could’ve asked him to go to the bedroom for a drink, or maybe she wanted to play chess!

Despite thinking that, she thought she still wouldn’t be able to explain herself, but then she heard Hayer, who had come down before she knew it.

Hencke said.

“In the middle of drinking… You played chess?”

“There was an unfinished game from the Asheri family. We finished that game.”

“Really?”

“Of course, and then I… My body was heated up, but the princess, who had just come out of the convent, was horrified to even imagine such a thing…”

“Hayer! What are you talking about?!”

Iris raised her voice again.

Hayer, who glanced at her, continued.

“…But I didn’t give up and kept pestering the princess. Then I got hit, and the pain seemed to be beckoning me to the underworld, so I eventually resigned.”

“Was the captain being a bad guy?”

“Not a bad guy.”

Annamaria slammed the table and stood up.

“Guys! The captain was a crazy bastard!”

“…So you were a crazy son of a…”

Whatever Hayer said or didn’t say, all the Knights of Tejas were swearing at Hayer about how he could flirt until he got hit.

Iris was blinking with embarrassment.

Hayer probably thought he’d rather be treated like a playboy than let Iris hear something she didn’t want to hear.

She stared at Hayer, who was constantly being scolded here and there and was tired.

She just thought she didn’t want him to be hurt for long.

afterword

they were calling hayer 개새끼 (gaesaekki) at the end which basically means son of a bitch/crazy bastard LMAO you get it… also hayer going insane just bc iris was petting him im going crazy bonkers like wdym ur body was heating up at iris’s touch omg u want her so bad