CH 22

Hencke scolded her in a whisper for daring to say such a thing.

“What do you mean strike? Is the Lord’s territory that she controls a joke?”

“I don’t know because I haven’t tried it. Besides, you haven’t done it either.”

“Still, I learned what it’s like to play a battle with internal affairs.”

Hencke grumbled.

Iris, accustomed to turning a blind eye to the two quarreling, said to Hayer.

“Were the Halls unhappy with my appearance as a threat to Sid’s legitimacy?”

“Yes, but I didn’t know they wouldn’t let you in.”

Iris nodded sympathetically to Hayer’s words.

Hayer told the Knights.

“Wait here. I’ll go see the family head.”

“Yes, Captain.”

In any case, there seemed to be a hierarchy. Hayer didn’t have a commanding tone, but no one in the Knights expressed doubts and they remained still.

Feeling that it was all her fault that the Knights were not welcome, Iris bit her lip as she watched Hayer leave.

Iris apologized to the Knights, who were tied up in the middle of the road because of her.

“I’m sorry, because of me.”

Then Annamaria said.

“That’s all right. The monsters are going a little further north anyway.”

She said that and laughed.

The laughter was hearty, but Iris was somewhat confused whether it was a joke or a reproach. She thought maybe it was both.

Following the Knights of Tejas like this was bound to be a hindrance to them.

Iris was rather slow, and she was not fit or healthy due to her mother, who was constantly exposed to poison while pregnant. Still, she was confident in gritting her teeth and enduring it.

As they stopped on the road, dark clouds began to form in the sky.

Dylan looked up at the sky and said.

“It’s going to rain soon.”

The prediction was not wrong.

As the rain fell from the sky, the eyes of the Knights turned to Iris. Knowing they were worried about their weakness (Iris), Iris couldn’t raise her head due to shame.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hayer followed the rider to meet the head of the Hall family.

Drops of rain began to fall along the way. Normally, he wouldn’t have thought much about whether it would rain or not, but today he was worried about Iris.

The Tejas Knights were monsters who could fly around without catching a cold even if they were immersed in ice water for several days, but that was not the case for Iris.

To Hayer, she looked like a grass flower whose petals would fall even at the slightest bit of heavy rain, and he was sure that it would be the same for the other Knights.

The Hall family’s mansion was so large and beautiful that it was not a waste of the word ‘mansion.’

If the Everhart family’s castle stood sternly like a warden over the port where large sums of money came and went, the Hall family’s mansion seemed to be a product of the abundance of overflowing food.

Hayer moved to a villa-style log cabin where Sandra was.

As he entered, the smell of raw grain flour wafted through the air, likely coming from the mill. It was a pleasant smell.

Sandra, who was discussing this year’s weather with the older farmers of the estate, looked back at Hayer.

Hayer greeted with a hand on one chest.

“Nice to meet you. I am Hayer Asheri, the captain of the Knights of Tejas, the son of Eswa Lepos and Peonia Asheri.”

“I told you not to step on my estate, but to turn around and leave.”

When Sandra spoke in a cold tone, Hayer replied.

“I know the Hall territory is a place that doesn’t drive out guests that have been in the rain.”

“I support His Highness Sid Lepos. I cannot welcome the princess who promised to marry and then ran away from His Highness, and the Lord who seduced and encouraged her.”

“What do you mean encouraging…”

Hayer knew Sid would adapt and dramatize the situation to his liking.

Well, it’s always been a thing for Sid to slander others for his own benefit since he was young. Thanks to that, his parents always knew Hayer as something like a preliminary killer beyond a troublemaker.

Hayer often thought that if it weren’t for his maternal grandfather, Ritero, he might have grown up as they thought.

Hayer said.

“My brother and Iris never promised to get married.”

“Don’t lie. How long have they been talking about marriage between the two?”

“Iris has lived in a convent her whole life, and she was never informed that she would be getting married.”

“Marriage is a promise between families. You should just follow the family’s decision. Why are you so stubborn and causing a disturbance?”

There was no noble on this continent who would understand the pursuit of love in marriage.

There are very few cases where people gave up everything for love, but the result has never been successful.

To all the nobles of Luwan, the current situation Iris was in was nothing more than a selfish child who knew nothing and made an immature choice.

Hayer was aware of that.

In fact, while Iris was avoiding marriage by helping and giving him the slightest hope of knowing the cure, the truth was that Hayer found that it didn’t quite make sense in his head.

There was no answer except for the hypothesis that she wanted to be king herself, but it seemed even more absurd for Iris to become king.

As the two were confronting each other, it began to rain heavily outside.

Hayer said.

“Princess Iris is waiting in the heavy rain.”

“So what?”

“If the princess falls ill and dies in the rain on the Hall family territory, how will it be recorded in history?”

“…It will remain as a family that left a guest in the rain and killed her.”

Sandra muttered and gestured reluctantly to the rider.

Soon the rider saluted her and ran out again to pick up the party.

Sandra wrapped up the meeting and returned to the mansion with Hayer.

“Only while it rains. I will kick you out the moment it stops, so know that.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Let’s have a drink while you’re here.”

In any case, the Hall family was a family that loved to serve guests and took pride in it.

The food is always plentiful and all kinds of ingredients are available, so they get satisfaction from showing off by serving delicious food.

Sandra of the Hall family also did not seem to want to treat the guests poorly, even if they happened to be an unwanted guest.

She took Hayer to a spacious party hall where all the knights could enter, and immediately took out the rice wine and began to serve it.

* * *

Iris wore the black raincoat she brought and stroked the back of Rane’s neck, the horse she had ridden from Asheri.

“I’m glad you like the rain.”

Rane seemed to want to run excitedly on top of the quagmire, energized after the heavy rain.

While Iris was barely calming down her horse, the rider appeared and conveyed the head’s permission of inviting her to the Hall family estate only to shelter her from the rain.

Then, all the Knights cheered with excitement.

Dylan said when Iris was puzzled by the way they liked it.

“The hospitality of the Hall family is famous for being great. Was it three years ago? Just once, it rained so hard like today while I was passing by the manor, and the head invited me to eat a lot of delicious and good food that made my stomach explode.”

“I see.”

Iris was curious to know how great it was. She was worried that they wouldn’t invite her because they were reluctant to do so, but it was over with.

Upon arriving at the mansion, Sandra’s eyes widened at the sight of Iris drenched in the rain, and immediately allowed her to use her own bathroom.

Iris said embarrassingly as she was pushed back into Sandra’s bathroom.

“Other knights…?”

“I know because I invited them, but they were people who could drink and sleep without any problem even if they shook off the rain. But the princess isn’t like that, are you? Wash yourself in warm water and come out. It would be better for the princess to eat and take medicine before going to bed, rather than partying.”

“…I want to see that great Hall family party, too?”

Iris said, unsure if she was really trying to alienate her, but Sandra scolded her.

“The party will continue even after you wake up.”

At her words, Iris had no choice but to go into the bathroom and warm herself up first.

Compared to the size of the mansion, the family head’s bathroom was surprisingly simple. When she filled the wooden bathtub with warm water and took a bath, she felt as if the scent of wood was on her body.

afterword

hayer and everyone else being worried about iris <333 although i’m sure some/a lot probably do see her as a burden but we ignore that! also i know this novel seems pretty slow but trust me it’s very much needed (the war is in 3 years, after all) and there are plenty of giggle-worthy moments between FL and ML!!