A King is Born on the Road

Hayer woke up in the morning and was feeling an unfamiliar freshness.

Usually, the day after a battle, there was pain in the muscles and wound.
Then he would blow away the pain with early morning training.
But today, there was little to no pain from the moment he opened his eyes.

“……”

When he sat up, he remembered how Iris made him drink a bottle of liquor the day before.

At that time, he drank whatever he was given, thinking that she must have been very angry with him, but now that he thought about it, it seemed that the purpose was to keep him asleep so that he could not participate in training.

In any case, she seemed calm and indifferent on the outside, but in fact, she was a very thoughtful woman on the inside.

It was a ridiculous idea, but it certainly made him feel refreshed.

Hayer found his mother’s letter on the dresser after getting out of bed.
Iris must have left it behind.

[Your brother is very angry, so what should I do? Hurry and return your brother’s lover.]

“……”

Hayer suddenly burst out laughing in spite of himself.

He grew up giving everything to his brother since he was very young.

Everyone said Sid would be the next king.
It was a given from the day he was born.

In fact, Hayer thought Sid’s life was better than that of a king.
Because the successor had no sense of duty nor failure, only hope and qualification.

Hayer envied Sid, who was forgiven for everything.
There was a staircase between him and himself that he could never climb.

Little Hayer often prayed at Tilla’s temple to let Sid fall if it was impossible for him to climb.

But was it because of that bad heart? Tilla rolled Hayer down the stairs from the spot he knew.

Hayer recalled the moment, at the age of ten, when he was convinced that he wasn’t his father’s real son.

He entered the maze in front of the castle where the Lepos checked their ability.

The inside had a plaque with the names of the Lepos people, but Hayer could not find his, nor could he get out.
In other words, it was proof to himself that he had no blood from the Lepos family.

After that incident, a very long meeting was held on how he would be treated.
Then, he was deprived of the surname Lepos and received the surname of his mother’s family, Asheri.

[Hurry and return your brother’s lover.]

He read the words for a moment, then tossed the letter into the fireplace.

It was ridiculous that his brother thought of using his mother, so he only laughed.
He didn’t think he would have grown up because he had been out of town for too long.

After he received this letter, he was rather repulsed.

He looked at the slowly burning letter and inadvertently shifted his gaze to his wrist.

“It’ll be bothersome if you can’t sleep.”

He laughed at the fact that Iris cared so much about it.

Turns out it was in the world.
Someone who can climb up the stairs higher than that Sid Lepos.

Perhaps someone born of a deeper Lepos family bloodline than him.

In terms of personality, she is a remarkable woman who is incomparable to his brother.

He remembered the maze where he had lost his way.

Sid got out of the maze in exactly three days.
It was an average amount of time, similar to the Lepos family’s heirs in history.

Sid couldn’t accept that he was ‘average.’ It’s average, of course, but some people took even longer than that.

That being said, there are also geniuses who have risen that extremely long time to the average level.

He wanted to be that genius.

So he entered the maze again and again.
However, it was about three or four hours at most that speeded up.

It was pointless.
Rather, he only proved repeatedly that he was not a genius.

But there was no comparison, so he was satisfied with that.

If Iris gets through the maze quickly, his eyes may roll over as he falls.

And if she becomes king…

Hayer was smiling unknowingly when the bedroom door burst open.

Dylan, who found Hayer awake in front of him, was blinking bewilderedly.

“You’re awake already?”

“Already?”

When he looked up at the sun, it was already past 2pm.

Dylan said.

“It’s all for the captain! Since you haven’t rested properly since your injury, the princess just put you to sleep.”

“Is this a break? I drank too much and passed out.”

“To be honest, I was told this and that about the captain.”

“It must be either Annamaria or Hencke.”

“Yes, one of the two.”

Dylan nodded back.

Hayer messed up Dylan’s hair in a way that was both ridiculous and cute, and left the bedroom.

* * *

Heading to the training ground, Hayer asked Ato, the captain of the Kawat soldiers who were facing him.

“Ato, have our knights been training properly?”

“Yes, they have.
Everyone wants you to wake up.
You know? Dame Annamaria is overly passionate, and Sir Hencke is like an old man.”

“They’re my right and left arms.”

“Yes.
Looking back, I think it’s all the captain’s fault.”

Ato used to be so blunt, but he became more playful after working with the Knights of Tejas.

Before Hayer could ask further, Ato said.

“The princess of Luwan went to the Kawat shrine.”

“…Why?”

Hayer paused and looked back at Ato.

No, why did the princess of Luwan go to the Kawat’s shrine and not Tilla?

“I don’t know.
Everyone tried to dissuade Luwan’s princess from entering the shrine, but… The reason is so obvious.”

“What’s the reason?”

“She’s curious.”

Hayer burst out laughing at Ato’s response to the impossible troublemaker.

Surprised at his reaction, Ato said.

“She seems to be having fun, the princess of Luwan.”

“She’s an interesting person.”

“Maybe you find her especially interesting.”

“Is that so?”

“Where there is laughter, there is always love.
Whether it’s love for a lover, family love, or friendship.”

After Ato said that, he bowed in the Kawat style by covering his forehead and then left.

Being left by himself, Hayer grumbled.

“At any rate, the Kawats are good at saying nonsense out of the blue.”

Hayer was troubled at the crossroads between the training ground and the village shrine where Iris was said to be.

But it wasn’t that big of a worry.
Training is something you can see every day, and the knights will realize the importance of the leader only when they are trained by Annamaria and Hencke.

“Please know how precious I am.”

Hayer spoke toward the training ground, then laughed, and headed toward the shrine with his hands behind his back.

The sight of a nun and princess who believed in the god Tilla and was in the shrine of those who believed that Tilla had died naturally intrigued him more.

afterword

was contemplating if i should put “attracted his interest more” instead at the end there tbh so pick whatever suits you better anyway this chapter was sm easier to edit LOL

stan ato my guy knows what’s up fr!!