A King is Born on the Road

She closed her eyes in surprise at the feeling of her body floating, but when she opened them again, her arm was caught in Hayer’s firm grasp.

Iris’s body swayed in the air.

Hayer, who grabbed her by the arm, unknowingly uttered a curse.

“Are you okay?”

Hayer pulled her body and asked. Iris was so startled that she stumbled, breathing heavily.

“Ah…”

Thanks to Hayer, Iris climbed back up and groaned softly at the pain felt in her body. It seemed like something was wrong with her muscles or bones from being caught in the sudden fall.

Hayer checked her wrist. When Iris shrank at the moment his hand touched her, Hayer’s expression stiffened.

“I’ll go down and see if it’s safe. Stay here.”

“Yes. If it gets dangerous, I’ll call the others.”

Hayer nodded, and first looked alternately at the opening and the hole where Iris almost fell.

Then he put a lamp with a handle under the hole and checked it, then got up again and said.

“Not this way.”

“What is there?”

“Nothing.”

There were only bones, let alone gold. It was probably a thief. Or the missing man that Eggers talked about.

Even if Iris was lucky to find the secret device and open the safe, as she had just done, she would have died in a trap set right in front of her.

Hayer was once again annoyed at the oddities of such a home. And after checking the entrance to the safe that was first opened, he went inside.

While he was checking inside, he heard Iris’s voice outside the entrance.

“I– Hayer.”

“Yes.”

When he answered, Iris asked.

“I’m sorry, but can you at least sing a song for me?”

“Ah, you think I might have fallen into a trap again?”

“Yes…”

Iris’s answer was full of embarrassment and anxiety.

Hayer burst into laughter, brought to tears in the safe. In any case, there were times when Iris made him laugh out of the blue.

He hummed, and Iris said nothing more, apparently satisfied. Then he heard her talking to herself.

“…Your voice is nice.”

Her words made him feel ticklish without any reason, so Hayer fiddled with his warm ears.

When he reached the end, there was a wall, and when he pushed it, it moved a little. It seemed like a door, not a wall.

It was a weight that would require three strong men to open it, but it was enough for Hayer alone.

He pushed hard on the door, and he heard a thud from behind him.

“Hayer?”

Iris called out to him, anxious when the humming stopped.

“You can come in now. Wait.”

Hayer returned to Iris as soon as he answered. The open entrance was an underground space about Hayer’s height. Frightened by the height, Iris hesitated, and he stretched out his arm.

“Sit down and give me your legs first.”

As Iris sat down, Hayer cradled her legs in one arm and supported her body with the other. He hardly seemed to feel her weight.

Hayer said, gently lowering Iris.

“Be careful. Call me if you need help.”

Iris nodded at his words.

The two of them walked towards the open door. Iris found the broken metal attached to the doorframe and told him.

“There must have been another lock.”

“Really?”

“This… did you cut it off by force?”

“Ah, that’s why it was heavy.”

Hayer said nonchalantly. Iris suddenly thought that Hayer must have been scary to the monsters in the south.

Moments later, Hayer opened the door completely, revealing a long staircase down. Hayer went down the stairs first, and then called Iris from inside a little while later.

“It’s amazing?”

“Really?”

Iris asked back in a curious voice, and followed Hayer down the stairs.

Hayer lit a torch inside, so it was quite bright inside.

Iris’s mouth opened automatically as she descended the stairs.

“Oh my gosh…”

There was an enormous amount of gold coins lying on the bottom of the safe. Looking back on the memories of living as a queen, it was the first time she had seen anything like this.

Iris blinked and cautiously descended the stairs.

“Wow.”

Hayer was seen lying on top of the money. It seemed like he wanted to try it once.

Iris laughed at Hayer.

“Is it fun?”

“It’s quite comfortable, gold coin bed.”

Iris, who was listening to Hayer say that, also sat next to him and said with a smile.

“It’s really more comfortable than I thought.”

“Then, before returning it, let’s do everything you want to do with gold coins.”

“Hmm. Shall we throw it?”

“Very violent and good.”

The two of them joked and laughed on the gold coins they found for a while, then left the safe to report to the head.

* * *

When they went out of the study and announced that they had found the gold coins, Eggers Everhart ran into the study in surprise.

A huge amount of gold coins poured out of the safe. In addition to gold coins, there were many treasures worth high prices if auctioned.

Eggers Everhart was overjoyed and said to the pair.

“I didn’t expect you to find it for real. What no one has found in the meantime, how!”

Then Iris said.

“I’m very glad if the power of the Lepos family was helpful.”

“Still, I can’t just let it go. It is polite to pay this kind of tribute to the person who found the item.”

Eggers took out a wad of gold coins for each of them. Perhaps he was overjoyed to find the safe, but it was a lot of money that was burdensome.

Eggers said that if they find the lost money, they will receive this much in return, so the two decided to receive the money for now. The place where they received it was a family that kept gold, so they kept the gold and received a certificate on the spot.

After fulfilling the condition, Eggers had no choice but to show them his eldest son.

In fact, he was still reluctant, but the gold coins that Iris found now were large enough to purify that reluctance.

Eventually, Eggers handed the key to the dungeon to the two of them and said.

“Then go ahead. It’s been so long since I’ve entered the dungeon that I don’t know if he can speak…”

Having said that, Eggers disappeared to check the gold coins again. He seemed to really enjoy counting and calculating his gold coins.

Iris stood with Hayer in front of the dungeon. Hayer took the key, taking the lead and said.

“The head of the Everhart family seems to be someone who doesn’t trust people at all. You’d better be careful because you don’t know when or where something will appear.”

The memory of the mace from the entrance of the castle seemed to have had a great influence on the impression of the Everhart family. It was equally shocking to Iris, so she nodded and pulled closer to Hayer.

The door to the dungeon opened. The two of them headed in cautiously.

Iris noticed Hayer, who was walking in the lead as if to protect her, was more nervous than usual.

All she’s seen so far was him acting like a sly fox, so it was unfamiliar. Iris was also nervous.

The underground prison was immensely large and long. No wonder, Everhart was full of thieves no matter how many they caught. As thieves stole goods, money, and even people, the knights of the family were also playing the role of vigilantes.

Iris felt fear in this dark, damp underground space. There was a terrible smell that she had never smelled before.

She could see the eyes of the prisoners on both sides, but not being able to see the sun, although not as much as plants, seemed to make people die. The eyes seen through the bars were all melancholic.

“Did he say it was the innermost part?”

Iris asked.

“……”

However, Hayer didn’t answer.

afterword

honestly after reading farther ahead and coming back to these chapters to post… the development in hayer’s feelings for iris and his general clinginess towards her is astounding lmao