Chapter 161: A Commotion at Dawn
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 161: A Commotion at Dawn
While Hyun-woo was setting up the tents, Iris and Sylvia left the campsite and headed into the forest.
As they walked through the dark forest, their conversation continued endlessly.
Of course, it was Iris who mostly led the conversation.
Iris asked Sylvia many things: what she had been doing all this time, if she was well, what the situation in Peledeia was like, and so on.
At first, Sylvia answered her questions sincerely with a faint smile, but as time went on, her expression gradually darkened.
“Sylvia...? You don't look well. Are you alright?”
“...I am only grateful for Your Majesty's concern. It is merely a bit of fatigue; there is no major problem.”
There was no awkwardness in the conversation between the monarch and her subject.
But Iris seemed dissatisfied with something.
“This is a reunion with my little sister after 200 years. When it's just the two of us, why don't we drop the formalities for a while?”
“...”
Iris Remeria Baiart Peledeia.
Sylvia Mervis Winterbane.
Baiart, the surname of the royal family, and Winterbane, the surname of the ducal family. As their names suggest, the two were not blood-related sisters.
Instead, their bond, forged since childhood, had led them to regard each other as true sisters.
Iris, who was an only child, treated Sylvia like a younger sister, and Sylvia, in turn, followed Iris as her older sister.
But much changed when Iris ascended to the throne. There was no way Sylvia, who was not even her blood sister, could treat the woman who now stood above all others as casually as before.
Thud.
Her face contorted in anguish, Sylvia suddenly dropped to her knees and collapsed to the ground.
“S-Sylvia?!”
“...Your Majesty, I still remember that day.”
Two hundred years had passed, but the day of the rebellion, a day she could never forget, came back to her vividly.
The day her subject, Resilia, succeeded in her rebellion, the day Iris was imprisoned in the dungeon beneath the World Tree—Sylvia had been there for all of it.
As the vice-commander of the First Royal Knights.
“For my incompetence in failing to protect you, Your Majesty, I implore you to take this opportunity and punish me.”
Sylvia's forehead touched the ground.
A startled Iris approached her, but Sylvia remained motionless.
“Sylvia, you don't have to do this...”
As Iris gently placed a hand on her shoulder, she could feel it trembling faintly.
“...The moment Your Majesty was locked away in the underground prison by the hands of traitors is still vivid in my mind. I still feel the helplessness of having to watch blankly, like a fool. On the day I fled the country to escape the purge, I even rationalized my actions, telling myself it was all to save you someday, just to ease my pathetic guilt.”
Though she seemed to be speaking calmly, Iris, who knew Sylvia better than anyone, understood exactly what she was feeling as she confessed her failings.
Iris recalled Sylvia's oath ceremony.
She remembered the day Sylvia had become her knight—Sylvia, who could have lived a life others would envy, marrying a young lord from another high noble family as the eldest daughter of the Winterbane duchy.
Iris had always felt a sense of debt over Sylvia becoming a knight.
Because if she hadn't said those words when they were young, Sylvia would never have become one.
Iris carefully observed Sylvia's hand, which was pressed against the ground. It was the hand of a swordswoman, covered in calluses and scars that didn't suit her beautiful appearance.
Iris lowered herself to Sylvia's eye level and enveloped her hand in her own.
“Come now, get up. You'll scrape your knees.”
“Y-Your Majesty... I...”
“Are you going to make me say it twice?”
“...My apologies.”
Watching Sylvia scramble to her feet, Iris didn't know what had happened to her over the past 200 years, but she felt she now knew how to treat her.
After all, the past Sylvia had recounted while they walked through the forest had been like printed words, devoid of any emotion.
Of course, some might say that a monarch even contemplating how to treat a subject is wrong in itself, but to Iris, Sylvia was not someone bound by such a simple relationship.
To Iris, Sylvia, along with the World Tree, was her only family.
“Sylvia, aren't you curious how I escaped from that underground cavern?”
After a moment's hesitation, Sylvia cautiously nodded.
Iris smiled at her and took her hand.
“Shall we walk for a bit?”
The two walked through the Great Forest, a place deeply familiar to elves, listening to the chirping of insects.
Of course, the magical beasts that ruled the Great Forest at night were so intimidated by Sylvia's presence that they didn't dare come close.
“To get straight to the point, the one who saved me was none other than Hyun-woo.”
“Hyun-woo...? You don't mean that hu... that man, do you?”
“Yes, though it wasn't that long ago.”
Iris recalled that day. The day Hyun-woo had suddenly appeared in the underground cavern, a place no one had visited for the past 200 years.
Her encounter with him, who had fallen from a halo of light that filled the cavern, had breathed new life into her existence.
“You'd be surprised to hear how many things happened in the fleeting days I spent with Hyun-woo. I'd love to tell you everything, but then the sun would rise.”
Looking delighted, Iris began to tell Sylvia about her days with Hyun-woo.
From meeting the World Tree in the cavern to him risking danger for her sake to defeat the beasts of the underground dungeon.
Of course, she didn't mention that Hyun-woo was from another world, nor that they had spent their first night together.
The former was a secret between her and Hyun-woo, and the latter was a truth she knew Sylvia couldn't handle.
In elven society, it was forbidden for nobles, let alone royalty, to sleep with a man before marriage.
This held true even if the man was their fiancé.
This didn't apply to commoners, of course. Besides, with the low libido of elven men, such cases were rare to begin with.
‘...Considering Hyun-woo's libido, they should be at it for another two or three hours.’
While telling Sylvia various stories, Iris thought of Hyun-woo and the mother-daughter pair, who were likely having a very heated time right now.
In truth, she hadn't planned on making such a suggestion to them from the start.
But the look in the woman named Grace's eyes as she watched Hyun-woo throughout dinner had seemed unusual, so she had casually brought it up on a whim.
Of course, she hadn't expected the woman named Bella to offer her cooperation as well.
‘With Hyun-woo's charm, it's only a matter of time before those two fall for him completely.’
Iris dreamed of a royal palace one day filled with children.
All of them Hyun-woo's children, of course.
The matter of bloodline, whether commoner or noble, didn't matter to her.
After all, any child of Hyun-woo's would inherit the noblest bloodline in this world anyway.
“And as if saving me from the underground cavern wasn't enough, Hyun-woo also saved the sisters who were nearly abducted by slave hunters, you know?”
“...I see.”
A smile never left Iris's lips as she spoke with Sylvia.
Of course, it was a smile she could only wear because she was unaware of the disaster that would unfold a few hours later.
*
The sudden intrusion of an uninvited guest threw the campsite into chaos.
I sighed, looking at Sylvia.
“Are you sure you want to be pointing that sword at me?”
She looked nothing like the person who, just at dinner, had been speaking to me with honorifics, calling me Iris's chosen partner and the future Royal Consort of Peledeia.
“...That you saved Her Majesty is an undeniable service, but did you truly think you could discuss the position of Royal Consort after committing such an immoral act?”
“Immoral act?”
I turned my head to look at Bella and Grace. My semen was trickling from between the legs of the two, who were sleeping soundly together, naked.
For the record, I had pulled on my pants the moment the sword strike hit the tent, so at least I wasn't naked.
“Well... I think I know what you're misunderstanding, but shouldn't Iris be the one to get angry? What right do you have to cause such a scene?”
“Hah! What right?”
Sylvia's fine brow furrowed instantly.
“Fine. Then as a knight of Her Majesty Iris, I will punish you.”
“A knight?”
This time, a dry laugh escaped my lips.
No, perhaps it was a scoff.
“...What's so funny?”
“Isn't it hilarious? The knights who couldn't do a damn thing when that bitch Resilia backstabbed Iris are now going to punish me for infidelity?”
As soon as I finished speaking, Sylvia flinched.
Her hand, slick with cold sweat, began to tremble, and soon, even the pure white Aura that had bloomed from her sword faded away.
I wanted to say a few more things, but it seemed this wasn't my place to interfere any further.
“Sylvia!”
Iris, having returned to the campsite, shouted at Sylvia.
“What is the meaning of this insolence?!”
“B-But Your Majesty...! That man committed an immoral act...!”
Sylvia pointed at the sleeping Bella and Grace.
“Sigh... I was the one who suggested the mother and daughter sleep with Hyun-woo.”
“What...? W-What does that...”
I had a vague feeling that might be the case, but I couldn't believe it was actually true.
“I can't say I'm entirely without fault for not telling you beforehand, but that does not excuse this rampage and disrespect.”
“...”
Clang. Sylvia, who had dropped her sword, looked utterly shocked.
“Apologize to Hyun-woo at once.”
Iris's tone was firm. Her low, steady voice dominated the area, making it clear she would accept no further arguments.
Sylvia approached me. Her complexion was so poor it was noticeable even from a distance.
“...Please forgive my rudeness.”
“Well... it's hard to accept your apology when you already have a prior offense.”
Tap, tap. As I tapped my own shoulder with my fingers, Sylvia lowered her head deeply without a word.
“Sylvia, you will finish cleaning up the campsite and ask for forgiveness from Bella and Grace as well.”
“...I will obey your command.”
“Given the hour, we will end it here for now, but when the sun rises, you will have to formally ask for Hyun-woo's forgiveness.”
While Iris was speaking with Sylvia, I placed a few articles of clothing by Bella and Grace's heads.
They were probably exhausted from the consecutive rounds of sex, and the barrier had likely kept them from waking up during this commotion, but that wouldn't last long.
“Hyun-woo.”
Just then, Iris came over and gently hugged my arm.
“Could you spare me a moment of your time?”
