The Reason for Marriage - Chapter 54

It was heartbreaking to think of him placing another woman to be his Queen, but sooner or later he would know of the truth anyway. After all, it was rare for a King to choose the woman he loved as Queen, so Iveca didn’t think she had done anything particularly malicious to him.

If he would never see ‘Eve Jean’ again, he would eventually forget her, who was merely an employee of an affiliated organization. Iveca thought it best; she always used to say that romance is self-deception. She once believed she could run away and live a free life with Anriq, but now I don’t think of him at all.

One. The prosperity and well-being of the Amethan Kingdom are the utmost priority.
Two. Be loyal to King Amethan and do your best to protect him.
Three. One will not be blinded to individual safety but believe in the organization’s judgment.
Four. One must cherish each colleague – protect and trust each other even in the face of death.
Five. One must always withhold the secrets that need to be kept.

Iveca shut her eyes as she quietly memorized the pact.

It would be a lie if she said she didn’t want the queen’s position. Even under her lifelong surveillance, she couldn’t stop thinking about revealing her identity to Daniel. It was a choice she longed to choose, but she belonged to the Bureau of Investigation, thus a choice she could not make.

One must always withhold the secrets that need to be kept.

The secrets of the Bureau of Investigation, she must keep until her death.

That afternoon, with all of her memories erased, Iveca was ‘delivered’ to the Count of Esselburn in a lost state as she officially became a member of the Bureau of Judicial Affair.

***

One. The prosperity and well-being of the Amethan Kingdom are the utmost priority.
Two. Be loyal to King Amethan and do your best to protect him.
Three. One will not be blinded to individual safety but believe in the organization’s judgment.
Four. One must cherish each colleague – protect and trust each other even in the face of death.
Five. One must always withhold the secrets that need to be kept.

Iveca recalled the last memories that lingered in her mind. Reina, with a dagger pointed at her neck, was completely baffled. She was speechless as she stared at Iveca.

The Bureau of Investigation had constantly placed the prosperity and well-being of the Kingdom of Amethan as its top priority. Perhaps they must have judged that the Great Constitution she had created was not conducive to the prosperity and well-being of the Kingdom of Amethan. Iveca had long expected backlash from the Bureau of Investigation.

The General Attorney Orem had been addressing the issue from the beginning.

‘The Bureau of Investigation is the only affiliated agency with a special authority, and there is an autonomous part that even the royal family could not touch. But if they also have to abide by the law, their behavior will be severely restricted.’

In fact, when the Supreme Constitution was announced, numerous members of the Bureau of Investigation came to the Judicial Affair Bureau.

‘The staff of the Bureau of Investigation are arrogant. They never even step foot in this office, but now there are crowds of them. After all, I would also be upset if my authority got removed.’

‘Besides, the independence of the Judicial Bureau! Originally, the Bureau of Investigation was the most powerful organization among all the agencies, but it must be difficult to accept that you are in a situation in which you need to obey the law.’

There were plenty of reasons why the Bureau of Investigation would not like the Constitution. The Bureau of Investigation was the most concentrated organization among its affiliated organizations. If an institution maintained independence even when the King had to obey the law, it would have been very unpleasant.

Perhaps if the Bureau of Investigation’s authority judged that the Bureau was more necessary to the Kingdom of Amethan rather than the Grand Constitution, there was enough incentive to eliminate her.

“Queen, wait a minute… Please calm yourself down…”

Even Sid, who usually didn’t really show any expression, stuttered in surprise.

“I’m very cold-headed and calm right now,” replied Iveca.

She looked straight at Reina’s green orbs, not sparing Sid a brief glance. Reina’s breathing had become ragged in this unexpected situation. Iveca’s low voice echoed quietly in the space.

“If you don’t want to kill your comrades here, then tell me, Sid. The Bureau of Investigation has a pact. One is to cherish each colleague. Protect and trust each other even in the face of death.”

“My Queen,” Sid pleaded.

“It’s not me, but isn’t Reina still your colleague?”

Iveca’s words were crystal clear. It would have been a lie if she didn’t get a strange jealousy while watching Sid, whose face remained calm despite the circumstance. Iveca, the Queen of a country, was so nervous that she couldn’t control her expression, even though she knew both of them could guess that she wouldn’t hurt Reina that easily.

While she was once her colleague, Iveca was attacked by her because they thought that Iveca was interfering with the Bureau of Investigation.

When she was caught in a secret meeting with Anriq, Daniel was also conscious of the Bureau of Investigation when he released Anriq. Perhaps he also knew that the Bureau of Investigation could harm her. If the Constitution was created in between two years, the Bureau of Investigation cannot get rid of anyone on its own.

“Queen, please,” Sid pleaded again, more desperately.

“If you can’t say it, I’ll say it.”

Iveca needed enough people from the Bureau of Investigation by her side, even though she might become the target of the Bureau itself. She wanted to feign ignorance and display obliviousness all the while hiding her growing doubts and sad convictions.

Perhaps she thought that maybe it was okay to be killed by the Bureau of Investigation, if it was the organization’s decision. But Iveca couldn’t accept such kind of deception anymore.

Knowing everything, she thought it meaningless to live enjoying the peace created by faking ignorance. She had growned weary, she wanted to break all these theatrical illusions.

“Reina, you… You lied to me.”

“Q, Queen.”

“You memorized all these complicated royal family members but you don’t know all the members of the Bureau of Investigation? It doesn’t make sense,” said Iveca.

When Iveca was told the description of the Bureau of Investigation’s employee who had fled when she was attacked for the first time, Reina replied at once that she did not know of the employee’s identity. However, Iveca couldn’t have forgotten the unusual pink-haired woman, who had a similar physique to Reina and the same green eyes.

“Of course, it didn’t really matter,” Iveca began.

No one had to be faithful to her anyway, so Iveca didn’t take it seriously. But she hadn’t forgotten that Reina was lying to her.

“During the first attack… when that woman attempted to take out the dagger with my left hand, another attack immediately came in,” she paused. “The Bureau of Investigation must be well aware that I am left-handed and that I am good with daggers. But that’s a fact that no noble family knows. Even Esselburn.”

After the raid, Iveca remembered the conversation members of the Judicial Affair Bureau had.

‘Didn’t you know that a few officers from the Bureau of Investigation suddenly came almost at the end of the day and argued about Article 10 of the Supreme Constitution?’

‘But thanks to that, I worked until late, and I’m glad that the officers of the Bureau of Investigation saw the attack.’

‘They don’t have manners, do they even consider our work time because they came late?’

Since then, the employsee of the Bureau of Investigation had never visited the legal office. Reina and Sid were able to be attached to Iveca for the sake of her protection as she was being attacked by an unidentifed gunmen.

Perhaps it was a tool to seek a second opportunity if the attack failed due to the guards accompanying her. Or, it could have been a play to attach them to her from the beginning.

The most important thing was that the gunmen who attacked her were somehow connected with the Bureau of Investigation, and both Reina and Sid withheld the truth before her.

Iveca recalled Sid, who did his best to stop Eugene from mentioning Eve Jean when she visited. The woman Daniel had in his heart was Eve Jean. Maybe Sid and Reina were on Eve Jean’s side, as they were her true colleague, and harbored dislike toward Iveca, who had been shunned by her maladjustment, but took Eve Jean’s place as a Queen.

Even so, would it be too detestable for Iveca to be happy? Even if she was merely an imaginary Queen?

After moving from Count Esselburn to the Imperial Palace, Iveca believed that many things had changed, but in fact, nothing had changed. She felt like she had settled down, but she merely pretended not to know. She couldn’t even tell the truth because she was afraid that the frail cliff on which she was stepping right now would collapse.

No matter how hard she struggled, if this was the best way for her to live, if she couldn’t take it any longer, she too had to make her own decision.

“Sid, answer me. The first attack was done by the Bureau of Investigation, right?”

Sid looked confused. Reina didn’t say anything, but sighed and muttered, “Yes, Queen.”

“Reina!” Sid shouted, but Reina looked at Iveca with her resigned green eyes.

“As expected, you have great logical skills. Who would say no here.” Iveca tightened her grip on her dagger.

“If you know everything, why did you keep us by your side? How did you talk to me casually and laugh? Wasn’t it painful?” Reina asked, her voice trembling.

“You know…”

It was a short answer, but Reina’s eyes were filled with tears. This is because she felt Iveca’s loneliness, even though she was wrapped in the King’s intimacy.

“I didn’t know you would be this cruel…”

“I’m used to things like this.”

“Ah…” Reina looked at Iveca with teary eyes and said, “Queen, if it bothered you that much… you can kill me. It’s okay.”