The Reason for Marriage - Chapter 55

“Don’t!” Restless, Sid intervened quickly. His eyes trembled with confusion. It was clear that he wanted to prevent Iveca from killing Reina. “Queen, you need to calm down first…”

“I’m calm already.” Iveca replied coldly, taking a deep breath, then removed her dagger from Reina’s neck and threw it casually against the wall. Sid made a strange expression as he looked at the dagger that was thrown under the wall clock. “If the Bureau of Investigation decided to get rid of me anyway, I would be dead within two years.”

“Queen…”

“I’m just sick and tired of all these dramas… So now, I’ll give you a choice,” said Iveca.

“What?” asked Sid.

“If you’re going to kill me, kill me now.” Iveca’s eyes were unshakable. Resolute. “If that’s the judgment of the Bureau of Investigation, I’ll follow it.”

Both Sid and Reina merely stared at Iveca with puzzled eyes.

“One will not be blinded to individual safety but believe in the organization’s judgment,” Iveca stared at the dagger, “I also remember this much.” She spoke her words calmly and quietly, without taking out any measure to defend herself.

“If it is the organization’s decision to get rid of me, I will follow it. Of course, you won’t care, but I will never forget once I was in the Bureau of Investigation, too.”

With those words, tears eventually began to fall from Reina’s eyes. Sid also bit his lower lip and slowly blinked his squinted eyes.

“But I’m also an employee of the Judicial Affair Bureau. If you don’t get rid of me now, I’ll file a complaint for an investigation towards the Bureau of Investigation, cut off my limbs, and complete the Grand Constitution in the meantime,” Iveca continued.

“Uh, what to do… Queen…having thoughts like that is…” Reina stifled her sobs, to no avail.

“You can kill me,” Iveca said quietly. “It’s not a very regretful life except the fact that I need to let go of the Supreme Constitution.”

Of course, she constantly remembered Daniel’s face, but she ought to suffer on her own. By his side, she was as broken as she was happy. Perhaps even if she were to die now, Daniel was a clever and meticulous man, therefore he would be able to find enough people to replace her.

After all, the person in his heart was not her. Such a wonderful woman who was completely different from herself, even she wanted to be like her.

“Now this is the chance. Kill me. It’s okay. The Constitution is not complete, the Bureau of Investigation can still use its power, and I am prepared to follow that decision.”

Iveca spoke without remorse nor fear, but Sid and Reina, who once had been her dear colleagues, couldn’t bear to attempt such murder.

“You can’t kill me? I see. It would be a great nuisance to the Bureau of Investigation to murder a member of the royal family. I didn’t think about it.” Iveca stood from her seat and took her steps to the window. “I’ll go out and die on the balcony of the royal palace on my own. Then, everyone else will see my suicide.”

“My queen!” Reina grabbed her shoulder in surprise.

“You can testify for the last time. The pressure of Count Esselburn seemed too much of a psychological burden.”

Reina warped her arms around Iveca’s waist as she twisted her body around and shook her head. “Don’t do this. Why are you like this, Queen?”

“What are you doing? When did you ever attack and stab me in the first place? I said I would die on my own. What’s wrong with it?” Iveca’s voice began to become more and more intense.

“Please…. Please don’t do this.. Queen, please…”

Tears dropped from Reina’s eyes. Her arms trembled while they gripped Iveca’s waist. Iveca couldn’t understand it, so she smiled in vain. It was hard to believe even with the tears since she knew Reina was lying in front of her.

“I hate hypocrisy like this. I know everything, so drop your pretenses. I am fed up with all those people around me, who are always different inside and out.”

Sid couldn’t bear to remain a spectator; he blurted out: “We have secrets, and we must admit that our outside and inside are inevitably different. But you have misunderstood something.” His eyes had also gone red, as if stopping the tears that threatened to fall. “We will never forget that the Queen has served in the Bureau of Investigation.”

What does it even mean? Iveca rolled her eyes. “Today… You’d better not go to work. You’re so emotional right now.”

“Emotional? What are you talking about?”

At Sid’s words, Iveca was furious. Reina, who saw her explode for the first time, trembled and hugged her tighter.

“Then, what do you want me to do? I said I can die the way you guys want but you said I can’t. So, why the hell are you doing this to me? Why!” Iveca screamed. She lost her strength and collapsed into Reina’s arms.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Now the Queen’s emotion is very unstable. I’m not sure if it’s a good choice to see His Highness. I think she simply lost consciousness…”

“Towards His Highness…. What was she even thinking? I can’t even guess how far she knows.”

“I’m sure that the Queen is the only person who knows the answer for it.” Sid sighed as he squeezed his bloody eyes shut. Reina looked at Iveca, bit her own lower lip and closed her eyes. Reina muttered in a whisper as she tucked Iveca’s hair behind her ear, “You’re right.”

“It’s better not to tell them first,” said Sid.

“But you should still contact the Judicial Affair Bureau. It can be difficult to go to work as she needs to meet with some people.”

Sid sent an errand to the Judicial office – a maid who was originally guarding the door, then leaned against the wall with a complex look. There was silence for a while.

“Sid.” Reina, who sat next to Iveca while looking at her, broke the silence. “Hiding everything like this…. Isn’t it too painful for the Queen?”

Sid was silent.

“She had laughed and talked to us casually. What are you going to do when she wakes up? Are you going to let her live in misery like this?”

“But…”

“….I hate that the Queen is unhappy. That’s why I can’t trust His Majesty. What is he thinking exactly>”

Sid didn’t respond to that comment, but it turned out that he rather agreed. Daniel was actually providing all the things that could make unhappy Iveca to be happy. The only family she has, the only colleague, the only friend, as well as things that only she could do well.

They were anxious because they couldn’t guess what the reason was.

“If His Majesty really loved Eve…”

“….Would things go this far?”

“No matter what hypothesis you make, everything just doesn’t make sense.”

Did Daniel really know that Iveca was Eve? It was the secret of the Bureau of Investigation, but the story about the ability of Bureau of Investigation’s employees to change their appearance was actually known among civilians.

The Bureau of Investigation told Daniel that Eve had left and so he ordered them to find her. Iveca thought that it was the end of their relationship; but then he had put Iveca in the position of Queen, complicating their fate.

Reina thought that even if he knew that Iveca was Eve, if he truly loved her, he should not do such a dangerous thing. He made Iveca’s name known to everyone, even though he should have kept it a secret. It only occurred to her that he was using Iveca’s position and powers.

And if he didn’t know that Iveca was Eve, the problem would have become more serious. Reina thought he was putting Iveca on the brink of chaos by mulling and appeasing Iveca’s weaknesses. It was literally like holding Iveca’s heart hostage.

Either way, in Reina’s opinion, Daniel was a dangerous person to Iveca, and Sid had no choice but to agree because Daniel was such an obscure and calculated monarch.

“I’m going to tell her. Even just a small part,” Reina muttered as if she had made up her mind, “I can’t take it to see her having such a hard time.”

Sid did not answer anything. As usual, his silence meant he would not stop her.

“Sid, you know, right.” Reina continued quietly, even if he didn’t answer. “The magic power is actually disappearing. Even the ancient magic will be released after 30 years…  I was thinking of waiting until 30 years later. There were so many things I wanted to stay, but at this state, I don’t think the Queen will be able to live until 30 years later.”

***

“I was surprised that you didn’t go to work.”

“Oh… it’s nothing. It’s really okay.”

Iveca smiled at Daniel, who came late in the afternoon.

“When I met my father in the morning, I had a headache and wanted to take a day off. I’m not in the mood to read the law.”

“Okay.” Daniel spoke softly with his lips on the back of her hand. “I’m proud of you. You know how to rest when you’re tired. Do everything you want to do in the future. Anything is fine.”

He let her go of her hand with a slight bite of her finger so that it wouldn’t hurt, then immediately swept her black hair as if he couldn’t take his hand off her.

“Is there anything else you want to do?”

“Well…” Iveca made a thoughtful expression, then answered with the corners of her mouth raised. “I want to go for a walk. Because I haven’t been out of the palace all day.”