The Reason for Marriage - Chapter 61

“The marriage between noble families is, of course, an important strategy. Historically, many families have escaped crisis through a well-established marriage. From the beginning, the weight is different from the affiliated organization’s employees who live their life as their own… I think it’s unfair for the employees of affiliated organizations and royal family to ignore what the nobles go through.”

It was the first conversation that piqued Daniel’s interest in her. It was fascinating that an employee of an affiliated agency made a remark which showed their consideration for the nobles so casually. Hence Daniel thought she could represent people from all kinds of positions; he remembered saying that she would fit well in the Judicial Affairs Bureau.

“Anriq.”

“Yes.”

The guard behind Daniel replied immediately. He had never been particularly interested in him, but he knew before entering the Palace he had been under the Count of Esselburn.

“Did the Count of Esselburn have five daughters?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Are they all married?” asked Daniel.

“Only the oldest two got married,” replied Anriq.

“Do the rest have fiancées?”

“Perhaps the two below know that there are planned marriages coming.”

“And the other one?”

“…I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Daniel arched his eyebrow, inquisitive.

“The third one, after graduating from college, immediately entered the Bureau of Investigation, where her whereabouts are currently unknown. I haven’t paid a visit to the Count for a long time, so I am not aware of the latest news.”

“Whereabouts are unknown? Why did she choose such a unique career path?” inquired Daniel.

“Just… she hated getting married and living like a “plant” in a noble society, bearing the name of Esselburn.”

Unlike his usual quiet personality, Anriq’s words stretched longer. Daniel wondered for a moment, but eventually thought it might be because they had grown up together, and so he let it pass. Daniel glanced at the personal information sheet that his people had given him.

Iveca der Esselburn didn’t go to high school—she enrolled straight to the university.

“She’s not from Amenity, isn’t she?” Daniel asked.

“Pardon?”

“If you were a royal high school student, of course, she would definitely know this place.”

“Ah…”

When Daniel had gone on a local trip to Amenity with Eve, he recalled how she was a total stranger to high school life. He placed his chin on the top of his hand. It seemed like he had to meet Iveca der Esselburn.

***

Daniel was incapable of obtaining the most important information unlike Kaiden, but he was able to learn about Iveca der Esselburn from a distance.

“That’s her,” he mumbled under his breath as he watched from a distance a woman in a brown Judicial Affair Bureau uniform leaving work.

She had unfamiliar features, unconfident body gestures, and she wore an unhappy expression that seemed somewhat unfortunate. Her black hair glistened under the sunset. If she was a complete stranger, she would probably pass by in front of him without leaving any impression.

But when he saw her faint purple eyes, he stood motionless as if he had been nailed to the spot.

“Here’s the sentence, about Gordon Emerson’s injury… The reason Kaiden was caught in disguise was because of his eye color. Please tell me about it.”

“No matter how much the Bureau of Investigation changes their appearances, they are incapble of altering the color of their eyes, and Kaiden’s black eyes are so rare that…”

Puzzles began to form in Daniel’s head.

The reason why the Bureau had to hide her from Daniel, the reason she said she loved him but never accepted the position of Queen, the reason why she was able to brutally erase her memories without telling him anything, and why Count Esselburn’s youngest lady had been long missing.

The reason why she left him alone in a dark, bitter road.

***

In his life, there were many things called “different naturality” because the blood of the Royal family has been running in his veins.

He had never thought of doing anything like love. When he was a prince, it was natural for him to marry an unknown foreigner for his older brother’s sake; it was natural to delay his birthday by three days; it was natural to remain silent about his mother’s unfair death; and it was natural to live like a non-existent shadow, fearing that he might cause a nuisance to his older brother, the Crown Prince.

However, it has never been natural to be alone. He had friends, he had an older brother, he had a sister around the same age. Fate led him to the throne, and for a while, he felt terribly lonely being alone.

The King’s seat was not to be shared with anyone, even if he might be able to meet his friends, find his half-brother, or discuss affairs with his younger sister. They were loyal to him, but they had to obey because he was King. Such relationships led to many secrets.

He only realized later the consequences of the throne, which he had no choice but to surrender to. After a while, his loneliness became the norm in his life.

So it was okay for him to find her alone.

There used to be a lot of people who cared for her. He knew from the moment he first saw her giggling and drinking with her colleagues. It was a normal life that she could be loved, recognized, and socialize with people around her. If he hadn’t known that she had risked her life to go to war, he wouldn’t have even asked her to stay with him.

But what if she was alone now?

At the same time, rumors were circulating that Iveca would marry the son of a neutral aristocrat.

Daniel then told Kaiden that it was time for him to get married, and he ordered a background check on a few women from neutral aristocratic families. Among them was Iveca; Kaiden had no choice but to cooperate and bring him a dense report.

She was an unmarried daughter of Count Esselburn. She joined the Bureau of Investigation 4 years ago, recently transferred to the Judicial Affair Bureau, engaged to Iark Telsy, a former member of the Foreign Affair Bureau.

“Iark Telsi… He’s a little bit inferior for the countess.”

“It’s quite difficult to get a good aristocratic family to match because of her lacking social status and birth scandal,” Kaiden replied with a voice as he was unwilling to answer. No matter how hard he tried to hide her from Daniel, it was a matter of a national marriage. He couldn’t tell him a lie, even if he wanted to keep his mouth shut.

“It’s been three days since she moved in,” Daniel pointed out.

“Well, in cases of all noble families in this country, it’s all political marriage.”

Considering her idea of political marriage, she was likely to marry a man who probably did not refuse the idea itself but actually lacked in many ways.

As soon as the engagement was concluded, Iark quit the diplomatic service. The purpose of the man marrying the daughter of a high-ranking aristocrat whom he did not know very well was clear. And there was a high possibility that a woman who insists she would never quit her agency not come to terms with an arranged marriage.

“Just… she hated getting married and living like a “plant” in a noble society, bearing the name of Esselburn.”

It was a fact that Anriq knew, and so did he.

At the end of her ‘another’ life, she couldn’t throw her dagger, and when he saw her trembling in the gym, the deepest part of his heart felt like it was being squeezed. Was she such a useless person that she needed to go back to the life she hated so much?

***

Daniel visited the Judicial Affairs Bureau office to see her. She was wearing a uniform and bowed her head like the people that gathered in a crowd before him. Her purple eyes trembled uneasily.

He just wanted to talk to her.

“Excuse me for the first time. You must have been very surprised.”

He led her, who was actually quite panicked, out into the garden. She was showing the energy of unhappiness all over her body. She was calm and quiet, but the aura she evoked was something.

“It’s all right.”

There was the first thing she said to him. His heart began to beat. Obviously, the person in front of him was different, but his senses, which had always remembered the woman she loved, were alive.

He didn’t know what expression to make at times like this, so he had no choice but to show his usual robotic smile that he used to others. He didn’t know what to say, so he had no choice but to ask questions he was most concerned about. It was about her engagement.

“I just woke up and they told me that he was my fiancée… We don’t know each other very well yet.” She told him.

He stared at her quietly. He felt as if his anxiety, which he had been pretending not to feel, disappeared. It was because his heart was burning at the thought of the bitter chance that she liked her fiancée and that she wanted to get married soon.

She would have no idea how nervous he was until he asked about her engagement and how restless he came here.

“It sounds like you’re okay marrying anyone.”

Eve had said that she could make love without actually being in love. He wondered if there was a man that meant so much to her. She answered him calmly.

“Since I was born in a noble family, I can’t help but be married to someone whom they have chosen.”

“If you went through college and work as an employee of an affiliated organization, you could have complained,” Daniel said.

“There are things you can’t enjoy because you are a noble.”

It is her.

With a brief conversation, Daniel was completely convinced that Iveca is Eve Jean. This consistent thought, a resigned tone, a bitter belief in herself. It was exactly the same atmosphere as when Eve had told him about the aristocratic political situation.

“You must fulfill your duty and destiny that have been given since birth.”

He stared at her purple eyes. He had found his love. He could tell just by feeling. He knew that it didn’t actually make sense, but he lived and would live for this moment.

But she didn’t remember him.

She didn’t remember any of the blinding streets of Amenity that they walked hand in hand, how cute the awkward voice she used to call Daniel, and how happy they were as they held so many conversations over the afternoon tea time.