The Reason for Marriage - Chapter 18.1

Roseley responded to her words with a look bordering on contempt.

“So weak. Oh, is it because you have no trust in your bloodline?”

Roseley smirked. Iveca quietly observed Giselle, who was staring at her with her bright blue eyes. A child’s eyes, full of curiosity. If there was a problem with Daniel’s personal affairs, or heaven forbid the revolution progressed beyond control, this child would become king of Amethan. This meant that Iveca would have to serve the daughter of the woman standing in front of her, who seemed to actively despise her.

Was this the right thing to do? She wondered.

The feeling of dejection surprised her. One of the laws of the Bureau of Investigation was to show absolute loyalty to the royal family, but she couldn’t help the feeling of reluctance that had swept over her. Roseley was not done with her sermon, however.

“I feel you do not realise how powerful the royal palace is, or how dangerous this position is so I will give you one final piece of advice,” Roseley sneered as she fixed Giselle’s hand in hers, “the fact that in this enormous palace, only two people have the Amethan’s name is evidence of how terrifying this place is. This is not a place where just anyone can play around for fun. Be careful of your actions and the consequences they may have. They have not appointed a successor yet, after all.”

And then Roseley turned around and walked away, with Giselle in tow. Neither of them looked back. Iveca slammed the door of the training hall behind them. Strangely, she felt furious. She spun around on her feet, and with heavy footsteps, went to pick up her arrow. She took out her bow, aimed the arrow at the target and pulled the string. The arrow hit the bullseye, but she just stood there chewing her lip as she glowered at the target.

***

On the day that Article 10 of the Supreme Constitution was proposed, Iveca knew that Daniel would be busy, so she didn’t think it strange when Daniel didn’t come to see her until nightfall. Judging by the way Roseley rushed to the training hall to find her, it was obvious that many people were going to gather to watch Daniel personally present the new constitution to have their say on the proceedings. It suddenly occurred to her that when Daniel said he wanted her to stay away from politics, to an extent, he meant he wanted to ‘protect’. All Iveca needed to do was work. Propose a draft, and when Daniel gave his input, edit it. In other words, it meant Daniel was the one receiving all the dissatisfaction and complaints; the “face” of the work she was doing. Iveca felt responsible for the hurtful things that must have been said about him in the last little while. But she knew the work was of utmost importance, for her husband and her country.

Currently, the re-draft of the first article of the constitution was the one giving her issues. The reason why Article One was originally written as “One cannot make decisions about another’s life without going through a legal process” was because the incident with Anriq and Rihan Kadmin would have caused much pain on the people were it not done through the proper channels. Deciding on one person’s destiny, without accountability, could change the world, and Iveca did not want her future child to have to experience such a burden as a result.

Iveca could feel herself falling into a deep dilemma, with the book of laws in front of her. This was when her view from her bed was suddenly pushed to the side as the hidden doorway of the secret passage swung open, and she gasped out of fear.

“Your Highness?” She gasped again, though this time in surprise as Daniel, wearing a dressing gown, fell onto her bed.

“I’m so tired. I told everyone I wanted to go to bed so they would leave, but they still would not leave me alone. I had no choice but to escape using the secret passage just to get away.”

Iveca smiled at him. “But why?”

He lifted his head slightly and grinned back, and Iveca felt her heart skip a beat. She felt hypnotised just from looking at his tired blue eyes and soft smile. No matter how unkempt and dishevelled he looked, he was still as handsome as ever. She felt an impulse to touch his golden locks, which were glinting even in the low light of the room like stars in a dusky sky.

“Because I wanted to see you,” said Daniel, “no matter how much I waited, the queen wouldn’t use the secret passage, so I thought I should come and see her myself.”

Iveca just stared at him, unsure of how to respond, before his widening smile told her he was just being playful with her.

“And I braved the treacherous dark of the tunnels, to find she doesn’t even give me an embrace. I thought the rebels were bad!” His grin stretched across his entire face now. Iveca returned the smile before she slowly stood up and sat on the edge of the bed. He laid his head on her knee. She lifted her hand and gently ran her fingers through his shiny hair.

“Today was exhausting, right?” she said cautiously. Daniel answered with his eyes half-closed.

“Well, there are royals like this, and royals like that. If you catch my meaning.”

It did not seem as though he would give a proper answer. Iveca softly inhaled.

“What did… my father say?” She asked hesitantly.

Silence. Iveca lowered her head. She had made the clauses herself and she still had the castle of Esselburn. It was her fault for anticipating, even if just a little, that he would take her side.

Of course, Ewil Esselburn had only told her to become queen to give strength to his flagging status. He did not promise that Count Esselburn would give strength to the queen. Even so, seeing how disappointed she felt, it seemed she had a lingering sense of hope. A hope she was beyond sick of holding onto.