CH 7.1

Even without her work at the Bureau, Iveca found herself quite busy indeed in the weeks that followed, just as Daniel had said. First, she had to memorize the names of the guard and the handmaids that worked with her, a task she rose to quite quickly thanks to skills gained in her usual job. She had to put the structure of the palace and the ancestor lines of the royal family that the maid spent what felt like countless hours repeating in her head and memorize everything, down to the last name. No matter how smart she was, Iveca knew all of this would take time; there were many things to remember.

One afternoon, a woman called for her from the Bureau of Investigation. The name written on a tag attached to the black bureau uniform was Raina Erbet. Raina, who was tall with short brown hair, smiled and talked in a cool, breezy way.

“I heard that you do not have your memories from the last four years.”

Iveca nodded, wondering what this house call was about.

“I am here to explain what has happened in that time. The Queen should not know less than the civilians, am I right?”

Iveca stared at Raina for a moment. She might have been someone who she worked with, side by side in the same uniform once. As much as the filling in of some gaps seemed like a relief to her, Iveca knew that there might be some that she would be better off not remembering. Iveca poured tea for the pair of them, and they sat at a small table in one of the smaller rooms of the palace. Iveca explained that it was easier to think in the less grand rooms, less to distract her when she was trying to remember things, and Raina smiled in agreement. She pulled out a piece of paper and began to write down the main events of the last four years, in not too much detail, but explaining as she went. She started with the tenets of the Bureau itself, which Iveca could remember anyway, but figured it was all part of the process.

The prosperity and the well-being of the Kingdom of Amethan is our top priority.Be loyal to the King of Amethan and protect him with all your might.Do not be blinded by personal safety and trust the judgement of the organization.Cherish your colleagues, and also protect and trust each other in the face of death.Always be mindful of yourself for the secrets you must keep.

Most of Iveca’s memories of the Bureau of Investigation had been erased, but there was no way she could forget how studiously she had memorized the Bureau’s code together with her colleagues. There were fifteen codes, but the five codes that took precedence over anything were as good as engraved in her head to this day. Iveca listened and nodded as Raina explained, before asking a question of her own.

“Raina… did you know me when I was in the Bureau of Investigation?”

“Please, my Queen, call me Miss Erbet. I am lower than you, remember?”

Iveca blushed. “Ah, that…” She steadied herself, then continued. “Little by little. I will do it little by little. What I wanted to ask, Miss Erbet, was about when I was in the Bureau of Investigation.”

“It is a period that you should forget.” Raina surprised Iveca with the sternness of her reply. “It was the Queen who chose oblivion over surveillance. There must be a reason for it,” continued Raina.

So that was it, thought Iveca. In the end, it was a story that they would not tell. So much for that. Iveca stared at Raina quietly as she pushed her short hair back behind her ears. When she spoke again, it was in an incredibly determined tone, as if she was not going to have any conversations outside of what she was here to speak about.

“Finally, the genealogy of the royal family is spread out on this sheet here.” Raina unfurled a parchment that looked cracked and old, covered with long-dead royalty and endless lines. “It is good to point things out while explaining them, I’ve found. If you want to take notes, you can write them out.”

Raina took a pen from a chest pocket in her uniform and placed it in Iveca’s left hand.

“Thank you,” said Iveca, “but truthfully, I haven’t even memorized half of them yet.”

“I have no intention of explaining every little thing, don’t worry!” Raina smiled. “Though I do have this stuff memorized, so if you need help I’m more than happy to try.”

Iveca smiled. She liked Raina. She wondered if she had liked Raina before her memory was erased.

“Shall we begin?” Raina looked a little excited to be in the position she was in. “Can you tell me what you know about His Majesty Zepeltan, Crown Prince William, Prince Ruben, Prince Daniel and Zepeltan’s only daughter, Princess Ashe?”

Iveca felt warm at the mention of Daniel’s name.

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“Not much, but more each day.”

She knew, of course, about the incident that Raina was building up to; the events that had led Daniel to take the throne. About William’s poisoning and the evil deeds of Queen Testy, Ruben’s biological mother. Daniel, who was the third prince, ascended to the throne based purely on awful things that he had no hand in. As she thought about it once again, she wondered how much blood had truly been spilt, throughout history, for that throne. Daniel might have been the first to do it without killing anyone.

“Do you remember the events of the Amenity Palace?” asked Raina.

“I know that one day, the spell that held together the continent’s magic suddenly disappeared, then gradually started to return.”

“That was what most people think they know. But Your Highness sent me here because he wants the Queen to know the truth more accurately.”