CH 15.1

Daniel appeared quite suddenly in her palace surprisingly early, as Iveca was finishing up some study on the royal lineage. She looked down to re-examine a word, and as she looked up she found him standing there, taking her quite by surprise.

“Your Majesty? You don’t normally visit at this time.”

He visited her every evening after his own work. Through the secret passages, they traveled from place to place inside the palace, chatted sweetly and kindly, and even fell asleep while holding each other. Iveca had grown very fond of it all. However, it was still the middle of the day, so it was a surprise to see him standing there.

“Today is the last day of the special vacation period,” Daniel said, and laughed softly. Iveca nodded her head shyly.

“Tomorrow will be a busy day, so I want to spend a little bit more time together.”

Iveca looked at him silently. The fact he wanted to spend time with her was lovely, but strange. It does not take that long to make a child, so why did he want to come every day and spend so much time with her?

“Would you like to go to the gym?” he continued, “for some reason I feel like I want to go today.”

“Yes!”

Daniel’s words made Iveca excited. It had been a while since she had a chance to have a proper physical workout to keep her on top form. She wasn’t top of her class in the physical arts for no reason. And the workouts she had been getting weren’t exactly helping her fighting skills.

He grinned, putting his arm around her shoulder as they left the palace together. Iveca could see the guards lined up outside. She unconsciously scanned the line for Anriq, but Daniel squeezed her shoulders tighter and pulled her in almost like a hug, blocking her sight of the guards.

Now Iveca couldn’t even make eye contact with Anriq, who was following them in his duty, let alone say hello. She looked up at Daniel in bewilderment, but he only smiled.

The gymnasium that was used by the royal family members was located in the innermost part of the palace. Daniel drew off his cloak and laid it on the ground near a rack of wooden weapons.

“I heard that you graduated with a first place in the physical arts.”

“I did,” Iveca responded with a smile. She strode over to a stand with a few steel daggers in it and withdrew two. With two throws, they swished their way through the air into a wooden target, dead center. Daniel looked taken aback, but proud.

Looking at Daniel’s proud expression, she was startled. Of course, she knew that he would be surprised as he was amazed by it. But there was something else there, etched in his face, that she couldn’t identify. Sadness, perhaps? As she dwelled on it, she realized that her new status would make her physical art skills reflect badly on her, and the sadness overcame her.

“I expect this isn’t becoming of a Queen,” she said quickly in a sullen voice.

Daniel grabbed her hand tightly.

“Iveca, I told you to stand tall. You said you would believe whoever Iveca was during those four years. Because you did well in this kind of thing, so you entered the Bureau of Investigation, right?”

Iveca stared at her hand in his. He often held her hand. Holding hands didn’t contribute anything to making an heir. Did he just enjoy holding hers? Suddenly she wondered if he ever held E.J’s hand so warmly. Her heart sank. Every time she thought she was getting comfortable, those initials would just pop back into her head once more. Daniel was still talking.

“You can come to the gym anytime you want, take any weapon you want. You can show it in front of others, or you can hide it if you want to.”

Iveca spoke sadly once more. “I will hide it from everyone. I’m afraid that it would become a nuisance. Other noble women may do swordsmanship as a hobby, but they don’t throw daggers like that, I’m sure.”

Daniel sighed slightly.

“Why do you think being the Queen is so different from being Iveca?”

She looked at him quizzically.

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“I guess the position isn’t something I’m naturally suited to.”

“You are my Queen, Iveca, why do you really think that way?”

Iveca had asked herself those questions her whole life, and she assumed that hadn’t changed in the time she couldn’t remember.

Why did I, who was born as an Esselburn, always feel intimidated? Compared to her sisters, she was not born ordinary. Still, my parents did give her Esselburn’s last name; did they still recognize her as their daughter? But I was not a blonde. I was the only one with black hair. Look in the mirror. You know yourself best. You didn’t resemble your father at all.

But they were not married because they loved each other, thought Iveca, and the sadness seemed to swell even further.