CH 53.2

“Meeting Seniors, I’ve already changed a lot, became brave, cheerful, confident…,” Iveca said. Her face was stoic, but tremors of emotion infected her voice. “They were the family I never had. That’s why I was always so obsessed with them.”

“Eve…”

“I don’t know why it was always so difficult for my former self to find that confidence, to forge bonds with even a few people – someone to spend time with, share joys and sorrows, and talk about…about everything.”

Iveca had no tears, but merely clasped Reina’s hand and smiled faintly.

“Thanks to the Seniors, I was able to live a completely different life, and it was wonderful. I’m grateful for it. If you see Iveca from afar later on, remember the person you made from that crippled child, and be proud.”

“What are you going to do?” Reina asked, wiping her tears away. “Where are you going to relocate? The Intelligence Service?”

“No.”

Iveca blinked at the blue sky. Today, the Bureau of Investigation’s Eve Jean would be no more, her pale blonde hair that made her resemble her sisters would disappear. Her whole appearance would vanish like a mirage.

“How about the Legal Affairs Bureau?” she said.

“What?”

“They can accept requests from the Bureau of Investigation anywhere. And I think I’ll be good at the Legal Affairs Bureau. I know how to represent a lot of people.”

“Maybe,” Reina muttered. She sniffled, clearing out the residue of her tears. “Well, the department is small and there’s not a lot of work there. It may be a bit boring just digging into the laws.”

“Oh, Senior. I’m not going for that reason. I just thought dealing with the law would suit my background. I like doing what I’m good at. And maybe I think the work will do me some good, as well.”

Reina squeezed her hand, tried to manage a flicker of a smile, but couldn’t hold it and shuddered into more crying.

“But anyway, I don’t know how far I can go,” Iveca added bitterly. If Iveca de Esselburn appeared again, she would be forced to be part of the Esselburn. Perhaps she’d get that marriage after all, and Iveca, who had a mental age of 18, would inevitably follow Ewill’s will.

Would she be able to attend to the Bureau of Judicial Affairs then?

“Thank you so much, Senior. Thanks to the Bureau of Investigation and the Seniors, I was able to become a completely different person because of you all. Make sure to tell Sid that.”

Fighting back tears, Reina couldn’t respond. This was their last conversation, she knew, the last with the Eve she had known. A black-haired noble-turned employee in the Bureau of Judicial Affairs would no longer recognize Reina. The nights when they drank after completing missions together, giggly chatting all night, and teasing each other with wide eyes while working overtime…those memories would be hers alone now. Another person would continue in her body, but Eve Jean would no longer exist in the world.

“Of course, His Majesty… I loved him, but I think the people who had the biggest influence on me were the Bureau of Investigation and the Seniors. So, at the end of the day, I’m a Bureau of Investigation employee, not just a woman who fell in love.”

“Eve… hu…uuuh,” Reina tried to rally enough to respond, but the crying still overwhelmed her.

“As an employee of the Bureau of Investigation… I swore secrecy even in front of the King… They should protect me even from His Highness, right?” Iveca said brightly. She made the words like a joke to hide the tinge of worry in them.

“His Highness will feel betrayed because I’ll be such a different person when he sees Iveca… in case he finds her. He’d probably let her stand by him at first, but he’d tire of her before long. It will be tragic, but I won’t remember it anyway.”

“Hu…uh, if you say it like that,” Reina said, composing herself just enough to push fragments of a reply through her sobs. “I guess so…. His Highness, uh…huh, … is…no one can really understand what he feels inside. He’s a very calculating person. Even…huh uh…if he keeps you by his side… huh hu…he’ll take advantage of you. I’d rather you…huh…with Sid… hu uh… I can…arrange it when it’s settled…. Hu uh…His Highness will never know…I’ll do it.”

Iveca pulled her in, threw her arms around her.

“I don’t think I can say goodbye to Senior Sid,” she whispered, hugging Reina tightly. “Please deliver my gratitude well.”

Iveca’s eyes scanned the Bureau’s dormitory. Perhaps she would rejoin the Count of Esselburn. She had no idea how frustrated she would be after all her memories were erased. She would likely think that her last four years had been a complete failure. She would get even gloomier.

She looked toward the royal palace. It seemed so far away now. She would leave Daniel without a goodbye. She was the Bureau’s, not his.

“Don’t be like me,” she said to Reina. “Don’t be someone always with something to hide, someone complicated. Find someone who is bright and confident by nature. There are so many of them….”