CH 60.1

It was not an era where simply wearing a crown was enough, and Amethan was too weak compared to the Empire. Daniel was too busy balancing between the aristocrats that have been divided because of his two brothers. He could have been doing well as a King, but it was extremely tiring and exhausting.

“You’re the King, and you shouldn’t make excuses that you didn’t know anything.”

It was an advice that Ruben had given him.

It would be an international crisis, which would eventually become a catastrophe, if he were to lose his senses even for a split moment. Even foreign countries seemed to be promoting separation within Amethane, which was troublesome. As Daniel was going to spend the rest of his life worrying about all of those, grasping all the variables and formulating plans cautiously, he didn’t really look forward to the rest of his life.

“Now… Are you okay? Being alone.”

From birth to the throne, everything was just a life where he only needed to do well on the path directed by others.

“Daniel is careful, so he will do well in everything, and eventually many people will cheer for him, so he will be happy in the future.”

It was the moment when his life began to run wild beyond his control.

“Thank you.”

“What…?”

“For being with me when I feel the ugliest, in the most difficult and lonely time.”

He couldn’t forget the warmth that had been gently entangled in his hand at that time.

He wanted to know her so much that he was out of control. He had so many questions that he wanted to ask her endlessly. But there had to be some sort of distance in every relationship, and theirs was no exception, and it was regrettable. Daniel had never felt that way from his mother, or friends, or brothers.

There was something he desperately longed for.

It was not the path others wanted him to take, but somehow, he found a path that he wanted to create. Even if others didn’t support him, it was a path that he couldn’t bear to give up.

Like Amethane, who faced an upheaval once because of Rihan and Ethan, Daniel also had entered a new phase in his life.

Maybe that was when his life really began.

***

“I don’t know where she is. She went to an affiliated organization.”

When Daniel asked where she was, Kaiden replied briefly, “It seems that she has erased her memory and left Amethane altogether. She was a woman who liked to have a free life.”

It hasn’t been 24 hours since he hugged her. Of course, he thought that she would come if he called her today, but the answer he received was preposterous: “She erased her memory and quit the affiliated organization.” Of course, he didn’t think she was completely transparent towards him, but he didn’t know the girl she loved would suddenly disappear from his sight.

One day, she suddenly came barging in his monotonous life, allowing Daniel to experience multitudes of colors and feelings. And like nothing happened, she left.

She had caused so much change in his life, yet she dared to remember nothing. To lose all the bittersweet memories they had shared. As if everything were meaningless. He had trembled in naked honesty in front of her, and all his pleas for her to stay by his side were all but thrown away. Ignored. Forgotten. The contrast between their feelings crushed Daniel’s heart.

“‘Affection is inertia, innocence is self-deception, lust is illusion.”

He remembered the words she had spoken with sarcasm. Even if she had never uttered a word or showed an intention to accept his proposal, even as a joke, she had told him she loved him. But the consequence to her confession was her disappearance. She turned her back from him and left without so much as a letter.

He stared at Kaiden. She was a bureaucrat, and what the bureau said to protect their staff was incredible. Kaiden’s reply would not be an excuse prepared to deceive him. Rather, it seemed he was implying that he ought to forget, as she had done.

He also knew best that when the officers of the Bureau of Investigation left the organization, they couldn’t know the truth no matter what.

The Bureau of Investigation officers were loyal to Amethane and the King, but they were unconditionally guarding their own sanctuary. And in that sanctuary, there was the ‘Eve Jean’ that he was looking for. Even if he made a fuss to wipe out the entire Bureau of Investigation, they would never open their mouths.

“Oh, yeah.”

Rather than arguing for nothing, he quickly finished his calculations in the direction where he could get more information while pretending to back away.

For Daniel, the Bureau of Investigation and he would have to face each other. He and his trying to find her, and the Bureau who was trying to hide her somehow for unknown reasons. The only thing he wondered was, why did they want to hide her from him?

Did they think he would harm her or force her to stay next to him? Of course, he intended to respect all her intentions. However, he was willing to persuade her, who told him she loved him—to even beg her on his knees to stay by his side. It is a personal affair, and the Bureau of Investigation has no right to stop him.