CH 61.1

“The marriage between noble families is, of course, an important strategy. Historically, many families have escaped crisis through a well-established marriage. From the beginning, the weight is different from the affiliated organization’s employees who live their life as their own… I think it’s unfair for the employees of affiliated organizations and royal family to ignore what the nobles go through.”

It was the first conversation that piqued Daniel’s interest in her. It was fascinating that an employee of an affiliated agency made a remark which showed their consideration for the nobles so casually. Hence Daniel thought she could represent people from all kinds of positions; he remembered saying that she would fit well in the Judicial Affairs Bureau.

“Anriq.”

“Yes.”

The guard behind Daniel replied immediately. He had never been particularly interested in him, but he knew before entering the Palace he had been under the Count of Esselburn.

“Did the Count of Esselburn have five daughters?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Are they all married?” asked Daniel.

“Only the oldest two got married,” replied Anriq.

“Do the rest have fiancées?”

“Perhaps the two below know that there are planned marriages coming.”

“And the other one?”

“…I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Daniel arched his eyebrow, inquisitive.

“The third one, after graduating from college, immediately entered the Bureau of Investigation, where her whereabouts are currently unknown. I haven’t paid a visit to the Count for a long time, so I am not aware of the latest news.”

“Whereabouts are unknown? Why did she choose such a unique career path?” inquired Daniel.

“Just… she hated getting married and living like a “plant” in a noble society, bearing the name of Esselburn.”

Unlike his usual quiet personality, Anriq’s words stretched longer. Daniel wondered for a moment, but eventually thought it might be because they had grown up together, and so he let it pass. Daniel glanced at the personal information sheet that his people had given him.

Iveca der Esselburn didn’t go to high school—she enrolled straight to the university.

“She’s not from Amenity, isn’t she?” Daniel asked.

“Pardon?”

“If you were a royal high school student, of course, she would definitely know this place.”

“Ah…”

When Daniel had gone on a local trip to Amenity with Eve, he recalled how she was a total stranger to high school life. He placed his chin on the top of his hand. It seemed like he had to meet Iveca der Esselburn.

***

Daniel was incapable of obtaining the most important information unlike Kaiden, but he was able to learn about Iveca der Esselburn from a distance.

“That’s her,” he mumbled under his breath as he watched from a distance a woman in a brown Judicial Affair Bureau uniform leaving work.

She had unfamiliar features, unconfident body gestures, and she wore an unhappy expression that seemed somewhat unfortunate. Her black hair glistened under the sunset. If she was a complete stranger, she would probably pass by in front of him without leaving any impression.

But when he saw her faint purple eyes, he stood motionless as if he had been nailed to the spot.

“Here’s the sentence, about Gordon Emerson’s injury… The reason Kaiden was caught in disguise was because of his eye color. Please tell me about it.”

“No matter how much the Bureau of Investigation changes their appearances, they are incapble of altering the color of their eyes, and Kaiden’s black eyes are so rare that…”

Puzzles began to form in Daniel’s head.

The reason why the Bureau had to hide her from Daniel, the reason she said she loved him but never accepted the position of Queen, the reason why she was able to brutally erase her memories without telling him anything, and why Count Esselburn’s youngest lady had been long missing.

The reason why she left him alone in a dark, bitter road.

***

In his life, there were many things called “different naturality” because the blood of the Royal family has been running in his veins.

He had never thought of doing anything like love. When he was a prince, it was natural for him to marry an unknown foreigner for his older brother’s sake; it was natural to delay his birthday by three days; it was natural to remain silent about his mother’s unfair death; and it was natural to live like a non-existent shadow, fearing that he might cause a nuisance to his older brother, the Crown Prince.

However, it has never been natural to be alone. He had friends, he had an older brother, he had a sister around the same age. Fate led him to the throne, and for a while, he felt terribly lonely being alone.

The King’s seat was not to be shared with anyone, even if he might be able to meet his friends, find his half-brother, or discuss affairs with his younger sister. They were loyal to him, but they had to obey because he was King. Such relationships led to many secrets.

He only realized later the consequences of the throne, which he had no choice but to surrender to. After a while, his loneliness became the norm in his life.

So it was okay for him to find her alone.

There used to be a lot of people who cared for her. He knew from the moment he first saw her giggling and drinking with her colleagues. It was a normal life that she could be loved, recognized, and socialize with people around her. If he hadn’t known that she had risked her life to go to war, he wouldn’t have even asked her to stay with him.

But what if she was alone now?