The Reason for Marriage

As she thought over Orem’s advice over and over again, she had thrown all of the daggers she had taken from the rack. Instead, she moved toward the bow in the corner, near the door to the gym hall. Her bodyguard, Kenta, who was quiet as always behind Iveca, suddenly moved to block her path.

“Move. I’m here because I have something to tell the Queen,” came a voice Iveca did not recognise at first, until she saw Roseley, Daniel’s sister-in-law, standing in the door frame. The woman who had spoken was wearing a slim fitting black dress and looked like she could kill with a stare. She did not move an inch from the hall door, as if telling Iveca to come towards her. The deceased Prince William’s wife, Roseley, took her daughter Giselle’s hand.

Iveca put down her bow and walked slowly out of the arena, to where Roseley was standing. Bending her knees slightly to show her respect, she smiled and spoke.

“If you can wait for a moment, I will take you to the Queen’s palace, Roseley.”

“I didn’t have long to talk, so I came in person. What I want to tell you is short anyway.”

Roseley cut her off at once. Iveca hadn’t seen Daniel’s sister-in-law since their wedding. She only knew that the little girl holding one of Roseley’s hands was the only child with last name ‘Amethan’ aside from Daniel.

“There is no adult in the palace who can boss the royal family around, so eventually I will have to say something. Being a Queen is not a position where you can play like a commoner, so stop right now.”

Iveca narrowed her eyes.

“Are you talking about the Constitution, Roseley?”

Rosely waved her hand impatiently. “Do you think it makes sense that nobles and royalty obey the same laws as commoners? There must be limits. We are not the same.”

“I understand your concerns, but I will try to make adjustments so as not to excessively injure the rights of the nobles. If you read it carefully, you can see that there is a way to block the rebellion of the commoners and solve it through dialogue, instead of…”

“Nobles?” Roseley stared at her with sullen eyes. Even though she had cut off Iveca, she choked for a moment and stopped after the one word, before gaining her composure and resuming her case.

“The rumours that the third daughter of the Count Esselburn does not attend any tea parties, picnics, or gatherings are famous among the ladies of the aristocratic families. As soon as you turned 17, you went to the University that commoners attended. Who are you to tell us how to live? There was also the fact that you hadn’t actually stepped into the Count’s estate in 4 years. How can you claim to represent the nobility, someone who has never been mingled with the nobles? Your last name is Esselburn, but are you really the daughter of the Great Duke? I don’t think I have to tell you the other rumours out there.”

Roseley raised her hand and ruffled Iveca’s messy dark hair. Iveca felt her body tremble strangely, before a muted anger flushed through her at the intrusion.

“The Queen’s Palace is actually a seat of those who were born into noble families and received a high education. People who matter.”

It was only then that Iveca understood why Roseley was so arrogant towards her position as a Queen. She was saying that the Queen position was not for Iveca, but for people like herself. Rosely was genuinely thinking of her as a disgrace to the aristocrats she was trying to help. Iveca tried to say nothing, but her expression threatened to betray her feelings Rosely didn’t seem to notice, however.

“I still tremble when I think about what Testy, who was a commoner herself, you know, managed to do. I hope this time the Queen’s Palace will be a peaceful place. So let’s stop here. Don’t put yourself in this… treacherous position.”

Suddenly, Iveca thought of the words that the Attorney General Orem said.

“I’ve always lived my life trying to ignore the question, why do nobles dumber than me have a better life?”

Iveca did well at college. She would have no doubt done a lot better than Roseley could have. She could, at the very least, take her breath away in this gymnasium in a physical battle. Of course, because she was a Queen, she had a higher status than Roseley. All the daughters of the countess received the very same education as a noble did. She also mastered etiquette from a young age, and even got married through arrangement for her family. But why should it be ignored simply because there was this possibility that she didn’t share the same blood with Count Esselburn? Iveca had passed all the necessary trials to be considered worthy of being here. It wasn’t her fault that she was born with black hair. The fundamental questions Roseley had put forward, in her ignorance, made Iveca’s eyes begin to flash with anger and resentment.

“As a member of the same royal family myself, I will give you some advice. If you have children, you will regret the decision you are making. The reduction of the royal power is fatal to the successor. Are you going to make a paper doll-like successor based on your erroneous convictions?”

Iveca took a deep breath and slowly opened her mouth.

“I don’t think my child will be perfect. There is no perfect person in this world. And if everyone acknowledges him as such, I think it would be a relief.”