The Reason for Marriage

There was the root of it. Raina was here on Daniel’s orders; presumably to explain to her more precisely why she shouldn’t be meddling in political matters. But why did the Amenity matter? The disappearance of the continent’s magic was something that Iveca had known about from an incredibly young age anyway. When she suddenly lost those four years, the first difference she felt with her own skin was the change in her magic mana. She was surprised that the magic did not work well still. She was so good at magic that she felt a little deprived, like a child who has its favourite toy taken away because she didn’t know that the decline would be so steep.

“Do you remember anything about the Empire’s civil war?” Raina inquired.

“I heard that Prince Ethan II is leading the rebels as a temporary government. It was said that they cut off the power of the spells that run in the family and attempted to build a republic?”

“Do you know where the basis of these Republican ideas came from?”

“I don’t know that much, I’m afraid,” said Iveca, almost guiltily.

“The book ‘My Republicanism’,” Raina said, almost with a sneer, “was written by an artist named ‘Rihan Kadmin’ from Staram Island. We believe, or at least we have found no evidence to the contrary, that it is the basis of all republican ideas. It’s banned in Amethan now.”

In Iveca’s mind, that made sense. Amethan was a monarchy. Of course, they would go out of their way to stamp out any dangerous ideas such as republicanism. Iveca changed her pen to her right hand and wrote the name ‘Rihan Kadmin’ in the corner of the royal family tree, as it seemed that there would be a reason to remember that name.

“When Kadmin was exiled to the Kingdom of Amethan, the borders became… complicated. At that time, Prince Ethan II made the journey to Amethan and secretly made a request to the Amethan Palace for protection. His Majesty Daniel graciously accepted both Rihan Kadmin and Prince Ethan.”

“I see,” came Iveca’s reply.

“This is where the public knowledge diverts from the truth. Prince Ethan stayed at Amenity Palace for one month, and in his time there he used blood magic, his own royal blood, to sever the Amenity’s spell for a week. He was also the one who got Princess Ashe pregnant, despite her being in protective custody. That’s why Princess Ashe left Amethan, Your Majesty, even the Esselburn family don’t have this information.”

Iveca looked at Raina, her purple eyes confused.

“What happened to Rihan Kadmin?”

“The Emperor called for him, and he was sent out to the Empire. From there, he escaped any eye of the monarchy, then he joined the rebels.”

“Oh.”

Iveca’s expression was distorted by what she was hearing. Two men asked for asylum and protection and Daniel graciously accepted it, but they both repaid him with a knife in the back? Raina continued slowly, noticing Iveca’s anger.

“The Bureau of Investigation decided that all of this was too strange to be allowed to continue, and under its own decision, when Rihan Kadmin was dispatched to the empire, he was made the target of an assassin…. but it failed.”

“Why? Did you send someone who wasn’t good enough?”

Raina grinned at the question. Iveca looked stung before Raina hurriedly explained.

“I’m sorry. He was a close colleague of mine, so I suddenly thought of something amusing… Rihan Kadmin was excellent enough to be dispatched by the Bureau’s Director, Mr. Lucas himself. What we have investigated is the fact that there was not enough magical power on the site of the Empire during the war. Rihan Kadmin was a better soldier than we had anticipated, even with Mr. Lucas on his tail.”

Iveca calmly looked at Raina.

“Then what happened to the employee? The Empire is at war, and Rihan Kadmin is alive. He failed the assassination, so he couldn’t come back?”

“That… we aren’t certain of.” Raina’s eyes lowered and she quickly changed the subject. “The situation is overly complicated now compared to four years ago. As the spell disappeared and Staram’s illegal goods flooded in, including more copies of that republican book, King Daniel saw an opportunity to establish the Bureau of Technology. We started to pick up things that could be useful.”

“From the smugglers?”

“It was an urgent matter,” Raina replied coolly.

“Then the people who have been doing business properly…”

“Yes?”

Iveca was somewhat taken back by Raina’s interruption, but she didn’t stop talking.

“The lawbreakers, smugglers… they were rewarded for their crimes… It seems unreasonable.”

“My Queen.”

“Yes?” Iveca wondered whether she had been too critical in speaking her mind.

“You are a full-time employee of the Judicial Affair Bureau. I heard it’s been a month since you moved. I do hope you understand the King’s decision. Maybe that’s the reason he sent me.”

Raina, for all appearances, didn’t seem that formal. It was strangely inconsistent with the stern image of the Bureau of Investigation that Iveca knew and it put her at ease. However, the tone of the conversation was more serious now than before.

“As King Daniel became the King unexpectedly, he had no supporting parties. In the early days of the reign, too many decisions were made in a short time, and there were both formidable gains and losses as a result. Even our Bureau of Investigation, which initially decided to assassinate Rihan Kadmin on its own judgement because they did not believe in His Majesty in the beginning, now distances itself from that decision.”

Raina glanced at Iveca’s purple eyes.

“When it comes to the direction of the country, I believe in Your Majesty’s wisdom and prudence. I trust in the agreements, the decisions he made and recognize the sacrifice.” She said it in a way that Iveca took to mean she was trying to be reassuring about her new husband. Iveca thought again how little she knew of Amethan now. Amethan did not change much from her birth until eighteen, but she felt that it seemed there was a wave of change from day to day over the past four years. Crucially, the four years she was missing.

And how lonely was Daniel holding the arrow keys alone in this wave of change?