The Reason for Marriage

The staff members from the Judicial Affair Bureau were still excited and continued the conversation, while Iveca sighed in frustration, but fortunately, the topic quickly changed.

“By the way, who is the culprit? Has it been revealed, Queen?” Reina asked.

“No, I heard that the Bureau of Investigation also lost their leads.” Iveca laughed to herself. But once again, the people of the Judicial Affair Bureau said that the Bureau of Investigation was not the same as before, and then it was said that the deprivation was the most severe, as the magic power decreased. And as they started to track down who was behind it, they’d discovered so many possibilities that it was difficult to pinpoint one.

Over the past two days, Iveca had also thought long and hard about who could be behind all of this. The first thing that came to mind was the people that stood behind Roseley because she was the first person to openly show hostility towards her. Her daughter, Giselle, was the only one who could succeed the throne now, so she might not want the throne to be weakened. Conservative aristocrats, who were likely to be vigorously opposed, were of course nominated, but it was meaningless to guess because the number was too large.

No matter how long she thought about it, the one person that kept popping into her mind was her father, Ewill Esselburn. Of course, the surname of ‘Esselburn’ on her name was included when the ten articles were announced, so it would’ve been more embarrassing to him and also would have been a huge blow to his resistance towards other aristocrats. The fact that Count Esselburn didn’t take Daniels’s side during the conference, led her to believe this.

“But I am glad that you are okay. More than that, there is something I would like to discuss,” Iveca said while turning her pen around. She was conscious that she was holding the pen that Daniel had given her with her right hand. She was originally left-handed, but she looked different from her other sisters, and she didn’t want to be found to be left-handed too, so she never wrote or ate with her left hand.

Seeing Reina place the pen in her left hand, meant that she lived freely in the Bureau of Investigation. She still wasn’t confident enough to hold a pen in her left hand and never wrote with it, except for a few times when she was very young.

Iveca continued with a bitter heart, “It would be nice to hear the opinions of the common people. It cannot be seen as the affiliated organizations that represent the common people. Maybe, the commoners  are at a point we never thought of.” Iveca swallowed, her mouth had become dry because she remembered the humiliation she had endured from Roseley in the gymnasium at the time. “So in that sense, there was this kind of realization that we usually would take things for granted.”

She’d once been told these kinds, warm words, that would give her strength when she was talking about something new, “Iveca, be bold in every step. Do not forget that I am always on your side.” There were some moments when it was necessary to remember those words and Iveca slowly let out her opinions, “It was sad and I think it was unfair. They could be angry later at the injustice. It’s not like I wanted to be born as a commoner.” Iveca thought she had crossed some line. Would not it be an aristocrat? As expected, did she think that she inherited the stable keeper’s blood? Am I sympathizing because I went through some unfortunate events while growing up?

Even with the many questions in her head that made her feel intimidated, she was able to continue her words, “The nobles have their hardships. They have a lot of things to take responsibility for, so they have a hard time. I am not saying that the nobles are wrong and the commoners are right… Um,” she couldn’t speak anymore. All the people in the Judicial Affair Bureau were commoners. It was what nobles would do if they offended their authority, to discuss difficult and sad feelings in front of commoners; a heavy silence ensued that everyone was conscious of it.

It was Attorney General Orem who broke the awkward silence, “It will give a much bigger impact if the representative of the common people is involved in the constitution, as it will be able to win more sympathy from people. However, it would be better to seek advice only. I get tired when there are words like the abolition of class system or the distribution of territories.”

“Will there be such radical words?” Iveca queried.

“My Queen.” Orem grinned as he stroked his white beard, “It’s all my old thoughts. People who have nothing will naturally complain about the world. And few people might have heard about that kind of complaint.”

“Well, now….”

“Now I have a lot more. Having risen to the head of the Judicial Affair Bureau, would not it be a vested interest? Even small amount authority, that has been granted by Queen Evena, was enough to keep my mouth shut.”

Iveca nodded slowly, and suddenly Daniel’s words came to mind that he was giving away cash to prevent complaints; all interests took precedence over ideology.

She thought of herself as she’d grown up wealthier than the commoners, but yet she was not happy at all. For her, not feeling deprived was more important than any interests. When a law bearing the name of ‘Iveca der Esselburn’ came out in this world, there would be many dissatisfied people, but at least she thought that she didn’t want anyone to feel deprived.

Deprivation made a person feel self-loathing, intimidated and insecure, which could make a person weak later on in life, and that was how she felt in front of Daniel.