The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 41
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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【Chapter 41】
“I asked purely for academic inquiry purposes.”
“I’m not sure if I should say this.”
Asil carefully continued his words while observing Rianel for a moment.
“I believe that making something a research topic just because you have doubts about it is quite far removed from ordinary people’s way of thinking.”
“….”
She had nothing to say.
After a moment of silence.
Rianel looked at Asil.
This conversation had started because he had approached her first.
“By the way, what brings you here, Bureau Director?”
Asil released his hands from behind his back and placed something on the desk.
“It’s a sandwich.”
A simple composition of lettuce, cured meat, and cheese between bread.
It was the same kind of sandwich Rianel often ate while writing papers or preparing lectures.
“…?”
“I thought you might need a snack.”
You don’t eat breakfast well, after all.
Asil quickly held out a receipt before Rianel could say anything.
“As you can see, it’s an item under 10 gold, so you can consume it with peace of mind.”
“….”
“I thought you wouldn’t trust it without supporting documents.”
Your name must be scholar, since you want everything verified.
Rianel silently took a bite of the sandwich.
But Asil’s strange kindness didn’t end with just one day.
The next day.
“It’s a fatigue recovery potion.”
And the day after that too.
“It’s tea I brewed in the break room. The amount is a bit much for drinking alone.”
He came looking for her with something every other day.
The reason was obvious.
“I am not your master.”
“Is that so?”
“You don’t seem to believe me.”
“Try saying it again while looking into my eyes.”
“I really am not.”
‘Master….’
Asil felt like holding his forehead.
“I won’t ask, so please breathe….”
“….”
Bad guy.
Those words ‘I won’t ask’ were even more unpleasant.
Because they sounded like he was completely certain.
‘Can’t be helped.’
Still, the reason she didn’t leave the Special Tax Bureau was because there was no guarantee she could get another job that provided such steady income.
Above all, Asil also kept an appropriate line while being persistent….
When Rianel seemed too troubled, he would give her slight opportunities to escape.
‘Cunning guy.’
And then another day.
“It’s a fountain pen.”
He held out an item that Rianel had used during her professor days, calling it a gift.
“I already have one I use.”
“It would be more comfortable for you to use something familiar to your hands.”
“That looks like an item worth more than 10 gold.”
“It’s fine. Since it’s used, depreciation will apply. The residual value will converge to zero.”
“Then please dispose of it.”
Still, calling something that someone else had used trash.
Rianel pouted in annoyance, and Asil suddenly burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha!”
How delightful.
“Fine. Then I’ll take it back.”
Asil tucked the fountain pen into his jacket’s inner pocket.
Seeing his neat fingertips naturally handle the pen made her feel strange.
It seemed to mean that he had been carrying that fountain pen around even after she left.
Anyway, when someone who usually spent more than half the week on external duties, leaving the government building empty, started hovering around Rianel every other day, other people noticed too.
Especially since Asil was someone who made it a rule to maintain a certain distance from other employees.
But since the other party was the Bureau Director, the Tax Bureau people only whispered behind his back.
“Doesn’t the Bureau Director seem to come too often these days?”
“Right.”
“Is this the workplace harassment we’ve only heard about?”
“No, but the atmosphere is a bit… strange, isn’t it?”
To call it harassment, Rianel, the person involved, seemed too fine.
Asil’s behavior of hovering around Rianel and constantly trying to take care of her looked to anyone like someone desperate to win the other person’s favor.
“….”
But everything has its limits.
Finally, Rianel spoke up.
“The Bureau Director….”
‘So you noticed too!’
Wilbrin waited anxiously for Rianel’s words, then.
“I think he’s doing this to prevent me from changing jobs.”
She almost dropped her document files at the following words.
“Don’t… don’t people usually think of that as expressing interest?”
Or romantic feelings, perhaps.
“I judge it to be an obsession with keeping a competent employee.”
“Are you sure you thought about this seriously?”
Rianel was firm.
“I’m not naive enough to mistake pressure from hierarchy for love.”
‘Is… is that so?’
Not only Wilbrin but other Tax Bureau people were momentarily confused and tilted their heads.
In fact, recently there had been someone who came and went daily to the Special Tax Bureau trying to take Rianel away.
“Hello! I came again today.”
Today was no exception, as Princess Tiren opened the government building door and entered energetically.
“Are you busy today too?”
She had been coming and going so frequently that there was a chair next to Rianel that had become the Princess’s designated seat.
Rianel answered briefly without even taking her eyes off the documents.
“Yes.”
That wasn’t an empty word.
Originally, year-end was a hellish period for civil servants.
From routine work reports to budget deadlines, plus settlement organization and audit preparations.
All of that had to be processed before the year changed.
The luxury of getting caught up in the ‘year-end atmosphere’ was not permitted to them.
“Oh my. The Princess Palace isn’t busy at all though.”
“Is that so.”
“Oh, if you come to the Princess Palace, you can hire people as you please. Everyone was fired recently, so there’s no one there.”
“It seems like it would be inconvenient with no system in place.”
“Uwing.”
The Princess pouted her lips.
After the embezzlement incident at the Princess Palace was revealed.
The Princess resolutely cut ties with the Head Maid she had been close with.
Even when the Head Maid begged to see the Princess just once, she never went to visit her.
Instead, she had been coming to find Rianel, and the frequency was even increasing.
This was despite Rianel’s attitude being like this.
“It seems inappropriate for Your Highness, a member of the Imperial Family, to come looking for me, a civil servant.”
“Hueok.”
The Princess took that in a different meaning.
“Are you worried about me right now?”
“I’m advising you to please stop coming to visit.”
The Princess pointed to one side of Rianel’s desk.
At some point, sweet snack packages had been placed there.
“Then why did you put these snacks there?”
Even though she doesn’t eat them herself.
“Don’t you look for them, Your Highness?”
True to Rianel’s nature of pursuing the best efficiency in any given situation, she had placed them there because she disliked having to move to get snacks every time the Princess came, but…
“I know what this is. Interest and affection!”
“It’s efficiency.”
“Then why did you catch the embezzler for me?”
“Confirming whether tax revenue is properly managed was within my job duties.”
“I knew it seemed right… You even made stew for me directly. Because you were worried I might starve.”
“That was meddling.”
However, the Princess was unmoved.
“No! It must have been worry. Sister-in-law said so too.”
Bitterness and loneliness reflected in her gaze looking down at the floor, so Rianel couldn’t argue back.
Anyway, though the Princess came every day spouting nonsense, few people disliked her.
“You said you’re busy, so I won’t disturb you more. Oh, this is health juice I made myself. I only put in things that are good for your body.”
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
“I’ll treasure it as a family heirloom!”
“Oh my, it’s not quite that much.”
It was because she spent little time in the department, and brought small gifts every time she came.
“But this color is a bit…”
“Uuueok.”
Though today’s gift seemed to be a dud.
“Hey, if you throw that up, it’s a crime of insulting the Imperial Family.”
However, even goodwill becomes burdensome when it continues.
This time Asil stepped forward.
“Your Highness visiting a specific department could be seen as favoritism toward our department and invite jealousy from other departments. Moreover, it places a great burden on our Tax Bureau, so please refrain from entering for non-work related matters.”
Or at least reduce visits to about once every two weeks.
“Hmm… Is that so? Well, it would be troublesome for me to keep coming and going. Then how about having the young lady transfer to my palace entirely?”
A very simple conclusion.
“…Why does the conversation go in that direction?!”
Asil was aghast.
The Princess was immature and young, but she was still royalty. The blood that had kept Empire citizens beneath them and used them for generations didn’t just disappear.
“Why would Team Leader go to the Princess Palace in the first place? How long has it been since you were promoted!”
Mel objected, but the Princess responded nonchalantly.
“But if the conditions are good, couldn’t you come? By the way, if you come to the Princess Palace, I’ll absolutely guarantee you can leave work on time. Plus I can provide a private carriage and personal office. We have plenty of rooms anyway. And I’ll pay performance bonuses and triple your current salary.”
“…”
“She seems like she might come over.”
Wilbrin, who had almost been tempted herself for a moment, slammed her desk and shouted.
“What! Our Team Leader isn’t that easy a person, you know?”
Trying to buy people with money like that.
And Rianel.
“Can I transfer?”
“You can’t give in already!”
She magnificently betrayed their expectations.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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