The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 109
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 109
The moment the most powerful person in the realm spoke, Anastasia fell silent immediately. The Raven Servant, who had been enthusiastically chiming in, did the same.
The two exchanged a knowing glance that seemed to say, “Oh, right. The Crown Prince does have feelings for Namia, doesn’t he?”
“Um, but who exactly are you?”
“Well… think of me as an elite knight who operates in the shadows, so to speak.”
“Wow, wow…”
Anastasia and the Raven Servant had apparently grown somewhat closer in the meantime, whispering to each other.
Meanwhile, Victor turned to look at me again, breathing heavily.
“I was sincere. Namia Loapi, I… you. Yes. I can’t even conceive of possessing someone in any other way than this.”
His voice carried the weight of ragged breathing.
“That’s right. You don’t know me at all, Namia.”
With tears glistening in his eyes, Victor spoke in a dark tone I had never heard from him before.
“I’ve kept it hidden all this time, but the truth is, my biological parents…”
I stared at him intently. It seemed he was about to reveal something about his upbringing.
But in that moment.
I had tried so hard to hold it back, but my mouth opened involuntarily.
“Yaaaawn…”
There was nothing I could do about it. It was truly unavoidable—a side effect of the sedative.
Victor looked at me with more betrayal than ever before, his will to speak further completely shattered as he glared.
“So… the Minister doesn’t… even want to listen, it seems…”
Only Anastasia rolled her eyes and muttered.
“I told you clearly—confessions aren’t something you challenge someone with…”
* * *
[I merely reported all matters from the Scroll Department to someone. After receiving that report, I was instructed to obtain the Crown Prince’s blood by any means necessary.]
As Victor was dragged away by the Ravens, he spoke thus.
[I don’t know who exactly ordered me to do this, beyond knowing it was the Gaejo Faction. Especially after the Saint Cairo Banquet, all communications came through my personal mailbox at the Imperial Palace.]
That had credibility. After all, Victor had joined the Gaejo Faction in his teens and left immediately upon becoming the adopted son of Marquis Awin.
[Marquis Awin knows nothing of this. Please, I beg you—let no harm come to him.]
That final plea from Victor seemed genuine. As it should be for any human.
There was no way he would have shared important information with someone of such low rank.
[Please, please… not Marquis Awin. He believed in me and gave me a new life…]
[Did you ever show him your true self?]
[…No. I never want him to know.]
Victor was dragged away while worrying about the Minister of Finance. In any case, having leverage over him was quite fortunate.
[The blood of Yongin… I’ve arranged to leave it in my mailbox, the one I’ve been using to communicate with them all this time. That’s all.]
[If that’s a lie, I won’t spare the Minister of Finance.]
Kiaros instructed them to place a vial containing ordinary human blood in that mailbox.
And he assigned guards to Victor, ordering him to report to work as if nothing had happened.
It was so the Gaejo Faction would believe their plan had succeeded.
‘I set this trap from the very beginning for this reason.’
The Imperial Palace was not a place anyone could enter. Especially not in the dead of night.
Victor’s Mailbox was used for official purposes, so it was located within the Imperial Palace.
If I staked out there, I could catch another member of the Gaejo Faction staying in the Imperial Palace.
“Then I’ll leave the cleanup to you.”
Kiaros spoke to two of the Ravens.
One of the Ravens attached himself to Victor. Victor’s sky-blue eyes turned toward me once more. He spoke in a daze.
“…You need to be careful, Namia.”
It was the first time I’d seen that hollow look in his eyes.
“Until now, you’ve been safe because of me, but they’ve already taken notice of you.”
I remained silent.
It was something I’d already suspected. That’s why I came to the Imperial Palace the moment the Banquet ended.
“Because I could use you to obtain Yongin’s blood, that’s how you’ve managed to stay unharmed until now.”
I understood what Victor was saying.
Now that they believed they had obtained Yongin’s blood, they could harm me.
Someone within the Imperial Palace who could access Victor’s Mailbox.
Even if I stayed in the Imperial Palace with guards, it meant I was still in danger.
“…From the moment I first saw you, wanting to have you was my true feeling.”
The person who blocked our locked gazes was Kiaros.
“Go.”
Kiaros, standing before me, commanded in a low voice.
“Now, immediately, at once, hurry, quickly, go.”
At his instruction, the Ravens bound Victor and swiftly disappeared. Kiaros also gave instructions to Anastasia.
“Anastasia should take sick leave and rest at home. Say she suffered severe injuries from Victor and is hovering between life and death. And don’t try to learn more details about this matter.”
“Yes, yes! Ah, I understand!”
Thus, Anastasia’s situation was roughly resolved as well.
“Still, just to be safe, I’ll assign someone to watch over her.”
The Raven who had rescued Anastasia earlier and had quickly grown close to her took on the role of her guard.
After the two of them departed, each with their respective Raven.
Kiaros spoke to me as I stifled a yawn.
“You must be quite exhausted, but could you perhaps muster a little more strength?”
My reflection filled his crimson eyes, which held a certain tension.
“How about we keep watch together to see who approaches the Mailbox.”
“I was hoping to do exactly that.”
I nodded vigorously.
Thus, we headed toward Victor’s Mailbox together with the remaining Ravens.
One of the Ravens placed a beaker containing blood into Victor’s Mailbox.
After that, we crouched low in the Grass Field and hid.
As we waited for someone to approach the Mailbox, sitting quietly in the darkness, Victor’s final expression kept returning to my mind.
“Why.”
Kiaros asked, studying my expression.
“Unsettled?”
I stifled a yawn before answering, my eyes conveying an apologetic expression.
“Not particularly. I think I’m still overwhelmed from the Anastasia incident… I simply find myself thinking that such things are possible.”
“Yet Victor Awin was blaming Namia.”
“That’s just typical male deflection. Regardless of his background or circumstances, I have no obligation to accommodate them.”
At the time, Anastasia had murmured wistfully about how she liked “brooding men with tragic backstories,” but I felt no curiosity about his circumstances. That was simply my nature.
“We could have worked out, but the timing simply didn’t align… I suppose such things do happen.”
I blinked slowly as I continued speaking.
“But manipulating everything to suit one’s own desires isn’t true love, is it?”
“…That’s true.”
Kiaros’s response came a beat too late.
Only then did I realize I had been rambling quite unnecessarily to Kiaros.
He was my superior—someone as distant as the sky itself—so why had I shared so many personal thoughts with him?
‘Have I grown more comfortable around him?’
I couldn’t pinpoint when it had begun, but our interactions were certainly nothing like that first meeting, where I trembled at the mere sight of him.
This was entirely because Kiaros had made me feel at ease.
He approached me warmly, with genuine interest and kindness.
“In any case, ensure that they do not harm Namia. Be especially vigilant.”
Kiaros spoke in a low voice.
“Namia is my guest, and I will protect her without fail.”
Just as I was about to acknowledge his words.
Someone approached Victor’s Mailbox.
He quietly retrieved a beaker filled with blood from the mailbox, cradled it against his chest, and silently retraced his steps.
“Follow him.”
Kiaros issued a low command, and one of the Ravens swiftly took flight, trailing the figure.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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