The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 152
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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 152
Unauthorized absence, of all things.
I knew Kibon Altes hadn’t shown his face at the Scroll Department since the Saint Cairo Banquet, staying glued to my side instead. But that was still acceptable since he was technically on medical leave.
Yet when he chased after me to the Southern Region, he seemed to have abandoned all pretense of attendance records and formality.
‘So he’s been skipping work this recklessly? I at least obtained permission from the Crown Prince for my business trip… wait, no. Kibon Altes was the Crown Prince.’
Good grief.
A truly discarded identity, living however he pleased.
As I stood there in disbelief, Victor spoke in a contemptible tone.
“Especially since he crossed a line with me that shouldn’t be crossed. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Pardon?”
“He hit me. Quite violently.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You saw it yourself.”
“I… what?”
“Don’t pretend you didn’t see. You did.”
So he was asking me to falsely accuse Kibon Altes directly and drive him away.
So he would never cross paths with me again.
It seemed Victor had already grown tired of Kibon Altes, his tone turning harsh.
“Think carefully. You’ll remember.”
“Yes… of course.”
At his forceful words, I nodded slowly.
“Understood. I’ll process Kibon Altes’s resignation immediately.”
“I’ll write up a statement right now. Attach it to the paperwork.”
Victor’s face brightened with satisfaction.
He then began drafting a brief report stating that Kibon Altes had assaulted him.
‘Framing him for attacking the Team Leader. Since Kibon Altes is just an intern, he’ll be dismissed on the spot.’
I slowly signed my name to Victor’s false report.
As the Minister of Education, I was personally approving his immediate termination.
“I’ll handle the rest. Since all your authority has been transferred to me anyway, I’ll revoke all of Kibon Altes’s access as well.”
Victor had been designated as my deputy approver, so there was no way around it.
“Very well.”
“Once the Crown Prince himself reviews and approves this, it’ll be processed immediately. He’s always thorough with these matters, after all.”
“I suppose so…”
While Victor worked overtime to process Kibon Altes’s resignation, I left the Scroll Department Office with a note Victor had written himself.
* * *
I had perfectly accomplished the first objective.
‘Though Kibon Altes was dismissed…’
It was obvious this wouldn’t deal even a minor blow to Kiaros.
‘He’s already on unauthorized leave anyway. Clearly, he’s already a discarded identity.’
Now the second objective awaited: delivering a letter to the Aide on Kiaros’s behalf.
I was faster than most messenger birds or communication magic, so it was a reasonable request.
As I walked through the corridor, people whispered and glanced at me sideways.
“She’s come out…”
“So it wasn’t confinement after all.”
What kind of rumors had spread through the Imperial Palace that even Victor mentioned confinement to me?
In any case, it was when I arrived at the Aide’s Office.
“Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, no!”
The Aide jumped up in shock the moment he saw me.
“You’re alive!”
“…What is that reaction…?”
I quickly handed over the letter Kiaros had given me first. These matters needed to be resolved swiftly.
“This was given to me by the Crown Prince.”
Then I pulled out a small glass vial containing blood and preservative solution from my pocket.
“Please place this in the mailbox at this address, along with this note. As quickly as possible.”
The note was one Victor had written earlier.
My circumstances weren’t fully detailed, but it contained the message: ‘There was an issue with the Dragon-kin blood that the High Priest was supposed to deliver, so we’re sending it again. A trustworthy person was involved in this process, and we hope for your convenience within the Gaejo Faction later.’
‘Anyway, once I cut off Kibon, he listens to everything I say.’
I wondered if he was that conscious of Kibon.
Kiaros also detested Victor’s name, so in the end they mutually disliked each other equally.
‘Biberus still doesn’t know the High Priest has been captured. He must be trusting without doubt that the High Priest’s side will be able to receive the Dragon-kin blood.’
However, the High Priest and all the priests were in our custody. There was no way they could obtain the fake blood I had prepared.
There was no time to coerce them into revealing new connection points. That’s why I used Victor.
‘So he’ll try to use the Dragon-kin blood delivered through this channel.’
According to Biberus, the underground facility could hold out for a ‘long’ time. That period could span several years.
I had to catch them as quickly as possible. That’s why I had no choice but to use bait.
‘And Dragon-kin blood is truly important to them at this point. Since it’s also the pathway connected to Biberus, he’ll move personally.’
That was when the door to the Aide’s Office burst open without a knock.
“Namia!”
“Namiaaaaaaa!”
It was the Empress and Jayden.
Word of my appearance in the corridor must have spread quickly.
The Empress scooped me up and examined my face first.
“My goodness, your face was already gaunt, and now it’s become half of what it was! Did you escape without eating anything, rushing desperately?”
“But the place you risked your life to escape to was your brother’s Aide’s Office? Did something happen to your head? Of course, even if Namia became a bit dimmer, she’d probably still fall within average range, but it’s a shame to waste that intelligence.”
I couldn’t focus with the Empress and Jayden making such a commotion.
It seemed handing over the letter first was the right call.
“Namia, just accept your brother, okay?”
Jayden tugged at my arm pleadingly.
“I don’t know why you won’t accept your brother, but I’m sure you’ll do well. Right?”
“Ah…”
I let out an embarrassed laugh and nodded.
“I’m not the one who decides whether to accept or reject such things… But since I care for the Crown Prince as well, please don’t worry too much.”
“Really? Really? So I can think of Namia becoming the Crown Princess now?”
“Ah… well… there are various adult secrets that need to work out first…”
First, I needed to escape my status as a test subject whose transformation could happen at any moment.
As I vaguely brushed it off, Jayden asked sharply.
“And if those various adult secrets don’t work out?”
“Well… the Crown Prince said…”
He said he would keep me by his side and control me so that even if I became a monster, I wouldn’t harm the world.
I couldn’t say this directly, so I changed the subject.
“He said he would let us turn our backs on the world and be together, just the two of us.”
“What? How?”
“I’m not entirely sure since he didn’t elaborate… but I suppose he’d forcibly confine me or something?”
“Wh-wh-what?”
…This wasn’t right. I hadn’t even agreed to Kiaros abandoning his position as Crown Prince.
Jayden’s, the Empress’s, and the Aide’s expressions all changed at once.
I hastily added.
“Ah, I haven’t agreed to it yet, though.”
The situation didn’t improve.
The three of them looked even more serious.
“Ahaha, I’ll do my best to make sure such a thing doesn’t happen. Well then, I’ll take my leave…”
In any case, I’d finished all my business at the Imperial Palace.
“Huh? Where are you going?”
“The Crown Prince is waiting for me… I need to hurry.”
“Then let me come with—”
Just as Jayden tried to grab my arm, the Aide interjected.
“My apologies. The Crown Prince just sent a letter, and it seems the Young Prince and the Empress should receive its contents as well.”
“I see. How convenient.”
I nodded vigorously and immediately bowed.
“Then I’ll be going ahead. It was a pleasure to see you again.”
The Empress and Jayden were endearing, but once they got hold of me, there was no telling when I’d escape.
Right now, Kiaros was waiting for me, and that weighed on my mind.
With that, I stepped directly into the corridor and pulled out a teleportation scroll.
‘I need to hurry. I promised I’d get there quickly.’
I’d be falling through the air… I should land somewhere soft so it doesn’t hurt.
I briefly recalled Kiaros’s room at the Southern Villa, and remembered a spacious sofa large enough for two people to lie on.
‘Landing there should work!’
Without hesitation, I activated the teleportation scroll.
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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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