The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 182

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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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Side Story 11
Side Story 2. A Normal Yet Effective Crown Princess Life (1)
It was not long after the betrothal ceremony had taken place.
“Namia! Namiaaaa!”
As I was casually reviewing official documents as a hobby, a familiar voice reached my ears.
“I’m here! Kyahahaha!”
It was the Empress.
“Your mother truly has no sense of propriety! But she’s sturdy and gets the work done well!”
“Thank you.”
I rose from my desk with a gentle smile and offered a proper bow.
“Enough of that! What’s between us? Come now, my energy’s flagging—brew me a strong cup of hot cocoa!”
The Empress perched herself on the edge of my desk rather than taking a proper seat.
She was the restless sort who could never sit still long enough to finish a full cup of tea anyway.
She would eagerly drink a single shot of cocoa, exchange a few words, then dash off to swing her sword again—it was predictable as clockwork.
True to form, when the Attendant brought the cocoa, she reached for it eagerly and was about to gulp it down right there….
“Hmm?”
The Empress’s expression shifted to something grave the moment she lifted the cup.
The sudden change in her face startled me. It was rare to see the Empress wear such a sharp, serious expression.
“What, what is it?”
The Empress set down the untouched cocoa and fixed her gaze upon my desk, which was scattered with documents. I tensed and asked nervously.
“Has there been an assassination attempt? Is there some coded message ordering my elimination?”
My desk held nothing but papers, so naturally such a conclusion was the only reasonable one I could draw.
As I held my breath, the Empress spoke in a grave, clipped tone.
“Namia… what am I to do about this?”
“What is the matter? Yes?”
“So they’ve finally come to you….”
“Th-th-th-those things?”
I couldn’t begin to guess what ‘those things’ were that had the Empress so anxious.
I hurriedly followed her gaze. But there were only ordinary documents and unremarkable letters….
As I trembled and lowered my voice, the Empress picked up one of the envelopes from my desk with a look of despair.
“These things.”
“Yes?”
“Invitations to noble social circles!”
The Empress let out an exasperated snort.
I gazed at the envelope dangling from the Empress’s hand. It was a letter from the Countess’s Daughter inviting me to a small gathering at her newly moved manor.
“What? But this isn’t an assassination notice—it’s just a simple invitation?”
Since the betrothal ceremony had been held, I was now the Crown Prince’s intended, even if I had not yet taken the Imperial Family name. Therefore, it was only natural that I should now receive invitations from noble social circles.
The Empress, bristling with indignation, jabbed at the letters on my desk.
“This one, this one, this one too! And this, that, and those—they’re all those damnable things!”
Indeed, there were an enormous number of such invitations. Salon invitations, concert invitations, tea party invitations….
Of course, I had no experience visiting such places since childhood.
In the Southern Region, I lived a life worse than a commoner, and though I was called the Countess’s Daughter after coming to the Capital, I was hardly in a position to attend such gatherings.
Only once, after becoming Minister of Education, did I attend a banquet at Saint Cairo, but I left before the first dance even began.
“Well, wouldn’t they want to stand in line with you?”
I smiled at the Empress reassuringly.
“After all, I’m the prospective Crown Princess.”
“How can you say something so naive!”
The Empress suddenly raised her voice.
“They have absolutely no intention of looking favorably upon you! Rather, they’ll be itching to tear you down!”
The Empress trembled at the mere thought of it.
“In all my life, I’ve never seen such a despicable group. Open conflict would be better—it’s a place where they make a fool of someone sitting quietly, completely destroying them. Without connections or factions built since childhood, you’re simply ignored!”
“Ah….”
I laughed, relieved that the documents on the desk weren’t assassination warnings I’d somehow missed.
“Then their thinking must be shallow. I will become a member of the Imperial Family, so tormenting me would bring no benefit to their houses, would it?”
“But it wouldn’t cause harm either.”
The Empress spoke in a rare, grave tone.
“And reporting it to the Emperor would be too much of a burden on the Imperial Family… I can’t let mere words influence state affairs. Of course, His Majesty did notice once and became quite angry, and I felt so terribly sorry….”
“True.”
I nodded calmly.
“It would look bad to rely on the Dragon-kin and ask them to punish those who bullied me. It could set a poor precedent. Certainly, the noble social circles and the Imperial Family’s governance should remain separate.”
“Yes.”
The Empress spoke with slumped shoulders.
“Normally, I should be a source of strength for you, but I’m not participating in social circles at all now. Even as Empress, I’ve only been mocked for so long—you might suffer because of it.”
She continued with a dejected sigh.
“Because I’m a commoner, because I worked as a mercenary, because I have no parents, because my family is disreputable… they weave together these strange word games that are too ambiguous to take seriously yet too painful to accept. Namia, your situation isn’t so different from mine. Why not simply avoid going?”
From the Empress’s words, I could see how much heartache she had endured all this time.
“If I don’t go, so be it. If I simply don’t see or hear anything, my heart will be at peace. Of course, they’ll think they’ve won….”
“I see.”
“And there are countless noble ladies vying for the Crown Princess position. They’re probably gnashing their teeth at your sudden elevation.”
“Ah, yes.”
I nodded slowly.
“I understand the situation roughly. Thank you so much for thinking of me, Empress.”
It was certainly an aspect I hadn’t considered. I knew so little about the social circles of noble houses.
The Imperial Family had long since withdrawn from social circles. It meant I had no faction to naturally integrate into.
Even though I’d learned the situation thanks to the Empress, I had no intention of avoiding it as she suggested.
“But please don’t worry too much. I’ll handle it well.”
“Namia… I can’t help but worry. I don’t think you have it in you to act like a fox and dominate the social circles.”
“Goodness, I have no such ambition. I don’t have the time anyway.”
I smiled brightly and took the Empress’s hand.
“But truly, you don’t need to worry.”
* * *
A month later.
“This is absurd.”
The Empress burst into my office.
“How on earth did you manage this, Namia? Well?”
The Empress’s prediction had proven accurate. Every invitation that came to me dripped with unmistakable malice and mockery.
The young noblewomen—especially those who had dreamed of marrying Kiaros since childhood—made no effort to hide their contempt toward me.
I experienced firsthand the “blatant character assassination” the Empress had warned me about. And yet….
“How did you do it? How did you make even those notoriously vicious noblewomen tremble before you?”
The young noblewomen who had come at me with hostility all fell silent not long after. Whenever they encountered me at official gatherings, they bowed their heads and fled.
“Did you become friends with them? No, they never seemed to view you as a friend… Did you dig up dirt on them? But do you even have that kind of intelligence network? Did you mobilize the Ravens?”
“No, Your Majesty. I haven’t said anything to the Crown Prince. As you said, it would look unseemly for the Dragon-kin to intervene over mere casual conversation.”
I answered calmly. The Empress, breathing heavily from her agitation, then spoke with a worried expression.
“But Namia… Regardless of what you did, a truly formidable opponent is coming soon.”
“Your Majesty?”
“Princess Enacalid, who has been at the convent for a year, will be returning shortly. That princess… will be far from easy to handle. She has dreamed of marrying Kiaros for a long time, and the Enacalid Duchy is the most prestigious house in the Empire….”
“Don’t worry.”
I smiled and reassured the Empress.
“They’re all the same anyway. Truly, there’s no need to worry at all.”

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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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