The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 190

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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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Special Side Story Episode 3
The moment Namia’s command reached his ears, Kiaros’s breathing grew ragged. Seizing the momentum, Namia cradled both his cheeks in her palms and locked her gaze with his.
“Tell me everything in your heart. Honestly. Why can’t you focus on me?”
“It’s not that I can’t focus….”
Kiaros exhaled softly before drawing Namia into his embrace, his voice dropping to a whisper.
“I was just irritated because your friend brought up Victor.”
“That… you heard that? Dragon-kin hearing, what in the world….”
Namia’s pupils trembled. Kiaros murmured against the nape of her neck, his lips brushing her skin.
“So this happened at the New Civil Servant Training Center? Victor must have come for a day to teach practical work by department since he’s from a different cohort. It would’ve been around the second day by schedule, right? And the Scroll Management Department had so few people that you were the only new recruit in that department at the time. But Victor was preparing for an overseas business trip then, wasn’t he? So he must have pestered you endlessly under the guise of teaching you work and explaining the organizational structure. And naturally, you two ate meals together alone every single day.”
Namia witnessed something she had never seen before—Kiaros speaking with such a dark expression, his words flowing forth in an unrelenting torrent. If anything, Kiaros was the taciturn administrator type. He was an affectionate and gentle husband, but absolutely not one given to excessive talking. Rather, he was the sort to listen and smile.
‘What is this.’
She felt flustered.
‘Why is he so accurate? He’s far too competent at excavating his wife’s past!’
Kiaros’s deductions were entirely correct.
Though the memory had grown hazy with time, on the second day of the training center, senior members from each department had come to teach practical work and build camaraderie. For the Scroll Management Department, Victor had been the one to come. Since Namia was the sole new recruit in her department, the two of them spent the entire day together.
‘Of course, Victor was busy making the rounds to greet people everywhere, so he left me alone quite a bit. But he still took good care of me. Honestly, thinking back on it afterward, he wasn’t the type to look after someone to that extent, so it was rather surprising.’
Namia knew well Victor’s tendency to never linger long beside any one person. She had anticipated spending much of her time alone, but at the end of that day, Victor had shown her more consideration than expected, and she remembered being genuinely moved by it.
When Agnes heard that story, she had ventured in the middle of the night, “That senior doesn’t like you, does he?” And Luca, appearing from nowhere, had added, “It’s been that way since Academy days”….
Truthfully, that night… Namia herself had lost sleep over Victor’s kindness.
But if she laid bare all of this sincerely, it seemed Kiaros would be the one losing sleep going forward.
“That… no, how do you know the Training Center schedule so well anyway?”
In the end, Namia redirected the conversation.
“You’ve never even been there, have you?”
In fact, the Imperial Family never set foot in the New Civil Servant Training Center. It wasn’t an event grand enough to warrant their presence. Occasionally, Ministers would visit, say a few words, and promptly depart.
“I’ve gone when something seemed suspicious or a problem was likely to arise.”
Kiaros wore a displeased expression, yet he answered her questions faithfully.
“It’s not important enough to warrant constant surveillance, but problems still need to be corrected if they occur. However, if I announced the Imperial Family’s arrival, everyone would go into emergency mode, so I deliberately didn’t mention it beforehand.”
“Really? I had no idea.”
“You wouldn’t have. I don’t go in my Crown Prince form. I go as Kibon, take a quick look around, and leave. Concealing my presence is child’s play for me.”
“Ah….”
Namia blinked slowly. Kiaros was indeed a meticulous administrator.
She had thought the Training Center would be beneath his notice, but it seemed the only organization that had truly eluded Kiaros’s control was the Tower Scroll Management Department.
“That’s why I also know there are lovely dating spots there—quiet mountain paths, lakeside areas.”
“Your Highness, about that….”
“You can eat a quiet meal at a restaurant and take a pleasant walk, can’t you?”
“I couldn’t do that because walking exhausts me. I had no energy. Really.”
Namia shook her head desperately.
“Besides, the day Victor came, I even got trapped in a storage room, so there was no cozy date course or anything like that. And it was my birthday too—being trapped was absolutely the worst.”
It was then that Kiaros, who had been leaving his mark on the nape of her neck, slowly lifted his head.
“Hmm? Trapped, you say?”
“Yes…. Oh, I was trapped alone. We were absolutely never trapped together.”
A brief silence fell. Kiaros asked slowly, his expression grave.
“Don’t tell me—could it be that Cleaning Supply Storage behind Training Center Building B?”
“Huh? Yes!”
Namia exhaled the breath she’d been holding, marveling at his recollection.
“Your memory is remarkable…. To remember even that tiny storage room.”
“And that was your birthday, wasn’t it?”
Kiaros let out a hollow laugh, accompanied by a soft “ha, ha.” Then he met Namia’s eyes and asked.
“Do you remember that man who came by that day, saying he’d rescue you?”
“…Oh my.”
“Namia, I think.”
Kiaros smiled broadly as he spoke.
“Our past connection wasn’t limited to just the Southern Region.”
The two of them began to drift back into memory.
Back to Namia’s days at the Training Institute.
* * *
Namia Loapi, twenty years old, passed the Imperial Palace Civil Service examination, simultaneously securing her position in the Scroll Management Department.
This was her profile upon entering the New Civil Servant Training Center.
In truth, there had been another new recruit for the Scroll Management Department besides her, but he had declared his rejection of the position, saying he’d rather retake the exam for a year and transfer to a different department. The Scroll Management Department didn’t care whether they had one or two new employees and made no further recruitment requests.
“The Scroll Management Department, of all things…. Ugh, I’m so embarrassed.”
Huan drew that line from the very first day at the Training Institute.
“What if everyone starts thinking I’m as foolish as you? It’s bringing shame to our family name.”
Publicly, Namia and Huan were twins.
All this time, she had avoided making close friends, fearing her secret would be exposed. Still, it hadn’t been so bad, and being assigned to the Scroll Management Department hadn’t felt particularly devastating.
But when Huan said such things, it was truly absurd. After all, it was Namia who had created those impressive test scores of his.
“Don’t pretend you know me. Understood?”
“Yeah…. I’ll make sure not to.”
Namia answered vaguely, not even bothering to protest.
“It’s a miracle that what you want and what I want actually align. And it’s the Scroll Management Department, not the Scroll Adjustment Department.”
Agnes, who had been watching this spectacle, shrugged her shoulders.
Agnes hadn’t attended the Academy, so she had no background knowledge about Namia and Huan. But she did have loyalty to her roommate.
“So that’s your brother, huh? You two bicker while pretending not to know each other—you should’ve graduated from that phase in your teens…. It’s fine though. The salary’s the same anyway. Just rationalize it that way. Tell yourself: this show-off and I get the same salary! Like that.”
Since it seemed unlikely Agnes would ever become Huan’s friend, Namia felt no burden in growing closer to Agnes.
Agnes lacked much social awareness, but her personality was compatible with Namia’s.
And so the next day arrived.
“Huh, so today young employees from each department are coming to teach us directly?”
After breakfast, as they gathered in the auditorium, employees from various departments began filing in. Agnes rose onto her tiptoes, her eyes widening.
“Wow, the Scroll Adjustment Department employee is the most handsome! He’s really good-looking….”
Victor, wearing a smile on his face, was greeting people here and there as he entered.
Victor spotted Namia among the new civil servants crowded in the auditorium and raised his hand high above his head, waving it broadly.
As he did, he opened his mouth wide in an exaggerated grin, forming the words with his lips: “Namia, it’s me! I’m so happy to see you!”
Luca, standing beside Namia, murmured in a daze.
“There he goes again with Namia…”
At those words, Agnes’s eyes widened.
“Again? Again again again? Good grief.”
“The man who became Marquis Awin’s adopted son and now has nothing left to desire…”
“What? Adopted into the Marquis Household?”
Agnes stamped her feet and exhaled roughly.
“Namia, if you marry that man, don’t come to the Melby Kingdom for your honeymoon. There’s nothing to see, nothing good to eat, and nothing fun to do there.”

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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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