The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 194

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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 7
Wait a moment—a woman’s voice drifted through, oddly devoid of strength.
“I’m a Training Institute Student, and I’m trapped.”
Kiaros was utterly stunned.
How long had she been confined that she sounded this exhausted?
This woman had already abandoned all hope that a passing stranger might discover her. Perhaps she didn’t even have the strength to cry out anymore.
‘Then what is this storage room? Does no one use it? Then what’s this inspection checklist attached to the door? It clearly states the final inspection was completed this morning—is this document tampering?’
Kiaros halted his racing thoughts and asked urgently.
“Training Institute Student, can you speak now? You’re conscious, aren’t you? You’re not dehydrated, are you? How long have you been trapped exactly? Is this an emergency?”
Above all, there was no time to find a staff member for a key—if this were truly an emergency, breaking down the door would be faster. He began drawing mana from his body.
An utterly exhausted voice reached him.
“I’m not entirely sure… roughly three to five minutes?”
What?
Yet her voice carried so little strength for such a short duration.
Had her sense of time deteriorated already?
“You’re certain?”
“Of course I’m not entirely certain… but just in case, I placed a stone where light entered and marked the shadow’s edge. It barely moved at all.”
In any case, this didn’t seem to be an emergency situation.
Since there was no need to break down the door, Kiaros suppressed his mana again and spoke.
“Why are you trapped? If you’re a Training Institute Student… shouldn’t you be with your seniors right now? Did some department fail to send someone?”
“No. Every department sent representatives.”
It was a question directed at the Scroll Management Department, but it seemed people had indeed come. Kiaros spoke calmly to the trapped student.
“Then does anyone know you’re trapped here and plan to search for you?”
“No. I doubt anyone knows.”
“What about your department members?”
“…Somehow we all got separated.”
“Then wait a moment.”
Since Kibon was essentially conducting an unauthorized infiltration, it seemed he would need to reveal the Crown Prince’s identity, even if it became somewhat conspicuous.
“I’ll bring someone in authority.”
Kiaros had never visited the Training Institute before. Once word spread today that Imperial Family could visit the Training Institute, the Scroll Management Department would certainly be more cautious.
‘The fact that it happened last time means it could happen again… If I’m not caught today, I might be able to expose the scene next year.’
Still, the trapped student took priority.
As he turned quickly to leave.
“Wait, please.”
A thin voice held him back.
“Wait, please just wait…”
“Why?”
Kiaros asked simply out of genuine curiosity, and silence fell.
As he began to furrow his brow, a small voice emerged.
“Please don’t go…”
“Don’t go?”
Kiaros muttered in bewilderment.
“…Huh? Do you want to stay trapped longer?”
Odd. Does this Training Institute Student have strange tastes?
Was she deliberately staying trapped?
As Kiaros stood confused and unconsciously took a step backward.
“No, that’s not it… It’s just, I don’t want to be alone waiting for someone again. At least not right now.”
“…Why?”
For Kiaros, it was utterly incomprehensible.
Silence fell again, and as Kiaros tilted his head and rolled his eyes.
“No, judging by your tone alone, you’re not a staff member working at the Training Institute. People who work at the Training Institute never use casual speech with students. So you’re an outsider, and since you asked me about a senior who didn’t come today, you’re probably not a civil servant either. This Cleaning Storage is well-maintained and only closed during lunch hours, yet you asked me ‘how many days have you been here,’ so you’re definitely not a cleaning staff member.”
It was quite a feat to pour out such logical words in such a listless voice.
But the deduction was so sharp that Kiaros found himself at a loss for words.
“Someone who speaks so casually to a Training Institute Student must be one of two things. Either someone of very high status, or an uneducated intruder from outside… Since someone of very high status would never come here, the latter seems more likely, doesn’t it? So naturally, you’ll make up some excuse about bringing an official and then run away, right?”
Kiaros couldn’t very well declare on the spot that he was indeed someone of very high status.
“But I… I don’t want to be alone right now….”
As Kiaros grew flustered, the woman’s voice trailed off.
“If you leave like this… I’ll still hold onto hope… thinking you’ll come back soon, maybe you will, maybe you weren’t an intruder after all, and I’ll keep thinking such things and feel sorrowful again.”
“Uh… Um….”
“I’m usually good at waiting, but today… I’ve waited so much today….”
Her voice grew quieter and quieter, and he couldn’t hear the words that followed—something about “Father too, and Senior….” Kiaros hesitated in his predicament before speaking.
“But you’ll just stay trapped then? If I don’t leave, no one will know you’re stuck here?”
“The cleaning staff will come to get the supplies around when lunch ends.”
The woman’s voice was steady when stating facts.
“Looking at the checklist, they keep to their schedule very well. I’ll just wait until then… for some company….”
But her voice lacked confidence when expressing emotions.
“Today, I really don’t want to be alone….”
Kiaros found the discrepancy strangely poignant, so he simply leaned against the door and sank down with a thud.
“I see. Sounds like you’ve had a rough day.”
The woman’s voice came from nearby, as if she too were leaning against the door and sitting.
“Yes. Though there’s still much ahead….”
Though she’d asked for company, the woman seemed to lack conversational skill and couldn’t take the initiative in dialogue. After a long pause, as if forcing herself to think of something, she spoke.
“How has your day been, Intruder? Your day must still have much ahead too….”
“Mine wasn’t great either.”
At least it was certain that the Scroll Management Department had sent a staff member, so his trip had been wasted.
Of course, that was merely a trivial matter. What truly troubled me was the letter from my maternal family home.
Something about marrying a woman who looks good in pearl ornaments… just a simple request to drop such a hint.
Of course, my answer was already decided.
‘I’ll just make up some appropriate excuse and refuse.’
Pearls weren’t like food with a set storage period. No matter how well-cultivated, they could be kept in storage and their supply controlled.
So this request wasn’t truly difficult—it was merely a probe to test the waters.
To let guilt accumulate in Kiaros’s heart as he continued to refuse.
‘Even if guilt piles up and piles up… there’s nothing I can do about it.’
Once I returned to the Imperial Palace, I’d need to consider how to reply to my Maternal Grandfather.
Fabricating a convincing lie to gloss over the matter was itself exhausting.
The Unknown Woman standing back-to-back with me across the door hadn’t asked questions like “why?”
Though she would have been certain of her status as a Training Institute Student, she’d noticed that I didn’t belong to this facility and, fearing my situation was awkward, hadn’t even mentioned her own name.
She was quite perceptive.
Though she seemed to lack energy.
“I need to refuse my Maternal Grandfather’s request properly. It’s bothersome and unsettling.”
Without realizing it, Kiaros sighed and casually laid bare his circumstances.
Because I was none other than the Crown Prince, this was a concern I couldn’t share with anyone.
“Fabricating lies makes me feel guilty too.”
But my conversation partner was someone who knew nothing of Kiaros.
Since the correspondence with the King of Imoet would never be revealed to the outside world, there was no possibility whatsoever that this Unknown Training Institute Student would discover my true identity, even belatedly.
“In any case, today so far has been rather unpleasant, and the rest of the day doesn’t seem like it will be much better either.”
I wasn’t asking for comfort or solutions.
I was simply venting my worries thoughtlessly because I had nothing else to say.
“Um, well. In my opinion…”
But shortly after, a listless voice from behind me continued longer than expected.

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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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