The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 21

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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 21
Quite some time had passed before the Emperor remarried—to Fron.
Fron had no social standing whatsoever, was blunt to the point of rudeness, and lacked any semblance of refinement.
As a former mercenary who had clawed her way up from the depths, she had a habit of uttering remarks that would make noble ladies gasp in shock.
Naturally, countless objections arose, but the Emperor dismissed them all.
“The only person who can oppose my marriage is Kiaros. But Kiaros has given his blessing.”
That single statement solidified Kiaros’s position as heir to the throne.
After surviving the Dark Period unscathed, no one dared question his aptitude—his talent was simply too exceptional.
The Emperor spoke to Kiaros in private.
“Kiaros, I support your first love as well. Whoever she may be, the Imperial Family will not stand in your way.”
Though it never reached the public ear, Kiaros was thus freed from his betrothal obligation.
The Emperor himself had chosen silence regarding his son’s marriage prospects.
“My son has developed an abnormal obsession with a woman whose face he’s never even seen, whom he’s exchanged only a few words with… but I respect you nonetheless.”
It was far too late to correct the Emperor’s misunderstanding.
For the sake of family peace, Kiaros decided to become that abnormally obsessed man.
And so time passed.
“You still haven’t found that girl? And you’re telling me that until you find her—a woman whose face you don’t even know, with whom you’ve exchanged only a handful of words—there is no other woman for you?”
“Yes. Well, that is correct.”
“Hmm… my son seems incapable of rational thought when it comes to such matters. But if you insist on remaining chaste until you die of old age, so be it. Not everything can be perfect, after all. I will always respect and love you, my son.”
I never intended for things to go this far, yet somehow they did. Still, I believed the problem would resolve itself once I found that girl.
Time continued to flow.
A child was born to Fron and the Emperor. Kiaros gained a much younger brother.
More time passed.
The Emperor, once as solid as a mountain, began to waste away from an inexplicable illness.
And through all those fifteen years that followed…
“My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty. We still… cannot find any leads whatsoever.”
Kiaros could not find that girl.
“Could she have gone to the Magic Tower? With her talent at that age, it’s possible.”
“Perhaps. Continue searching.”
I needed to ask that girl—now a mature woman—something.
Whether she still dreamed of marrying a wealthy man, and if she did, I would marry her myself.
Love had nothing to do with it, of course, but it was a promise I had made in exchange for her saving my life.
For that reason, I had never shown interest in any other woman.
‘I thought of myself as a man whose marriage was uncertain, bound to her by debt.’
Though I had never properly thanked her for it.
Perhaps that was why.
[I wanted to express my gratitude directly and properly… but I suppose I’ll have to do it next time.]
I wanted to thank my second life’s benefactor properly.
That is, Namia Loapi of the Scroll Management Department.
I would do for her what that girl had taught me—what I had failed to do for that girl.
[If there’s something I can’t grasp precisely, I should at least seek an expert’s opinion.]
Though those around me called it a waste of effort, I ignored them all and directly requested an opinion report from the Tower Master.
After all, that girl had once told me I needed to understand exactly what I should be grateful for.
‘If it hadn’t been for the first Dark Period, I probably wouldn’t have known how to properly thank those beneath me.’
I would have simply handed out a commendation medal and called it done, just as the White Knight Order Commander would have done.
By that measure, the Emperor was right—I had learned something valuable thanks to the Dark Period.
‘Will this Dark Period also bring me something to gain? But the situation is far from favorable.’
So it was time to bury the past for now and focus on the present.
Just then, for reasons I couldn’t fathom, Namia Loapi returned to the Imperial Palace. And she was crying.
In that moment, past and present began to connect in my mind.
‘The Southern Region… If, as The Ravens theorized, Namia Loapi is the daughter of Loapi Baron’s younger brother, then Namia Loapi must have been in the Southern Region during her childhood.’
My eyes lit up.
In an instant, a plausible hypothesis flashed through my mind.
‘Either way, it was scrolls that saved me both times… and if Namia is that girl, it makes sense that there’s no record of her in the Southern Region.’
I furrowed my brow slightly in thought.
‘The reason she didn’t come to Count Kalto’s Residence must be because something happened, or she came up to the Capital.’
Though I couldn’t say why she didn’t go to the Magic Tower.
‘I need to summon her directly and verify this.’
There was still much I didn’t know about her.
There was no need to speculate about her circumstances. I could simply call her here and ask.
After all, that girl from childhood wouldn’t have known my identity either. I had been concealing it back then as well.
She probably lived without even knowing she had saved the Crown Prince.
‘If that girl really is Namia… she did seem oddly mature, though.’
I was recalling Namia Loapi’s seemingly vacant expression when—
“Your Highness!”
Urgent footsteps sounded, and the door burst open without a knock.
“Your Highness, forgive my rudeness! I have urgent news to report!”
The White Knight Order Commander dropped to his knees in panic and cried out.
“We have just arrested the Empress in flagrante delicto!”
“Flagrante delicto?”
“Yes!”
Even as he gasped for breath, his expression suggested that what he’d feared had finally come to pass.
Indeed, I was well aware that suspicion of the Empress had been spreading in various quarters.
‘…Count Fron.’
The biological mother of Jayden, the Young Prince who was not yet eight years old, and the Emperor’s second wife.
With me gone, Jayden could smoothly inherit the throne.
“She left the Imperial Palace in secret without any record, and was carrying deadly poison in her possession. Upon urgent investigation, her connections proved to be extremely sordid and clandestine. It appears she has been searching for specific poisons for a long time.”
The White Knight Order Commander bowed his head to me as he spoke.
“Please review this urgently and proceed with an Imperial Family trial!”
* * *
“I need to change my salary account.”
“Of course. Please fill this out.”
I went to the Administrative Support Department and changed my salary account.
Changing accounts was absurdly simple.
“This month—meaning starting with today’s payment—it will go into this account, correct?”
“Yes.”
I exhaled slowly, feeling hollow inside.
It seemed like so much had changed, yet nothing had changed at all.
The staff in the Administrative Support Department seemed to be glancing at me, but I lacked the energy to care.
“Father….”
My guilt over Father accumulated as steadily as the salary that would pile up in my account.
I had resolved to find him, but the path ahead seemed impossibly dark.
‘If he’s involved with a criminal organization… there’s truly no solution.’
When Father and I lived in the Southern Region, a criminal organization had once thrown the entire region into chaos.
It was when the Emperor and the Crown Prince came on an inspection tour to eliminate the remnants of monsters.
‘Some insane criminal organization was caught conducting forbidden experiments with monsters.’
At that time, the Emperor beheaded everyone involved in that criminal organization. Such illegal organizations must be eradicated completely, he had said. Even now, punishment for illegal organizations showed no mercy whatsoever.
‘Father won’t receive leniency either. Judging by the amount of money involved, this isn’t a minor matter.’
Dragons had never shown blood or tears to those who violated the nation’s principles.
Therefore, even if I begged Kiaros, ‘I saved your life, so please save my father,’ he would likely not bat an eye.
‘What good is knowing the original story? It’s a tale of dragon judgment, and my situation as an ordinary human is something I can’t even resolve.’
The gap between the original story and my circumstances was far too vast.
Even the original protagonist, the Young Prince Jayden, only eight years old, faced tremendous difficulties in the beginning because of the dragons’ characteristic arrogance and their rigid principles….
Still, the only ones who could spare someone’s life even for committing an enormous crime were the Imperial Family… wait, hold on.
‘Wait a moment.’
A brilliant idea flashed through my mind like lightning.
‘The Imperial Family… doesn’t consist only of dragons without sentiment.’
At this point in time, there was one member of the Imperial Family who was not a dragon.
‘The Empress.’

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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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