The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 22

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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 22
Fron Polariud, the Empress of the Empire.
Before becoming Empress, she was known as Count Fron—a towering Female Knight.
The Emperor’s first love and the biological mother of Young Prince Jayden.
‘The Empress isn’t merciful. But still, she’s part of the Imperial Family, after all.’
Rising from the dregs of mercenary work, she lacks refinement and grace—her reputation is utterly ruined!
She possesses no political acumen and has built no faction!
She’s scorned from every direction!
‘Yet still, with a single word, she can save a common criminal—she’s part of the Imperial Family!’
In the original story, she becomes the prime suspect in the assassination attempt on Kiaros.
Afterward, she takes her own life to prove her innocence through death.
‘Truly the worst possible choice. A person who spends her life rather than her mind….’
Surely everyone suspects the Empress as the mastermind behind the war by now.
The motive was crystal clear.
If Kiaros, the son of the first wife, died, then the Empress’s son, Young Prince Jayden, could become Crown Prince.
‘But the Empress has absolutely nothing to do with the mastermind behind the war.’
I’d only ever seen her from a great distance.
Still, thinking of the original story, I suddenly felt pity for her.
If things continued as they were, she’d be falsely accused.
‘If I save the Empress, that would be something entirely different from saving the Crown Prince.’
Kiaros told me he would ‘compensate’ me.
He didn’t say he’d ‘grant me whatever I desired.’
But the Empress was naturally generous and didn’t think about consequences.
‘Somehow, I feel like the Empress would grant me absolutely anything!’
Saving an innocent person is good, and having the Empress indebted to me is also good.
‘And if I save the Empress… it will certainly help the Crown Prince. He won’t have to fumble around regarding who’s behind the war.’
Then perhaps I’d have another chance to meet Kiaros.
I was organizing information in my head to relay to the Crown Prince.
‘But exactly when does the Empress get arrested?’
She’d surely be caught red-handed without any finesse.
In the original story, there was some time to spare.
‘The trigger for her arrest was probably….’
The original story didn’t detail that process.
It only said in a single line: ‘due to a report from a Scroll Management Department employee.’
I couldn’t know parts that weren’t in the original story either….
‘Wait. Hold on.’
I paused, thinking.
‘…But that’s our department, isn’t it?’
Shock crashed over me belatedly.
‘That’s incredibly strange.’
Let me reconsider the situation. From the moment our department’s staff were hired, they had poor performance records. Naturally, the department was saturated with a sense of defeat.
There was a pervasive belief that no matter how hard one tried, it would only become a laughingstock.
Everyone was uniformly apathetic. Myself included.
‘There’s no way someone proactive enough to report a suspicious member of the Imperial Family could exist in our department!’
From an outside perspective, who could tell?
But as a member of that organization, I knew better.
‘I’d stake my life on it—no such person exists! All those types have already left!’
Report someone? Hardly.
These were people who would pretend not to see something suspicious happening right before their eyes, simply to avoid getting entangled in troublesome matters.
‘Who was it? Who could have reported her…?’
But there was one variable.
Kiaros, who should have already been dead according to the original story, turned the Scroll Management Department upside down today.
‘Soon a storm will sweep through, and couldn’t I be fired from the Imperial Palace entirely? Then perhaps the Empress wouldn’t be arrested?’
I was desperately racking my brain, about to leave the Administrative Support Department, when it happened.
Suddenly, chaos erupted outside.
“Oh my, oh my!”
“Good heavens…”
The people who had been working were now crowded against the window.
A terrible premonition washed over me.
I squeezed through them and asked urgently.
“What’s happening?”
The answer came easily.
“Good heavens. The Empress is being dragged away. She’s been arrested as a caught criminal.”
No, good heavens.
My mouth fell open and I blinked rapidly.
‘Already?’
The Empress’s arrest was happening much sooner than in the original story.
I turned around and began to run.
‘Is it another report from a Scroll Management Department employee?’
I ran until my breath came in gasps, heading straight for the Scroll Management Department.
My department, where I reported to work every single day.
‘Could it really be… our department?’
The Scroll Management Department had a similar atmosphere to the Administrative Support Department.
Employees were crowded against the window, watching the Empress being arrested.
“What on earth is this…”
“Come to think of it, the Empress would have more than enough reason to see the Crown Prince as a thorn in her side. There’s Jayden, after all.”
“Goodness, no matter how much the Emperor favors her…”
But looking closer, I noticed the department staff were gathered around someone.
“How did you manage to see that again?”
“You directly witnessed her secretly purchasing poison, didn’t you?”
“You have a keen eye… Well, the Empress is quite distinctive in appearance, so it would be easy to recognize her.”
“It’s not just that she was recognized. She overheard information about the Empress going to make a purchase this afternoon and reported it with the exact timing to conduct a raid!”
A man who had witnessed the Empress concealing her identity while purchasing poison at the Black Market, and who had provided the precise window of time to conduct a sweep.
‘That man is really from our department?’
I moved closer to them to hear more details.
‘Is it the Minister of Education? By position, he’s the one who received the most bribes. Yes, it seems like it must be him.’
For the first time in a while, my mind was racing.
The Empress had visited the Black Market to collect poison more than once before.
Of course, it wasn’t because she wanted to harm Kiaros, but people would never believe that.
‘Did I know about it all along but pretend not to, and now that I’m about to be fired anyway, I’m just blowing it all open?’
If that were the case, it would make sense.
But the person who answered everyone’s remarks was not the Minister of Education.
“Me? I just reported it… Everyone, don’t make a big deal out of it. I don’t like the attention.”
I blinked as I watched him laughing among the crowd.
It was clear he was the informant, yet it felt surreal.
He casually crossed his arms, then noticed me and pretended to acknowledge me.
“Namia? Weren’t you supposed to leave right away? That’s what I heard from the Crown Prince’s office.”
The informant was my direct superior.
Team Leader of the Inventory Team—Oson.
‘Unbelievable.’
I froze for a moment.
It was completely unexpected.
‘Oson, the epitome of playing it safe, the one who hates standing out most, someone known throughout the Imperial Palace for being cautious… reporting the Imperial Family?’
Ever since I joined, I had worked under Oson.
Suppressing my shock, I stared blankly at his smile.
Memories of all the time we had spent together came flooding back.
[Team Leader, what if we changed this report format starting this year?]
[Why bother? If something goes wrong because of the change, you’ll take responsibility for it?]
[But there’s no reason anything would go wrong….]
[If the Minister of Education misunderstands because we changed the format, that’s the problem. Just leave it alone. Don’t try to stand out.]
He rejected even obviously more efficient methods.
[Team Leader. I’ve completed the report the Minister of Education requested last time.]
[Oh, good work. But why is the author’s name Namia Loapi? Change it to my name.]
[…What?]
[I told you to do it. So I did it. What are you doing? Aren’t you going to erase your name?]
He took credit for every decent achievement I made.
Oson was powerless himself, but he had a talent for making his subordinates powerless too.
[Namia, I’m stepping out for a bit. If anyone asks, tell them I went to the restroom.]
[Team Leader? There are documents that need to be sent by this afternoon….]
[Just handle it. The Minister of Education won’t look at it carefully anyway.]
“I don’t even know what’s in those documents, Team Leader. If something goes wrong, it all falls on me…”
“Ugh, don’t be so petty while we’re working together. Anyway, I’m heading out.”
My direct superior—the type who claimed credit for every success and blamed me for every failure.
‘What do I do…? What do I really do?’
I slowly pressed my lips together.
I tried to steady my trembling hands, which shook without my control.
‘If I resolve this situation while saving the Empress, Oson will completely fall apart…’
I lowered my head to hide my expression.
I had to suppress the corners of my mouth that kept rising and the laughter threatening to burst forth.
‘My goodness, that would be perfect for me!’

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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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