The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 31

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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 31
The break was nearly over.
I returned to the courtroom with mounting anxiety. Neither the Empress nor the Crown Prince had appeared yet.
‘Ah, this is truly the worst.’
My wrist still tingled where Howard had grabbed it.
‘Loapi Baron… really, until the very end….’
I had already left home.
Yet he hadn’t retracted his insistence on marrying me off.
‘People are always far worse than I ever imagined.’
It wouldn’t be difficult to resolve. I simply hadn’t had time to deal with it, caught up as I was.
It wasn’t as though I lacked ways to make them regret it. I wouldn’t have fled home without at least considering such options.
But then the New Intern suddenly appeared. It was entirely unexpected.
[I thought that department was too much of a mess and there was nothing to learn there. It was absolutely not because I disliked you.]
Surprisingly, the New Intern had more sense than I’d given them credit for.
I felt embarrassed about having cursed so freely to Luca.
‘I misjudged them—they had fluent pronunciation but poor grasp of conversational context, like a foreigner….’
The somewhat rude manner of speaking, the bold declaration of leaving before work hours ended—perhaps it was simply because they were foreign.
‘After all, they’re from some strange foreign country where asking someone’s thoughts on marrying the Crown Prince counts as a greeting.’
I needed to pass along the original story information to Kiaros.
Given those particular circumstances, I had naturally answered, “Yes, I should marry him.”
‘But normally, wouldn’t most people not even consider marriage with someone they barely know, regardless of whether they’re the Crown Prince?’
The more I thought about it, the stranger the culture seemed. But I tried not to show my bewilderment, grounding myself in cultural relativism.
‘It’s rude to judge another nation’s customs.’
But if I had been able to converse more comfortably with Kiaros—if I had at least reached the rank of Minister of Education….
‘I would certainly refuse outright.’
My father had taught me that marriage should be with someone you love.
‘But is there really a foreign country where they can just carelessly sell off the Crown Prince’s future like that? What country could it possibly be?’
I didn’t know which country they were from. Honestly, I hadn’t cared enough to ask.
But I decided I should check the official records later.
Only now was I becoming genuinely interested in that New Intern.
[In any case, if I ever return, I would very much like to learn from you.]
They wanted to learn much from me.
They couldn’t even speak the Empire’s language properly, yet they showed surprising dedication to their work.
‘Well, that’s probably why they came all the way here as an intern despite being foreign.’
If we met again later, I should pay attention to them differently.
I’d keep them close and teach them earnestly, from the very basics to everything.
‘Hmm? So my original resolve to just let them tumble along ends up at the same conclusion?’
I pondered it seriously for a moment, then let out a quiet laugh.
It seemed unlikely that such a situation would arise anyway.
‘Well, their physique is decent enough, I suppose….’
I was sitting blankly, lost in thoughts of the New Intern, waiting for the trial to begin.
“Namia.”
Someone grabbed my arm again.
For a moment, I seriously considered whether I should tape a “Do Not Touch” notice directly onto my arm.
But this time, it was a familiar voice.
“Come outside for a moment. Hurry. Hurry!”
Whispering urgently, eyes darting anxiously and rapidly.
A familiar face, and yet somehow startling.
It was Oson, who had been fidgeting restlessly at the judge’s bench the entire time.
‘What is this….’
I thought with a surprised expression.
‘That’s clearly the face of someone about to dump some dirty work on me.’
It was a situation I’d endured ad nauseam for three years and seven months—him suddenly asking me to do something absurd to cover up his own misdeeds.
Normally, an annoyed expression would have come automatically.
But things were different now.
‘Actually, this works in my favor! Let me hear what he has to say!’
Without a word, I rose willingly, letting Oson pull me along by the arm.
He dragged me hastily out of the courtroom.
And then he pulled me into a corridor where we wouldn’t be seen by others.
“Namia.”
Oson’s eyes darted with anxiety more than ever before.
He exhaled an unsteady breath as he spoke.
“You know well, don’t you? That I care about you.”
“I’m sorry?”
I was so shocked hearing this for the first time that I nearly fainted.
“I’ve taken good care of you all this time, haven’t I?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Truth is, I’ve always held your abilities in high regard. I was just too embarrassed to say it.”
“I’m sorry?”
“I knew very well how exceptional you are. Yes, your skills are truly remarkable. I’ve always kept a close eye on them. I’ve been watching for an opportunity to support you in demonstrating your abilities.”
“I’m sorry?”
Suddenly, all those tedious words Oson had repeated—’Don’t get ahead of yourself,’ ‘If you lack the skills to enter the Magic Tower, you might as well die’—came flooding back.
But for now, I pretended not to know and blinked.
“So here’s the thing, Namia.”
“I’m sorry?”
“You know I’ve always thought of you as special and taken good care of you, right?”
Oson was now trembling as he pleaded with me.
I was seeing his expression filled with such earnestness for the first time ever.
“Think of our past together and help me out. Will you?”
Our past together….
Three years and seven months of unwavering, consistent days….
I naturally treasured the memories of all that time we had spent together.
Even the last conversation I had with Oson just yesterday.
[Since the Crown Prince said he would review the documents, I wanted to revise the drafts that could be corrected….]
[Ugh, how foolish. This is exactly why you’re hopeless. What? With such a lack of awareness, tsk. Does His Highness even have the presence of mind to review those documents right now? Namia, don’t you have any sense of the situation at all?]
Ugh.
‘How could our Team Leader lack such situational awareness….’
I desperately swallowed the words I wanted to say.
And instead, I simply wore the vacant expression I always did.
Oson glanced around before lowering his voice to a whisper.
“Namia, make me a teleportation scroll. Right now.”
What he demanded was completely beyond my expectations.
I thought at worst he would force me to give false testimony.
But a teleportation scroll?
As I blinked in surprise, Oson pressed urgently.
“A teleportation scroll. You can do it, can’t you?”
Oson’s eyes were now gleaming with desperation.
“Team Leader, a teleportation scroll all of a sudden….”
I spoke, genuinely dumbfounded.
“It takes a long time to make, and wouldn’t it be faster to just walk thirty centimeters than use a teleportation scroll?”
Like all scrolls, it didn’t perform particularly impressive functions physically.
Walking was faster than using a teleportation scroll.
“You can do it!”
Oson shouted, his eyes wide with desperation.
“You made 166 defense scrolls in a single night—you can’t do this?”
Huh, so he did know it was impressive work.
Yet he still scolded me for lacking skill and acting without awareness.
“You don’t need to go far. Just make it so I can get outside the Imperial Palace. Okay?”
W-what?
I blinked and stared at him intently.
‘O-outside the Imperial Palace?’
He was suddenly asking me to help him escape this place.
I obviously lacked the skill to create a teleportation scroll of such remarkable capability.
Even the Tower Master probably couldn’t do it.
I couldn’t make it even if I wanted to, but his intention was so obvious it was infuriating.
‘This bastard is trying to flee right in the middle of the trial!’
It seemed Oson definitely had something weighing on his conscience.
This cowardly, petty, and corrupt man did seem to be connected to the war somehow.
It was suspicious from when he denounced the Empress, but I was still taken aback.
“Namia, hurry! There’s not much break time left! You’ve always listened to everything I said, haven’t you? Haven’t you? Haven’t I taught you well all this time? Huh?”
Of course, the mastermind was one thing, and Oson was another.
I had to remain true to our relationship.
“Of course, Team Leader. I learned so much from you.”
I nodded with a pitiful expression.
It was the moment Oson’s narrow eyes widened and he reached out to grasp my hand.
My helpless voice continued.
“Without backing or real skill, one shouldn’t keep overstepping. Don’t meddle unnecessarily—just stay quiet.”

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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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