The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 36

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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 36
“Your… your mother?”
I rolled my eyes with an awkward expression.
Truth be told, I didn’t even know what my mother looked like. All I had were the stories Father occasionally shared.
The Empress slammed the table and spoke.
“That’s right! Tell me about your mother. She’s not dead, is she? She ran away, didn’t she?”
“She might be dead, but… I don’t think so. If that were the case, Father would have dragged me to her grave to pay my respects, given his personality.”
“Your father—just looking at him, he’s the type of righteous old-fashioned man who obsesses over propriety, isn’t he?”
“…Yes.”
The Empress’s assessment was remarkably accurate.
I rolled my eyes and recalled a conversation with Father.
[Namia, I… I don’t want to speak ill of your mother.]
[But it’s because of Mother that you ended up like this. If she’d loved you even a little, wouldn’t she have stayed instead of running away and leaving just me?]
[Still, she’s the one who gave birth to you. I don’t want to resent her for not loving me. That’s not something effort alone can change.]
[But that woman…!]
[Namia, she still carried you for ten months and brought you into this world. You mustn’t speak of her that way.]
Father was truly a good and righteous man.
Like a simple-hearted ethics teacher from the countryside, he only spoke what was correct.
[But if you’re curious about your mother… well, I’ll tell you without saying anything bad.]
As a result, I knew very little about my mother.
The Empress was still furious, huffing and snorting indignantly.
‘I need to say something, given the atmosphere.’
I searched through the scant memories Father had shared about my mother.
[Well… she was pure-hearted, your mother.]
Could someone who’d accumulated so much debt from Loan Sharks really be called pure-hearted?
[From the moment she assumed all nobles were wealthy and proposed to me, wasn’t that rather impure?]
I thought that was less purity and more ignorance.
Besides, Father was the second son of the Baron Family.
[She had an innocent charm, knowing little of the world’s ways.]
Not knowing how the world works at that age was rather problematic.
[It’s funny to say, but she was like a runaway princess of sorts… She didn’t even understand the concept of marriage registration. We were going to register your birth at the same time, but in the end, we couldn’t.]
If she’d been a princess with any sense, she wouldn’t have left home in the first place.
Leaving home means hardship.
[She did leave us in desperation, but I don’t think she was inherently a bad person.]
Are there really people born bad?
[When she finds peace of mind, perhaps she’ll return to us.]
Given that she burdened me with this debt, I doubt she’ll ever find peace of mind.
In any case, that was all I remembered.
I was roughly explaining to the Empress that “my mother was an ignorant fool who knew nothing of the world and accumulated debt with Loan Sharks” when—
“So you were here, Fron.”
The door burst open, and a warm, gentle voice filled the room.
It was the Emperor, impeccably dressed.
Kiaros followed silently in his wake.
“My, I didn’t expect to find a guest here. This is the first time Fron has ever brought an outsider into this place. Who exactly is this young lady?”
The Emperor smiled at me softly.
His appearance and expression were warm and affectionate, yet an overwhelming sense of pressure radiated from him.
It was no wonder Oson had been ready to confess everything the moment he faced the Emperor.
I scrambled to my feet, bowed deeply, and paid my respects.
“Your Imperial Majesty, I am Namia Loapi of the Scroll Management Department.”
“Hmm.”
A subtle emotion flickered beneath the Emperor’s gentle smile.
“The Scroll Management Department….”
Even though he merely murmured it, an inexplicable dread washed over me.
The Empress lifted me up and set me back down in my chair.
Before I knew it, the four of us—myself, the Empress, the Emperor, and Kiaros—were seated at the table.
‘Am I really supposed to be sitting here?’
The combination of the other three was absolutely terrifying. As I trembled inwardly, the Emperor continued slowly.
“That problematic Ministry of Justice Official was originally transferred from the Scroll Management Department, I hear.”
His tone was gentle, but cold sweat suddenly trickled down my back.
‘That Ministry of Justice Official I identified was originally from the Scroll Management Department?’
I had even seen the man myself.
He was a middle-aged man of considerable years.
He must have transferred departments long before I joined.
‘I didn’t know he came from the Scroll Management Department? That means this happened over ten years ago….’
Documents were only accessible up to ten years prior.
And I had already memorized every single file from the Scroll Management Department for those ten years.
Which meant this mastermind targeting the Imperial Family had infiltrated the Scroll Management Department a very long time ago….
‘What do I do.’
The world spun before my eyes.
This wasn’t just about Oson alone.
‘The entire Scroll Management Department could be dismantled. When you think about it, a spy has been embedded there for ages.’
Kiaros must have taken the access privileges as well—it seemed our entire department could collapse in an instant.
Of course, the Magic Tower would protest vehemently, but the situation was far too grave….
‘So what happens to me…. Surely they won’t cut even a lowly employee like me?’
But there could be more spies hiding in the Scroll Management Department.
A spy capable of accessing documents from the Imperial Civil Service Organization….
‘And like this time, they could even sneak into Kiaros’s Guard Unit and orchestrate schemes.’
The more I thought about it, the more dire the situation became for the Scroll Management Department.
They might dismiss everyone in our department as a precaution.
“Your Majesty, however… Namia is not a dangerous person.”
The Empress stepped forward on my behalf as I trembled uncontrollably.
She began to elaborate at length on everything I had accomplished.
How I had found Oson suspicious, thus saving the Empress; how I had drawn out a confession by prolonging the trial; and so forth.
I interjected slightly to convey that I had also received the Crown Prince’s permission.
“I told His Highness the Crown Prince that I would do my best… and so I simply pressed forward to the very end.”
“…I see.”
At the mention of exchanging hand signals, Kiaros let out a low groan.
Well, there was nothing to be done about his misunderstanding.
In any case, for the sake of Kiaros’s honor, I refrained from mentioning that the hand signal had been a heart shape.
“Ah, I see.”
After hearing the full account, the Emperor sipped his tea gently and spoke in a warm tone.
“I thought Kiaros was suffering greatly because of the trial, but it seems Namia Loapi has been bearing all the hardship instead. Our son was merely making heart shapes to welcome me.”
“Your Majesty, that heart was, well…”
As Kiaros looked troubled and furrowed his brow, the Emperor asked gently.
“Surely you weren’t making a heart shape to welcome me?”
“Pardon?”
“My heart felt so warm the moment I arrived that I was deeply moved… It’s been so long since my son has shown me such affection after his adolescence…”
“…”
In any case, it seemed best to let the heart incident pass as it was.
After all, it had ended with a heartwarming filial moment.
The conversation continued.
The person who had killed Oson in the courtroom turned out to be a nobleman with a baron’s title, and upon investigation, it was revealed that an unidentified woman had been secretly trading titles behind the scenes.
“They’ve been targeting the Imperial Family for a long time. There was some misunderstanding between them in the middle, and things worked out well enough, but it’s still difficult to identify the mastermind…”
The Emperor spoke slowly.
His voice was tender and compassionate, yet the content was grim.
“Ah, and I should inform Namia Loapi about the department situation as well.”
My heart, which seemed unable to sink any lower, plummeted once more.
“Kiaros reviewed all the documents of the Scroll Management Department at a remarkable pace and issued termination notices to everyone with problems.”
Everyone with problems… that would mean…
I quickly searched through my memories.
There were far too many people in our department who deserved severe disciplinary action on paper. Especially the higher up the ranks…
The Emperor spoke with perfect clarity.
“Naturally, we started with the Minister of Education. Kiaros, was Namia Loapi also on the list?”
“She was not.”
The Minister of Education, who had seemed so impossibly distant, was dismissed so easily…
Hadn’t the Minister of Education sent a petition to the Magic Tower?
I hadn’t done anything wrong, so naturally I wouldn’t be dismissed, but at this rate it seemed the Scroll Management Department might be dissolved entirely.
“However, wait a moment…”
Kiaros slowly opened his mouth.
“I have something I would like to ask Namia Loapi personally.”

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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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