The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 44

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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 44
“Everything felt oddly off in hindsight, but regardless, the problem was resolved thanks to Namia Loapi.”
At the mention of “Namia” once more, the Emperor and Empress exchanged uncomfortable glances.
Kiaros exhaled deeply and decided to steer the conversation in a different direction.
“Ah, now that we’re facing each other directly, I’ve remembered something I needed to tell you. I’ve entered my Dark Period.”
The Emperor and Empress were startled by this revelation.
Kiaros explained the situation with remarkable composure.
His second Dark Period had arrived at precisely the wrong moment—he’d been attacked during it and nearly died, only surviving thanks to Namia’s intervention.
“It was truly astonishing.”
Kiaros spoke with gravity.
For someone whose emotions typically remained steady, the phrase “truly astonishing” carried considerable weight.
“To be attacked the moment my Dark Period descended upon me… I’m still bewildered by it. They acted as though they possessed knowledge of the future itself.”
The Emperor furrowed his brow and crossed his arms.
“A Dark Period, then. In that case, Kiaros, you must take precautions for the time being. I’ll have to resume my duties at the Imperial Palace.”
“But—”
“It’s fine. I can manage until your Dark Period ends. Don’t worry, my son.”
Despite his visibly pallid complexion, the Emperor smiled wryly.
“You’ve endured much hardship, Kiaros. In circumstances like these, it would be absurd for me to remain in the shadows.”
Kiaros’s lips trembled with concern, yet he found no words to speak.
He understood better than anyone how powerless he had become.
“In any case, this is truly where things begin.”
The Emperor murmured as though driving home a final point.
“We face a formidable enemy—one bold enough to infiltrate not merely the nobility, but the Imperial Palace itself. And now they’ve finally made their move against you and the Empress.”
The mastermind remained unknown, their tail severed before their identity could be revealed.
They didn’t even know what these enemies desired.
Only one thing was certain.
“That woman definitely cried out, ‘For evolution!'”
Those words, almost like a rallying cry.
“There exists a faction with strange and powerful convictions—so absolute they would surrender their lives without hesitation.”
“Evolution… evolution. Evolution.”
The Emperor furrowed his brow. Kiaros spoke quietly.
“It reminds me of the Goblin from long ago. Hearing the word ‘evolution.'”
Goblin, once a low-ranking magical beast.
The Southern Organization had modified and experimented upon him, elevating his intelligence to human levels.
At that time, they had pursued and eliminated all the organization’s leadership.
Yet some of their underlings had survived.
“Yes.”
The Emperor, understanding Kiaros’s implication, nodded gravely.
“I was thinking of them as well. It seems we must pursue this investigation further.”
He then gazed at the Empress and smiled gently.
“Still, I’m grateful you held firm until the end, Fron. At least we learned this much. You’ve been through so much since your arrest yesterday and through the trial.”
“I didn’t do anything special….”
The Empress scratched her chin awkwardly as she spoke.
“I simply did what Namia told me to do. She was clever, that one. I failed to make her my daughter-in-law, but… I honestly understand why she found the thought of marrying the Crown Prince so dreadful. Even I found the position of Empress burdensome.”
As the Empress recalled the trial, her face brightened once more.
“I just kept insisting and squawking loudly about everything, exactly as Namia told me to hold firm and push through! Then, right at that moment, His Majesty appeared and the situation resolved itself.”
Basking in the Emperor’s affectionate gaze, the Empress swung her fists excitedly as she continued.
“Honestly, what would a blockhead like me know? That girl Namia, it was as if she knew the future….”
That was when it happened.
“Wait a moment.”
Kiaros interjected with a serious expression.
“Wait a moment, Your Majesty the Empress.”
“Yes?”
“What did you just say?”
Startled by Kiaros’s fierce intensity, the Empress immediately lowered her head and cried out.
“My apologies, Your Highness the Crown Prince! I’ve mentioned again how Namia risked her life refusing to marry you! I was thoughtless!”
The Emperor linked arms with the Empress, muttering, “Yes, that was wrong… I waited so many years….” The Empress cried out in a voice dripping with blood.
“Please severely punish the crime of displeasing the Dragon’s Heart!”
“No, that’s not it….”
“Not that? Ah, so you’re saying you can understand her kicking the Crown Prince? I was shortsighted! In any case, to speak like this when the outcome isn’t favorable….”
“No, no, no. That’s not it!”
Kiaros waved his hand as he spoke.
“Didn’t you say ‘as if she knew the future’?”
The Empress, who had been at a loss with her head bowed, carefully raised her eyes.
“…Yes, I did?”
With an expression sharper than ever before, Kiaros continued.
“There was another group that acted as if they knew the future, was there not?”
[I was attacked right when my dark period struck me… I’m still quite bewildered by it. They acted as if they knew the future.]
Those who had attacked in perfect timing with the second dark period that even Kiaros hadn’t anticipated.
“Doesn’t that seem suspicious?”
Kiaros spoke with gleaming eyes.
“People who laid traps as if they knew the future, Namia who saved us as if she knew the future. Could there be some connection?”
“…Your Highness, are you suggesting that you suspect Namia Loapi?”
The Empress asked cautiously, gauging his reaction.
“Namia Loapi saved you and me when we were children, and again fifteen years later. Yet you suspect her? Simply because Namia Loapi refused to marry you….”
“No, being rejected in a proposal truly doesn’t bother me at all. Really.”
Kiaros spoke with a serious expression.
“But now that I think about it… it’s truly suspicious how she prepared so many defensive scrolls timed perfectly for the day I was attacked, as if she knew the future. Certainly, Namia Loapi never acted independently in that department before that.”
The Emperor interjected with a somewhat weary expression.
“But Kiaros, even granting you that you found the girl suspicious, what can we possibly do about it? That senile old Tower Master is already completely smitten with her—we’re hardly in a position to do anything but applaud.”
The Emperor’s voice was soothing, yet carried an unmistakable firmness.
“You understand as well as I do—we cannot strip someone of their position or imprison them merely on suspicion without rational cause. And it certainly appears as though you’re retaliating because she rejected your proposal.”
“I am aware of that, Your Majesty.”
Kiaros’s expression was more serious than ever before.
What if Namia Loapi truly was the mastermind behind everything? The implications were too horrifying to contemplate.
‘If she builds trust by saving the Imperial Family from enemy threats multiple times, only to betray us at the most critical moment?’
Hadn’t the Empress already fallen completely under her spell?
It would be equivalent to placing the enemy’s leader in a ministerial position.
“Isn’t it true that Namia Loapi resolved this matter far too flawlessly? As if she possessed knowledge of the future itself. Of course, it could be mere fortune, but given that the Empire’s fate hangs in the balance, we must exercise caution. Therefore—”
With an expression of absolute precision, he spoke with greater rationality than ever, his thoughts fixed upon the Empire’s future.
“I must personally oversee and monitor Namia Loapi.”
His noble bearing and the arrogance befitting a Crown Prince came naturally to him.
The Emperor gazed upon his perfect and beautiful son with admiration.
“My beloved son….”
His voice trembled slightly.
“…you are truly despicable.”

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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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