The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success - Chapter 69

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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 69
Kibon stood motionless, his breath held, staring down at me.
I exhaled sharply through my nose, my expression turning sinister as I spoke.
“Where could you possibly run to, surrounded by fox-like civil servants and rabbit-like citizens of the Empire? Where exactly?”
I had just gone to great lengths to keep him alive, and if he were to flee now, claiming he felt burdened… just imagining that development made me dangerously invested.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince must remain here in the Imperial Palace with me, just as you have until now, for a hundred years of shared duty.”
In the midst of this, Kibon muttered in disbelief.
“Wait, did you just say a hundred years of shared duty instead of a hundred years of marriage…?”
“If Your Highness were to flee…”
I tilted my head up toward Kibon, my eyes flickering with intensity as I whispered.
“I’ll chase you to the very end of the continent myself. I’ll grab you by the collar and drag you back, seating you in the Crown Prince’s Office. I’ll keep my eyes wide open and watch you so you can never escape again.”
Kibon’s usually expressionless face drained of all color.
“In any case, I don’t like the sound of that, so don’t say such things anymore.”
That was when a bird chirped from the tree above—chirp, chirp.
Only then did I snap back to reality with a start.
‘What in the world.’
Kibon was now pressed flat against the tree, and with my arms extended to trap him, we were standing quite close to each other.
Despite his ashen complexion, Kibon’s ears had flushed a vivid crimson.
* * *
“Oh, dear.”
Focus returned to Namia’s flickering eyes. Kiaros watched as bewilderment gradually filled her gaze.
“What do I do… I’m sorry.”
Namia, startled, hastily withdrew the arm she had extended toward his shoulder, pulling it back toward herself.
“I was too threatening, wasn’t I?”
Kiaros felt an irrepressible laugh bubbling up inside him.
She was a woman a head shorter than him. Thin and seemingly lacking in muscle. Yet “threatening”? There was no word less fitting than that.
She stammered and rolled her eyes.
“I was wrong. No matter how infuriating my subordinate’s words were, that’s no excuse for me, as a superior, to lose my composure and act so recklessly. Good heavens, look at you—your body’s gone rigid… I’m sorry.”
Yet regardless of how unthreatening she was, his body had indeed gone rigid.
Her sudden proximity, the warmth of her presence, and the sound of her breath so close—it felt as though his heart had stopped.
‘Is it because of that obsession in her eyes when she spoke of chasing me to the depths of hell itself to bring me back? Is that what unsettled me?’
He had felt the sincerity in her flickering gaze.
Experiencing such overwhelming pressure for the first time, his heart still raced so dizzily that his vision blurred.
She quickly pulled her body back as her senses returned.
“If I made you uncomfortable, report me. Between people in a hierarchical relationship, what I did was clearly my fault.”
Though they hadn’t touched at all, the fading warmth of her presence felt strangely regrettable.
Suddenly, Kiaros felt the urge to seize her arm and pull her close again.
“No. Actually, should I just report myself? For my own awareness, I think that would be better. I suppose I’ve been thinking of you too casually…”
She was mumbling in panic. Kiaros found himself murmuring without thinking.
“It’s fine. Really… it’s fine.”
Fearing he might actually turn himself in, he rambled incoherently, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.
“It’s, well, because of your feelings for the Crown Prince, so, well, that’s why you did it.”
“Ah… Yes. That’s true.”
Namia nodded, her expression finally showing relief.
“My feelings for the Crown Prince are genuine.”
She seemed to have calmed down somewhat, but Kiaros’s heart remained completely unsettled.
Those sinister eyes asking ‘Where will you run to?’, that ragged breathing against the nape of his neck….
Whether only he was tormented by those afterimages, Namia continued speaking calmly.
“I simply wish for him to always remain in good health, both body and spirit, just as he is now. Even when I’m not by his side, I’m always thinking of his wellbeing. That’s why I must have gotten overly excited at the word ‘escape.'”
“….”
“What? Is something wrong?”
Kiaros looked at her and barely managed to respond.
“…No, nothing.”
Even when apart, she came to mind, and he was always curious about her. He felt the same way about Namia.
He was truly always curious. Even though they spent their entire workday together, he found himself wondering about the hours they weren’t together.
She didn’t trust Kibon. The fact that she hadn’t told him everything about Jayden’s affairs proved that much.
It was admirable loyalty to the Imperial Family, yet strangely, it made him feel slighted. He was surprised at his own disappointment.
What on earth was going through that small head of hers? That gap—unknowable even when they were together—drove him to the brink of madness with curiosity.
‘If Namia suddenly ran away and disappeared one day… I would do the same, if not more. I would never do less.’
Then did they share the same heart? Kiaros gazed at her intently and spoke.
“I think I understand that feeling.”
Namia nodded and spoke with crisp certainty.
“Yes. This feeling is called loyalty. One hundred percent pure loyalty to the Empire and the Imperial Family.”
…Not the same feeling then. He wasn’t being loyal to Namia.
Then what is the name of my feeling?
Somewhere along the way, the thought that had lingered until moments ago—’If only I didn’t exist…’—had vanished completely. Instead, in his mind….
[If Your Highness were to run away, I would chase you to the very end of the Continent myself.]
Only that eerily precise voice remained. Those gleaming eyes were so vivid that his heart continued to race.
* * *
‘Ah, I really need to be more careful.’
I had never lost my composure to this extent before.
‘So I’m the type to act recklessly toward my subordinates. I never knew because I didn’t have any until now.’
Or perhaps… it was simply because Kibon was so comfortable to be around.
Because in the office, Kibon obeyed my words with an almost blind devotion.
Even just moments ago, when I acted rudely, Kibon’s face only turned pale and he seemed at a loss—he never once showed displeasure.
As this repeated, somewhere along the way, the thought ‘I can do anything to Kibon’ had begun to creep in. It was a dangerous mindset.
‘The more comfortable the other person is, the more uncomfortable I must be making them. I need to be more vigilant.’
I sighed and scolded myself.
‘But seeing him up close, he certainly is well-built…. Ah, wait. Get a grip, Namia. Don’t do this. If Oson did this to me, it would be absolutely horrible.’
In any case, the two of us entered the Scroll Department just as lunchtime was coming to an end.
Lunch break hadn’t quite ended yet, so only Anastasia was in the Office.
She was diligently reading a book by herself.
It seemed to be the last moment of rest before the afternoon work began.
“Oh, you’ve arrived?”
Anastasia jumped up and greeted me.
The book she quickly covered had the title “I Like You As Much As Our Salary Difference.” I decided to pretend I hadn’t seen it.
“W-w-would you like some coffee?”
“No, thank you. I already ate.”
I answered with a gentle smile.
“From now on, you don’t need to ask me things like that.”
“B-b-but… since I’m not very good at my work… at least let me do this.”
Just like yesterday when Victor asked when I was coming, she seemed very conscious of how her work wasn’t particularly swift or efficient.
Anastasia fidgeted with her hands dejectedly and asked Kibon.
“S-so Kibon. Weren’t you supposed to arrive at two?”
“Ah… well, about that.”
Since Kibon had come in around the time lunch ended with me, he had arrived at the Office an hour early.
Kibon answered with his usual expressionless face.
“I simply wanted to come in early.”
At that, Anastasia was so startled she practically collapsed into her chair, nearly tumbling backward entirely.
She gasped for breath and cried out.
“Y-y-y-you, are you okay?”
“Pardon?”
“To the Office, you, you, you just wanted to come in early? W-what kind of illness did you catch?”
Now that I thought about it, her observation made sense!
Coming to the Office early just because one wanted to—it was unheard of.
‘If it’s contagious, we’re in serious trouble.’
I cautiously edged away from Kibon.
Like a foreigner who struggles with language, Kibon tilted his head expressionlessly.
“I’m not sure what you mean… but I’m in good health.”
“I-it doesn’t make sense! S-so why did you come in early?”
Anastasia scooted her chair backward and cried out.
“I-it’s not like there’s someone here you like! U-unless you’re harboring an unrequited love, this makes absolutely no sense!”

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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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