🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 09
“Namia! Are you listening? Hey? Are you ignoring me right now? Why aren’t you answering?”
Whether I answered or not didn’t matter in this situation. If I answered, I’d be nitpicked; if I didn’t, I’d also be nitpicked.
So I just had to respond vaguely and drag out the time.
“…I couldn’t go to the Magic Tower because my abilities were lacking…”
“If your grades were too low to go, you shouldn’t have acted so arrogantly in the first place!”
I kept my head down and put on a deeply apologetic expression.
“The Crown Prince is a dragon-blooded being! And he had five White Knights with him! Even if you hadn’t stepped in, he could’ve dodged those arrows easily!”
No… he probably couldn’t have.
But it seemed like that’s what normal people believed.
Well, it wasn’t like anyone would reveal that Kiarios was currently in his Second Dark Period.
‘And he probably never will.’
He wasn’t the kind of Crown Prince who would announce his own weakness.
Besides, a dragon-blooded ruler’s Dark Period was normally classified information.
While I was thinking about something else, Oson lifted his chin and sneered.
“So everyone now knows how talented Namia is, thanks to this incident, huh?”
“Yes…”
“Where’s your remorse? Why are you answering so confidently when you clearly messed up?”
Sigh… see? Whether I answer or not, I get blamed anyway.
“If you’re so capable, why are you even working in a team? Huh? Why join an organization at all?”
To earn money…
Of course, that answer could never be said out loud in any situation.
“If you’re going to act independently without considering your coworkers, you shouldn’t have joined in the first place! This is exhausting!”
Honestly, it would’ve been less exhausting if I just hadn’t come to work…
When I stayed silent, Oson slammed the desk.
“Fine. You clean this up.”
Ah. As expected, we moved to the next phase.
That meant: I’ve reached my conclusion.
Finally, the end of this unpleasant situation was in sight.
Oson declared solemnly:
“Write a report of explanation.”
“A report… for what exactly?”
“Say that there were 172 scrolls in inventory, but you mistakenly recorded six, and only realized it right before departure, so you took them all. You’ll just get a minor disciplinary action. That’s it.”
Wow. Exactly as I expected.
At that moment, the minister standing behind Oson subtly signaled me with his eyes.
His lips moved silently.
Only I could understand it.
— Imperial commendation.
As expected.
This was exactly the outcome I had anticipated, so I wasn’t even nervous.
It basically meant: a commendation will come soon, so don’t argue and just go along with it for now.
No matter how incompetent, a minister was still a minister. He probably already understood the situation.
‘So His Highness really is going to give me a commendation.’
That alone was enough for me.
‘And as expected, the minister has no intention of reporting this to the Magic Tower.’
Well, that was fine.
I never had high expectations for this department anyway.
Because it was nominally under the Magic Tower, this was one of the few departments in the imperial palace that could avoid outside interference.
That’s why this place just… limped along day by day, focused only on surviving.
‘And I’m no different from them.’
I had become too accustomed to this place to feel disgusted anymore.
‘Though… I think I wasn’t like this when I first started.’
Honestly, at the beginning, I had quite a bit of hope for working in the Scroll Management Department.
Even if I had topped the entrance exam, I would’ve still chosen this department.
‘Back when I actually loved magic and found studying scrolls exciting…’
But after 3 years and 7 months in this hopeless organization,
my ideals had slowly eroded, and my initial passion had faded.
Even now, nothing was surprising anymore.
“Don’t want it? You don’t want it? Huh? Why aren’t you answering?”
Oson glared at me.
“If you don’t like it, leave the palace. Go work alone somewhere!”
“I just… you told me not to answer earlier…”
“This is why you can’t survive! You have zero awareness! Do you think you can survive in an organization like this?”
Honestly, I was getting tired of this.
I made a regretful expression and glanced at the clock.
It was time for the first task of the day in any department.
‘The knight order should be delivering the imperial commendation around now.’
And then—
Bang.
The door slammed open so hard it hit the wall.
Here it comes!
That entrance sounded rather dramatic.
Probably a White Knight messenger carrying the commendation.
‘Finally, I’ll see the reward letter!’
But when I turned around in anticipation—
“Interesting.”
A cold voice struck my ears.
Crimson eyes that glowed ominously. Brilliant golden hair like sunlight. Tall frame, perfect proportions, and a well-built physique.
A man so flawless it almost felt unreal stood there, smiling crookedly.
“Really interesting.”
More than anything, he carried an overwhelming presence that made people instinctively tremble.
The entire department froze—not from shouting like before, but from sheer pressure.
As if accustomed to this silence and submission, he spoke calmly:
“Since when can a department head discuss disciplinary action without imperial permission?”
He hadn’t even raised his voice.
Yet my legs trembled on their own. Oson looked like he was about to collapse backward.
The minister snapped back to reality first and jumped up.
“Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince!”
Wait—what?!
Why is Kiarios here instead of a commendation?!
I panicked, my breath catching.
‘No way… did he hear everything Oson said earlier?!’
This was far beyond expectations.
My heart pounded violently.
‘If there’s anything he didn’t hear, I need to report it immediately!’
The atmosphere was suffocating.
Oson was shaking like a leaf now.
Kiarios hadn’t shouted. He hadn’t even moved aggressively.
Yet none of us dared to breathe too loudly.
‘His pressure… is insane…’
It felt like we were being crushed under his silence.
“So this is how this department operates. Punishing individual achievement?”
His crimson eyes gleamed coldly.
Even though I was terrified, I felt a strange sense of relief.
Good. No need to report anything. He heard it all.
His voice carried clear anger.
“I must admit my incompetence. If I cannot even manage a single imperial department, how could I possibly govern an empire?”
That meant: I will govern the empire, and I will deal with you accordingly.
He turned to the minister.
“Immediately hand over access authority to the Scroll Management Department’s records. I will personally oversee this organization for now.”
This was shocking.
He was directly demanding access authorization?
So bluntly?
“B-But we need Magic Tower approval— I mean, my apologies, Your Highness. I will prepare the documents immediately.”
The minister hurriedly signed the authorization papers.
I watched and shrugged internally.
The Magic Tower is going to explode.
I agreed with the minister on that.
‘He’s definitely going to clash with the Tower Master… did he really have to be this direct?’
The Magic Tower didn’t want to manage us, yet still wanted to maintain pride against the imperial family.
‘If they want access authority so badly, they could’ve just used some quiet backdoor method…’
