Chapter 5 …

Allison, who had been smiling thinly, froze.

“Hm? What did you say?”

“I said I’ve already finished the task you assigned.”

I sharply tapped the report I had organized against that supposedly expensive desk, then neatly held it out to Allison.

The “task” Allison had assigned was organizing the trashy pile of sloppy materials she had halfheartedly gathered herself.

‘How many years do you think I’ve done this kind of crap?’

I drove in the final nail.

“I’ve checked all the typos too. Font, formatting, and spacing as well.”

“Hah. You really have no sense! If it’s packed this densely with text, who’s supposed to read it?”

“Ah. Then would you prefer the version with visual materials?”

“What?”

“Just in case, I made another format too.”

I lifted the second report from the desk and gently offered it to her.

‘People like this always make a fuss over appearance rather than content.’

I had prepared it just in case, and as expected, she found something to nitpick.

Allison slowly looked me up and down with mockery.

“You certainly act like someone who’s worked before.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Well, since you’re from an orphanage, I’m sure you did plenty of odd jobs.”

Wow, this bitch….

Allison smiled smugly at me.

“Why? Isn’t that right? It said so in your file. Or are your parents actually alive?”

“Ah! You read that correctly. They’re probably dead.”

I smiled brightly as I answered.

“But well, whether someone has parents or not, we all still have to work.”

“……What?”

“Unless you were born with a golden spoon, that is.”

At those words, Allison’s face twisted.

The heroine anxiously watched the confrontation between me and Allison.

Grape Hair stood there with his arms crossed, staring.

“Lowell. Are kids these days all as rude as you?”

“Not sure. But I didn’t ask about Team Leader Capres’s parents, did I?”

A rookie employee talking back to their superior?

‘Normally, impossible.’

You’re furious because there’s injustice at work? Because your boss is abusing power?

‘You endure it. There’s even dirtier crap outside the company anyway.’

But if they start spewing bullshit about your family?

‘Then you hit back.’

There are standards in life you should never bend on.

For me, that was my parents.

Maybe the current Leila’s parents abandoned me as a baby, but thanks to my parents in my previous life, I had been happy.

‘I may have no money and be at the bottom of the social ladder, but why should I tolerate this kind of humiliation?’

Allison stammered, visibly shocked.

“You… You. Do you think you’re something special?”

“I’m just a rookie from an orphanage.”

Because honestly, unless you’re royalty or from some ancient noble house, they’re all basically the same bastards anyway.

Allison glared at me, then sharply turned her head away.

‘She realized that messing with me wouldn’t crush my spirit.’

Fight me directly instead.

I’m one thing since I’m basically an experienced worker disguised as a rookie, but did she really want to do this to a baby chick like the heroine?

But every morning at 9 AM and every afternoon at 3 PM, Allison made the heroine stand there just to berate her.

The next day too.

And the day after that.

“I’m leaving early today. You can all go once your work is done.”

Allison clocked out at 4 PM, leaving behind piles of paperwork she hadn’t handled on our expensive desks.

‘This damn bitch.’

For the remaining hours, we quietly began processing the documents.

‘Whatever. In two days, we’re saying goodbye to this place anyway.’

And just as the work was nearly finished—

“That person…”

“Hm?”

Suddenly, Grape Hair quietly spoke to me.

“Why doesn’t she say anything to me?”

“Well… because you’re from the Mage Tower, and your parents are alive.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“What do you mean, what does it have to do with anything?”

This guy came from an elite family rivaling even the male lead or hidden mastermind.

‘She picks her targets based on who she can screw with.’

But Grape Hair looked utterly unable to understand.

“But that isn’t rational.”

“People are originally like that. They’re not all perfectly divided into zeroes and ones…”

Wait.

As I was trying to explain the irrationality of the world to this innocent lamb, I looked around and realized the heroine’s seat was empty.

“Wait, where’s Yuriana?”

“She ran outside. I think she was crying.”

“You little—! Why are you only saying that now?!”

I was so buried in work I hadn’t noticed!

And why wasn’t the second male lead following her when the heroine was crying?

When the heroine cries, you’re supposed to go hand her a canned coffee or something—that’s how romance starts!

‘Seriously, Grape Hair! This is why you’re the second male lead!’

What if the original story derails and the heroine suddenly decides she doesn’t want to be an Imperial Palace bureaucrat anymore?!

‘What if she decides not to join the Dirt Spoon Department?!’

I hurriedly shot up from my seat.

Apparently, since following me wasn’t rational, Grape Hair did not come after me.

Thankfully, the heroine hadn’t gone far.

She was crouched in a corner of the garden, hiding from passersby.

“Yuriana!”

“L-Leila.”

“Are you okay?”

“Hic….”

Oh no, the heroine really was crying!

And maybe because getting caught made it even more miserable, she covered her face and sobbed harder.

“Hic, hngh, hic….”

“Yuriana. Don’t cry—”

Wait.

Just as I was about to comfort her, a chill suddenly ran down my spine.

‘Originally, this is when the male lead is supposed to appear and comfort Yuriana, isn’t it?’

How could I forget the scene where the heroine came out after Allison’s harassment, depressed, and then accidentally ran into the male lead?

【“Didn’t you say you wanted to come to the Dirt Spoon Department, Crosswell?”

“Hic, y-yes.”

“Then you cannot cry over something like this.”

“Yes….”

Carlyle spoke sternly, then turned his back and added one final thing.

“But if you come to our side, at the very least, I’ll make sure you never cry over something unfair.”

There was the faintest warmth in his voice.】

Oh, shit….

I needed to get out of here fast.

But the moment I tried to pull my hand away—

“Hic, Leila.”

The tear-soaked heroine grabbed my hand.

“C-Could you stay with me?”

“B-But… that’s…”

“Hic, hngh….”

……When your coworker is crying this miserably, you can’t exactly say, “A man is about to come comfort you, so I’ll head out first.”

In the end, I got dragged down beside the heroine, crouching next to her and listening to her lament.

“Hic. What do I do, Leila?”

“Hm? About what?”

“I really want to do well… but I guess I have no sense.”

Oh dear.

Looks like Allison’s meaningless words had hurt her badly.

“Listen carefully, Yuriana. It’s not that you have no sense. You just lack experience.”

“Experience….”

“Everyone stumbles at first.”

“But Leila…”

“Hm?”

“L-Leila… you were capable from the beginning.”

“That’s because, just like that woman said, I’m from an orphanage, so I did a lot of odd jobs.”

“That’s…!”

“So, stop caring about what that person said.”

The heroine had stopped crying, but she still looked dispirited.

‘Tsk. She’s top-ranked, so her pride must be strong.’

This is what happens when someone gets gaslit.

This wouldn’t do. Time for some extreme reality-based treatment.

“Listen carefully, Yuriana.”

“Hm?”

“One day, we’re all going to become self-employed.”

“W-What?”

If you don’t become an executive at a company, eventually you’re just going to become your own boss anyway.

Whether that’s through a fried chicken shop, a café, or being a landlord.

“We’re not all going to become high-ranking officials, right? So there’s no need to cling to this place too desperately.”

Do not stake your entire life on a company!

But not knowing my worn-down philosophy, the heroine seemed to take it as comfort and smiled brightly.

“Thank you, Leila. I’m so glad I have you.”

“Well, it’s nothing.”

“Then I’ll go wash my face first!”

The heroine suddenly jumped up and ran off.

I guess bawling her eyes out had been pretty embarrassing.

‘Right. I still have work left, so I should hurry back too—’

But just as I started to stand, I froze awkwardly halfway up.

The male lead was standing right around the corner nearby.

‘Why are you showing up here?’

And why, after making eye contact with me, was he just standing there instead of leaving?

And with his hands clasped behind his back, no less.

‘Why aren’t you going after the heroine?’

……Still, first things first.

I needed to assess the situation.