IBML 06

Chapter 06

After hurriedly parting ways with Kallian, I knocked on the office door with the back of my hand.

Knock, knock.

Before the sound could echo down the empty corridor, Rekalin’s voice came from inside.

“Come in.”

I opened the door without replying to the low, frost-laden baritone. The office, which I had entered exactly on time after leaving the wreath behind, was quiet.

Rekalin’s desk—and the stacks of documents behind it—had grown even larger, as if they had multiplied on their own.

“You may sit at the aide’s desk.”

I took a seat at the desk piled high with folders and skimmed through them. Every single one was thick. They looked like meeting minutes.

Besides the folders, several bundles of newspapers were laid out on the desk.

The Hagaia Daily, the Ian Times, the Markji, and so on. I felt a twinge of familiarity with the Hagaia Daily, since I had once worked briefly part-time at the publishing company that issued it.

What’s more, that newspaper had a reporter who wrote articles using leads provided by the ducal house and cooperated almost entirely with them.

Next to those were the Capital Nobility Directory and the Provincial Nobility Directory. These were even thicker than the folders of meeting minutes.

Rekalin, dark circles under his eyes seemingly deeper than before, moved his fountain pen busily.

Scratch, thud. Scratch, thud. The sounds of review and approval rang out in quick succession.

“The newspapers are there for you to read.”
“Yes.”
“First of all, the regular council meeting is in five days.”

The regular council meeting was held every two weeks, a gathering where officials from all departments—administration, finance, justice, and more—met with the emperor to discuss state affairs.

Rekalin served as an adviser at these meetings. While it wasn’t a position that required daily attendance at the imperial palace, it was hardly a leisurely post.

“The folders on the desk contain records of nearly ten years of meetings. Review them, familiarize yourself with the order of proceedings, and prepare the materials. I’ve left reference documents as well. You may ask questions at any time.”

I felt relieved. The empire I lived in—the Hagaia Empire—was, at least nominally, an ancient nation that had existed since antiquity and continued to this day.

Even counting only from after antiquity, it had endured for a full thousand years.

So the fact that I didn’t have to pore over at least 2,400 pages of meeting minutes was truly fortunate.

Though one might wonder whether all such records could really exist—this was a fantasy BL world, after all, complete with magic. And Rekalin was one of the few archmages on the continent.

An archmage who had woven together no fewer than nine circles, monstrously powerful.

Above him were sages, and above them great sages—but there was only one tower master among the sages, and only Lorelica, who had sparked the Spell Revolution, among the great sages.

By any measure, Rekalin was unquestionably strong.

What kind of magic do you think was his specialty? Isn’t it obvious just by looking at him?

That’s right. His specialty was ice magic. But as befitted an archmage, the setting was that there was no magic he couldn’t wield.

After gauging my reaction, he continued.

“Next, you should look through the capital and provincial nobility directories.”
“……”
“I won’t force you, but it would be best to memorize them.”
“Yes…!”

I checked the thickness of the Capital Nobility Directory once more. It looked thick enough to chew up an encyclopedia.

So: learn the meeting order, prepare materials, and memorize an encyclopedia-like directory of nobles.

The last part was technically optional, but if he said it’d be better to memorize it, then memorizing it would be wise.

“From time to time, you’ll be summoned by administrators or finance officers. When that happens, retrieve the requested materials.”
“Once you’re finished, I’ll assign the next task, so it would be best to work as quickly as possible.”

I clenched my fist and silently repeated I can do this three times in my head.

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this…

Honestly, I had been prepared for this. Otherwise, how could I have even considered applying for the recruitment exam?

A lone commoner woman with no noteworthy experience and no influential backing had nothing to rely on but sheer guts.

And so began a brutal battle against documents so dense that black was paper and white was text. The workload nearly made me nauseous—far worse than the black company I’d worked for in my previous life.

Still, experience counts. As I worked, I adapted—adap—adapted… right?! At least it wasn’t to the point of killing me.

Swallowing my tears and anger, I kept my hands moving diligently.

“Ah, Aide.”
“Yes?”

Rekalin spoke while I was scanning the Capital Nobility Directory, trying to memorize it.

“I’m sorry, but you should be using the 6629 revised edition. That one is from 6628.”

So the head butler had brought the wrong book. The number 9 was quite round and printed small, so it was easy to confuse 6629 with 6628.

“You can get the new one from my study. It’s right next to the office, and the door should be open.”

I nodded and headed to Rekalin’s private study.

Inside the spacious room were a sofa, a table, and shelves packed tightly with books.

If heaven existed, wouldn’t it look something like this?

Holding onto that thought, I searched for the 6629 revised edition of the Capital Nobility Directory. It was placed on the very top shelf.

I looked around for a ladder, but none was in sight. I scratched the back of my head.

Should I climb on a chair? But the upholstery on those chairs probably cost more than my entire outfit, so I decided to use something else.

Just then, I spotted a footstool—thick and knee-high. It would be perfect for stretching out your legs while reading.

I placed the footstool and stepped on it. Even standing on tiptoe, my fingers barely grazed the 6629 edition.

If only I were one centimeter taller. Sighing, I stretched my arm out even further.

Thud—

Luckily, I grabbed the book. But then—

“Huh?”

The footstool slid backward, and I was momentarily suspended in midair.

Wasn’t this way too déjà vu?

I tried to scream, but in my panic I bit my tongue instead. It hurt.

“……!!”

Overwhelmed by pain, I tilted my head back. I kicked my legs, but there was nothing beneath my feet.

Time seemed to slow with the sensation of floating, and somewhere I heard the fluttering of birds—

At the very moment the pages of the 6629 edition I was holding began to flip on their own,

I crashed face-first into someone.

Bang! It was loud enough to echo.

An arm scented with cool sandalwood wrapped around my waist, stopping me from crashing to the floor.

I swallowed hard. Someone had caught me mid-fall—sacrificing even their face to do so.

Given the sound, it must have hurt badly.

“Th-thank you.”
“It’s nothing.”

My eyes widened. It was Rekalin’s voice. The one who caught me was none other than Rekalin himself.

His glasses weren’t crooked, and beneath the lenses, his golden eyes gleamed sharply.

I turned my head abruptly to look at him as I spoke. His hair brushed against my cheek.

“Your Grace, what are you doing here?”
“I remembered that I’d put the ladder away in the study, so I came to check. I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”
“Thank you… but, um, isn’t your face hurt?”

I really didn’t want to earn the title of the aide who headbutted her boss on her first day, so I tried to smooth things over quickly.

Rekalin slowly released his arm from around my waist and set me down.

Having been held once, I could tell—his body was firmer than I’d expected.

My heart pounded loudly, rougher than usual. I rubbed the back of my neck for no reason.

Just as I began to feel a strange sense of emptiness, a metallic scent of blood wafted from somewhere.

“Gasp—Your Grace, your nose—”
“I have a nosebleed.”

Looking closely, his normally cool-featured face was flushed all over, as if he’d been baked in an oven, and blood was flowing from his reddened nose.

“Gasp.”

To make matters worse, it was coming from both nostrils. The problem wasn’t that I’d hit his face—

I had made my superior, who also happened to be the sub male lead, bleed from the nose.

Flailing my arms and gesturing wildly, I babbled,

“I—I—I’m sorry!”
“…It’s fine.”

Even as he spoke, another surge of blood welled up.

Rekalin stopped the nosebleed with healing magic. Blue mana, like the light of dawn, surged from his hand.

Still, I desperately wanted to crawl into a mouse hole.

This is insane…

“You’re really okay, right?”
“Yes. Truly, I’m fine.”

Looking at Rekalin’s stiff, frozen expression, I cried inwardly.

I’m not… blacklisted already, am I?

At Rekalin’s insistence that I go first, I returned to the office carrying the 6629 revised edition.

Inside, there was a cart with food on it, along with a maid who had brought it.

“You hadn’t come down, so the head butler told me to bring this up.”

So aides ate in the office instead of the dining hall.

I thanked the maid and sat down. I assumed she would leave immediately—but she hesitated for a moment, then approached me.

“Um, Aide. My name is Emma.”
“Emma?”

The shy, awkward maid explained that she was in charge of my room.

She told me to call her if I needed laundry or cleaning. I nodded, and she hurried out of the office.

Her name sounded oddly familiar—but it was probably just my imagination.

Pushing aside the vague thought, I took a bite of the spicy grilled chicken leg served for lunch, and suddenly the world seemed brighter.

Like everything had a beauty filter on it—almost lovely.

Rekalin, who had returned after cleaning himself up from the blood earlier, seemed to share a similar impression.

Unlike the scowling, overcooked-spinach expression he wore while working, his face looked surprisingly gentle.

After focusing on our meal, we plunged back into document hell.

To make up for my embarrassing mistake earlier, I asked questions actively, and Rekalin answered them thoroughly.

“That’s not quite right. I understand your meticulousness in not overlooking details, but we need to look at things more broadly. Like a forest full of trees. If you’re not careful, you may miss or overlook what’s important in the whole. Look here…”

His feedback—analyzing, breaking things down, and reassembling them—was excellent.

It felt like my mental state shattered and recovered several times over.

I had worried about memorizing the Capital Nobility Directory, but since it included illustrations, it seemed much easier than expected.

Assuming, of course, that the portraits weren’t overly idealized compared to reality.

“Let’s call it a day.”

Rekalin spoke the most welcome words.

“Um, may I take the nobility directory with me?”
“As long as you don’t lose it.”

Rekalin’s gaze lingered on me as I picked up the directory—more precisely, near my wrist.

There, I wore a worn, frayed wristwatch I’d used for a long time.

Should I replace it? Lately, the minute hand seemed to be running about two minutes slow.

With that worry in mind, I put the directory into my bag. It felt noticeably heavier.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Have a good evening.”

Rekalin smiled faintly. I couldn’t help but stop in my tracks.

When I turned back quickly, the smile was already gone—but even from that brief glimpse, I was certain.

That was a real smile.

“Um, Your Grace, just now—”
“Be precise. What do you mean by ‘just now’?”
“N-no, it’s nothing.”
“You seem to be adapting quickly, even on your first day. Good work.”

Even if he ended with relatively warm words, he still lacked flexibility—but what I’d seen earlier wasn’t a purely professional smile formed only by the lips. His eyes had softened too.

So a cold-looking handsome man could smile that warmly.

Regardless of my personal tastes, it made the deepest part of my chest ache.

I wanted to see that expression more often. Kallian would surely help with that, right?

With that thought, I left the office and went down the stairs.

I’d made a mortifying mistake today, but Rekalin hadn’t made a big deal of it.

It was reassuring that my superior clearly distinguished between work and personal matters—even if he was as cold as an FM robot.

I also recalled the taste of lunch and how considerate he’d been toward Kallian during yesterday’s interview.

Hmm. With benefits like this and a boss like that, even a hellish workload might be bearable.

Feeling lighter, I headed toward my room—

When suddenly, someone grabbed me. With a powerful grip, my body was yanked sharply backward.

“?!”