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Chapter : 05
How much time had passed?
“Ughhh…”
With a groan, my eyes suddenly snapped open.
What. What, what is this.
I shot straight up. Unlike usual, my entire body felt incredibly light.
What is this?
As I regained my senses, I thought urgently.
The only thing that can create this kind of sudden health boost is money… so what is this dazzling flow of wealth running through my body?
Of course.
There was an IV needle stuck in my left arm. Drip. Drip. Drip. I could hear the sound of money—no, saline—falling.
I looked around.
This… is an imperial hospital ward… and not just any room—it’s a VIP single suite!
The conclusion came instantly.
Kiaros had given me extraordinary treatment.
IV fluids like this were extremely expensive—something even high-ranking nobles struggled to get.
“Wow… this is amazing…”
It was still dawn; the sky outside was a pale violet.
I lay back down on the bed. The soft mattress wrapped around my body.
“I should just go straight to work from here.”
Just as I closed my eyes to sleep a little longer—
“Are you awake?”
The door opened.
A young man with brown hair and green eyes entered in a medical coat—Luca.
“You woke up faster than expected. Must be the IV.”
Luca checked my drip line. I looked up at him and asked urgently:
“You used the best one, right?”
“Huh?”
“The royals would say something like ‘use the best one.’ You can’t miss that opportunity.”
I leaned forward desperately.
“If you used something average, switch it to the best right now.”
“What?”
“This is your chance to build good karma for your next life. Using imperial money and all that. Sounds good, right?”
Luca stared at me like I was insane.
Luca Class. He was my classmate from the Imperial Academy.
Second place in entrance exams.
Top of the academy for all years.
Top of graduation exams.
Top of civil service recruitment exams.
Unlike me—who didn’t even appear in the original story—he was an outstanding “supporting character type.”
Honestly, the Finance Department would’ve recruited him…
But he chose the Medical Department instead.
Because as a commoner, promotion in politically connected departments was limited.
Well, in medical work, skill matters most. So he was right.
Even though we joined at the same time, he was already far ahead of me.
Same fourth year, but he had subordinates while I had none.
Well… except that intern who ran away after one day.
While I was thinking bitterly, Luca spoke in disbelief.
“I can’t believe this. Of all the times I’ve seen you, this is the most motivated you’ve ever looked.”
He shrugged.
“I used the highest-grade IV. The kind reserved for royalty.”
My mouth dropped open in satisfaction.
Luca added casually:
“By the way, I was the one who told His Highness that your nutrition was bad and you needed IV treatment.”
“Wow… Luca Class, I didn’t know you were so loyal?”
He crossed his arms.
“We’re not close enough for loyalty.”
“Oh, okay…”
I answered casually.
Luca suddenly exploded.
“Hey! Aren’t you supposed to ask why I did it?”
“I don’t have that kind of energy…”
“….”
He looked genuinely offended. But this wasn’t new.
In the academy, it was always like this.
Luca got excited and loud. I responded flatly.
“Namia Roapi… your condition is basically malnutrition level. Seriously… sigh.”
He stared at me for a long moment, then finally asked:
“Your family… is it still like that?”
“Huh?”
“The Roapi baron house.”
Even without me answering, he continued rapidly.
“You get meals at the palace, right? But you still look like you’re surviving on one meal a day…”
His voice sharpened.
“Your salary… you’re not even using it, right? That rumor’s already everywhere.”
“Seriously…”
I muttered flatly.
“What kind of miserable people go around spreading private family matters like that?”
“Your parents apparently tell everyone that whenever they take loans, they say your salary will cover it.”
What the hell.
I knew civil service circles were small, but this fast?
Wait… loans? They’re taking loans now?
A bad feeling crept in, but I didn’t show it.
Instead, I spoke casually.
“Well, overtime pay is mine at least. That gets paid in cash at the end of the month.”
“That’s not much…”
“It adds up. Oh, and Juan doesn’t report his overtime either. Probably pocketing it.”
At the mention of Juan, Luca’s expression sharpened.
Juan Roapi.
My twin brother on paper. We attended the academy together and took the civil service exam together.
“Namia Roapi, let me ask you one thing.”
Luca lowered his voice.
“I’ve wanted to ask this for a long time, but held it in.”
“Then keep holding it.”
“Hey! Aren’t you supposed to ask what it is?”
“I don’t have the energy…”
He ignored me and stared directly into my eyes.
“You wrote Juan’s recruitment report, didn’t you?”
“….”
“It was a two-person assignment, but your report ranked first overall. Juan took credit, you got the lowest score, and he got the highest.”
The evaluation was 50% written exam, 50% report.
Juan had average exam scores but perfect report marks, so he entered the Finance Department.
“So tell me honestly—were you really just doing nothing while working with Juan?”
His voice sharpened.
“Just like in the academy, when you did all his assignments… you did the same for the entrance exam too, right?”
I scratched my ear lazily.
“Why are you so interested in me? Do you like me or something? Have I been unaware of your long unrequited love all this time…”
“Are you insane?!”
Luca shouted.
“You’re my rival! My rival! Of course I care about my rival!”
Ah, that again.
I waved my hand tiredly.
“Luca, please forget the entrance exam…”
“Forget it? You were the first perfect scorer in 15 years! And I was 40 points behind you!”
“…Hmm.”
“Answer properly! Why can’t you ever say anything clearly?!”
I sighed.
Fine. If he wanted an answer, I would give him one.
“You’re wrong. It wasn’t 15 years—it was 17 years. And 17 years ago, there were 56 perfect scorers because the exam difficulty failed. So I’m considered the only real perfect scorer in academy history. And while you were 42 points behind me overall, you actually outscored me by 23 points in physical tests, so academically I beat you by 65 points. If you insist on remembering the entrance exam, then remember it correctly from now on.”
“….”
Silence.
