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Chapter : 06
Luca was silent for a while, only opening and closing his mouth.
I awkwardly shrugged and added,
“Well, after that, your scores were way higher than mine in every exam anyway, Luca…”
At that, Luca’s green eyes flashed sharply.
“That’s because you deliberately flunked every exam on purpose! Just enough to pass into the Imperial Palace civil service at the very bottom!”
“Mm.”
“I’m smart enough to notice that much, even if no one else is!”
This wasn’t the first time Luca had gone on a rampage like this.
The only person who had ever cared about my top score in the academy entrance exam was Luca.
Back in the academy days, every time exam results came out, he would run straight to my seat like he had something personally deposited there.
Then he would glare at my pitiful exam papers.
‘Even with a huge gap in scores, he still insists we’re rivals… and he’s been like this all along.’
I thought he would finally stop after graduation from the academy.
But apparently, that obsession never disappeared—it just had no chance to surface because we were in different departments.
“C-cough! Anyway! You were my first rival, and I still want to compete with you in something!”
“Ah, yeah…”
“Hey, aren’t you supposed to ask what I want to compete in?”
“I don’t have that level of motivation…”
“Hey!”
Luca’s words were, in fact, mostly correct.
Except for the academy entrance exam, I had never properly used my abilities at full capacity.
Even for the civil service exam, I only studied enough to barely pass the cutoff.
‘And of course, I wrote all of Hwan’s application reports too.’
While I did that, Hwan studied for the written exam. That’s how he managed to score average marks there.
‘Nothing special about that.’
After all, I had been doing his academy assignments the same way. That’s why Hwan always got perfect scores on his submissions.
[Don’t make our Hwan look bad, understand?]
And my salary too…
[Write your bank account here.]
Even after four years of work, I had never once properly received a salary. Only overtime pay was mine.
A tiny amount, but to someone who had never had money of her own, it was precious.
Because I had something I needed to do with it.
“Luca, let’s at least compete in promotion speed. Yeah? Let’s see who climbs higher in this organization.”
“Mm… you’ll win, and you’ll keep winning. Happy?”
I answered flatly, and Luca looked even more frustrated.
Watching him, I gave him sincere advice.
“Just live your own life instead of worrying about me, Luca.”
“And you’re living your life properly?”
At that, Luca finally snapped.
“This whole way you’re living—this is because of your family, isn’t it? It’s obvious. Your salary gets taken away anyway, so you just gave up on life!”
Luca tried to hide concern behind anger.
“Fine, I’ll accept that in the academy. But now you’re an adult, Namiya Roapi. You really don’t have to live like this.”
He bit his lip, then sighed deeply.
“I don’t know your full situation, and I know this is rude to say, but… just cut ties and live your life. Stop acting like a dead fish. Use your abilities properly!”
I lowered my gaze at the “dead fish eyes” he was criticizing.
And stayed silent for a long time.
‘So he’s going that far. My nutrition must’ve really shocked him.’
Until now, Luca had always yelled things like “use your talent properly!” but this was the first time he brought up my family situation directly.
“C-cough! Cough!”
As silence stretched on, Luca began glancing at me nervously.
Eventually, awkwardly clearing his throat, he stammered,
“I-I mean… if I overstepped, I’m so—so—so—”
I let out a quiet sigh and turned to him slowly.
“Yeah. You’re right… you’re kind of crazy.”
“Hey! I was just trying to apologize—wait, what?”
Luca flinched when he met my eyes.
Probably because my eyes were focused for once, unlike usual.
“You’re right. You don’t know my situation.”
My voice, usually indifferent, had turned serious.
Luca’s eyes widened.
Contrary to what he thought, I was actually doing my best in my own way.
I had my own goal—one that no one else knew.
‘I’ll endure it. I’ll keep enduring. I’ll stop the war. And I’ll find my real father. Until then, it doesn’t matter if I don’t use my abilities.’
Silence filled the hospital room.
Luca sighed deeply. The frustration faded, replaced by helplessness.
I smiled slightly.
“Still, I know you said that for my sake. Thanks, Luca.”
Our relationship had always been the same since the academy.
So conversations like this were new.
Maybe this was the first time I had shown my real feelings to someone.
Maybe I just wasn’t used to being worried about.
Even if that someone was Luca Class, my so-called “rival,” who always annoyed me.
“I’m not saying I’ll live like this forever. I just have something I want. Something I need to get from them.”
Luca bit his lip, then suddenly chuckled bitterly.
“But… what are you going to do?”
“Hm?”
“Everyone’s going to know you’re an incredible talent, Namiya Roapi.”
He looked at me smugly.
“You shouldn’t have used 172 scrolls if you wanted to hide it. Rumors are already spreading that you made 166 scrolls yourself and activated them all at once.”
“Ah, that?”
I returned to my usual indifferent expression.
“You don’t really understand our Scroll Administration Department. We are meticulously chaotic.”
I stated calmly.
“There’s already an official report saying only six scrolls existed. They’ll never allow a rumor that I made 166 scrolls alone.”
“…Huh?”
“They’ll conclude I made a mistake in inventory reporting. And I’ll get disciplined for it.”
“That’s insane! No organization would—no, at least the Magic Tower wouldn’t—”
“The Magic Tower is detached from worldly affairs. They wouldn’t even hear about this. And no one would bother informing them.”
I spoke flatly.
“At best, the Crown Prince might give me some kind of formal commendation. Probably just toss me a certificate.”
Punishment or not didn’t matter. What mattered was that certificate.
Because it would let me meet Kiaro again.
To act against the original story, I needed power.
But I had no money, no status, no authority.
‘Why am I even thinking about the original story? That’s inefficient. It would’ve been better if Kiaro, who actually has power, thought about it.’
A low-ranking civil servant like me couldn’t stop a war.
Only someone like Kiaro could.
So I made a decision.
I would stick close to Kiaro and cling to him as much as possible… and feed him hints about the future.
