LRCAS 10

Chapter : 10

Oson’s forehead was drenched in sweat the entire time. He had effectively been caught in the act.

Oson had a long list of misconduct—poor attendance, as well as various corrupt acts committed while avoiding his superiors’ eyes.

I shrugged and thought to myself.

‘Team Leader Oson… well, you’re definitely going to get punished, but still… be grateful to me. You were going to die without hesitation once the war starts anyway.’

Thinking about it like that, I almost felt like I was everyone’s benefactor.

‘We have to stop the war. For that, I need to find a chance to naturally leak information about the original story to Kiarios.’

My plan to become the “messenger of the original story” was still firm.

While everyone kept their heads down, I quietly rolled my eyes and thought hard.

‘Originally, I was planning to act like a clueless, overly optimistic low-level employee and go thank the Crown Prince after receiving the commendation…’

But why wasn’t the commendation coming—and instead, Kiarios himself showed up?

‘If the commendation never comes, I won’t even have a decent excuse to go meet the Crown Prince.’

While I was thinking, the staff remained completely silent with their heads bowed.

In that freezing atmosphere, Kiarios slowly called my name.

“Namia Roapi.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

I carefully lifted my head.

Our eyes met.

Ah. Too handsome…

But instinctively, I felt a bit scared.

‘The first emperor, who had the blood of dragons running strong in him, went through two Dark Periods… Does Prince Kiarios also have strong dragon blood? Is that why his presence is so overwhelming?’

His gaze was gentle, yet piercing—like it could see straight through me. My clasped hands began to tremble without control.

“Lady Roapi.”

He pronounced my name clearly once more, then added after a brief pause:

“Come to my office immediately.”

Huh? Suddenly? Me? Why? Now?

“Yes, Your Highness!”

I immediately bowed deeply.

When royalty above you speaks, you obey.

Honestly, it was unexpected—but not necessarily bad.

‘This is a chance to meet him directly! Much more natural than going later pretending to be some clueless girl to thank him for a commendation!’

I politely followed behind him.

At the same time, I was desperately calculating what information would be most effective to reveal.

Earlier

After hearing that Namia had returned to work in the morning, Kiarios personally headed to the Scroll Management Department.

After inspection, he confirmed that every arrow had been coated in poison. And not just any poison—but a foreign toxin for which Kiarios had absolutely no immunity.

‘They are more deeply aware of palace affairs than expected. As I thought, they have been hidden within for a long time.’

From childhood, Kiarios had been exposed to various poisons to prevent exactly this kind of situation, as all royal bloodlines were.

So he could safely be considered immune to most poisons available within the empire.

And yet, this was a completely unknown one.

‘They are not ordinary opponents.’

The deeper he looked, the more serious the situation became.

Still, that was separate from the reward.

He intended to personally thank the savior who had protected his life.

But then—

“If your grades were too low, you shouldn’t have acted so arrogantly in the first place!”

A loud voice echoed from the far end of the hallway.

“Clean it up yourself. Write a report of explanation.”

Although he had expected some level of disorder, it was worse than imagined.

Kiarios felt his anger rise sharply.

He immediately opened the door.

His eyes instinctively searched for Namia first.

She was standing obediently in front of her team leader, looking sincerely apologetic.

‘Hmm?’

Her eyes looked somewhat unfocused and dazed.

Exactly the same as before.

‘Did I missee earlier? Or does she just not know how to properly open her eyes?’

He gave a brief warning to the department.

It was nothing more than that.

He didn’t even raise his voice.

Though inwardly, he was already thinking of ways to dismantle the department if necessary.

‘The Magic Tower will throw a fit. I originally planned to handle this discreetly…’

But Namia had immediately cut off his access workaround, forcing him to abandon that method.

Still, he set that aside for now and prepared to thank her.

Then—

Something felt off.

The entire room had gone silent, like a funeral hall. Some employees were even quietly sniffling.

“…Namia Roapi.”

Even Kiarios felt slightly awkward thanking her after essentially freezing the entire department.

And Namia herself stood there with her head bowed as though she had committed a grave crime.

In the end, he said:

“Come to my office immediately.”

If he couldn’t thank her here, he would do it in his office.

With that simple thought, he walked out into the corridor.

Present

Wow.

I could feel cold sweat pouring down my back.

This is really uncomfortable.

Following behind Kiarios, my body was stiff from tension.

‘If I slip while walking, I might get executed…’

I knew he was a reasonable superior—but still.

As we walked through the palace corridor…

“Goodness.”

“Wow…”

People passing by glanced at us and quickly averted their eyes.

Oh no.

The Crown Prince walking alone with someone.

As far as I knew, this was unprecedented.

Had he ever walked alone with any woman before?

‘He could’ve just sent a subordinate to call me… why is he personally escorting me?’

I kept a stiff, polite smile on my face.

But I could already predict what would happen next.

At lunch, rumors would spread:

“The Crown Prince fell in love at first sight with Namia Roapi.”

By tomorrow:

“Did you hear? The Crown Prince is considering marriage with Namia Roapi.”

Then for a week, the palace would be full of debates about “social status differences and imperial marriage.”

And after a week:

“They broke up because of status differences.”

‘What is the Crown Prince thinking?’

Given his position and age, an engagement would normally be expected—but he had never even escorted any noble ladies.

Of course, we didn’t know his circumstances.

But that only made palace gossip more exciting.

People whispered endlessly:

[Isn’t it strange? Royals usually get engaged young.]

[Not just the Crown Prince—the Emperor and Empress never mention a Crown Princess either…]

[Maybe there’s someone hidden? A secret lover?]

Kiarios was completely closed off to women.

So simply walking beside him was enough to spark rumors.

‘Did he really fall for me at first sight? Hmm… this is my chance.’

My thoughts began racing.

‘Before the “love spell” wears off, I should quickly secure a marriage and then subtly guide him about future events… Cinderella strategy.’

My brain was working faster than ever.

‘I’m not suited for Cinderella roles, but for preventing war, I’ll do it. If I become Crown Princess, what kind of authority would I get?’

Various powers of the Crown Princess flashed through my mind.

It was honestly exciting.

Of course, once you actually gained power, it might not be as significant as expected.

But that was a problem for later.

And realistically, I decided not to even consider the Empress’s authority yet.

‘This kind of instant love will definitely cool off quickly. I should prepare in advance to maximize divorce compensation…’

While I was organizing my thoughts about marriage and divorce—

Kiarios, who had been walking ahead, suddenly spoke.

“Why did you stay in a place like that? Under superiors like those?”