Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
The Emperor returned to the palace. At the sa ti, Crown Prince Kiaros was said to be taking an extended leave.
‘Ah, he’s lying low because of the blackout period.’
I listened to the Imperial announcent and thought to myself.
‘A wise choice.’
He was significantly weaker now, so the Emperor would be a better option in comparison.
‘Even if he only has about a year left to live...’
The Empress had worked hard to gather strange poisons, but that wasn’t going to fix things.
Thankfully, things were quiet for the ti being.
Of course, the original story had already changed a lot, so who knew what could happen next. I had to stay vigilant.
‘First off, I need to pull myself together.’
Because now I was the Minister of the Scroll Departnt!
The official announcent wasn’t the only thing that happened swiftly.
‘Dissolution of the Scroll Managent Departnt! ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ Establishnt of the Scroll Departnt! Appointnt of a new Minister!’
After I was nad as the next Minister, the news was delivered directly to all other Ministers.
Because the Minister of Legal Affairs had been present at the ti.
Naturally, the entire cabinet exploded.
Even though it was the weekend, an ergency eting was called imdiately.
All Ministers from the various departnts and His Majesty the Emperor were present—including .
“A twenty-three-year-old, a Minister? Are you serious? She didn’t even go through the proper ranks!”
“Exactly. But that was the Tower Lord’s negotiation offer.”
The Emperor shifted all the bla to soone not present at the eting.
“To bring the departnt’s authority completely under Imperial control, we had no choice.”
“Look at all of us! Every single one here has over thirty years of civil service experience! And she’s a fourth-year? A Minister?!”
“Exactly. But the Tower Lord insisted.”
Of course, the Ministers couldn’t accept that.
So the Emperor shook his head and said,
“When the Tower Lord returns, feel free to file your complaints.”
“But still...!”
No one could argue against the slippery strategy of blaming it all on “the Tower Lord said so.”
If the Emperor had forced it directly, soone might’ve at least had the guts to say “That’s too much, even for a Dragonblood.”
Eventually, the Minister of Operations Support, huffing and puffing, cut in.
“I—I really didn’t want to say this, but...”
She hesitated for a while.
Even I got a little tense and swallowed dryly.
‘What’s with that lead-in? She knows it’s petty, but she’s going to drop a bomb anyway!’
The Minister of Operations Support scanned the others solemnly and said,
“There are rumors about Namia Roafi and His Highness the Crown Prince. That their relationship isn’t... appropriate.”
So even the Ministers had caught wind of that gossip...
And clearly, she hated the idea of becoming Minister so much she was willing to bring up groundless rumors in an official eting.
She cleared her throat and continued.
“If this appointnt was made based on personal feelings...”
At that, the Emperor raised his hand to his forehead with a grave expression.
“Hoo...”
Everyone stared at him hopefully, sensing the chance to sink their teeth into sothing juicy.
“I regret having to say this...”
The Emperor murmured with a sorrowful face.
“But Lady Namia... completely rejected my son.”
All the Ministers’ faces turned pale with shock.
“My son proposed to her... and she rejected him outright, right in front of us. She said she couldn’t see Kiaros as a man at all.”
Hmm... that nuance was slightly off.
Still, the result wasn’t wrong, so I gave a slight nod.
“So now Kiaros is in hiding, devastated from rejection. If you don’t see him for a while, please understand.”
Huh, so he’s repackaging the blackout as heartbreak-induced retreat...
“It was his first rejection. The heartbreak must be imnse.”
The Ministers looked too stunned to speak.
The Emperor, with a pained look, declared,
“Still, I had no choice but to appoint Lady Namia as Minister. The Tower Lord insisted.”
“......”
“No matter how powerful a Dragonblood may be, they can’t go throwing their authority around. Even if my son is wallowing in heartbreak.”
“......”
“This is how the Imperial Family clearly separates public and private matters. Of course, the Crown Prince is suffering emotionally, but still.”
“......”
“You’re all protesting just because she’s young? I accepted her even while turning my son into a broken man.”
“......”
With every word the Emperor said, the emphasis on the Crown Prince’s rejection only grew.
After selling out his absent son thoroughly, the Emperor gave a sly wink.
And I realized sothing.
‘I must never skip one of these etings.’
It was painfully clear that anyone absent would get all the bla dumped on them.
In that uncomfortable silence, the eting finally ended.
I clutched the hem of my skirt with trembling fingers and thought,
‘I’ve never even been in a eting room this massive before...’
Truly, truly...
‘...I love this!’
With a calm face and shaky breath, I swallowed the joy blazing inside .
To conclude, the Emperor wrapped things up.
“On Monday morning, we’ll announce that Lady Namia Roafi is the Minister of the Scroll Departnt and begin restructuring. Minister Roafi will handle the entire reorganization process.”
***
Organizational restructuring.
That, honestly, was the real problem.
I returned to the Scroll Departnt’s office—forrly the Scroll Managent Departnt—and fell into thought.
‘It was already a small departnt to begin with...’
The Scroll Managent Departnt originally had twenty mbers.
But now, after a sweeping wave of disciplinary firings...
Only nine remained—including .
‘Even all the team leaders got the axe.’
The remaining nine all had less than ten years of experience.
None had made it to team leader status.
‘And I’m supposed to reorganize with just these people...’
Scroll Departnt. Nine people. A fourth-year who used to be the youngest on the team is now the Minister.
And there’s a high chance that one of them is a spy.
‘This departnt really is a ss in every possible way.’
Eight people besides ...
So were decent. So were useless. So were just difficult.
Most importantly, they all had more seniority than .
No new hires had co in for years because the departnt was seen as a dead-end.
‘First, I’ll consolidate everything and reduce the teams to two. Thankfully, picking team leaders won’t be hard.’
Fortunately, the two most experienced people among the remaining staff were at least competent.
‘And Senior Victor will be back soon. That’s at least one piece of good luck.’
I smiled slightly as I saw the na “Victor Arwin” on the roster.
Victor, my senior from the academy, had been on an extended assignnt for over three and a half years.
He had personal reasons for being placed in the Scroll Departnt, but he was smart, kind, and honestly didn’t belong in a place like this.
[Hang in there, Namia. Until I get back. Once I beco the youngest team leader, I’ll pull you out from under Oson.]
That had been the last thing Victor said to .
‘Senior... what do I do. You’re definitely getting that team leader role, but I’ve beco the Minister instead. And this place is still a disaster...’
Even the forr Minister’s secretary had been fired.
Turns out even the secretary had been helping themselves to a juicy cut of the budget.
‘I don’t even have a secretary right now...’
Normally, I’d have to pick one from the remaining six.
But how could I make soone who used to be my senior into a secretary? It felt awkward on so many levels.
And with the chance that one of them was a spy, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about giving out important work.
‘Only one option. I’ll have to do almost everything myself for now.’
I trusted Kiaros’ competence.
If it were him, he’d definitely root out the seed of war.
So until then, I could suffer a little.
‘Still... it’d be really nice to have one smart secretary.’
I sighed and checked the inbox out of habit to see if any new docunts had co in.
That’s when I saw it.
‘Hmm?’
To my surprise, a new docunt had arrived.
‘...Kibon Altess? Reapplying as an intern?’
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