I raised an eyebrow and enunciated clearly.
“Oh, and... considering Her Majesty the Empress is already grinding her teeth at the Education Ministry, Minister, you’re hardly in a position to be ordering around, are you?”
“You really...”
The Education Minister was at a loss for words.
After trembling with rage for a long mont, he finally spat out,
“You’ll regret this, Minister of the Scroll Departnt.”
Fuming, he stood up.
I watched him, dazed with realization.
‘Wow, now that I’m a minister, I can even ss with other ministers. Amazing.’
If I were still a bottom-tier civil servant, I never could’ve laid a trap like this.
And I certainly couldn’t have pulled off the act of being a spoiled, arrogant little girl, drunk on royal favor.
‘But this role... it actually suits . It feels so cathartic and satisfying.’
If the chance ca again, I wanted to play it once more.
I stared after the Education Minister as he stord out.
Right on cue, the soundproof scroll expired.
I’d been wondering if I should use another, but the timing was perfect. I felt proud.
[So, Namia—ultimately, who are you trying to catch?]
[There might be a mole inside the Scroll Departnt. Both I and His Highness suspected it might be the case.]
With a cold gaze, I recalled yesterday’s conversation with Kiaros.
[I’ll use the Education Minister to smoke out the infiltrator inside our departnt.]
If he were truly loyal, he’d report this to His Majesty and speak up boldly.
The Emperor didn’t know personally, and he was famous for being fair and impartial.
‘But according to the original novel, this guy’s not the type.’
Even if he’d joined forces with those behind the scenes, he’d have already prepared to withdraw if needed.
‘Go on, Education Minister!’
Keep pretending you're worried about the Empire while reaching for the hand extended by the “Reformist Faction.”
I’ll handle catching the rat inside my departnt!
***
The Education Minister stomped into the hallway, seething.
‘How dare she? How dare she treat like that?! I heard she was perfectly respectful to the Finance Minister—so she’s showing her true colors to ? Arrogant brat. She’s looking down on , isn’t she?’
He clenched his jaw and breathed heavily.
‘If even His Highness the Crown Prince is being led around by that low-born girl, then the Empire really is dood.’
The Emperor had held onto that disgraceful Empress to the bitter end. Kiaros appeared to be the sa.
Falling head over heels for a woman like that...
‘Then even their children have no hope. Look at Prince Jaden—we spent nearly three years grooming him, and in the end, he clings to his mother.’
The Education Minister’s gaze darkened.
‘It’s not personal. I’m doing this for the country... That insolent thing must be removed.’
His mind spun with possibilities.
‘If anything goes wrong, I’ll just bla it all on her. I can fra it as loyalty to the royal family.’
Namia had used a soundproof scroll, without even hiding it.
Proof that she had two faces.
‘As if she’s the only one who knows how to use scrolls.’
A twisted smile crept across the Minister’s lips.
He had a scroll in his pocket as well.
A recording scroll.
Ministers were often issued one, in case key monts needed to be docunted or reviewed.
It could only be used inside ministerial offices and had a very short duration—but...
‘The mont she used the soundproof scroll, I activated mine too.’
Recorded on it was:
‘I’ve got my escape route ready too. Just wait and see, Namia Roafi.’
***
The Empress and Prince Jaden finished their scroll practice and left.
When the two activated the scroll together, it burst into a lovely display of a happy mother and son surrounded by fireworks.
Since the effect vanished instantly without smoke, it was safe for indoor use.
“U-Um, Minister...”
After the two left, Anastasia spoke up with concern.
“T-The banquet hall... i-is a bit different from this office. If we’re g-going to rehearse properly... shouldn’t it be in the b-banquet hall itself?”
Anastasia had run many such event rehearsals back when we were in the Scroll Managent Departnt.
“V-Visual effects are nice, but if we accidentally hit a c-chandelier or lighting fixture, it could be disastrous...”
Even if they vanished instantly, fireworks were still fireworks.
There was always risk involved. I answered her kindly with a smile.
“I asked for permission to use the banquet hall, but they said no because it’s under renovation.”
“Oh...”
“But I got a copy of the floor plan, so I made two versions—one for the office, one for the banquet hall.”
I smiled and held up two baskets.
All the scrolls for this event had been crafted by .
“Scrolls can be hard to tell apart, so don’t ss them up. I color-coded the baskets just in case... And don’t worry, I’ll go over it again before the event.”
It had been a hectic morning. Now it was nearly lunchti.
But just as we had about a minute left before the break, things got noisy outside the departnt.
“Hmm? What’s going on?”
A staff mber peeked through the door.
Outside, a group of civil servants had gathered.
It was obvious they were here for Victor. One by one, they called out to him.
“Victor, hurry up! We made a special order from your favorite place and had it delivered to the palace garden!”
“Co on, co on! It’s small, but it’s your welco-back party!”
Victor scratched the back of his head and glanced at .
“Uh, Minister... um...”
He must’ve rembered saying he’d eat lunch with earlier.
Not that I took it seriously «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» in the first place.
I smiled lightly and waved my hand.
“Go on.”
Victor let out a long sigh, then smiled sheepishly.
“Whew, today’s just not my day. Can’t even have lunch with you, Minister.”
In the end, he decided to go to his friends.
It reminded of our days at the Academy.
Was it after final exams? Luka had taken my test sheet and was analyzing it with irritation.
[Hey, why don’t you just try dating soone already?]
[What? Where did that co from?]
[Things are weird between you and Victor, right? You know how ridiculously high his grades are, yeah? Doesn’t it bother you that you don’t try to keep up?]
[No. And what’s weird about it?]
[It’s super weird! Victor never shows interest in any girls. He always draws the line clearly.]
[Well, that’s true.]
[You’d better get ready to be confessed to.]
I wasn’t an idiot. I knew I was special to Victor.
He always hovered around and showed interest.
In casual conversation, he’d drop lines like “If I confessed to you...” or “If we started dating...”
He had plenty of friends, but he’d never said anything like that to other girls.
[What are you going to do? Accept him or shut him down? Huh?]
[Luka... honestly, I don’t have to think about it.]
I had blinked slowly before replying.
[When I’m with Victor, I don’t even have ti to choose either way...]
You need room to even respond—to accept or to draw a line.
Just pondering it felt like a waste of ti.
And it was still the sa now.
Victor, pretending to be upset, even held up the broken pen.
“Today’s been rough... even lost sothing important to ...”
That’s when—
Kibon, who had been watching silently, suddenly said,
“If it was truly important to you, you shouldn’t have lent it to . I didn’t ask for it.”
“What? I offered it out of goodwill...”
“If it were ,”
Kibon said with a cold stare,
“I would never entrust sothing I treasure to soone else.”
“I wasn’t giving it to you...”
“If it were .”
Anastasia muttered under her breath, “Whoa, the tension’s insane,” and raised her hand to cover her mouth.
Her eyes sparkled with interest as she looked back and forth between Kibon and Victor.
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