“So, she ended up cooperating with the Reformists and subjected herself to experints. It was probably just a transaction at first, but she must have gotten deeply involved afterward.”
Oh, dear.
No wonder the Tower Lord looked ten years older whenever she talked about her daughter.
“She finally realized this wasn’t sothing she could cover up on her own. She sent over her records of tracking the Reformists.”
“Ah...”
Kiaros didn’t say anything further. It seed he had no intention of elaborating.
Though honestly, it was already impressive he’d told this much. He’d once said he didn’t even trust .
He was probably saying this much only because my father was currently in the Reformists’ hands.
He had promised to find him, but since he couldn’t keep that promise yet...
“That’s a relief. Thanks to the Tower Lord, the investigation can move forward a lot more now.”
I didn’t press further and smoothly shifted the topic.
“Co to think of it, didn’t Your Highness also say last ti that you’d secured so experintal monsters? How’s that going?”
Kiaros cleared his throat with a short cough. After a mont of hesitation, he spoke.
“I had to stop right there. Interestingly, the mother who underwent the experint showed no changes—but traits manifested in the offspring. When we administered drugs to the mother, we got reactions from the newborn.”
“Oh my.”
It was both creepy and fascinating. I blinked and asked,
“What happened to the monsters?”
“They were killed.”
He said it without a second of hesitation.
“They were beings that defied the laws of the world. Too risky to leave alive.”
“Ah... Right. That makes sense...”
His tone was calm, but his decisiveness made it feel unsettling.
It was a chilling reminder of what it ant to be a Dragonblood.
When I looked away awkwardly, Kiaros glanced at the wine glass in my hand and asked,
“Were you drinking?”
“Ah, no.”
I awkwardly placed the glass down on the balcony railing.
“I didn’t drink it. Victor and I were just playing a drinking ga. It involved using the railing and...”
Crack.
The railing suddenly snapped.
‘What the—now the railing’s broken too?’
With a serious face, I turned to Kiaros and said earnestly,
“Your Highness, you should investigate the checklist inspectors for the Administrative Support Division’s safety inspections. I don’t have the authority to investigate staff from other departnts, but I think the final inspector was Marianne Karosa... That’s strange. She’s usually very ticulous.”
“...You morized that?”
“Yes.”
I had always reviewed every publicly released docunt daily and morized them all.
After the railing broke, even Kiaros seed a little taken aback. I gave a sheepish smile.
“Well then, shall we go back inside?”
“I thought you ca out here to get so air. Is it okay to go back?”
“Well... I think I’ve had enough air. Not like a little breeze is going to fix anything...”
I had been so startled by the two n earlier that I almost forgot the reason I ca out to the balcony in the first place.
My stomach had been off for days now, constantly queasy...
And whenever that nausea ca, a particular image kept popping into my head.
All those digestive pills on my desk, which I eventually hauled to my room by the boxful.
‘Kibon... Could he really be a spy?’
Even though I knew he might not be, the thought wouldn’t leave my head. Him not showing up today also bothered .
The usual Kibon wouldn’t leave hanging with just a note saying “I’m sick.” Was he expecting sothing to explode and deliberately stayed away?
Even the Empress’s favorite line, “That bastard’s got bad vibes. He’s hiding sothing from you.”—I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
‘Seriously... what if Kibon is the spy?’
The mont I thought that, a wave of emotion surged up and choked .
The look in his eyes when we ate together... the broad back that instinctively shielded during Liden’s ambush... the firm voice that told Victor “If it were , I’d never lend sothing like that.”
‘Ah.’
My stomach lurched again, and I saw digestive pills flash through my vision.
That neat handwriting that told , “If it gets worse, go see a doctor.”
‘It’s one of the three: Victor, Anastasia, or Kibon. So why am I only thinking about Kibon?’
I bit down on my lower lip. My eyes had started to tear up, blurring my vision.
“Uh, hey.”
As I dabbed at my eyes with my fingertip, Kiaros visibly panicked.
“Why, why are you crying... Uh, what do I do in this kind of situation...”
Seeing soone normally so perfect get flustered made my tears vanish in an instant.
He always seed like the kind of person who would politely excuse himself if soone cried.
‘What the—why is he kind of cute right now?’
He fumbled around before awkwardly pulling out a handkerchief and offering it to . It was clearly his first ti doing sothing like this.
“Um, are you feeling sick? I can summon the royal physician right {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} now if...”
“Ah... no. I’m okay. It’s just... thinking about how one of those three might be a spy who tampered with the scrolls. It’s overwhelming. I trusted all of them quite a bit...”
If sothing really had gone wrong, people would have died or gotten hurt.
I might’ve been one of the casualties. And even if I had escaped safely, I would’ve been harshly disciplined.
No, more than that—I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself.
“Ah, is this because of Victor Arwin?”
In truth, I’d been crying over Kibon, but it seed Kiaros had guessed sothing else.
“I overheard earlier—‘he’s dazzling,’ ‘I want him,’ all that nonsense. Sounded like a load of crap.”
Uh... was Kiaros always soone who used language like that?
I gave a clumsy laugh and waved my hand.
“Sounds like you didn’t hear what I said. It was a very firm rejection, actually.”
I wasn’t about to spill my personal history to Kiaros. We weren’t close enough for that.
So I ended it cleanly.
“Still, it felt good. It was a relationship I hadn’t touched because it was annoying, and now it’s wrapped up. Feels like I can finally start sothing new.”
I smiled brightly. Kiaros stared at in a daze.
Just then, soft music began to drift through the air—the banquet must’ve officially started.
“Shall we go back in, then? I need to hurry in and collect so praise before the first dance starts...”
“Praise?”
“Yes! I pulled off this event beautifully. I should go soak up the applause while the timing’s perfect. And I need to talk with the other ministers about launching so joint initiatives...”
As I spoke with passion, Kiaros let out a quiet laugh.
“All right, let’s go then.”
Then he looked at warmly and said,
“To show everyone the full radiance of Miss Namia.”
***
When I returned to the banquet hall, just as expected, people began to crowd around .
“Minister, that was incredible. Very impressive. We’ll be sending an official proposal soon from the Departnt of Civil Engineering, so please take a look.”
Even departnts that used to treat us like we didn’t exist were offering polite proposals—and even requesting cooperation.
“Our Foreign Affairs Ministry will be hosting the delegation from the Imote Kingdom. It would be an honor if the Scroll Departnt could assist.”
“Oh, absolutely!”
I burst out with joy at the ntion from the Foreign Affairs Minister.
“My intern—who works as my secretary—is actually from the Imote Kingdom! I’m sure they’ll do a fantastic job!”
I responded with a bright smile... but then suddenly caught myself.
‘Wait, Namia. What are you doing, getting excited the mont soone ntions the Imote Kingdom? What if Kibon really is the spy...’
My mood plumted in an instant. The emotional drop hit hard, especially since I had unconsciously gotten so happy just now.
I didn’t show my gloom. I kept smiling calmly and added,
“I’m quite familiar with the Imote Kingdom’s culture too. Just leave it to . They have a rather unique way of greeting people, and I’ll use that as a concept to craft a fantastic scroll.”
“Cough!”
Suddenly, Kiaros coughed beside .
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