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Chapter 75
"Good grief, honestly."
The Minister of Education had just returned from being summoned by the Knight Order.
Riedan had been arrested at the scene this morning.
[We can simply charge him with attempted regicide for the fire and mismanagement of the Scroll Department. We just need to request cooperation from Young Prince Jayden.]
He'd been so confident he could bring down Namia Loapi.
Instead, he'd brought himself down.
Naturally, his superior, the Minister of Education, had been summoned. They wanted to know if he'd been ‌‌‌‌‌aware of this matter.
But without evidence, he'd managed to slip away without serious consequences.
'I didn't leave any traces anyway. Riedan should know better than to try a drowning man's gambit.'
Released without substantial charges, his mood remained foul enough that he'd left ‌work early.
Now he sat in a quiet bar that operated from midday, chain-smoking.
"I'm just... speechless. Good grief, honestly."
Apparently, the Empress and Young Prince had embraced and wept for a long time.
'Children are hopeless. No matter how talented, at eight years old they can't break free from their mother's skirts.'
If this had been revealed later, the rift would have deepened, and they couldn't have reconciled so quickly.
But because the Empress had showered them with love from their earliest years, the two had grown close again.
'Young Prince Jayden is finished. He'll grow up just like that uncultured woman.'
The thought made his chest tighten.
He despised people of inferior rank occupying positions above their station.
'The department atmosphere is gloomy, but at least nothing's happened to ‌‌‌me, ‌‌so it's fine.'
But now, what troubled him most was the absurd document Namia Loapi had sent.
'What? She's asking how much of the Scroll Department's shares are in educational materials? Asking me to investigate? Is she insane?'
Namia Loapi had made an excessive and ridiculous demand of the Ministry of Education.
As if saying, 'You must have committed some crime. Surely you won't refuse?'
'Complying ‌‌‌irritates me, but refusing feels awkwardly ‌‌timed.'
As he lit a fresh cigarette—
A waiter pretended to clear his ashtray ‌‌‌‌while dropping a small note. ‌‌
'What's this?'
The Minister of Education quickly unfolded the ‌‌‌‌note.
I was disappointed by your lack of response to my previous contact.
However, I believe you will agree with our intentions. ‌‌‌
It was The Group.
The Group had contacted him again.
Over the years, too many people have acquired titles.
Without exception, ‌they overstep without knowing their place.
There is only one ‌‌‌‌solution.
We must distinguish between the superior and the inferior.
The Minister of Education held his breath.
Yes. There were far too many people with titles.
So Namia Loapi is the daughter of a baron's house.... ‌‌‌
I trust you will join our cause. We await your ‌‌‌response.
The Minister of Education swallowed hard.
His eyes drifted toward the postscript.
P.S. Currently, ‌‌‌we regard Minister of Scrolls Namia Loapi as our primary target for elimination.
Of course.
I understand there were many of your people in the Scroll Management Department, so how galling it must ‌‌be that Namia suddenly claimed the Minister's seat.
Can ‌‌‌‌you assist ‌‌‌‌us, Minister?
The Minister of Education stared at the final sentence for a ‌‌long moment.
* * *
"Come out already! I'm dying of curiosity!"
The Empress's urging continued.
Just from her voice, I could picture her bouncing on her feet in anticipation.
Madam smiled with confidence and led me out ‌‌from behind the curtain.
"Hehehehe, do try not to be too shocked."
With an artificial laugh, Madam guided me forward.
I walked out with a bashful, embarrassed smile.
"She's surely going to be incredibly beautiful...." ‌
The Empress, who had been giggling in anticipation, trailed ‌‌off mid-sentence.
Young Prince Jayden also dropped the ‌‌‌candy he'd been eating with a soft clink.
And....
'What ‌‌is this.'
Kibon's expression was peculiar.
He wore a look I had never ‍‌seen before.
Despite facing me every day, he gazed at me as though seeing me for the first time....
'What is it. Just say something.'
Kibon's tightly sealed lips did not part in the slightest.
Yet his eyes traced me from the crown of my head to the tips of my toes, as if ‌‌‌savoring every detail.
I flinched at the blatant, unguarded intensity of his gaze.
'Why does my secretary look like that?' ‌‍‌
He could at least play the part of a subordinate and murmur something like "truly beautiful" to lighten the mood....
Though such a thing was impossible for Kibon. ‌
In the brief silence, our eyes kept meeting.
That was when it happened.
"...I have a question for you. A very ‌‌important matter."
Young Prince Jayden spoke without even bothering to pick up his fallen candy.
"Namia, who's going to escort you?"
Suddenly, ‌‌silence fell over the Empress's Chamber.
Even the Dress Shop attendants who had been adjusting my collar broke into knowing smiles, their expressions brimming with anticipation.
"Ah, an escort...."
I blinked slowly and murmured to myself.
An escort... Well, it's not as though I hadn't considered it before.
"So, what I mean is..."
Jayden sat up straight, cleared his throat, and spoke with crystalline clarity.
"You know the Saint Kairo Banquet only admits a select few, right? Of course, you can invite someone under the guise of an escort, but the atmosphere usually ‌‌‌discourages it."
I knew that much.
I'd visited the Saint Kairo Banquet hall several times to inspect the decorative scrolls.
"But you don't have any close connections with high-ranking noble heirs, do you? Right? So you haven't decided on an escort partner yet, correct?"
"Ah, yes. I haven't decided yet."
At my ‌‌response, Jayden's lips began to curl upward. ‌‌
I could see exactly what he was thinking. The Empress felt the same way, breathing heavily as she urged her son on with "That's it, well done! Brilliant!"
I ‌‌‌laughed awkwardly ‌and spoke.
"The banquet is only ‌‌‌‌days away, and I'm hesitant to ask someone to be my partner..."
"Why would you ask!"
Jayden clenched his fists ‌‌and exclaimed. ‌‌‌
"You ‌‌‌should be receiving requests!"
"Well... in that case, I ‌‌haven't received any requests yet, Your Highness."
At that, Jayden sighed with the weight of a ‌‌‌thousand years upon his shoulders.
He bit his lower lip and muttered, "Brother, what are you doing..."
I raised my eyebrows and continued.
"Truth be told, I don't even have time ‌‌‌‌to worry about who my partner should ‌‌‌‌be."
"Fine then. How about this? I'll decide for you."
Jayden smirked as he spoke.
"From ‌‌‌now on, you go with whoever asks to be your partner first, no exceptions." ‌‌
"What?"
"You said thinking ‌‌about it was bothersome."
Then he quickly signaled the Attendant with ‌‌‌his eyes.
He hastily scribbled a note ‌‌and thrust it into the Attendant's pocket, saying "Give this to my brother, quickly!" ‌‌‌
Beside him, the Empress whispered, "That's it, well done! Our genius son! A true intelligent Cupid!"
"What...?"
With him going this far, I couldn't very well ‌‌‌‌refuse, so I was about to nod my head.
"Good! Do ‌‌‌it that way! You're my witness, aren't you? But looking at you, I really think..."
The Empress turned and said something to Kibon. And before she could even finish her words...
CRASH!
Suddenly, an explosive sound erupted.
"Ahhhhh!"
"Mother!"
The Dress Shop staff around me screamed and collapsed.
I blinked blankly.
Somehow, the Empress was now wielding a war hammer, smacking ‌‌‌her lips with satisfaction.
The source of the explosive sound was a mace that the Empress had suddenly swung.
"Tch, this bastard...."
The floor where Kibon had been standing was devastatingly cratered.
'No, when exactly did she grab that ‌‌mace from the wall and strike it down?'
The speed was utterly impossible.
Yet Kibon himself remained completely expressionless, merely stepping slightly to the side.
"You saw it, didn't you, Namia Loapi? You confirmed it with your own two eyes?"
The Empress spoke with raised eyebrows.
"This cunning fox is far from ordinary. A nosebleed from a few nights of overtime? Ha, he's just making excuses because he doesn't want to work."
Kibon didn't appear particularly surprised either.
He simply brushed away the debris clinging to his sleeves with soft patting sounds.
"Heh, look at this man's temperament. When a normally taciturn fellow has such a foul disposition, that's truly beyond redemption."
The Empress clicked her tongue disapprovingly.
"I had a feeling from the start. Don't keep this bastard by your side, Namia Loapi."
"I'm sorry? What do you...."
Even if you dislike gossip, how can you criticize ‌‌‌‌someone like this right in front of them....
I stood there bewildered, at a loss for words.
"I absolutely despise liars."
The Empress continued, her eyes gleaming.
"This wretch ‌is deceiving you. I'm certain of it."

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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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