Chapter 84
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Chapter 84
The Scroll Department Office without Victor and Kibon.
Luca Class burst through the door in a frenzy.
"Minister Namia Loapi! Is it true—did you really send that rude cooperation request to the Ministry of Education?"
Apparently, word of my discourteous official letter to the Ministry of Education had spread like wildfire throughout the entire department.
"Yeah, it's true."
I answered calmly, and Luca Class lost his composure, shrieking.
"Are you insane? You absolute troublemaker!"
Then Anastasia, who had been eating a sandwich while reading《SSS-Rank Jealousy Is Far Too Strong》, lifted her head and cried out.
"W-wait, Minister, ah, you're not insane, you absolute troublemaker!"
Luca Class flinched and took a step back, then paused to catch his breath.
He shook his head vigorously and poured out his words.
"I mean... the Ministry of Education is already a popular department with an arrogant organization, so how could you just treat them like servants at the Saint Kairo Banquet? Are you only going to be minister for a day or two? Are you planning to completely antagonize the Ministry of Education from now on?"
I could tell he was speaking from genuine concern. He trembled as he asked with sincere worry.
"We haven't even had a proper friendly competition yet—are you really planning to step down from your ministerial position like this?"
When exactly would we ever have a proper friendly competition anyway...?
Luca Class breathed heavily and examined my face from every angle before adding again.
"You already went through with it and now you're thinking it wasn't right, aren't you? That's why your complexion doesn't look good, right? Your expression clearly shows something's bothering you."
"No."
I slowly shook my head and spoke.
"I'm just worried because Victor and Kibon both went out. It has nothing to do with the Ministry of Education."
"Huh? Why did they both go out? Have they already gotten close?"
"No. Absolutely not."
"Wow. So the Team Leader who gets along with everyone lost to the Intern who doesn't get along with anyone. Did they go out for something bad then?"
Luca Class tilted his head in confusion, then suddenly seemed to realize something and let out a snort of laughter before raising his tone.
"Still, Minister, don't worry. That Intern doesn't seem like the type to get discouraged no matter what the Team Leader says. Rather, he looks like he'd strike back with insubordination and throw a punch."
"That's exactly what I'm worried about. Depending on the situation, I think he might throw two."
Kibon was a temporary worker—what if he got reported and fired on the spot...? All I could do was trust Victor's pacifism.
Then Anastasia's eyes widened as she interjected.
"Oh, oh! Is our Minister finally opening her eyes to men! Getting n-nervous about love triangles like this!"
Her face showed more enthusiasm than ever before. Luca Class shrugged his shoulders.
"What good is opening her eyes to men? She probably just barely opened them out of annoyance anyway."
Luca Class crossed his arms and continued with a face showing no great expectations.
"Even back in school, she was managed like a fishing pond, but she never even showed enthusiasm to figure out whether this was a fishing pond or the sea."
"R-right... if it's our Minister... she'd probably feed the fish thinking they were in a pond, then one day suddenly walk up onto land, start a farm, and drive the fishermen crazy..."
Luca Class nodded vigorously at Anastasia's words. By now, he seemed to have forgotten why he came here.
I chuckled and tapped Luca Class's arm.
"Anyway, good timing. Let's go grab lunch. I actually had a personal favor to ask you."
"Since you're not my direct superior, I'll listen first..."
"As my fair and square rival."
"What are you doing? Let's go eat first."
Luca Class's green eyes gleamed as he nodded with determination.
* * *
Victor Awin stared intently at Crown Prince Kiaros and spoke.
"I'm telling you this in case you don't understand, but the atmosphere at the banquet will be completely different from the office."
He leaned his body diagonally against the exterior wall of the building beside him and brought the cigar to his lips once more.
"Saint Kairo Banquet is a place where only high-ranking officials or nobility can attend, and you—not understanding your place—have caused trouble for Namia Loapi. Do you understand?"
Crown Prince Kiaros said nothing in response.
"If you don't want to cause more trouble, don't forget that you need to act according to your rank there."
Honestly, I was so exasperated that I couldn't even muster anger.
"A foreign commoner like you should do exactly as I say—I, the heir to House of Marquis Awin. To summarize."
In the quiet silence, only Victor's voice resonated low.
His tone carried an unmistakable warning, saturated with hostility.
"There, if I tell you to step aside from Namia's side, you step aside. If I tell you to disappear, you disappear. Understand? Act like the inferior you are."
Toward the silent Crown Prince Kiaros, he slowly drew the cigar from his lips and exhaled one final plume of smoke.
Then he smiled thinly.
"Well, I suppose I've been talking quite a bit before lunch hour."
With merely a squint of his eyes as he smiled, the gentle atmosphere of Victor Awin from the office settled around him.
"You wouldn't know, but throughout her school years, Namia Loapi never wanted for anything."
He added in a kind and gentle tone.
"And yet, I was always her first priority. I hope you don't harbor any foolish hopes without understanding that."
Crown Prince Kiaros stared directly at Victor.
Until then, I had found it so absurd that it was almost amusing, but suddenly something suffocating rose up from within.
Victor smiled broadly and raised his eyebrows.
"In any case, I hope you understood well, our intern friend."
Crown Prince Kiaros, who had remained silent all this while, finally opened his mouth.
"I understood well."
"As expected of our intern friend, quite clever...."
It was just as Victor was smiling with satisfaction.
Crown Prince Kiaros extended his long arm and took the cigar Victor was holding.
"You, what——."
Before Victor could even respond, Crown Prince Kiaros brought the cigar to Victor's cheek with a slow, leisurely motion.
"You, you, you, what is this, right now!"
Or rather, to be precise... he narrowly missed his cheek and extinguished the cigar against the wall Victor had been leaning against.
Victor's face, which had been smiling just moments before, turned deathly pale in an instant.
If it had truly touched him, even just barely, it would have been a burn.
"Practice."
Crown Prince Kiaros spoke as if it were nothing.
The gesture of pressing the cigar firmly against the wall to extinguish it was slow and leisurely, making it all the more chilling. Staring at Victor's shocked face, he let out a quiet laugh.
"An inferior has dutifully extinguished your cigar for you—is there a problem with that?"
Victor's face laid bare an expression that screamed, "Is this man insane?"
"W-what in the..."
"How fortunate that you understand the banquet's rules so well."
Crown Prince Kiaros flicked the extinguished cigar onto Victor's shoe with a soft tap, then continued speaking without the slightest flicker of emotion across his face.
"I shall be eagerly awaiting to see you conduct yourself according to your rank, Team Leader."
The gazes of the two men collided. Crown Prince Kiaros lifted the corner of his mouth slightly as he spoke.
"Thanks to you, Team Leader, I find myself looking forward to the banquet all the more."
Crown Prince Kiaros turned away with an expression suggesting he found his opponent unworthy of further engagement. Behind him came the sound of grinding teeth.
'...This...'
Without so much as a glance backward, Crown Prince Kiaros found himself thinking unbidden.
'It's more refreshing than I expected.'
As someone bound by the Crown Prince's station to weigh every action carefully, this felt extraordinarily liberating.
Victor's expression, which had turned ashen in that moment, was quite the sight to behold. Yet that exhilaration proved far more fleeting than anticipated. The memory of Victor's confident words surfaced in his mind.
[She's always been my first priority.]
There had to be a reason behind such confidence.
In the hours of Namia's life that he knew nothing of, there was no way to fathom what shadow Victor Awin cast over her.
'What is this? Why...'
Crown Prince Kiaros irritably ran a hand through his hair. An unpleasant sensation swept across his entire body—something he couldn't even begin to address.
'Why does it feel like this... suffocating and painful?'
The phrase "first priority" continued to circle through his mind, leaving him dizzy.
It was still lunch hour. There was time before he needed to return to the Scroll Department. He ultimately made his way to the Crown Prince's Office, intending to find time to meet with the Royal Physician.
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