Chapter 9
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Chapter 9
"Miss Namia! Are you listening? Huh? Are you ignoring me right now? Why aren't you answering?"
Whether I answered or remained silent made no difference in this situation. Either way, he would find fault with me.
I simply had to drag out the conversation with vague responses.
"...I couldn't enter the Magic Tower because my abilities were insufficient..."
"If your grades weren't good enough, you shouldn't have stepped forward in the first place!"
I lowered my head and arranged my expression into one of deep remorse.
"Crown Prince Kiaros is a prodigy! There were five members of the White Knight Order there! You didn't need to intervene—he could have easily dodged those arrows!"
No, he couldn't have avoided them.
But it seemed everyone else believed otherwise.
Of course, Crown Prince Kiaros wasn't foolish enough to reveal that he was currently in his second Dark Period.
'He probably won't reveal it in the future either.'
He wasn't the type of crown prince who would expose his own weakness in a situation like this.
Besides, the Dark Periods of most prodigies were classified information.
While I was lost in thought, Oson tilted his chin upward and began to mock me.
"Thanks to your showing off, Miss Namia, everyone else has found out about it, haven't they?"
"Ah, yes..."
"Why do you show no signs of remorse? Are you saying you did the right thing by answering so readily?"
Sigh... See? Whether I answer or stay silent, I get criticized either way.
"If you're so capable, why work as part of a team? Huh? Why do you work in an organization at all?"
To earn money...
Of course, such an answer could never be given in any situation.
"If you're going to act independently without considering your colleagues, you shouldn't have joined an organization in the first place! I'm absolutely exhausted!"
I wish I'd been tired enough to simply not come to work today...
As I maintained my silence, Oson slammed his desk and spoke.
"You're going to clean this up."
Ah. We've smoothly moved to the next phase, as expected.
That statement meant 'Now I shall deliver my conclusion.' It also signified that the end of this uncomfortable ordeal was finally in sight.
Indeed, Oson declared solemnly.
"Write a statement of circumstances."
"A statement of circumstances? What do you mean..."
"There were 172 units in inventory, but we mistakenly assessed that only six remained. We discovered this just before departure and managed to gather everything. You'll receive one minor disciplinary action, and that will be the end of it."
Wow, it went exactly as I predicted.
At that moment, the official standing behind Oson glanced at me and winked slightly.
Then he moved his mouth silently.
The shape of the official's lips, which only I could understand, was...
'Imperial commendation.'
As expected.
Since the situation unfolded exactly as I had anticipated, I felt no tension whatsoever.
The commendation would arrive soon enough, so for now I should simply accept this without objection and move forward.
No matter how incompetent, a minister is still a minister. So he probably came here having heard relevant information.
'Indeed, it seems Crown Prince Kiaros will be presenting me with a commendation. He's truly a man of integrity.'
That much, at least, satisfied me reasonably well.
'And as expected, the minister has no intention of reporting this matter to the Magic Tower.'
Well, that was fine too.
I had never held great expectations for this organization from the start.
Precisely because it was listed under the Magic Tower in the organizational hierarchy, it was paradoxically the only department within the Imperial Palace that could escape the meddling of superiors.
Perhaps for that reason, this department was a place where things simply rolled along day after day, and where everyone's sole concern was their own security.
'I'm no different from those people, really.'
To feel disillusioned by such circumstances, I had already adapted far too well to this place.
'Though I suppose it wasn't always like this when I first started.'
Honestly, at the beginning... I had held considerable hope about working in the Scroll Management Department.
I probably would have chosen the Scroll Management Department even if I'd ranked first on the entrance exam.
'There was a time when I loved magic so dearly and found studying scrolls truly fascinating...'
But after three years and seven months in this hopeless organization,
my ideals had been steadily shattered, and my initial passion had already grown dim.
Even now, everything unfolded exactly as I'd anticipated, so there was nothing particularly disappointing about it.
"Don't like it? You don't like it?! Huh? Why aren't you answering?"
Oson spoke with his eyes wide open in anger.
"If you don't like it, leave the Imperial Palace. Then you can just work alone!"
"I was simply... you told me not to answer a moment ago..."
"This won't do, this won't do! Why do you have such poor intuition? Huh? How are you even surviving in this organization like this?"
I was growing tired of this situation now.
I put on a reflective expression and glanced at the clock.
It was time for the first task to begin in any department.
'The Imperial commendation should be arriving from the Knight Order about now.'
And that was when it happened.
Bang.
The door flew open, and I even heard the doorknob strike the wall.
'As expected! They're here now!'
Quite the forceful way to open a door, I must say.
Probably a messenger from the White Knight Order bringing the commendation.
'Now I can finally see the menu!'
It was just as I turned around in anticipation.
"How amusing."
A chilling voice struck my ears.
Eyes gleaming with an eerie crimson hue. Luxuriant golden hair that seemed to contain sunlight itself. Tall stature and excellent proportions, taut muscles and a perfectly balanced frame.
A man whose every aspect was flawlessly perfect stood there with a crooked smile.
"Truly amusing."
Above all, he possessed a peculiar aura that made people tremble with dread.
The entire department froze—but this time, not from Oson's outburst. A different kind of chill altogether.
As if accustomed to such silence and submission, he spoke with elegant precision.
"Since when could a Team Leader discuss dismissals without Imperial authorization?"
He hadn't even raised his voice. Yet my legs trembled involuntarily. Oson looked ready to collapse backward.
The Minister was the first to snap back to attention, lurching to his feet.
"Y-Your Highness, the Crown Prince!"
Wait, what?
Why was Crown Prince Kiaros here instead of the commendation certificate?
I fell into a panic, breathing heavily.
'This can't be happening! Did he hear everything Oson said earlier?'
The situation was far too unexpected.
I couldn't do anything about my pounding heart as I thought frantically.
'If there's anything he didn't hear, I need to tell him somehow!'
The department's atmosphere had become genuinely suffocating. It felt as though ice water had been poured over us all.
Oson was now trembling so visibly it was almost pitiful to watch.
'U-ugh....'
Crown Prince Kiaros hadn't shouted. He hadn't made any overtly threatening gestures.
Yet all of us were careful not to even breathe audibly.
'The pressure he exudes... it's truly overwhelming....'
I felt as though I might suffocate beneath the weight of his silence.
"So this is how the department operates? You dare discuss disciplining someone based on personal performance?"
Crown Prince Kiaros spoke slowly, his crimson eyes gleaming with lethal clarity.
I wore an expression of pure terror, yet internally I felt a wave of relief wash over me.
'I don't need to tell him. He heard everything.'
His voice that followed carried unmistakable fury.
"How incompetent I must be. If I can't even manage a single Imperial organization, how could I possibly govern the Empire?"
This was his way of saying: 'I will govern the Empire, and I will deal with all of you accordingly.'
Crown Prince Kiaros addressed the Minister with a glacial tone.
"Transfer all document access authority for the Scroll Management Department to me immediately. I will oversee this organization directly from now on."
This genuinely surprised me. He was demanding access authority? So bluntly and directly?
"B-but the Magic Tower's permission is required... Ah, no. Forgive me, Your Highness. I will prepare the documents at once."
The Minister hastily signed the documents transferring access authority. Watching him, I shrugged inwardly.
'The Magic Tower is going to have a fit.'
I shared the Minister's concerns regarding the Magic Tower.
'The Tower Master will surely clash with him over this... Did he really need to make such a direct, overt demand?'
The Magic Tower had no interest in managing us, yet they wanted to maintain their pride against the Imperial Palace.
'If he wanted access authority, couldn't he have just used some underhanded loophole that no one would notice....'
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