The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 108

Just as Anastasia instinctively rolled her body to the ground—

“Gugh!”

—a man in black leapt down and struck Victor to the ground.

Anastasia’s legs gave out beneath her, and she couldn’t even think to stand up. The man in black who had subdued Victor looked over at her and said,

“You’ve got great reflexes. Not that it mattered—I was planning to save you anyway.”

There was a dagger in Victor’s hand—where had that come from?

Just where had he been aiming with it?

A shiver ran down Anastasia’s back.

She had never thought highly of him as a person, but as a colleague, she had trusted him.

So when he’d said Namia had asked him to deliver the Dragon’s blood, she hadn’t doubted it for a second.

“Fairly clever.”

Kiaros’s low voice came from behind.

“He had someone else do it, just in case. Must’ve been worried there’d be witnesses in the building.”

Kiaros gently lowered Namia, who he had still been holding in his arms. Namia staggered as she stood beside him.

The look of shock on her face was no different.

I stared blankly down at Victor.

Everything was crystal clear. Even down to the part where he tried to kill Anastasia at the end.

We had literally caught him in the act.

Kiaros clicked his tongue in disbelief.

“The Treasury Minister’s going to throw himself on the floor in despair when he hears this.”

A faint note of contempt tinged his voice.

“The heir to the Arwin Marquisate—what could he possibly be lacking…?”

I didn’t get it either.

Why Victor?

Wasn’t the Reformist Faction known for preying on the emotionally deprived, those lacking something vital? How could they possibly recruit someone who already had everything?

In fact, Victor hadn’t even been mentioned in the original story. And the Arwin family hadn’t benefited in any significant way from the war.

That’s when it happened.

“…It’s because of you.”

Victor looked past Kiaros and glared at me as he spat out the words.

“Namia Roapia. It’s all because of you.”

…Me?

“I—do you have any idea what I did to leave the Reformists?”

His eyes glistened with a manic sheen.

“They only allowed me to leave after I’d become so deeply tied up that I couldn’t possibly report them to the imperial family. That’s why I spent years overseas.”

My jaw dropped as I realized the truth.

So that long-term overseas assignment…

Victor had been the heir to the Arwin family. He could’ve refused to go. If he’d wanted, he could’ve come back early, too.

Our department’s overseas assignments weren’t even that important. They never have been—it’s just typical pointless bureaucracy.

But it turns out the Reformists were behind it. And now I understood why he’d wanted to leave them.

Because he’d just become the Arwin family’s adopted son!

Victor was talented, but his background was weak. That must’ve been what he considered his fatal flaw.

And once he realized he had a talent for winning people over, it must have mattered even more.

His natural charisma could have carried him far.

So that’s why he tried to leave. That’s why he never appeared in the original story!

Then… why did he return to the Reformists now?

“Even when I was student council president, you never clung to me. You were clearly living a pitiful life, and I was your only lifeline.”

Victor glared at me.

“But now you’re a minister. There’s even less reason for you to need me.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded. His logic was so absurd, it didn’t even make sense.

“So… you rejoined the Reformists because of that?”

I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t accept it, no matter how I tried.

“So you planned to bring me down at the Saint Cairo Banquet… and to kill and injure all those people?”

Victor immediately shook his head.

“I never planned to kill you. I was right beside you, remember? I was going to pull you out the moment the explosion started.”

He had been next to me at the time.

I blinked in disbelief.

If that accident had happened, I would’ve had to resign—not just from my position as Minister, but from public service entirely. Even before an investigation, I would’ve stepped down myself.

No, I would’ve been ruined. People had died, people were injured—because of me. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself. I might’ve even taken my own life from the guilt.

Victor must have known that better than anyone.

And that made it all the more horrifying.

“You wanted to push me into the mud… and then show up as the shining savior again?”

My body trembled as I asked.

“Because I wouldn’t cling to you otherwise, you had to widen the gap between us?”

The idea that he’d try to hurt people for that reason sent a chill through me.

I never imagined Victor was capable of something so cruel.

I thought—no matter how flawed, no matter how selfish—at the very least, he was a kind person.

“He smoked too.”

Kiaros, catching on to my shock, added with a mocking tone.

“I’m sure there’s plenty the Minister doesn’t know about her own staff, right? He threatened Keyvon like some two-bit thug…”

I hadn’t even known Victor was a smoker. I’d never once imagined that kind face could intimidate someone.

Anastasia mumbled quietly,

“M-My god. Did Keyvon tell His Highness that too? S-Sort of makes him look petty…”

I shook my head, taking Keyvon’s side.

“No, not at all. It doesn’t make him look bad. He didn’t even tell me directly. In fact, I admire him for keeping it to himself.”

Hearing our exchange, Kiaros made a very awkward expression and cleared his throat.

That’s when—

“Why wasn’t I enough for you, Namia Roapia?”

Victor glared at me, his face twisted in desperation and fury.

“If I’d confessed, you would’ve accepted—but that’s all it ever was with you.”

He sounded frantic, like a man who knew this might be the last time he’d ever see me.

“So what was it? You needed a Crown Prince just to feel something?”

“…What? No. Absolutely, absolutely not.”

At my firm response, Kiaros—standing next to me—flinched. But Victor didn’t care.

“Then what? Are you seriously into that Keyvon guy? Why?!”

At that moment, Kiaros staggered violently.

And then—

“Y-You’re asking that now?”

Anastasia, now standing with the help of a Raven, stepped in.

“I-I can answer that! I pretended I didn’t know earlier, but…”

Apparently, she couldn’t help herself anymore. This was too far in her field of interest.

“Key-Keyvon doesn’t hide who he is like you do!”

Anastasia’s voice rose as she caught her breath.

“He doesn’t lie to the people he cares about! And that’s the worst thing someone can do!”

I noticed Kiaros’s hands trembling beside me.

“Key-Keyvon is honest and sincere! When I asked him—right in front of everyone—if he liked someone, he couldn’t even lie!”

Still clutching the Raven’s hand, Anastasia cried out dramatically.

“He—He even smoked? After going on and on about how he doesn’t understand people who do? Not a single person in our department knew! You lied to everyone!”

The Raven supporting her nodded vigorously.

“Absolutely chilling.”

“Key-Keyvon never pretended to be anything he wasn’t. Remember that smug tone, that dead-eyed stare that said he didn’t care if you liked him or not…”

“Oh, what a thoroughly consistent young man.”

“Key-Keyvon never faked anything in front of the Minister! You’re nothing like him—completely different in every way—”

The one who finally stopped the growing fervor between Anastasia and the Raven was, unexpectedly, Kiaros himself.

“That’s enough…”

He spoke in a low, ragged voice, his breath uneven.

“Please… stop.”