The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 13

“Juan?”

It was Namia’s voice—tinged with suspicion.

Juan…?

‘Her twin brother mentioned in the report?’

A flurry of footsteps followed, along with some dramatic words about their parents being in trouble, then the sound of them fading away.

Kiaros furrowed his brows, and beside him, his aide tilted his head and casually remarked,

“Her twin brother even came to find her. I’m curious what kind of crisis would make the family of such a sharp young lady go into such a fuss.”

At those words, Kiaros immediately lifted his head.

“Really? Then investigate Baron Roapia’s household further.”

“……Excuse me?”

The aide, who wasn’t the sharpest, blinked blankly. Kiaros spoke sternly.

“If you’re curious, it’ll lower your work efficiency.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m that curious…”

“If it keeps bothering you, you’ll get distracted and fail to carry out my orders properly.”

“I don’t think it’ll weigh on me that much…”

“For the sake of your mental health and well-being, I’ll have to allow this.”

“That seems like… far too much effort for a minor personal curiosity…”

“Investigating a noble family in the capital doesn’t take much effort.”

Kiaros placed a hand on the aide’s shoulder and gave a clear order.

“Not a surface-level report like last time. I want details. Deploy the ‘Crows.’”

The “Crows” were the Crown Prince’s personal intelligence organization.

In other words, he was going to dig up everything about the Roapia barony.

“…Understood, Your Highness.”

The aide teared up at the prince’s deep concern for his well-being.

****

“Dad.”

My very first memory was of whining sleepily while nestled in Dad’s arms.

“All this… is because of me, right?”

My dad, the kindest man in the world, had the same silver hair and blue eyes as me.

He was born the second son of the Roapia barony—a noble house already in decline. Since the title was to pass to his elder brother, Dad might as well have been a commoner.

“I’m really sorry… I’m sorry I was born…”

Originally, Dad was a humble ethics teacher in a small countryside school.

He rode his bicycle to work, loved teaching children, and enjoyed reading books while lying on grassy fields.

He met a woman through a parent’s introduction and married her.

[What the—you’re a noble? What kind of noble has no money?! I thought you were just living modestly by choice!]

But the moment they married, she changed. She fled, shocked by just how little money he had.

And that woman—my mother—had good reason to run. She was drowning in debt.

Loan sharks came after her, but when they couldn’t find her, they came for Dad.

[It’s sad that you were tricked into marriage, sure—but that’s not our problem. If you want out of the debt, get a divorce and you’re free. But that daughter of yours? Hand her over. She’s the collateral. We’ve already got debt papers in her name.]

Dad, clutching me as a newborn, refused to give me up.

[You won’t hand her over? Then you owe the full debt, you get me?]

The type of thugs who say things like that? We knew what they were capable of.

Dad quit his teaching job and took on hard labor—whatever he could find, from construction to mercenary work.

“My sweet girl, don’t ever say that. You’re the most precious treasure in the world to me. I’d do anything for you.”

But no matter how hard he worked, the debt only grew. The interest was too high.

Still, he never gave up on me.

I was passed from place to place during the day, and only saw Dad at night.

When I cried about the cuts and bruises he came home with, he’d pull me close and tell me beautiful stories.

“When all this is over, let’s go stargazing together.”

“We can see stars from here too.”

“No, I mean at a real observatory. It’s far away, but I want to take you there once you’re older.”

I told him everything—every little thing I did each day.

“Really? You can see better with this?”

“…What is this, sweetie?”

“It’s a magic scroll. I read a book in the library and tried making one.”

“You made this… by yourself? A magic scroll? Alone?”

When no one else could take me, Dad left me at the library.

He made me wear a hat that hid all my hair and a mask that covered half my face—afraid someone might recognize me and take me away.

I hated wearing that stuff, but I held back. I never took it off.

That’s when I found a book about scrolls—and it was so fun. I started experimenting.

“…What.”

When I activated one of my crude little scrolls, Dad’s eyes widened.

“It actually works…?”

“Of course it does. Why wouldn’t it?”

I was eight years old then.

Scroll creation typically required academy-level skill, so Dad had every reason to be shocked.

“Namia… this isn’t your first scroll, is it? Have you made more?”

“Yup.”

I beamed proudly.

“I even saved someone with one today.”

“…Saved someone?”

“A boy in the garden behind the library almost got stabbed. I saw it from the window and blocked it with a scroll.”

“…Huh?”

“He was dressed real fancy, but he had an arrogant tone. Didn’t even say thank you.”

Dad frowned at my rambling and asked urgently,

“You didn’t tell him your name, did you? Please tell me you didn’t.”

“Of course not! You told me never to tell strangers my name. I wore my hat and mask the whole time!”

“Good girl. My smart, clever girl.”

He let out a deep sigh of relief. I kept chatting.

“Oh, but the boy said I should visit Count Kalto’s estate.”

“Kalto? He doesn’t have a son… must’ve been a high-ranking servant’s child, then.”

“Do you think they’d give me money? I was thinking about going—but I wanted to ask you first.”

I made a little money-gesture with my fingers. Dad gently shook his head.

“Don’t go. And let’s not go back to that library either. If your identity gets revealed, it’ll be a problem. A few coins won’t change anything.”

“Okay. But, Dad…”

“Yeah?”

“…If we just stay like this, will anything ever change?”

We both kind of knew. This couldn’t go on forever.

The debt would eventually consume us.

“Dad… if I got taken away, I think I’d be okay with it.”

I squirmed in his arms.

“If that meant you’d be free, I think that’d be good too.”

“Namia.”

Dad’s voice turned stern.

“Don’t ever think like that again. Please. That breaks my heart.”

“…Okay. But, actually—I’ve got another plan.”

“Another plan?”

I clenched my little fists and shared the ambitious strategy I’d been cooking up.

“I’ll marry a super-rich man! Since you got into debt because of marriage, maybe I can pay off our debt the same way! I’ll marry someone crazy rich.”

It made perfect sense to me.

“I’m calling it the Cinderella Operation! Cinderella doesn’t suit me, but if it gets rid of the debt, I’ll manage!”

“Don’t say that. You should marry someone you love, Namia.”

“But…”

“Let’s stop talking about debt. That’s not something a kid should worry about.”

But that night, Dad couldn’t sleep.

I woke up at dawn and found him staring at the scrolls I made.

He sighed deeply, with a troubled look I’d never seen before.

“…My daughter’s too smart for her own good… I really shouldn’t raise her like this…”

And then, one day—it happened.

Dad didn’t go to work at dawn.

Instead, he bought me nice clothes and took me to eat delicious food.

I had a bad feeling.

I did my best to smile, because I had a strange hunch that I wouldn’t see him again for a long time.

I was even ready to say “It’s okay” with a smile if he decided to hand me over to the loan sharks.

But the place Dad took me to, holding my hand, was… completely unexpected.