The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 20

Kiaros met the Emperor that night.

The Emperor looked somewhat worn, but not weary.

“Kiaros, how are you feeling?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Kiaros replied with a respectful bow.

“The royal physician said my arm should be fully functional again in a few days.”

The Emperor waved a hand with a hearty laugh.

“No, not your arm—I meant you, Kiaros.”

Only then did Kiaros realize that the Emperor was asking about his Dark Period.

Kiaros answered in a deflated voice.

“I’m not well, Your Majesty… and I’m not in a good place emotionally either. This whole incident happened the moment I said aloud that I’d entered my Dark Period…”

“Haha, but you still gained something out of it, didn’t you?”

The Emperor spoke with his usual kindness.

“If you hadn’t been attacked, we might have returned to the capital without ever knowing about that awful group experimenting on monsters.”

“Oh…”

“Imagine—monster experimentation. We’re lucky we were able to stop them.”

The Emperor had sustained an injury to his leg while blowing up the group’s stronghold, but in true Dragonkin fashion, he was just fine.

“The Dark Period… yes, it’s stifling and painful. Mine came when I was twelve. I still remember that sensation, as if all my limbs had been severed. It’s something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.”

He gently patted Kiaros’s hand.

“Even when misfortune strikes, there’s always something to be gained from it. In the long run, some things become blessings in disguise.”

“Ah…”

“When you realize how the world works, you learn humility. That might be a difficult concept for you right now, but…”

The Emperor was the strongest man in the world, yet he was always gentle.

He continued warmly.

“Let’s head back to the capital now. It’s about time we start thinking about your fiancée…”

Kiaros blinked slowly.

The Crown Prince’s betrothal was usually arranged by the Empress. But his birth mother—the late Empress—had died giving birth to him.

The position of Empress had remained vacant for all ten years of Kiaros’s life.

As a loving father, the Emperor seemed to have taken it upon himself to find a suitable match.

“Is there someone you’ve had your eye on? You can be completely honest—anyone is fine.”

Kiaros knew why the Emperor was asking.

The Emperor had been around Kiaros’s age when he became engaged to Kiaros’s mother, a foreign princess. It was said they met for the first time on their wedding day.

“Truly, anyone is fine.”

However, the Emperor had loved someone else before that—a woman he had to give up due to an early political engagement.

“She was a commoner and a mercenary,” the stories said, “so the Imperial Family opposed her fiercely.”

The Emperor had fought to call off the engagement, wishing to marry for love instead.

He had mentioned before, in passing, that he hoped Kiaros could marry for love.

“Ah… Your Majesty, actually…”

Until recently, Kiaros would have replied, ‘There’s no one in particular. Please proceed according to tradition.’

But now he couldn’t say that.

Somehow, he’d ended up bound by an unexpected promise.

As Kiaros hesitated, the Emperor’s eyes twinkled.

“…So there is someone.”

The Emperor’s mouth began to curl into a smile.

“You’ve met someone… I honestly didn’t expect that. I suppose parents don’t know everything about their children.”

The Emperor chuckled gently.

“I thought for sure you’d say, ‘There’s no one in particular, please follow precedent, Your Majesty.’ But here you are, a ten-year-old who’s already interested in girls.”

“Y-Your Majesty! But you said I could speak freely!”

Kiaros blurted out in panic. The Emperor replied warmly.

“Still, I didn’t think I’d actually catch anything! I’m holding it in now, but once I’m alone in my quarters, I’m going to laugh until my stomach bursts.”

Laughter sparkled in the Emperor’s eyes as he looked at Kiaros.

“When I was your age, I didn’t even know what an engagement meant… kids these days really do grow up fast.”

“Y-Your Majesty! Th-th-that’s not it!”

“So, who is it? If you don’t tell me, I’ll be so curious I won’t be able to sleep tonight. And then I’ll get sick tomorrow from the fatigue weighing on this old, ailing body. Please, just tell me who she is?”

The Emperor’s soft and persuasive tone had Kiaros more flustered than ever. Half out of his mind, he murmured,

“S-she’s the girl who saved my life yesterday… That girl, and… I…”

Wait, how was he supposed to say this?

Should he say that the girl said she wanted to marry a rich man and that he might be that man?

While he was panicking, the Emperor gave a knowing smile.

“Ahh, yes… The little brat who thought the world was his, brought to his knees by a bitter taste of life… And then—appearing like fate—his mysterious savior… Good story. Easy to fall for someone like that.”

“Y-Your Majesty! It’s not like I fell in love at first sight—I didn’t even see her hair!”

“Oh, really? So my son doesn’t care about looks. Just like me.”

Kiaros started to protest, then gave up.

He could resolve this later—once he found the girl.

She might even say she didn’t want to marry him. No need to over-explain anything now.

‘If I can just find her… everything will make sense. Just find her.’

So, he sagged his shoulders and said,

“Please, Your Majesty… just postpone my engagement until I find her.”

“Of course. I never meant to pressure you with marriage in the first place.”

The Emperor smiled and patted Kiaros’s shoulder gently.

Kiaros returned the smile.

The strongest and kindest father in the world—who cherished a child born not of love.

Kiaros had something to say to that father, too.

“Then please, Your Majesty… don’t worry, and get remarried.”

“…What?”

“To Dame Fron.”

“Y-you… What are you…”

The knight who had been grievously injured protecting him.

A powerful, hulking woman who could no longer move as she once had.

The common-born, orphaned mercenary knight the Emperor had held in his heart for years.

The Emperor had hidden this from Kiaros—but not even he could silence the rumors in the palace.

Kiaros had long since pieced things together.

“I’m okay with it, Your Majesty. Really.”

The Emperor wore an uncharacteristically flustered expression.

Kiaros decided not to mention how he wasn’t desperate enough to fall in love with a girl he’d barely spoken to and never even seen.

Instead, he said something to ease the Emperor’s heart.

“You’re going to support me with my first love, right? So I want to support yours too.”

Well… he wasn’t quite sure it was first love, but still.

He wanted to give peace to the one who had always done the same for him.

That moment—that—was when Kiaros first experienced what it meant to have a true, personal love of his own.