The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 22

Empress of the Empire, Fron Polariwood.

Before she became Empress, she was known as “Dame Fron,” a towering female knight.

The Emperor’s first love, and the biological mother of Prince Jaden.

‘The Empress isn’t a dragonkin… but she’s still imperial family.’

She was a mercenary from the very bottom of society—had no refinement, no grace, and absolutely no reputation to speak of!

She had no political skill, no factions of her own!

She was dismissed and ignored from all sides!

‘Still… she’s an imperial with the power to save a petty criminal with a single word!’

In the original story, she was falsely accused of attempting to assassinate Kiaros.

She later committed suicide, saying she would prove her innocence in death.

‘It was the worst possible choice. She’d rather spend her life than use her brain…’

By now, most people were probably suspecting the Empress.

The motive was clear.

If Kiaros, the child of the previous Empress, were to die, her son Prince Jaden could become crown prince.

‘But the Empress had absolutely nothing to do with the war’s masterminds.’

I had only seen the Empress from a great distance once before.

Even so, thinking about the original story made me pity her.

At this rate, she’d be framed.

‘If I save the Empress, it’ll be completely different from saving the Crown Prince.’

Kiaros had said he would “reward” me.

He never said he’d “grant anything I wished.”

But the Empress? She was impulsive, and didn’t worry about the consequences.

‘She seems like someone who would grant anything I asked!’

Helping an innocent person was satisfying, and having the Empress owe me a favor? Even better.

‘And if I save her… that’ll definitely help His Highness the Crown Prince too. He won’t waste time chasing the wrong people behind the war.’

That might give me another opportunity to meet Kiaros.

I was organizing what to tell him when—

‘Wait… when exactly was the Empress arrested?’

She was definitely caught red-handed without much finesse.

The original story allowed more time.

‘I think the cause of her arrest was…’

The process wasn’t detailed in the original.

All it said was: “She was reported by a Scroll Administration Bureau employee.”

I couldn’t possibly know more than what the source material told me—

‘Wait. Hold on.’

A realization hit me.

‘…Isn’t that my department?’

A wave of panic surged through me.

‘This is seriously suspicious.’

Let’s think about this.

Our department was full of employees who had scored poorly from the start. A pervasive air of defeat clung to the whole place.

Trying hard just got you laughed at. Everyone was apathetic. Including me.

‘There’s no way an active, proactive go-getter who’d report a suspicious royal would exist in our department!’

To outsiders, maybe it looked plausible.

But as someone inside that organization, I knew better.

‘I guarantee it—no such person exists! The ones with any initiative are long gone!’

No one would report anything.

Even if someone acted suspiciously right in front of them, they’d pretend not to notice just to avoid drama.

‘Who was it? Who made that report…?’

But there was a variable.

Kiaros—who should’ve been dead in the original—had flipped the Scroll Bureau upside down today.

‘There’s going to be blowback soon. If our department gets axed entirely… the Empress might not even get arrested.’

I was racing through possibilities in my head as I prepared to leave the support division.

Suddenly, things outside grew noisy.

“Oh my!”

“Good heavens…”

The staff had all crowded by the windows.

A bad feeling hit me.

I pushed my way through and asked quickly, “What’s going on?”

The answer came easily.

“Can you believe it? The Empress is being dragged away. They say she’s been arrested red-handed.”

What. The. Hell.

My jaw dropped and I blinked rapidly.

‘Already?’

The timing of her arrest was way earlier than in the original.

I spun around and started running.

‘Was it another report by a Scroll Bureau employee?’

Out of breath, I reached my destination—none other than the Scroll Administration Bureau.

My own department.

‘Don’t tell me… it really was our department?’

It looked just like the support division. People crowded at the windows, watching the Empress being taken away.

“What in the world…”

“Now that I think about it, I guess she could have seen the Crown Prince as a threat. Her son is Prince Jaden, after all.”

“I mean, even if the Emperor favored her, this is too much…”

Then I noticed—they were crowding around someone in particular.

“You actually saw that?”

“You witnessed her secretly buying poison, right?”

“You’ve got sharp eyes… Well, I suppose the Empress is kind of hard to miss.”

“That’s not even the half of it. He overheard she was going to buy more this afternoon and tipped off the authorities!”

A man who saw the Empress buying poison in disguise at the black market—and gave exact timing for the bust.

‘That man is from our department?’

I drew closer to listen better.

‘Was it the Director? Based on the hierarchy, he did take the most bribes. Yeah, probably him.’

For once, my brain was firing on all cylinders.

The Empress had gone to the black market for poisons more than once.

It wasn’t to hurt Kiaros—of course not—but no one would believe that.

‘Maybe he knew all along but kept quiet… and now, thinking he’ll get fired anyway, just decided to go for broke?’

That would kind of make sense.

But then—he spoke.

“I just filed the report, that’s all… Don’t hype it up, I hate being the center of attention.”

The man standing there, modestly smiling, was unmistakably the witness.

He folded his arms and then spotted me.

“Namia? Thought you were heading straight home. That’s what the Crown Prince’s office said.”

The witness was none other than my direct supervisor—

Inventory Team Leader, Osone  .

‘What the hell.’

I froze.

It was completely unexpected.

‘Osone  , the champion of doing the bare minimum, who hates standing out—reported a royal?’

I’d worked under him ever since I got hired.

I fought to hide my shock, staring dumbly at his smiling face.

Memories of our time working together came flooding back.

[Team Leader, what if we update this report format starting this year?]

[Why bother? If it causes problems, are you gonna take the blame?]

[But there’s really no room for problems…]

[If the Director misunderstands the format, that’s the problem. Just leave it. Stop overreaching.]

He rejected even the most efficient suggestions.

[Team Leader, here’s the report the Director requested.]

[Nice. Oh, why does it say ‘Namia Roapia’ as the author? Change it to my name.]

[…Sorry?]

[I told you to do it, didn’t I? So it’s my work. What are you waiting for? Delete your name.]

He stole any accomplishment that looked remotely good.

Osone  wasn’t just lazy—he dragged everyone else down with him.

[Namia, I’m stepping out. If anyone asks, say I’m in the restroom.]

[Team Leader? There’s a document due this afternoon…]

[You handle it. The Director won’t check it anyway.]

[I don’t even know the contents… If something goes wrong, it’s all on me…]

[Ugh, don’t be so uptight. I’m heading out.]

Anything good? His doing. Anything bad? My fault.

‘What do I do… Seriously, what do I even do.’

I slowly covered my mouth with my hand.

I had to fight to keep it from trembling.

‘If I help the Empress now… Osone   might get obliterated too…’

I bowed my head to hide my expression.

I had to hide the grin tugging at my lips and the laughter that threatened to burst out.

‘Oh my god. I love this way too much!’