The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 25

The guard eventually nodded and took off running.

The sight was a bit funny, so Fron chuckled as she watched his retreating back.

“Heeheehee, look at that guy clutching his sword like a baby! What a spectacle!”

After sending the guard away, Namia once again lowered her head and pressed herself to the floor.

Fron waved a hand as she looked at Namia, still flat on the ground.

“Hey, it’s fine. You can get up now.”

Fron rolled onto her side and added,

“This really hurts less than a mosquito bite, so don’t make a fuss. It’s annoying.”

“But it’s still true that I dared to injure a member of the imperial family.”

“You said it was an accident. It’s fine. Just let it go.”

But Namia didn’t rise. Words continued to spill from her small lips without pause.

“But as I mentioned earlier, under Royal Statute Article 1, Clause 4—”

“Ugh, what’re you talking about? I don’t know anything about that crap. I said drop it.”

“I can’t just drop it. Members of the royal family are far too important to be treated lightly.”

“Hey, do I look like a dragon-blooded or something? I’m just a regular person with a bit of muscle, and this is a huge overreaction—”

As Fron yawned with her mouth wide open, Namia lifted her head.

Their eyes met through the iron bars: Namia lying prone and Fron reclining on her side.

‘What the?’

Fron blinked in surprise at the look in Namia’s eyes.

‘Why are her eyes shining like that?’

Even as a former mercenary, Fron felt herself involuntarily shrink a little.

Her body, shaped by countless bouts and battlefields, reacted first—this girl wasn’t shaken at all. In fact, she was brimming with confidence.

Fron’s expression turned serious.

‘She’s not a fighter, but she definitely…’

Fron had occasionally run into people like this during her mercenary days.

People used to hiding their real selves.

‘Which means they’re so confident in their abilities, they don’t need to flaunt them.’

It was the type she respected most.

Namia, no longer wearing her dazed expression, said again,

“Please, forgive me for injuring a royal, Your Majesty.”

“Hey, are you gonna keep running your mouth and making me respond? That’s—”

“In return,” Namia smiled faintly, “I’ll solve your troublesome problem for you.”

“…Huh?”

Fron blinked blankly. Then she asked in disbelief,

“Do you even know what my trouble is?”

“I can make an educated guess,” Namia said, confident as ever.

“I’ll help ensure you’re cleared at tomorrow’s trial.”

It was an outrageous statement.

“What are you saying? Cleared? How would you know that?”

Fron picked at her ear and snorted.

“And I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely won’t say why I had that poison.”

“Yes, and no matter the reason, you absolutely, absolutely, absolutely don’t need to say anything.”

“Does that even make sense?”

“Yes.”

Namia met Fron’s gaze, soft but firm.

The frightened voice she’d used earlier was clearly all an act.

“I’ll make it make sense.”

In the dim prison cell, their gazes locked with fierce intensity.

****

The next day.

Kiaros pressed his tired eyes with his fingers.

His thoughts were so tangled, it felt like a headache was coming on.

Still, he had to attend the emergency royal trial.

‘Her Majesty and poison, huh…’

According to the Minister of Justice, Fron hadn’t spoken a word since her arrest.

Kiaros had immediately sent a letter to the Emperor in the west the moment Fron was captured.

He had asked him to return to the capital at once.

He knew His Majesty was recovering, but he saw no other choice.

‘I can guess what’s going on, but Her Majesty wouldn’t tell me the truth either. She’d keep quiet to avoid damaging the imperial family.’

Kiaros had already made up his mind. He would stall for time by claiming the evidence was insufficient.

And when the Emperor arrived, he would leave the questioning to him.

‘That’s the best I can do.’

Of course, stalling itself would be tough.

So, although it wasn’t his preferred method, he’d have to rely on sheer authority.

‘There’ll be backlash for royal interference in a formal trial…’

And if his suspicion was correct, the aftermath would be even worse.

‘Even if His Majesty returns, Fron would rather die than reveal why she was seeking that poison.’

Because of Fron, everything was on high alert. He hadn’t even had time to summon Namia Roapia.

It wasn’t urgent, so he planned to speak with her after the trial.

‘Now that I think about it, I received a strange report.’

Kiaros had already issued strict orders: under no circumstance was Fron to be allowed to take her own life.

But then…

‘Apparently, while checking inventory on luminous scrolls, Namia Roapia used an attack scroll on Her Majesty.’

There it was again—Namia Roapia’s name.

Still, it wasn’t anything worth making an issue of.

An emergency medical officer had arrived in a flash to assess the situation. According to the physician, everything was fine and there were no problems.

‘I ordered her to leave work, so why come back crying and then go down to check the prison’s scrolls?’

Technically, it was her job to check those scrolls. Still, it seemed odd.

But Kiaros forced himself to stop thinking about that name.

The trial was about to begin.

‘Anyway, I’ll just try to hold out as long as I can.’

Wearing a stiff expression, he entered the courtroom.

Royal trials were open to any noble who registered in advance.

The hall was packed. Far more crowded than a typical session.

‘…Sigh. More people than I expected.’

His head already ached.

A large audience would do no favors for a queen with no social grace.

‘If Her Majesty starts talking, public opinion will tank further.’

The crowd didn’t decide the outcome, but as the one making the judgment, he couldn’t ignore their influence.

Kiaros prayed desperately that Fron wouldn’t yell something like, ‘If I look suspicious, just kill me, you bastards!’

“His Highness the Crown Prince enters!”

Everyone in the courtroom rose and bowed as Kiaros entered.

Even Fron, seated at the front facing the audience, got up.

‘Ah.’

The moment he saw Fron, Kiaros’s face darkened even further.

He had hoped that after a day in confinement, she might at least elicit some sympathy…

‘She doesn’t look the slightest bit pitiful…’

The formalities complete, everyone sat down again.

Fron also sat down, flopping into her chair in her frilly dress and yawning broadly.

Honestly, the muscular Fron looked absurd in a ribboned dress with lace trim.

But ever since she’d become Empress, she’d forced herself to wear them.

‘She looks perfectly healthy. No signs of remorse. No anxiety whatsoever.’

It was worse than he expected. Even if he tried to guide things toward a lenient sentence, public backlash would be strong.

Kiaros was born to command.

It wasn’t hard for him to control the courtroom, but even he wanted to step down a peg before the law.

And Fron wasn’t exactly known for strategic thinking.

‘I wonder if she even knows proper trial procedure…’

He just hoped she wouldn’t blurt out something completely off-topic and make things worse.

As he took his seat at the front—

‘Hmm?’

In the far back row of the audience, in the furthest corner, a familiar silver-haired figure sat quietly.

That demure woman, without a doubt…

Kiaros furrowed his brow before he even realized it.

‘Namia Roapia?’