The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 27

It was that woman again—Namia Roapia.

Just as Kiaros furrowed his brows, Fron suddenly pointed at Osone  and declared,

“I always thought that shifty-eyed bastard was suspicious.”

Everyone tilted their heads in confusion, but Fron spoke without hesitation.

“Think about it. I only ever went out to buy poison during weekday afternoons. So when exactly did he see me?”

Osone  shouted in protest.

“I most certainly saw Her Majesty several times at that location! The shopkeeper’s testimony confirms it—”

“Exactly. Who said I wasn’t seen?”

Fron snorted and lifted her chin.

“But it was a weekday afternoon, right? That’s during work hours. So why the hell were you out there, skipping work?”

“M-My attendance record has nothing to do with this matter…!”

“And why not?”

Kiaros was still dumbfounded when Fron turned to look at Namia off in the distance and began stammering through her words.

“Royal Decree, Article 4—no, Article 3, Clause 1—All royals have the authority to manage and superv… no, supervise palace officials. Royal Decree, Article 5, Clause 11—All royals may conduct audits, or rather, inspections of various public servant activities through a variety of means. Royal Guard Law, Article 33, Clause 2—Royal guards may conduct focused, no, controlled investigations on suspicious individuals with royal permission.”

A hush fell over the courtroom.

Even those seeing Fron for the first time could tell something was off.

The legal language was already dense enough—but she was stammering and tripping over every other word.

‘Huh?’

Kiaros, one of the few who understood what she was actually saying, blinked in disbelief.

‘Wait… she’s right?’

But he was certain—Fron wouldn’t even know such laws existed.

Even the Minister of Justice looked stunned and speechless.

“That bastard kept sneaking out during work hours like a damned rat—!”

Fron shouted confidently again, then immediately resumed her odd, halting tone like a completely different person.

“By the authority royals have to supervise palace officials, I authorized a royal guard to… to conduct an internal au… no, investigation. As a royal guard myself, acting with my own royal authorization, I conducted a focused, no, controlled investigation. I believe—according to the laws I just mentioned—there’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”

Kiaros was truly shaken.

‘What the hell is going on?’

One thing was certain.

Namia Roapia had something to do with this.

Fron couldn’t possibly have done this herself, but that odd civil servant had previously rattled off legal clauses without missing a beat.

The Minister of Justice stammered like an idiot.

“…Excuse me?”

“I’m still a royal guard. I just happened to become Empress, but I’m still listed on the roster… sir.”

Everyone who hadn’t understood what Fron said earlier now wore thoroughly bewildered expressions.

After a long moment, the Minister of Justice muttered,

“Th-That’s… um… I suppose, legally and procedurally, that’s not… impossible…?”

According to Fron, she had collected the illegal poisons as part of a sting operation to monitor Oson’s suspicious behavior.

“That’s ridiculous!”

Osone yelled.

“The Scroll Management Department is co-affiliated with the Mage Tower. Even if Her Majesty has the authority to view all official documents, that doesn’t give her the right to check our department’s attendance records!”

The others might not have known, but Kiaros did.

There was no way Fron had ever reviewed a single document.

She probably didn’t even know she had that kind of authority.

Meanwhile, Osone  as still spitting in rage.

“But why would Her Majesty care about the attendance of someone like me? Why me, specifically?”

Regardless, Fron stayed confident.

“Because.”

Her gaze turned forward again.

Everyone assumed she was simply looking at the crowd.

But Kiaros narrowed his eyes at Namia.

Fron’s tone shifted again—more articulate this time—as she continued.

“All imperial civil servants can view the overnight duty reports submitted at 6 a.m. daily. I noticed that the person receiving overnight pay and the person submitting the report were consistently different. According to financial department records I can access as Empress, the pay went to Osone  Filon, but the reports were always filed by Namia Roapia.”

Overnight duty rotated among officials, with reports filed each morning.

Most said “no incidents.” So nobody paid much attention to them.

And no one would ever bother cross-referencing payroll records with them.

“Who even checks that stuff?!”

“I did. I have the authority. I was bored. I felt like it. It’s my time. My business.”

Fron now sounded like she was outright mocking him.

That’s when Kiaros understood the truth.

Fron hadn’t just been looking at the crowd. She was watching Namia’s mouthing.

‘Wait. Is that even possible? From this distance?’

Could she really read lip movements from this far away?

Even Kiaros, with his sharp eyesight, couldn’t make out a single word from Namia’s lips.

“I tailed the bastard, saw him snooping around shady black markets during work hours, and set up a sting. What’s wrong with that? I followed protocol. Go ahead—drag him out and toss him.”

Fron sounded triumphant.

“Obviously, I never used the poison I collected. Search all you want.”

The courtroom was thrown into chaos.

Kiaros put a hand to his forehead in disbelief.

He could clearly tell what was Fron’s voice—and what was Namia’s script.

‘To piece everything together so seamlessly, it’s not something you can do just by flipping through books.’

The legal clauses Fron—no, Namia—quoted were scattered throughout various law books.

You’d have to know what you were looking for even to find them.

‘They must’ve worked something out during that brief time in the prison yesterday.’

One thing was certain now. Namia Roapia didn’t just memorize legal lines about bossing subordinates around.

She knew every legal clause—and could weave them together with expert precision.

“Uh, let’s…”

Amid the confusion, the Minister of Justice spoke up.

“Let’s take a recess and resume at two o’clock.”

Fron yawned and stood up, announcing she needed to use the bathroom.

And that’s when Kiaros noticed it—

Peeking out from Fron’s pocket was a slip of scroll parchment.

***

‘Got it!’

I grinned and let out a breath of relief.

As someone who worked under Osone  , I knew how terrible his attendance was.

Making it look like the Empress had caught it on her own wasn’t hard at all.

‘Of course people will feel like something’s off, but they can’t say anything if nothing’s technically wrong.’

That meant we could buy time.

Kiaros was probably planning to delay things using royal authority.

‘That would’ve drawn serious backlash though.’

Maybe that was why Fron had considered ending her own life—to avoid burdening Kiaros.

Yesterday in prison, I’d coaxed her by saying, “You won’t cause trouble for Kiaros this way.”

Then I handed her a paper filled with scripted lines using legal jargon.

Fron had stared at the densely packed sheet and muttered in dismay.

[With my pea-brain, there’s no way I’m memorizing all this. Not even if I pull an all-nighter. Half these words are #%& I’ve never heard of.]

[Just memorize as much as you can… And take this too.]

I gave her a scroll.

I’d anticipated this exact situation, so I gave her something special just before the trial.

[It’s a scroll that enhances distant vision. Once you use it, you’ll be able to see my mouth movements. That way, you can follow along.]

No one could recite lines just by reading lips.

But if you’d memorized at least part of it in advance, lip movements were good cues.

[Don’t worry. You won’t get caught. I’m the only person in this world who knows this scroll exists—or how to make it.]

It was a scroll I’d developed alone over time—

For the father who always said he wanted to watch the stars with me.