The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 44

“Everything was confusing and rushed, but… anyway, thanks to Miss Namia, the problem got resolved.”

As soon as “Namia” was mentioned again, the Emperor and Empress both wore awkward expressions.

Kiaros sighed and tried to steer the conversation elsewhere.

“Ah. Seeing you both face-to-face like this reminded me. I have entered a dark period.”

At those words, the Emperor and Empress looked startled.

Kiaros calmly explained what had happened to him:

How he was, coincidentally, struck with a second dark period.

How, just as that happened, he had been attacked and nearly killed.

And how he had survived—thanks to Namia.

“It was truly astonishing.”

He spoke gravely.

Coming from Kiaros—who rarely showed emotional fluctuations—the phrase “truly astonishing” carried significant weight.

“I was attacked right when my dark period hit… It’s still baffling. They acted like they knew the future.”

The Emperor folded his arms and furrowed his brow.

“A dark period, huh… Then Kiaros, you’ll need to lie low for a while. I’ll resume handling the affairs of the palace.”

“But…”

“It’s fine. I can hold out until your dark period ends. Don’t worry, my son.”

Despite his sickly complexion, the Emperor smiled faintly.

“You’ve done well, Kiaros. It makes no sense for me to sit idle during times like these.”

Kiaros moved his lips slightly, a worried look on his face, but didn’t say anything.

He knew better than anyone how powerless he was at the moment.

“In any case… this is really the beginning.”

The Emperor murmured with finality.

“We’re facing formidable enemies… It’s not just the nobles now, but even infiltrators in the palace. These bold foes have finally made a move, targeting both you and the Empress.”

They had only cut off the tail.

The true mastermind was still unknown.

They didn’t even know what their goal was.

Except for one thing—

“That woman clearly shouted, ‘For the sake of evolution’…”

It had sounded like a slogan.

“A group that’s bizarrely zealous—willing to throw away their lives for some warped and powerful belief.”

“Evolution… Evolution, huh.”

The Emperor furrowed his brow, repeating the word. Kiaros added darkly,

“It reminds me of the Gollin from back then. The mention of ‘evolution’…”

Gollins—low-Klass monsters.

A southern group had experimented on and modified them to elevate their intelligence to human levels.

That group’s leadership had been hunted down and eliminated.

But a few underlings had survived.

“…Yes.”

The Emperor understood immediately and nodded grimly.

“I thought of them, too. We’ll need to investigate further.”

He turned to the Empress and smiled gently.

“Still, thanks to you holding out, Fron, we managed to uncover at least this much. You endured a lot—from the moment you were captured to the trial.”

“What did I even do…”

The Empress scratched her chin sheepishly.

“I just did what Namia told me to. Smart girl, that one. It’s a shame she won’t be our daughter-in-law… Though I understand why she ran from the idea of marrying the Crown Prince. Being Empress is a heavy burden.”

The Empress’s face regained its usual vibrance as she recalled the trial.

“Namia just told me to keep stubbornly denying everything no matter what, so I just squawked a bunch of nonsense—and that’s when His Majesty showed up and everything got sorted!”

Basking in the Emperor’s loving gaze, the Empress swung her fists proudly as she continued.

“I mean, what would a blockhead like me know? But Namia… that girl acted like she knew the future…”

Just then—

“Wait.”

Kiaros interjected with a serious tone.

“Wait a moment, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Yes?”

“What did you just say?”

Startled by his intensity, the Empress bowed her head and exclaimed,

“I apologize, Your Highness the Crown Prince! I didn’t mean to bring up how Miss Namia adamantly refused to marry you again! I overstepped!”

The Emperor, linking arms with her, muttered, “Yes, that was wrong… After all those years of waiting…”

The Empress practically coughed up blood as she cried,

“Please punish me severely for offending a beastkin’s pride!”

“No, that’s not it. Not that…”

“Oh, not that? Ah, then perhaps it was my remark about understanding why she’d reject Your Highness! I failed to consider your feelings, especially after the outcome…”

“No, no, that’s not it either!”

Kiaros waved his hands, flustered.

“You said she acted like she knew the future, didn’t you?”

The Empress, still slightly ducked, cautiously looked up.

“…Yes, I did?”

With an unusually sharp expression, Kiaros added,

“There’s another group that behaved as though they knew the future.”

[They attacked me exactly when I entered my dark period… It’s still baffling. They acted like they knew the future.]

Those who attacked at the exact moment of Kiaros’s second dark period—something even he hadn’t anticipated.

“Isn’t that suspicious?”

Kiaros’s eyes flashed.

“The ones who laid a trap as if they knew the future… and Namia, who protected us as if she also knew the future. Couldn’t there be a connection?”

“…Your Highness, are you saying you suspect Miss Namia?”

The Empress cautiously asked.

“Even after she saved both you and me as a child—and again fifteen years later? Is this because she rejected your marriage proposal—”

“No, I truly don’t care about the rejection. I mean it.”

Kiaros spoke firmly.

“But thinking about it now… It’s strange how she had so many defense scrolls prepared—right on the day I was attacked. Before that, Miss Namia had never acted independently in her department.”

The Emperor, now a little exasperated, interjected.

“Kiaros, even if we go along with your suspicions for now… what can we do about it? That foolish old Tower Lord is already completely smitten with her.”

Though his tone was calming, it carried firmness too.

“You know this—we can’t strip someone of their position or imprison them just because they seem suspicious. Especially not when it makes it look like you’re retaliating over a rejected proposal.”

“I know that.”

Kiaros’s expression was serious—more than ever.

What if Namia was actually the final villain?

The implications were horrifying.

‘She earns the royal family’s trust by saving them multiple times… then stabs them in the back at the most crucial moment?’

Even the Empress had already fallen for her completely!

If that were the case, it meant they had seated the enemy’s top agent in the role of Minister.

“Miss Namia did resolve this situation too well, didn’t she? Almost as if she already knew everything. It could be luck—but the future of the Empire is at stake. We need to be cautious. So—”

With an iron-clad expression—thinking only of the Empire’s future—he spoke with unmatched rationality.

“I will monitor her directly.”

His posture was dignified, his princely arrogance perfectly fitting.

The Emperor, watching his flawless, beautiful son, was struck with awe.

“My beloved son…”

His voice trembled slightly.

“…You’re really pitiful.”