The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 48

 

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

The Emperor returned to the Imperial Palace. At the same time, Crown Prince Kiaros announced that he would be taking an extended leave.

‘Ah, he’s retreating because of the dark phase.’

I listened to the Imperial announcement and thought to myself.

‘A wise decision.’

Though the Emperor had weakened, he was still more capable than Kiaros at the moment.

‘Even if he only has about a year left to live…’

The Empress had gone around collecting all sorts of strange poisons, but that alone wasn’t going to solve anything.

Thankfully, things had been relatively quiet for now.

Of course, the storyline had deviated a lot from the original, so who knew what might happen. I had to stay alert.

‘First, I need to pull myself together.’

Because now, I was the Minister of the Scroll Department!

It wasn’t just the Imperial announcement that was moving quickly.

‘Dissolution of the Scroll Management Department, establishment of the Scroll Department, and appointment of a new Minister!’

Once I was designated as the new Minister, that news was immediately relayed to all current department heads.

That was because the Minister of Justice had been present at the time. Naturally, the other Ministers were completely up in arms.

Even though it was the weekend, an emergency meeting was immediately called.

Ministers from various departments, including myself, and His Majesty the Emperor were in attendance…

“A twenty-three-year-old is a Minister? Does that make any sense? Without even working up the proper chain of command?”

“Exactly. But that was part of the Tower Master’s negotiation.”

The Emperor diverted all blame to someone who wasn’t even present.

“We had no choice if we wanted to bring this department fully under Imperial authority.”

“Look at us! Every one of us here has over 30 years of civil service! And someone with just four years becomes a Minister? Seriously?”

“As I said, it was the Tower Master who insisted. Nothing we could do.”

Of course, the Ministers didn’t accept it quietly.

So the Emperor shook his head and said,

“When the Tower Master returns, feel free to lodge a complaint with him.”

“But still…!”

No one could say more against the slippery “It was the Tower Master” strategy.

If the Emperor himself had imposed it, someone might’ve dared say, “That’s unfair, even for a demi-human.”

Eventually, the Minister of Administrative Support, clearly flustered, cut in.

“I really didn’t want to bring this up, but…”

She hesitated for quite a while.

Even I felt a rare moment of nervousness and swallowed hard.

‘What is this setup? That intro means she knows it’s petty, but the blow is going to hit hard…’

The Minister of Administrative Support scanned the room and then solemnly declared:

“I’ve heard that Namia Roapia and the Crown Prince have an unusual relationship.”

So the rumor had made it even to the Ministers, huh…

For her to mention such gossip in an official setting… she must really hate the idea of me becoming a Minister.

Clearing her throat, the Minister continued.

“If the appointment was made out of personal feelings—”

The Emperor placed a hand to his forehead with a deeply serious expression.

“Hoo…”

Seeing that grim face, all the Ministers looked toward him with hopeful eyes.

They were getting ready to dig into the matter.

“It pains me to say this…”

The Emperor murmured with a sorrowful expression.

“But Namia flat-out rejected my son.”

Gasps rippled through the room.

“My son proposed, but she turned him down without the slightest hesitation—right in front of us. Said she didn’t see him as a man.”

…That part seemed slightly exaggerated.

Still, the result was about the same, so I just nodded slightly.

“So Kiaros has gone into hiding out of heartbreak. If you don’t see him for a while, that’s why.”

Ah, so now he’s using the dark phase as heartbreak cover…

“It was his first rejection. Of course the emotional damage is great.”

The Ministers were speechless, their expressions frozen in shock.

The Emperor declared solemnly,

“Still, even though she broke my son’s heart, I had to give Namia the Minister position. Because the Tower Master insisted.”

“…”

“Even as a demi-human, I must not abuse my power. Even if my son is suffering from the pain of rejection.”

“…”

“The Imperial family draws a strict line between public and private matters. My son may be emotionally devastated, but…”

“…”

“You all object just because she’s young? I accepted it even while turning my own son into a broken man.”

“…”

With each statement, the Emperor emphasized the Crown Prince’s tragic heartbreak.

After thoroughly selling out his absent son, he gave me a discreet wink.

And I realized something important:

‘I absolutely must attend every one of these meetings.’

It was clear—whoever missed a meeting got thrown under the bus.

In that awkward silence, the meeting finally ended.

Clutching my trembling skirt hem, I thought to myself:

‘I’ve never even been inside a meeting room this grand before…’

Truly, truly!

‘…I love this!’

With a serene expression, I quietly reveled in my joy.

The Emperor concluded by summarizing the situation.

“When everyone returns to work on Monday, we’ll announce that Namia Roapia is the new Minister of the Scroll Department and begin the reorganization. Full authority over the restructuring will go to Minister Namia.”

* * *

Department reorganization.

That was the real issue.

I stopped by the Scroll Management Department—no, now the Scroll Department—office to think.

‘The department was already small to begin with…’

Originally, the Scroll Management Department had 20 people. But after the mass firings, only nine remained—including me.

‘And all the team leads were fired too.’

The remaining nine all had less than ten years of experience.

None had ever been promoted to team leader.

‘Now I’m supposed to rebuild the department with these people…’

Scroll Department. Nine people. A fourth-year employee who used to be the lowest-ranked, now the Minister.

And very likely, at least one of them was a spy.

‘It’s a near-impossible department to run in many ways.’

Of the eight besides me…

Some were capable, some weren’t, and some were just difficult to work with.

Worst of all, all of them had more experience than me.

Since we hadn’t hired anyone in years, even the “newcomers” had years on me.

‘Alright, let’s just merge everyone and split into two teams. Thankfully, picking team leads isn’t too hard.’

Fortunately, two candidates for team leader stood out.

The two with the most seniority also happened to be the most competent among the survivors.

‘And Senior Victor will be back soon, which is a huge relief.’

I smiled faintly as I found “Victor Arwin” on the roster.

A senior from my academy days, Victor had been on a long-term assignment for three and a half years.

Though personal circumstances had brought him here, he was clever and kind—never quite suited for this department.

[‘Namia, hang in there until I get back. Once I become the youngest team leader, I’ll make sure to pull you out from under Osone.’]

That was the last thing he said before he left.

‘Victor, what do I do? You did become team leader, but I became the Minister. And the department’s still a mess…’

Even the previous Minister’s secretary had been fired.

Naturally, even the secretary had been embezzling budget funds.

‘Now I don’t even have a secretary…’

Normally, I’d have to pick one of the six remaining staff members.

But how could I make my seniors serve as my secretary? That was just awkward.

Plus, one of them might be the spy—I couldn’t entrust them with sensitive work.

‘There’s only one way. I’ll just have to do nearly everything myself for now.’

I believed in Kiaros’s competence.

He would surely root out the seeds of war.

So until then, I didn’t mind doing some hard labor.

‘Still… if I just had one sharp assistant…’

I sighed and habitually checked the inbox for any new documents.

And then—

‘Hm?’

To my surprise, a new file had arrived.

‘…Keyvon Artes? Reapplying for internship?’