Inside the department office, there was a separate Minister’s office enclosed by glass panels.
Though the rest of the department could be seen from within, it was now occupied by only two people—Namia and Kiaros.
And Kiaros thought,
‘Is this hell?’
In his entire life, nothing had ever been this difficult.
“Again.”
Namia spoke gently while holding a red pen.
“Here, here, and here. These are wrong. And when indicating the day, you use (Mon), not (Monday). This should be 14:00, not 2 p.m.”
These were documents Kiaros had already reviewed.
The problem was that Namia had ordered him to check even the tiniest deviations from official document formatting.
“…I don’t think the higher-ups would even look at things this minor.”
When Kiaros couldn’t help but speak up, Namia gave a bright smile.
“Keyvon.”
“Yes?”
“Are you His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“…”
“Because the Crown Prince would look at everything.”
No, he wouldn’t. Definitely not!
He absolutely doesn’t look at things this closely!
While Keyvon was internally suffering over this unproductive task—
“And this isn’t a normal situation.”
Namia spoke quietly.
“Even if it looks like a mess, what if this is some sort of code?”
“‘They,’ meaning…?”
“The spies who infiltrated our department. The ones who attacked the Crown Prince and framed Her Majesty through Osone.”
Kiaros furrowed his brow. Namia’s expression darkened.
“They might have embedded codes in the official paperwork. Stuff that’s technically wrong by format, but still passes approval. If it were me, I’d use those to pass secret messages.”
Kiaros’s quill, which had only been lazily scribbling until now, twitched.
He’d only ever reviewed the final versions of documents—he’d never created them himself.
So he’d never thought about something like that.
“That’s why we need to check everything and fix it all. So even if it was a code, it can’t be used anymore.”
“What if it’s not a code and just a mistake?”
“We still fix it.”
“But it’s such a pain in the ass.”
“That’s why I have to do it. I can’t dump this kind of invisible work on other employees.”
“Then what about me?”
“You’re my secretary, so you’re doing it too. Also, mind your tone?”
“…Ma’am?”
Namia didn’t seem like she was connected to the enemy at all.
No spy would go this far.
‘No, she really does seem like a civil servant who’s loyal to the imperial family…’
No one would work this hard on such thankless, invisible labor unless they truly believed in what they were doing.
In the midst of all this, she was also smoothly handling her core duties as Minister.
“Hmm…”
No—she was practically running the whole department herself.
She even drafted the budget proposal for the Finance Ministry at an impressive speed.
When Kiaros glanced at the documents, Namia commented,
“Make sure you’re paying attention to the basic templates and formatting.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ll need to help next time.”
“Even secretaries do this?”
“It’s my work, so you’re assisting.”
“Is it normal for Ministers to do this themselves?”
“Not usually.”
Namia replied calmly.
“But no one in this department knows how to do it.”
“…What?”
“No one here ever taught how to properly draft official documents or anything.”
“Then…”
Kiaros’s eyes narrowed.
Even so, Namia’s documents were flawless.
As someone who’d reviewed countless documents, Kiaros knew only the Minister of Finance could process papers this accurately and efficiently.
“How do you know how to do this?”
To his knowledge, Namia had never transferred departments.
Meaning there’d been no one to teach her.
“You didn’t have any senior to show you, either.”
“…”
“…Ma’am.”
Kiaros stared at her, quickly processing things in his head.
If she didn’t answer, he’d have to investigate later as Kiaros.
‘She’s still too thin. I wonder if she’s eating properly… Maybe I should give her some of those meal vouchers. Since she saved me… maybe we could use one together…’
Just then, the bell rang to signal lunch. The remaining staff flooded out in a wave.
Namia stretched and said,
“You go eat lunch too.”
Kiaros blinked.
“What about you, Minister?”
Namia jumped in surprise.
“Wait, did you just ask how I’m going to eat lunch?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s a no-go. In Imperial, that question can sometimes mean, ‘Would you like to eat together, Minister?’ which is terrifying.”
“Excuse me?”
Kiaros didn’t understand a single word of what she just said.
With genuine confusion, he asked,
“Even if that’s the meaning, why is that a problem?”
“Are you insane? Who eats with their boss voluntarily? You just pretend not to see them and make your escape.”
Kiaros quietly abandoned the idea of asking her to share a meal later.
Namia, watching him fall silent, slowly spoke.
“That is the normal reaction, but… this is your first day. Of course I should look after you.”
“Hm?”
“Let’s go.”
Namia stood with a grin.
Then she raised her chin and declared confidently,
“Let’s go eat something expensive—with your big sister.”
For Kiaros, who had always been the wealthiest and sat at the head of every table, this was a sentence he had never once heard in his life.
But then…
‘…What the hell.’
Thump.
…His heart skipped a beat.
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