The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 67

The detached palace was a bit far from the main royal palace.

I slowly walked back toward the Scroll Department.

‘Hmm, I still have time before I’m due back.’

The matter had wrapped up much faster than I’d expected.

I thought I’d need to spend more time tidying up the aftermath, but the Emperor had stepped in unexpectedly.

‘Well, that worked out.’

I kicked a pebble on the path with a light thunk. Ridden’s words were so ridiculous, they made me laugh.

Trying to brand me a traitor just because I turned down the Crown Prince’s proposal?

That was just an excuse. What they really couldn’t stand was me being a minister.

‘It all turned out fine. Good job, Namia Roapia.’

Since there was no rush, my steps naturally slowed. I had plenty of time before lunch.

Keyvon was also out on morning leave today.

He had left early yesterday, not feeling well, and extended the leave into today.

‘Knew exactly when to pull back. Truly, good work, me…’

As I trudged along, another pebble caught underfoot.

I gave it another casual kick.

“Your mother cherishes you more than anything…”

The Emperor’s words lingered in my ears.

So did the way the Empress had looked so flustered at the mention of Jaden’s name.

“Of course a mother loves her child! How could you not know that? Huh?”

Was it really that simple? That obvious?

A question I could never answer floated to the surface.

‘But then… why didn’t my mother love me?’

I remembered my time at the academy.

The day our first exam results came out, after I’d entered as the top scorer.

The other kids were on the verge of tears.

“What am I gonna do! My mom’s gonna be furious.”

“My mom grilled meat for me every day during exams. She’s gonna be so disappointed.”

“My mom’s dream is for me to become a royal civil servant…”

I sat alone, quietly holding my disastrous report card.

There was no one in the world who’d be upset that I did poorly.

And that was what hurt the most.

“Namia, did you do well? You were the top scorer, right?”

“Yeah! Your mom must’ve had high hopes.”

The kids crowded around. I shrugged and showed them my report card.

Surprise hit them instantly. Their eyes filled with a mix of sympathy and confusion, and it made my head spin.

That was when I realized—how small and pathetic I must have seemed.

“Oh no… Namia, are you going to be okay?”

“I saw your mom at the entrance ceremony. She looked really strict!”

“She’s gonna scold you so badly. I bet she really expected a lot.”

My face stiffened. I didn’t know what to say and fumbled for words.

“M-maybe Juan did better?”

Their concerned stares never left me.

Finally, I mumbled awkwardly, trying to laugh it off.

“I mean, it’s fine. My mom… well…”

I had never once called the baroness “Mom.”

But in that moment, the word just slipped out.

Juan, who had been playing nearby, overheard and snorted. He lifted his chin and shouted.

“Yeah, our mom’s fine with it. Right, Namia?”

I hung my head. My face burned red.

It was more humiliating than failing the test.

“Our mom likes me way more than you. Way more.”

The kids looked back and forth between me and Juan with confused expressions.

I couldn’t say a word.

“Seriously. She probably doesn’t even care about your grades.”

As I stayed silent, the kids slowly backed away, whispering among themselves.

That night at the baron’s estate, Juan giggled nonstop.

“Hey, since when was my mom your mom?”

The baroness, having heard the story from Juan, chuckled in disbelief.

“Your mother abandoned you. Don’t go assigning me the role.”

Even so, she let me join dinner that night.

“Well, you did worse than Juan, as agreed.”

She was in a great mood—Juan’s grades had pleased her.

“Juan’s scores have improved a lot. He might even make it into the Treasury. What a promising boy.”

“Mom, more meat pie, please. It’s so good.”

“Really? Want some more? Namia, pass me your plate. That was the last slice.”

Juan had done well because I gave him a full list of predicted questions before the exam.

I handed over the meat pie I hadn’t even tasted, sniffling quietly. The stew was too good to stop eating.

But that night…

I got a stomachache from eating too much stew. I vomited and rolled on the bathroom floor, alone.

The thought of waking the baron and baroness to ask for medicine never even crossed my mind.

I cried a little, thinking if my mother had died of illness instead of abandoning me, maybe I wouldn’t feel so pathetic.

It was strange.

So much time had passed, yet the memory of that bone-deep loneliness came flooding back.

‘Seeing someone else’s heartwarming family moment and falling apart like this… pathetic, Namia.’

But that moment had never been mine to begin with.

I was always just an onlooker among other people’s families.

‘Just wait. Once Dad comes back… I’ll finally have a family too.’

Staring at the ground, I trudged forward.

My foot caught that same pebble again.

I gave it another light kick.

It rolled forward… and then—

“Huh?”

Someone’s polished shoe stopped the pebble in its tracks.

A long shadow stretched out over the palace path ahead of me.

“…Huhhh?”

I looked up and widened my eyes at the man in front of me.

“What the—what are you doing here?”

Jet-black hair and a slightly pale face.

As usual, it was the expressionless Keyvon.

“You said you were coming in for the afternoon. Are you feeling better?”

“I’m fine,” Keyvon replied quietly.

A silence passed between us. There wasn’t really anything to say.

Oddly though… I was kind of glad to see him.

Only then did I realize—I didn’t like being alone.

‘Get it together. You can’t be happy to see a subordinate just because you hate being by yourself!’

Honestly, subordinates were easy.

You could speak freely without getting scolded or corrected.

There was no downside for me, though it was probably the opposite for them.

If they spoke freely, they’d get reprimanded. If they corrected their superior, they’d be scolded.

“Well then, see you—”

Just as I was about to say something and move on—

“Minister.”

Keyvon looked down at me and said quietly,

“Buy me a meal.”

Huh?

The unexpected words made me pause.

He was still expressionless, still calm—but something about it felt… off.

I couldn’t explain it. It just didn’t sound like him.

As I stood there bewildered, Keyvon calmly added,

“You said if I wanted to eat with you, I could just ask.”

Ah, right…

‘If you ever don’t want to eat alone, I’ll eat with you. Just feel free to ask me to buy you a meal.’

I really had said that.

“Today… I don’t want to eat alone.”

“O-oh, okay?”

“We’ve got quite a bit of time, including lunch.”

Since he was on half-day leave, he wasn’t required to be at the Scroll Department yet.

Keyvon glanced at his watch.

“Today, I think we can take our time with lunch.”

He was the one being treated, but he sure was confident.

And somehow… that was very Keyvon.

That odd mix of slightly arrogant wording and utterly formal attitude.

A strange combination I had never seen in anyone else.

“Well… if you want. I actually have a bunch of fancy restaurant vouchers.”

Back when I was still a junior, the Crown Prince had given me a ridiculous number of them. I pulled out my wallet and fanned them out for Keyvon to choose from.

“It’s not that I’m stingy—it’s just that I happen to have a lot of these.”

“This place looks good.”

Keyvon considered for a moment, then picked one.

Then, without hesitation, he pointed at another.

“And next time, we’ll go here.”

He was already talking about next time.

His audacity made me chuckle in disbelief.

“People might think you’re the one paying.”