‘But the fact that I’m just a low-ranking clerk who can barely even speak to the Crown Prince is way too big of an obstacle. Unless I become a minister or something…’
Anyway, that’s why I didn’t think my competence would get noticed because of all this.
‘Of course, someone like Luka, who works in a merit-based department, wouldn’t realize that.’
In the original story, Luka is the one who rescues Prince Jayden from the chaos of the palace and escapes with him when war breaks out. He also treats all of Jayden’s knight escorts with his remarkable medical skills.
‘At the very least, it means he’s not tied to the people behind the war. He disappears pretty quickly, but he’s still a decent extra.’
Unlike me, who didn’t even qualify as a decent extra, I blinked slowly and muttered indifferently,
“Who would care about scroll activation anyway? Even the intern who supposedly came because he was interested in the Scroll Department quit after a day. What more do you expect?”
Luka frowned and asked,
“You guys had an intern?”
“Yeah.”
I recalled the intern with the handsome face and glasses and mumbled,
“But he was an entitled jerk who only knew how to demand his rights.”
“What?”
“I asked him to move two boxes fifteen minutes before clock-out. That was literally the first task I gave him, and he refused. Can you believe it? He was all smug when asking for document access, too.”
At my words, Luka matched my tone with a furious expression.
“Definitely a jerk. People like that need to experience the bitter reality of workplace hierarchy.”
“Exactly. If he’d stayed under me, I would’ve rolled him around until he learned how to function as a decent member of society.”
But I had no reason to see him again.
I processed his resignation and revoked his access yesterday morning.
‘And that required rushing a document first thing in the morning, even though I was about to go on a field assignment.’
It was annoying, especially on such a busy day.
But since it was a security matter, it had to be prioritized.
“Ugh… Anyway, I better go wash up.”
I stretched with the best condition I’d felt in ages.
I planned to head straight to work.
****
Kiaros was receiving a briefing from the White Knights’ captain at dawn.
“Your Highness, the Scroll… that department is preparing disciplinary action against Miss Namia, claiming she misreported inventory.”
“What?”
At the word disciplinary, Kiaros frowned.
He had been sitting right next to Namia while undercover as an intern and had overheard her conversation with the team leader.
[Team leader, isn’t six defense scrolls too few?]
He had even gone to the storage room himself. There had indeed only been six defense scrolls.
‘And suddenly, it turned into 172…’
He recalled Namia asking for large quantities of scroll parchment and ink right before the end of the workday.
And how she’d shown up the next morning with the look of someone who’d pulled an all-nighter.
While Kiaros was deep in thought, the captain added carefully,
“For the past few years, we’ve only ever received about five scrolls per assignment, so I suppose the department thought six was more than enough.”
He looked confused, tilting his head.
“To be honest… I thought six would suffice too. I’d never seen a defense scroll actually used before. But after yesterday… I realized six would’ve been nowhere near enough.”
Kiaros didn’t have a good grasp of scrolls either.
‘Not many people know about scrolls in detail. Those who do are usually already in the Magic Tower.’
Magic was the Tower’s domain, and the Tower was extremely closed off.
Its master was an eccentric, irritable, and petty man—it was best not to provoke him.
Kiaros said quietly,
“I suspect Miss Namia Roapia made 166 scrolls overnight.”
“Is that even possible? To make 166 scrolls in one night?”
The captain blinked in disbelief, then added,
“Then again, activating 172 of them was already incredible. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Hm.”
“Are scrolls even supposed to activate that easily? If Miss Namia were that capable, she would’ve joined the Magic Tower long ago…”
He scratched his chin in confusion, and Kiaros stared at the report with a furrowed brow.
“Hm.”
A brief silence followed.
Thinking the scroll topic was over, the captain gently offered a suggestion.
“Still, I believe we ought to reward her. Even if Your Highness would’ve avoided danger regardless, Miss Namia was the only one who fulfilled her duty as an escort.”
He had no idea that Kiaros had been powerless due to his Dark Phase.
“Why not follow precedent and award her a Royal Commendation?”
The proposal was reasonable.
But Kiaros ignored the suggestion and gave a command instead.
“First, inform the Master of the Magic Tower and get his opinion.”
The captain frowned and replied uncertainly,
“The Tower Master, Your Highness? Do we really have to? He probably won’t care…”
“If I can’t assess the situation clearly, I should at least get an expert’s perspective.”
Even if Namia herself didn’t realize it, she had saved his life.
He wanted to meet her in person and thank her properly.
“And when Miss Namia regains consciousness, report to me immediately. I’ll go meet her myself.”
He also couldn’t shake the image of her eyes that had sparkled with fierce determination.
“I assigned her to the palace’s medical ward, so she’ll probably rest there for at least a day.”
He ran a hand through his hair and sat down.
The unexpected attack had left him buried in work.
He’d barely slept, but he finally had a moment of peace.
He planned to finally review the Scroll Department’s documents.
There was clearly some kind of subversive force hiding there.
‘Still so much to do. Hopefully I can get some reading in before Namia wakes up.’
But just as he placed his hand on the document summoning seal under the name Keyvon Artes—
A message appeared across the seal, like it was mocking him:
‘…What?’
<Keyvon Artes — access revoked due to resignation on October 20.>
‘Wait, what?!’
October 20—that was the day of the attack.
He stood there, mouth open, unable to speak.
<Processed by — Namia Roapia>
And since it was the final entry, Namia Roapia’s name was still glowing at the bottom.
Kiaros stared at the name.
‘No way.’
So after making all those scrolls overnight, she still processed his resignation and revoked his access the next morning?
That airheaded girl, the one he thought didn’t even realize she had granted him access in the first place?
He’d even thought of using the access as a reason to dismantle the entire Scroll Department!
‘What… what is this woman?’
He could have accepted that she’d get around to it eventually.
But he’d assumed she’d be away for three days on assignment and would only deal with it later.
Yet she’d done it immediately, the very next morning?
And she’d only been a bottom-rung civil servant in that department for 3 years and 7 months?
He thought she was slow, but she recited legal codes from memory. He thought she was incompetent, but she handled scrolls expertly. He thought she was careless, but she’d been meticulous about security.
Kiaros sat frozen in disbelief.
That’s when—
“Your Highness.”
His aide returned and reported,
“Miss Namia Roapia has regained consciousness.”
“I see. Then I’ll go to the ward—”
“Ah, no, sir.”
Just as Kiaros stood, the aide hurriedly corrected himself.
“She went straight to the Scroll Department as soon as she woke up!”
“…What?”
Kiaros placed a hand over his forehead in fresh disbelief.
She was diligent, on top of everything else?!
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