The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 70

At those words, Keyvon’s eyes widened slightly. Anastasia, still huffing, continued.

“I-it’s not something you can name easily, but… when you’re always curious, when you feel unsettled if they’re not in sight, when you don’t quite know what the emotion is, but you j-just want to keep seeing them—that’s why you don’t mind coming to work! It’s hard to give that feeling a name!”

Keyvon had been wearing a skeptical expression the entire time, but at the phrase “hard to give a name to,” he flinched slightly. Then, with a dazed look, he murmured,

“No way…”

His voice trailed off like a groan, and he muttered again in disbelief,

“…Ha, no way… No way I…”

At the same time, Anastasia’s eyes grew wide. I also sighed internally.

Dear god.

“No way I…”?

Without a doubt, that was the worst possible reaction he could have had at that moment. To make matters worse, Keyvon now wore a face of sudden realization.

He murmured again, as if in a daze.

“Ah…”

Ahhhh?

The guy who was absolutely supposed to jump up and deny it was now saying “No way I…” followed by a dazed “ahhh”?

I, too, stared at Keyvon in disbelief.

“D-did you just say ‘ah’ right now?”

I rubbed my forehead in disbelief.

‘Save that kind of reaction for an off-the-record drinking party!’

Not that it would’ve kept rumors from spreading.

Anastasia, panting from excitement, said in a clearly forced voice,

“A-anyway, if you’re really s-sick, I-I’ll make you coffee or something. Just say the word.”

Still catching her breath, she added for the dazed Keyvon—her eyes gleaming like she’d found the perfect opportunity.

“It’s a service I’d never normally offer to a lowly intern like you. Got it?”

She’d said things like she didn’t deserve to be team leader, or that she wasn’t needed—but if she were demoted, she’d probably cry for ten nights straight.

And then—

“YOU LITTLE SHIT!”

The office door slammed open.

Before I could even react, a harsh voice thundered through the room.

“Namia Roapia! It’s you, isn’t it? You tampered with the soundproof scrolls, didn’t you, you little—!”

At first, I thought a blood-soaked zombie was attacking.

A middle-aged man, his face smeared with blood to the point of being unrecognizable, was charging at me with wild eyes.

“I’m not dying alone!”

It was Ridden—the one who’d been beaten to a pulp by the Empress earlier.

Off in the distance, I saw Luka running over with the royal knights.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going in the middle of treatment?! Criminal!”

A hundred thoughts raced through my head.

He must’ve escaped in a rage during treatment.

‘Smart guy like him probably figured everything out already.’

And he must’ve come here just to land a hit on me before getting locked up.

Well, the conclusion was simple.

‘I guess I’ll just get hit.’

I resigned myself quickly.

There was no way I could win against that guy—I couldn’t even lift a scroll box by myself.

Sure, it would sting, but I’d been beaten plenty in the Roaphy baron’s house before. I could handle it.

‘And if I’m really hurt, Luka will patch me up anyway.’

He wasn’t carrying a weapon, and nothing about the situation screamed “serious.”

I was willing to take the hit—but I couldn’t let it be that easy. So I started stepping backward and wagging my mouth.

“Oh dear, looks like our criminal’s going to rack up another charge, huh? Can you hear your sentence going up? Oh look, witnesses galore!”

I normally wouldn’t waste energy on petty words, but I’d eaten well today. The snark just flowed.

And then—

‘…Huh?’

Suddenly, my vision was filled with someone’s broad back.

It was Keyvon.

Keyvon?

Without a word, he stepped in front of me and balled up his fist.

Everything moved in slow motion.

No! Keyvon’s an intern!

Even if it’s just public officials throwing punches at each other, Keyvon wasn’t a fully recognized employee. Hitting another official—even a criminal—could land him in serious trouble.

“You’re not in a position to be acting cool, Keyvon!”

I shrieked and reached to pull his arm back—

“AAAAAARGH!”

Huh?

Keyvon hadn’t done anything—yet Ridden collapsed.

He rolled on the ground, clutching his face.

“W-what the?!”

It was Anastasia. She had flung coffee grounds into Ridden’s eyes.

“You crazy low-level—AARRRGH!”

As Ridden tried to stand and glared at her, she dumped hot water on him.

She’d really meant it when she said she was always ready to serve coffee—both the grounds and hot water were locked and loaded.

Anastasia’s eyes sparkled as she spoke,

“I’m not some low-level intern—I’m the Scroll Department’s management team leader. And judging by your look, you’re clearly a criminal. So how dare you step into my office?”

Keyvon and I froze behind her.

A moment later, Keyvon pulled me backward, as boiling water began trickling our way.

“Luka.”

I calmly addressed Luka, who had finally arrived.

“We’re going to need some burn treatment here, too.”

“…Right.”

Luka nodded, looking completely dumbfounded. I sighed and spoke to the groaning Ridden.

“When a desk jockey like you relies on brute force, this is what happens. Couldn’t even get through the door of the department you looked down on, huh? Oh, and now you’ve got an attempted assault charge too.”

“Y-you crazy… If the royals see you acting this uncultured—”

“They won’t. There are no royals here.”

I smiled sweetly as I said it. The knights who had approached bound Ridden once again.

Meanwhile, Luka glanced at Anastasia and muttered,

“Your team leader is amazing. Seriously.”

He was so stunned he’d forgotten to use formal speech with me.

I agreed. She was the best team leader a department head could ask for.

‘…Geez. What even was that chaos?’

At least it had happened before the rest of the team arrived.

Once Luka, the knights, and Ridden were gone, the office fell silent again.

Anastasia calmly began cleaning up the spilled coffee and kettle.

“Hey, Keyvon.”

She stared blankly as Keyvon brushed the coffee powder from my clothes, then said,

“There is someone you like in the office, isn’t there? You—you didn’t deny it earlier.”

The woman who had protected her department head now had sharp instincts, too.

“O-of course! I-I won’t ask who it is.”

Her eyes sparkled.

“B-but what kind of girls do you like?”

Clearly, she meant “I won’t ask who, but I’ll figure it out based on your type.”

Not that she had many suspects—the Scroll Department only had four women, including me.

‘No, wait.’

I sighed heavily.

‘Keyvon’s such a rigid blockhead, he’s not going to dance around this kind of question. He’s going to answer straight-up, just because she outranks him.’

Sure enough, he answered stiffly, no hesitation whatsoever.

“I think I like warm women.”

“W-warm?”

“Preferably the obsessive kind.”

Anastasia blinked, clearly disappointed.

“Oh… guess it’s not the Department Head, then.”

…Huh?

“I thought it was the Department Head.”

What’s that supposed to mean? Why not me?

I was just about to glare at her and demand an explanation when she continued.

“W-when the Treasury Minister blew up the other day, he said, ‘Namia Roaphy is really capable, but somehow just being around her makes me feel emotionally drained.’”

Hmm.

Can’t say he’s wrong.

“And earlier, when you were taunting the criminal… Even I started to feel kind of mentally worn out.”

Excuse me? I didn’t even do anything. You’re the one who took him down—and now I’m the emotional hazard?

“And our department head doesn’t seem like the type to obsess over anyone. I mean, she probably avoids emotional drain by being indifferent to everyone.”

…Okay, that’s accurate.

“Anyway, Keyvon, your tastes are super weird.”

Anastasia looked more intrigued than ever.

“L-liking obsessive girls… I’ve never heard that kind of ideal type before.”

“Yes. But I do like that kind of woman.”

Keyvon added slowly,

“Someone who’ll bind me, cling to me, and leave me breathless…”

I clicked my tongue and looked at him.

Seriously.

People live according to their own tastes, but his type really is something else.