The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 97

I wasn’t feeling well either, so I hadn’t paid any attention to the banquet food.

But at that moment, the music began to shift.

The High Priest, who had been speaking with Kiaros, slightly widened his eyes.

“Ah… looks like the dance is about to begin.”

He was right. This melody signaled the end of idle chatter and the start of the formal dancing.

“Haha, I shall take my leave now. After all, nothing is more significant between a man and a woman than the first dance of a banquet.”

The High Priest smiled faintly and withdrew.

He must’ve understood what Kiaros meant earlier when he gently suggested he leave.

I watched the retreating figure of the High Priest and swallowed dryly.

But since he’s already here in person… wouldn’t he want to take care of me, too?

She saved the Crown Prince, planted a mole in the Scroll Department, wrecked the Ministry of Education she’d been eyeing for years…

I could only imagine how much of a nuisance I must seem to the Reformist Faction.

Especially today, when they tried to trap me and ended up walking into their own trap. They must be on full alert about me now.

If I were one of them, I’d definitely try to eliminate me as well.

A troublesome target—who was also the weakest link.

How terrifying. Just thinking about it makes me tremble…

I had to act first.

The High Priest would be staying at the palace for ten days.

During those ten days, while he was devising some scheme to trap both Kiaros and me, I needed to strike preemptively.

“Ahem.”

Lost in thought, I looked up as Kiaros cleared his throat.

“Namia.”

Up until just before the banquet, I’d thought I’d be dancing the first dance with Keyvon.

“Haven’t you accomplished everything you came to do at this banquet?”

Kiaros asked, and I nodded. I’d even gotten an unexpected lead on the mastermind behind all this. It had been a more fruitful night than I’d anticipated.

“Of course, the spy situation is troubling, but you’re not planning to act on it tonight, right?”

Kiaros smiled gently.

Even with just a slight lift of his lips, he was breathtakingly beautiful.

“Forget the spy until tomorrow. Tonight, enjoy yourself however you wish, Miss Namia. You’ve earned it.”

“Ah… yes.”

Hair like golden threads spun from the hall’s light, eyes a cool, warm red.

That sculpted face made me feel like this banquet hall held only the two of us.

“Um… right. Like the High Priest said, the first dance is about to begin.”

The first dance… It was customary to share it with one’s partner.

That was why Victor had once reserved the second dance with me.

Honestly, this was my first time attending a banquet. My first time wearing a dress this beautiful, standing beside someone this elegant.

Ah, His Highness must be thinking of asking me for the first dance.

Since we were partners, that would be the natural next step.

If I danced the first dance with the Crown Prince, everyone would watch and shower us with praise. Kiaros had never danced with any woman before, after all.

But…

“Forget the spy until tomorrow. Tonight, enjoy yourself however you wish, Miss Namia.”

I took a deep breath.

The first dance wasn’t what I wanted right now. Nor was it to flaunt my dress or accessories at this banquet.

“Your Highness.”

I took a step back.

“Just as you said, I believe I’ve finished everything I was supposed to do at tonight’s banquet. And I also believe I’ve earned the right to do as I please—at least for tonight.”

“…Hmm?”

“If I may… would it be all right if I left?”

“What?”

“Well…”

I looked directly at Kiaros’s impossibly perfect face and spoke.

“My secretary contacted me just before the banquet to say he was feeling very ill.”

Kiaros’s expression stiffened slightly. His eyes flickered with visible panic.

Seriously… after getting rejected for a marriage proposal, he thought I’d still say yes to the first dance? We’re not even in a relationship. Where’s this level of confidence coming from?

I was honestly a little dumbfounded, but I continued politely.

“My secretary isn’t the type to break a promise like that so suddenly. He’s either gone into hiding because he’s a spy, or he’s genuinely too sick to move… It has to be one of the two.”

“Uh, well… I mean…”

“If it’s the former, I want to confirm it quickly. If it’s the latter… I’ll feel too guilty not to check in. He’s a foreign orphan with no one else. I know better than anyone what it feels like to be sick and alone.”

“Th-that may be true, but…”

“Yes. I understand. A boss visiting an employee’s home on a day off is absolutely horrifying. I’m aware.”

I said calmly.

“But… today is also my secretary’s birthday.”

“His birthday?”

“Yes. It’s listed on his personnel card. To be sick and alone on your birthday… it’s just too pitiful. I plan to drop by with some warm stew at the very least.”

Kiaros hesitated, then stammered,

“Do you… know where your secretary lives?”

“Yes. His address is on the personnel card as well. It’s a small house nearby.”

“Ah, right. Of course…”

“Please assign just one crow to tail me—just in case. If I don’t come out after a certain amount of time, please have them storm the place.”

Kiaros blankly nodded at my words.

Then, blinking hard, he said,

“R-right. I’ll go instruct a crow now.”

And he promptly strode across the banquet hall, leaving before I did.

He seemed to be running by the end.

***

Kiaros rushed into the Crown Prince’s office and began frantically flipping through documents.

Keyvon Artes’s personnel card… The one he himself had hastily scribbled and approved under a fake identity.

“Dammit.”

Birthday: November 2nd…

Just like his name and age, he’d scrawled a random date—and it had to be today.

He checked the listed address.

He vaguely remembered assigning it as one of the crows’ safehouses—basic, inconspicuous houses used by intelligence agents.

“Ugh…”

Unfortunately, it was one of the shabbiest, oldest properties. So run-down that even the crows had stopped using it recently.

But there was no time to hesitate. He quickly changed clothes and transformed into Keyvon’s appearance.

Then he bolted out the door. If he didn’t run with everything he had, Namia would beat him there.

Is this even right? Is this really the right move?

Even as he sprinted, Kiaros was confused. But there was no avoiding it.

“He’s either gone into hiding because he’s a spy, or he’s genuinely too sick to move…”

If Keyvon wasn’t inside that safehouse, there was no doubt he’d be suspected as the spy.

Still, one fundamental question lingered.

Was Namia not a spy? Was she truly unconnected to the Reformists?

Capturing the Education Minister alone… seems like there’s a link, but it’s a bit sudden when you think about it.

Nabbing Lidden made sense—maybe the backup scrolls really were faulty.

But suddenly tying the Education Minister into it? That had been unexpected.

But… is this really okay?

Arriving at the nearly crumbling safehouse, Kiaros finally caught his breath.

Thankfully, because the place was managed in rotation, the interior was still clean.

How did things get like this?

Namia Roapia… there had definitely been suspicious things about her.

That’s why he had taken on another identity to observe her.

And she’d agreed without resistance—said she was fine with being monitored in any way.

But somewhere along the way, he’d come to like her.

“To be sick and alone on your birthday… it’s just too pitiful. I plan to drop by with some warm stew at the very least.”

Now, everything felt like a betrayal to her. He was starting to feel guilty.

It had all seemed justifiable at the start. But now it was a mess.

“Hah…”

He closed his eyes tightly.

Then, from outside the door, Namia’s voice came through with a tired sigh.

“My goodness, there’s not even a doorbell.”

Knock knock.

A cautious knock sounded.

“Keyvon? Are you in there?”