The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success-Chapter 34
Even the Emperor looked puzzled as he stared at Kiaros.
But that wasn’t what mattered right now.
If you had any common sense, you should be focusing more on Oson than on Kiaros at this moment.
‘Because the accuser suddenly screamed that he would confess.’
I had watched Oson for three years and seven months.
He might have had a lot to hide, but I had a rough grasp of his nature.
Seeing that he had even asked for a teleportation scroll, he must have been terrified out of his mind.
‘The mastermind behind the war... Oson... It doesn't suit him. But somehow, it suits him perfectly!’
I hadn’t thought him the type to be involved in something like that.
At the same time, he had consistently been useless to the Imperial Family.
Come to think of it, when I said six defensive scrolls were too few, wasn’t it Oson who told me to shut up?
‘An internal enemy right inside the Scroll Department.’
Thinking about it, the Scroll Department was a perfect target for infiltration.
It was the only department that could avoid the sharp eyes of someone like Kiaros.
At the same time, since it was under the Knight Order’s jurisdiction, it could access confidential documents too...
‘Good grief, that was my department... and my boss!’
If I hadn't recalled the original story, I wouldn't have cared if Oson had accused someone or not.
That’s how thoroughly I had been taught helplessness under Oson.
‘Maybe that's why I didn’t even appear in the original novel.’
But now, Oson was about to spill something from his own mouth.
“M-m-m-me, I-I-I-I really...!”
The moment his eyes met the Emperor's, Oson dropped to his knees.
“D-d-doing what I was told...”
I widened my eyes and nodded enthusiastically.
And then, more energetically than ever before, I cheered on my boss.
‘Hang in there, team leader! Just like always—sneaky and cowardly—hurry up and blurt out your mastermind!’
Oson seemed ready to confess absolutely everything.
‘Yeah, he was a mess even within this mess of a department! Stay true to yourself, I’m rooting for you!’
It was then.
With a sharp whizz, a dagger buried itself into Oson’s heart.
It happened so suddenly that even the spectators seemed slow to realize what had occurred.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
I also jumped up in shock.
Oson, with the dagger stuck in his heart, collapsed on the spot without even managing a scream.
‘No way! This is the courtroom! Everyone who came in had their identity verified...’
The dagger had even been thrown from the spectator seats.
Since it was a closed space, it would only be a matter of time before they caught the culprit.
When the Imperial Palace knights charged toward the direction the dagger had come from—
A woman who had been hiding among the spectators shrieked in a shrill voice.
“For evolution!”
Amid the screams of the crowd, the woman collapsed, vomiting blood.
She had killed herself with a pill hidden in her mouth.
“Kyaaaaaaaah!”
“Uaaaaaaaah!”
The surrounding spectators screamed and fled in panic.
And rightly so—someone right next to them had collapsed, coughing up blood.
I stood there blankly in the middle of the chaos.
The knights hurriedly carried away the bodies of Oson and the woman.
‘Good grief...’
I had completely misunderstood.
[You don’t have to teleport far. Just outside the palace gates, okay?]
I had thought Oson wanted to flee from the Imperial knights.
But that wasn’t it.
He had wanted to escape from the organization he belonged to.
‘That organization must be the mastermind behind the war.’
They killed Oson before he could talk, and the woman even killed herself.
The mysterious organization that Oson and that woman belonged to.
“We'll wrap up the trial for now.”
The Emperor, who had been watching the situation, gave a short command.
“There’s plenty more to do besides this.”
No one objected.
With how things turned out, everyone had no choice but to believe that the Empress had rightly targeted Oson.
Thus, the trial was wrapped up.
***
After the trial ended in a complete mess—
The Empress was immediately freed.
The very first thing she did after being cleared was call for me.
“I heard Her Majesty the Empress has summoned me.”
The Empress’s room was fascinating.
The walls were decorated beautifully with luxurious wallpaper—and covered in weapons.
I was alone with the Empress there.
“Namiaaaaaa!”
She picked me up and spun me around.
I was so shocked I couldn’t even scream.
It felt like I had gone back to when I was six years old.
“Thank you, thank you!”
The Empress even tossed me into the air and caught me again.
My vision spun dizzyingly.
“If I had died in that prison that day, I wouldn’t have been able to catch that bastard!”
Coughing, I finally managed to get back to the floor.
The Empress's eyes gleamed sharply as she recalled the trial.
“That bastard, seeing him with my own eyes today, I was certain something was wrong. Just looking at him, he reeked of suspicion.”
She ground her teeth as she spoke.
Startled, I asked,
“W-why? Did you have any evidence?”
“No. Just my gut.”
The answer was anticlimactic, but the Empress looked deadly serious.
“I've met countless ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) criminal bastards in my time. I’ve seen plenty of rats who spent years hiding their identities to harm the royal family. It’s my instinct, honed by experience.”
“Uh... um...”
“I just happened to end up an Empress, but being a knight suits me much better. If I were a knight instead of an Empress, I would’ve already chopped that bastard’s head off.”
“Wha—?”
“In times like this, it's faster to act first before thinking about evidence.”
She swung her arms threateningly.
I had no doubt that if she wanted, she could spin not just me but even Oson around.
“It might seem reckless, but when driving out rats, you have to go that far.”
The Empress laughed heartily and patted my shoulder.
The truth was, there were plenty of holes in my plan.
From the suspicious changes in speech to the flimsy logic, it wasn’t something that should have passed so easily.
But the Empress must have already found Oson suspicious, which was why she had gone along with it so aggressively.
I had nothing to say, so I just smiled awkwardly.
“Namia.”
“Yes?”
She called my name naturally now, with familiarity.
“Though I’m a mess of an Empress, I was a damn good knight. I risked my life to protect His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Pride glimmered in her eyes.
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“That day, His Highness even came personally to thank me.”
“Ah...”
“The truth is, the reason I don't do much as Empress... is because I’m afraid of becoming a burden to His Highness the Crown Prince.”
She spoke with unwavering eyes.
“If I step in recklessly and ruin things, that would disgrace the Imperial Family. But if I do too well and build up power, that could threaten His Highness too.”
“A threat? That's... there's no way...”
“I wouldn’t be a threat. But Jaden is a different story.”
Jaden—Fron’s son, the original male lead.
Mentioning the still-young prince made her expression darken.
“If my faction grew too large, someone could attach themselves to that immature child and fill his head with ambitions.”
“But that’s...”
“I’ve spent my whole life only knowing the sword. Even thinking I could be good at politics is dangerous.”
“...”
“I could be used by some sly bastard without even realizing it. In times like this, it’s better to stay useless. Basic mercenary tactics.”
I couldn’t say anything—just opened and closed my mouth.
She must know very well that people mock her behind her back as an incompetent and vulgar Empress.
“The Empress’s seat was always meant to be empty. I thought that if only I ruined myself, it would be the best thing for the Imperial Family. I didn’t want to be a burden to His Highness the Crown Prince. I...”
She smiled faintly.
“I’m still a proud knight of the Imperial Family who would do anything for them.”
Her strong muscles, her broad shoulders—they looked more beautiful than any dress I'd ever seen.
“That’s why I like you, Namia.”
“Me?”
“I like people who do their jobs well. And you seem like a truly outstanding civil servant. You memorized all those strange laws and knew all the official paperwork.”
My heart thudded in my chest.
I blinked, overwhelmed by the strange feeling, as she continued.
“I swear. Thanks to you, I wasn’t fooled by the schemes of those who sought to harm the Imperial Family. I will grant your wish, whatever it is, as long as it’s within my power.”
