101

Back when I was a K-office worker, I absolutely refused to get involved and vehemently hated office politics. I declined leadership roles whenever I could. But being appointed Chancellor made avoidance impossible. If my life was on the line, I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

“I refuse to acknowledge that…”

I scoffed at Eldo, who was practically foaming at the mouth.

“Eldo, secretary. As academy valedictorian, you should know this—tell me: what are the Chancellor’s powers?”

He answered reluctantly, his face souring.

“First: supreme administrative authority to mediate and command when conflicts arise between departments. Second: the power to propose and implement policies to His Majesty the Emperor—and if the Emperor is absent and hasn’t named a proxy, those powers fall to the Chancellor.”

He rattled it off as if he’d memorized it from a book.

“Third, authority over the fiscal and legislative coordination of each ministry. Fourth, the Chancellor’s consent is required for mobilizing troops or conscription, and in wartime the Chancellor may intervene in operations. Fifth, access to state secrets and intelligence oversight. And sixth, recommending high officials and… the power to appoint bureaucrats.”

He seemed to force out the last word.

Why was the Crown Prince so desperate to place his people in the Chancellery? A henchman had kindly explained the reasons above.

The Chancellor’s powers are the strongest among department heads. It is the direct institution that can act in the Emperor’s stead when he is absent.

“You explained that well yourself.”

One of those powers is personnel control. Departments can recommend hires, but for open recruitment the Chancellor sets exams and has the authority to appoint or dismiss. That’s how Marcus could seat an incompetent like Dorian as First Secretary and more easily siphon off corruption.

“I-I refuse to acknowledge it! I haven’t recognized you as Chancellor yet!”

I burst out laughing; it was ridiculous.

“Wow… what is he even saying?”

The atmosphere instantly turned icy.

I showed respect to everyone—except in private with Lukan and Elysia. Rank didn’t matter; treating everyone the same kept professional boundaries clear.

Eldo, oblivious, turned his head this way and that as if trying to process what he’d just heard.

I stepped forward, faced him, and smiled broadly.

“Your recognition doesn’t matter. Whether you acknowledge it or not, I’m the Chancellor. The Emperor himself appointed me.”

“…!”

Considering the deal between the Minister of Finance and the Emperor, I couldn’t just fire him over this—unless Dorian-level corruption was exposed. But now that I’m Chancellor, I intend to stop that kind of tax-siphoning. If he’d kept quiet like Dominic beside him when displeased, things wouldn’t have come to this. There must be a reason he came in as a Second Secretary.

“Fine. Eldo, Second Secretary. I’ll give you special supervision. Since you have no minimum respect for your superiors, I don’t need to bother with formalities either. I’m looking forward to seeing what impressive skills you’ll show. You could recite it all, so there’s no way you don’t know what the Chancellery does.”

I smiled brightly and told everyone to get back to their work.

“You look in a good mood?”

“Me? Not at all.”

Miss Kiara, who’d come to visit after a long time, narrowed her eyes at me. Marcella and the younger siblings were holed up doing academy homework—it’s exam season—so Kiara had brought plenty of snacks for studying.

“You have that look.”

“What look?”

“The expression you make when you’re plotting something and waiting for the other person to take the bait.”

I flinched—Pinea had pointed that out before.

“That look is really scary. Lucky you’re on our side.”

“Scary?”

How could this innocent, harmless face be scary? Even when I tried to pout in an adorable, juicy-fruit way, it only looked cute.

“You are very cute. But could one take it as purely innocent once they see what happens behind that smile?”

“It’s not because I want to do that—I’m doing it to survive.”

Kiara snorted and sipped her tea.

“I came because I was worried when you suddenly became Chancellor, but it looks like you’re okay.”

“I’m not okay. I have to fight those who openly came to ruin me. I’ve never sat in a position like this before; with my life hanging in the balance, I’m just trying not to run away.”

“That’s why I like you.”

“Oh, Miss, you really…”

She was, as ever, my unabashed former superior showing affection.

But this time the usually unflappable Kiara looked serious.

“Be careful, and then be careful again. Do whatever you want, but if it seems like you’re about to do something big, tell me beforehand. That way I can prepare, too.”

She had now been designated the Marquess family’s heir and was busier and more powerful than before.

“An Aurelius junior Marquess as backing? How reassuring.”

She looked into my eyes and shook her head.

“It’s the same look you had when you chased that pervert away. Once you set your sights on something, you can’t be stopped.”

“Hehe.”

She gave me a look full of pity, then withdrew it and changed the subject.

“Does Aidan come around here often these days? He hasn’t shown his face at home.”

Now that she mentioned it, I hadn’t seen Aidan since the envoy mission.

“No. I haven’t seen him either recently. Do you think something’s wrong?”

“How would I know? He’s probably holed up in the Mage Tower reading books, as usual. That rude brat.”

She muttered that it was pointless several times. Still, Aidan had comforted me a lot when I was struggling. I thought I should check on him just in case.

“By the way, why didn’t you come with Pinea this time?”

She tapped the table repeatedly with long nails, worried.

“She didn’t look well, so I told her to go home early. She even asked for leave last time, so I wondered if something had happened.”

I suspected she might have gone down to Nicola and Ophel. The news I passed on wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

“Nothing serious, Miss. I’ll check it out.”

I didn’t want to burden her with needless worries, so I distracted her by praising the desserts she’d brought.

I hoped everyone would be okay.

I wished Nicola would bring his father to the capital quickly to receive treatment.

“What is this?”

Chancellery conference room.

Eldo Hiberge trembled as he looked at the notice spread across the board.

“Work assignments.”

“Work assignments?”

Dominic raised his hand and asked, displeasure obvious. I answered with a bright smile.

“Our newly arrived First- and Second-Grade secretaries can’t yet handle the tasks previous seniors did, so I redistributed responsibilities to accelerate their training.”

I could have handled First-Grade secretary tasks myself—faster—but instead I mixed Second-Grade duties with the usual work and assigned them to those two.

“Are you telling me to do the work of a first-rank secretary now?”

Valedictorian of the academy, yet full of tantrums.

“If Secretary Eldo shows his skills, things can quickly return to how they were. No confidence?”

Provoked, Eldo scoffed.

“Not a chance. I don’t know what trick this is, but you’ll regret it.”

He’d recited the Chancellor’s powers yesterday, so at least he could feign respect. This time Elysia spoke up.

“The tasks are divided into detailed topics, so it’s more efficient than before. The assistant clerks won’t have to repeatedly check which supervisor to communicate with. I can focus on my work too.”

“It’ll also be easier to identify where mistakes happened, and it’ll be good for filling out the new forms the Chancellor distributed to all departments.”

They both saw my intent exactly. This distribution ensured no one could coast along unnoticed. The key was assigning tasks of appropriate difficulty to match ability and helping them adapt to the new forms.

“I’ll manage things meticulously until everyone adapts, so don’t worry.”

I don’t make empty promises. I checked each task thoroughly.

“This form needs to be written more concisely. Don’t write in colloquial style—shorten it and bring it back.”

“It seems you haven’t studied this topic enough. Borrow a code from the Ministry of Justice and check the content. Items 3, 4, and 5 are all vague.”

As the Chancellery wielded great power, its competence had to match. That’s what I believed. Those two parachuted in were no exception.

“Secretary Dominic, this is a mess.”

“Wha—? No way. I did exactly as the Chancellor instructed.”

“Is that so? Then let me go through it one by one.”

For over an hour I patiently explained what was wrong with his work and why the mistakes happened. By the end he looked shell-shocked. Satisfied, I moved on to my next target.

“Oh, academy valedictorian, our Eldo Hiberge. Let’s see.”

He confidently handed over a neatly organized document. On the surface it looked flawless, but he’d peppered every sentence with unnecessary opinions.

“How did he even become an office worker?”

So I dismantled each of his nonsensical asides, piece by piece, with logic. He blurted out in a choked voice,

“I’m doing what the Chancellor couldn’t! I’m helping the Chancellery!”

This guy still hadn’t come to his senses—no rebuttal, just bruised pride.

I leaned close and whispered into Eldo Hiberge’s ear.

“Want to be demoted to a scribe? If so, keep going like this.”

He suddenly clamped his mouth shut. I sneered.

There are plenty of ways to ruin you without firing you.