Chapter 103

In that moment, the Minister of Finance and the Duke caught my eye. I was certain they were thinking the same thing as me.

“No, what was done was wrong… but is it something worth going that far over? To bring down the Chancellor, I mean, and the secretary too. Look at this. In the end it dragged on and they put an inexperienced kid who still has baby fat in the seat, didn’t they?”

Left alone, his speech was getting harsher.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs restrained him.

“You’re very drunk. It’s best to stop here for today.”

But someone already drunk would hardly listen quietly.

“Yes, it’s all your fault!”

He suddenly pointed his finger directly at me.

My face hardened abruptly.

It was the moment I confirmed the new Field Marshal was definitely a lackey of the Crown Prince. Being young makes it hard to earn others’ recognition, invites biased views, and can make people let their guard down—this time proved that.

“So clever, he dared to blow past the great seniors and even caught the Emperor’s eye?”

As things were getting amusing, I decided to play along a bit more.

“How could I possibly imagine such a thing? How could I dare even utter His Majesty’s name? Please don’t be too angered, Field Marshal.”

He seemed to see me as a very manageable puppy and his anger softened into a satisfied smile.

“Good thing you know your place. I’ll be watching. If you do that one more time, I’ll give you a very severe punishment!”

His tone was like scolding a child.

To think he’d show that attitude to the Chancellor. I bowed my head while inwardly tallying how to repay him.

“Yes, yes, senior. I’ll learn a lot.”

“Alright, haha!”

As the situation wrapped up and I turned to get up, I saw the Minister of Finance and the Duke looking at me with pale faces.

“Why are you like that?”

When I smiled faintly, the two cleared their throats and quickly took their leave. After escorting the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Commander into carriages, we remained to talk further.

“You’re… a frightening person.”

“Only as much as the Minister of Finance.”

He smiled amiably, but how fierce he could be when money or his real interests were involved—I had seen it many times. Then, catching sight of the Duke sitting silently, I realized with a jolt.

“Supreme Justice, were you very… surprised?”

He jumped at my question, then composed his voice.

“No. Thanks to that I can clearly see who the Crown Prince’s lackey is. I can’t rule out the Minister of Foreign Affairs being in on it, but the Commander seems certain. It’s almost doubtful whether he even intends to hide it.”

The Duke seemed a bit different from usual. But it might be my imagination, so I let it go for now.

Was it that shocking?

“Yes… we found out thanks to our new Chancellor. Now this dinner meeting is over. The previous Commander hated politics, so it was easy to talk. I don’t know the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ intent, but there was no sign he passed our talks to the Crown Prince.”

I pointed out the flaw.

“He may not have passed it to the Crown Prince, but he could have passed it to someone else.”

“Someone else… could it be His Majesty?”

The Duke propped his chin with one hand and furrowed his brow. I nodded.

“That’s the most likely possibility. I didn’t expect a situation like today… but I want to propose something for smoother communication and contingency planning.”

“What is it?”

The Minister of Finance showed curiosity.

“I think it would be good to have a slang or code only we know. A cipher.”

“A code?”

The Duke straightened his posture.

“We can no longer be sure whether the information from this meeting is true. It would become a tiresome occasion for digging up each other’s intel and gauging intentions. But it’s a meeting worth keeping. Anyway, think of it as a simple code for referring to people it’s awkward to mention directly. Nothing grand.”

They listened and thought it wasn’t a bad idea, even inventing hand signals to go with it.

1. Code Red: Emperor appearance (make a V sign with fingers)

2. Code Blue: Crown Prince appearance (brush shoulder)

3. Code Black: internal enemy, spy, Crown Prince lackey appearance (touch earlobe)

4. Code Green: situation resolved/ended (brush hair up)

They’re practical, real-life signals, so I wondered how reliably I’d understand them without mistaking them…

But it’s better than nothing, so we agreed. You can’t fully trust communication artifacts either. Using codes instead of real names when relaying urgent situations seemed sensible.

“Then right now it’s Code Black.”

We hoped we’d seldom have to use these codes.

The Chancellery’s effort to restore discipline was progressing smoothly.

Dominic and Eldo were growing increasingly weary from the piling work and nitpicking. In truth, I’m not a micromanager—I’m not the type to prefer checking, inspecting, and issuing orders for every little detail.

‘That will kill someone.’

Not everyone is like me, and you can’t perfectly match the other person’s ways. So whether people left early or late, as long as they finished their work and met deadlines, I didn’t meddle much. Eldo in particular couldn’t stand being criticized in front of the newly promoted Lucan and Elysia.

“Just wait and see.”

As a Crown Prince lackey, his unwillingness to surrender easily was regrettable, but really, it was only the beginning.

Actually, the harder one to handle was Dominic, not Eldo. He was obviously slyly passing work off or fudging things, but I was watching for now. It seemed their relationship wasn’t as good as it used to be.

Today I left on time for the first time in a while and leisurely went to Those Who Can’t Resign. Since becoming Chancellor I’d been so busy I sadly had to close it for a time. While taking on the backlog of clients and counseling them, a welcome visitor arrived.

“Miss Penguin!”

It was Penguin entering with a bright smile. She, who had been hurt deeply by that strange married man, now looked completely revitalized. She bounced up and handed me a parchment.

“I passed the first stage!”

I opened the parchment and it said ‘First-Round Pass.’ But on closer look, this place was…

“Cha…Chancellery?”

That’s where I am! How did she—how?

Whether she knew my confusion or not, Penguin chattered happily.

“I recently saw the Chancellery’s announcement hiring assistant clerks and applied. It’s famous! They say the youngest female Chancellor who isn’t even an academy graduate was appointed!”

They may have given out appointments casually, but the Emperor did use it for press play. That old fox.

“Isn’t that amazing? It’s different from what I used to do, but I wanted to try it so I applied and I passed the written test. I’m so excited! What kind of person will they be?”

I hastily tried to calm her. They were planning to hire two more assistant clerks, but there was no guarantee she’d pass, and newcomers coming in with such illusions would only end up disappointed.

“You know from working before, right? Don’t expect too much—”

But it seemed my words no longer reached her ears.

‘She’s probably floating on dreams of changing jobs, so it’s useless.’

“I don’t think about that jerk anymore! Master Quokka, I’ll come again if I pass! The competition is fierce, but I’ll work hard!”

“G-go, go for it!”

I awkwardly cheered her on and then saw her out.

Plop.

Sitting there, I let my head flop onto the table in exhaustion.

“How small the world is.”

I didn’t think I’d be found out, but the feeling of danger kept growing. Sadly, for my own safety I decided to scrutinize Penguin’s interview more strictly.

‘The Imperial Palace isn’t such a wonderful place, boohoo.’

The jaded office worker shook his head, thinking of the pitiful newcomers who enter central ministries with illusions.

Knock, knock.

“Ah, is the next client already here?”

I prepared and opened the window. A man wearing Little Lamb’s mask sat arrogantly with his legs crossed. It was the Duke, a VIP of our shop.

This was the first time we’d met like this since we started seeing each other.

But work is work. I treated him as usual so I wouldn’t be discovered.

“The confession succeeded.”

“…Yes?”

But after only a few lines of conversation, I was at a loss for words.

‘At this rate, am I actually going to give dating advice?’

I felt ambivalent—part of me wanted to know his inner feelings, and part was unsure if this was appropriate.

“Congratulations! I told you it would work out!”

Then, suddenly, Little Lamb bowed his head to me in greeting.

“W-what is this?!”

“Thanks to Master Quokka, I was able to realize what my feelings were. And I learned that the other person might have complicated circumstances. I delivered my feelings at an unexpected timing, but… it went well. If it weren’t for you, I would have lost her. Thank you.”

“Ah, no. Haha…”

Little Lamb shook his head firmly.

“You deserve the thanks. It’s small, but a reward.”

He handed me an elegant pouch.

“I put some gold coins and jewels in it. Since we don’t know each other’s identities, I couldn’t tell what you’d like. Buy what you need. If it’s not enough, say so.”

It was an amount that could buy a building at a glance. I swallowed as I looked at the VIP client and boyfriend in front of me.

‘If I get found out like this, what will happen to me?’