Chapter 117

“This is the Crown Prince’s order, so there must not be a single bit of clumsiness.”

After work, Vespera spoke to the two clerks who had come to the Ministry of Justice in a tone cold as ice. Dominic and Eldo, who found themselves facing a man famed across the Empire for his status, ability, and looks, tensed up and answered.

“Yessir!”

“Yes!”

The two sat at the empty desk and thought it far better to work with someone of appropriate rank like this than to take orders from a pale little girl. And the fact that the work was related to the Crown Prince — it was a golden opportunity. Eldo slowly skimmed the documents on the desk.

‘W-what is this?’

He rubbed his eyes thinking he’d misread it. But the words on the document remained.

‘On the establishment of an exception clause regarding harassment and sexual assault of married women?’

From the content, it seemed the Crown Prince had touched a married lower-ranking noblewoman. It was clearly the Crown Prince’s wrongdoing to anyone, but they were trying to use a trick to prevent the matter from going to trial to protect the royal family’s honor. While the two were too shocked to speak, Vespera dryly instructed them.

“No new legislation is to be enacted. It could undermine the Empire’s discipline.”

“But it says to establish an exception clause.”

Dominic raised his hand and asked. Vespera slammed the law book down on the desk.

“Did I not say it could undermine the Empire’s discipline? Find a way so that no charges reach the Crown Prince quietly. Of course, the victim must also be compensated.”

“H-how…!”

When Dominic tried to protest as if it were absurd, Vespera cut him off first.

“The Chancellor accomplished things more absurd than this when they were a clerk. What’s the problem?”

“Ah, no…”

Under that intimidating presence, neither could utter a sound and they buried their heads in the documents. As they skimmed the other piled papers, their expressions changed by the minute. They were request letters to cover up illegal acts by the Crown Prince personally, much like the one they had just seen.

‘Wouldn’t someone like the Crown Prince just get let off?!’

Cold sweat ran down Dominic’s back; he had no way of knowing that the Crown Prince was intentionally making requests to trouble Vespera. Glancing to the side, Eldo looked much the same. They couldn’t act up like they had in the Chancellery, because this involved the Crown Prince they were tied to.

There seemed to be no end to work.

‘Damn. We’re screwed.’

‘How on earth did they endure and put up with these idiots?’

When Lia first came up with this method, she thought it clever. She believed that Crown Prince matters could never be handled carelessly. His instructions were full of personal complications from a bureaucratic standpoint, making them quite difficult to handle. In other words, the job was extremely challenging. It would also serve as an opportunity to learn what kind of man the Crown Prince they served actually was.

But having experienced it, it wasn’t that simple.

Vespera watched the two and thought of the hardship her lover must have faced in the Chancellery. She knew they couldn’t defy her because of their status, yet just from their attitude and ability toward work she couldn’t help but shake her head. They were not cut out for organizational life.

Especially the fellow Dominic was hopeless.

“Supreme Justice, my family runs a very large vineyard. The harvest is coming soon; I’ll select only the finest bottles and present them to you.”

“Spend the time you would think about wine focusing on work.”

He fawned at every opportunity and put work on the back burner. It was obvious he’d given up. He had that vague attitude of ‘someone will do it.’ How could such a fellow be a first-class clerk? No doubt she was shouldering his work.

In the past she would have told him to get lost and stayed behind to handle it herself.

‘Not this time.’

Whether they melted into soup or stew, she intended to make these two handle it. She would append their names to the report.

“Your Chancellor actually advised me that if I spoke to you, you should focus on work. Thanks to that, a task that would have taken a week was finished in just two days. Quite an impressive woman.”

Gushing like a doting parent while looking at his pitiful subordinates, he couldn’t help but extol how wonderful their superior was. It was hard to restrain himself.

She even personally organized training to cultivate her subordinates despite her small frame — truly an example of an ideal bureaucrat.

‘Lia, still, not this one.’

Truly, her lover had tried their best and, as a last resort, asked for cooperation. She planned to respond with all her strength.

“It’s past midnight. If you want to go home, you must finish this case tonight.”

“Gasp…”

“W-we’re short on time, Supreme Justice.”

Their pleading expressions conveyed nothing to Vespera.

“I’ll ask the Chancellor tomorrow to adjust things so you can come to the Ministry of Justice for a while. It’s the Crown Prince’s matter, so there should be no problem. If you’ve got a brain, you ought to be able to manage this.”

As he walked past with his jacket billowing like the wind, Dominic and Eldo could not say a word.

It had been over two weeks since Dominic and Eldo started coming to the Ministry of Justice. At first it was just some overtime after work, but Vespera requested an adjustment, saying there was a lot of work. Of course, the Chancellor agreed readily and even designated them as clerks dedicated to cooperating with the Ministry of Justice.

They would drop by the Chancellery occasionally, and they were treated so harshly that the hollows under their eyes made them look terrible. On the first day she dealt with them directly, Vespera hugged me tightly.

“You’ve worked hard. I’ll handle it from now on.”

“Just tire them out enough to wear themselves down. It’s fine if you return to your old self briefly.”

“Your old self?”

“I’ve heard you’re a workaholic who doesn’t hesitate to use cutting remarks.”

He hugged me with a bit more force in his arm.

“You’re suffocating me!”

I squirmed and hit his arm; he eased his grip a little and rested his chin on my head.

“Who told you such nonsense?”

“Everyone.”

“…There is no one like that anymore.”

Having known the situation more intimately than anyone through Those Who Can’t Resign, I swallowed a laugh.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t see it, so you can unseal it briefly.”

“…That’s not easy.”

With that small smile of his, the gates of hell opened for Dominic and Eldo.

“Be happy, my subordinates.”

It felt as if my stress lessened since they were out of sight. The Chancellery’s atmosphere improved considerably. Clerks are looked after by the scribes, and the scribes are looked after by the auxiliary secretaries. No one was nitpicking. Simply put, there was no gap in work even without those two.

‘I wonder how long they’ll last.’

Recalling aide Illya’s cry of despair, I cheerfully crossed the Imperial Palace gardens toward Prince Raven’s residence. The counseling sessions held once or twice a week were gradually deepening. I heard various stories from his childhood to the present. At first he hesitated, but rather than pressing him to divulge secrets, I told him to speak comfortably about the things that brought him joy or pain, and only then did he start to open up little by little.

‘It feels like something could snap into place, but it doesn’t.’

Prince Raven’s pessimistic yet anxious and bottomed-out self-esteem. Was it merely the obligations one must have as royalty, the pressure of that? I leaned toward the idea that it wasn’t all. Maybe it just needed a bit more time. I walked aimlessly, lost in thought.

“Isn’t that the Chancellor?”

I checked the voice’s owner and furrowed my brow.

‘Ugh, damn.’

It was Crown Prince Lorence. Beside him was a noble young lady I hadn’t seen in a while.

“Have you been well? Cornelia Chancellor.”

It was Princess Seref, who had clashed with our lady in high society. In a world where status is muscle, she politely kept up appearances.

“I pay respects to the Empire’s little sun. Princess, it’s been a while. Thanks to you, I am doing well.”

The Duchess had been driven out, but the Princess’s position remained unchanged. The Crown Prince’s fiancée seat remained the same as well.

‘What’s so appealing about sitting next to that jerk?’

I can’t begin to understand the psychology of the rich. They already have more than enough, so what more do they want? What would a commoner like me know?

“So much has changed in the time I haven’t seen you. To the point where I raise my tone like this.”

Regardless of a count’s title, the Chancellor was a position even dukes found hard to look down upon.

‘That position was given to you by your fiancé.’

I gritted my teeth and smiled. Lorence swaggered alongside.

“Well, it seems you’ve been managing somehow so far. I don’t know how long that’ll last though.”

I didn’t want to let such an overt provocation pass today.

“It’s an important position that holds authority over state affairs after His Majesty. Isn’t it proof that His Majesty trusts me as much? I believe I was given it because I’m qualified.”

Even I thought it was a bit insane to say. Having only received obnoxious comments until now, I used my position as Chancellor to voice about ten percent of what I felt. Lorence, being mediocre, couldn’t let it pass calmly.

“Ha! Whose favor do you think got you that post!”

“By His Majesty the Emperor. Isn’t that so?”

I couldn’t bring myself to say that he had been the one to nominate me. There are only three of us here, after all; it doesn’t matter, does it?

“We’ll see each other again when the opportunity arises.”

Princess Seref quickly wrapped up the conversation with tact. Watching their departing backs, I felt a twinge of bitterness at the hollowness in her eyes.

‘It’s not my concern anyway.’

“I request an audience.”

Finally, the time had come.

I put on a stern expression and moved seats with the two.

“So, what’s the matter?”

“A request for cooperation from the Ministry of Justice… I can’t do any more!”

Now don’t you wish you were working with me?