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I handed him the resume I was holding.

“Tom, the scribe, I heard you worked in the Court Office, and I want to narrow down who among these could serve as Prince Raven’s personal attendant. I need your help finding the right person.”

“M-me?”

I closed my eyes silently and nodded. He swallowed once.

“I’m not sure exactly what I’m supposed to say…”

I straightened, leaned toward him, and asked earnestly.

“Tell me everything: how they were to work with, the rumors around them, their tendencies, personality—anything. And let me know if they’re tied to a specific noble line or have backing. The Prince is rebuilding his inner circle, and I want to provide as clean a group as possible. You’ve seen how doggedly I worked to normalize the Chancellery.”

“Understood.”

He surprisingly agreed readily. At first I thought he’d refuse, since we used to be at odds.

“I thought I’d have to persuade you since it’s outside work—thank you.”

Tom looked down and answered awkwardly.

“…Isn’t Reyra very fond of the Chancellor? I don’t want to be disliked. I also owe her in many ways.”

“Oh?”

Reyra must have said many good things about me.

“Being around Reyra taught me what it means to be a decent person. And if I want to be by her side, I can’t be the same as before. Honestly… clipping nails and such—I thought those things didn’t interfere with work. Even when I was forcibly moved from the Court Office to the Chancellery, I thought it was just hypocritical nitpicking by others. It’s just doing at work what you do at home.”

Truly remarkable common sense.

“But I was wrong. The Reyra I fell for never behaved like that at first.”

I’m glad he realized it now. The greatness of love, once again.

“I know the situation the Chancellor is in. No matter how lowly I was at the Court Office, I have experience at the top of the subtlety game there. Central ministries naturally stand out more. At first I thought I didn’t fit with the Chancellery, but now I’m doing fine. If there’s anything I can do, I’ll help.”

Tom’s gaze had changed so much it was almost like he’d been remade.

Reyra, you person…

I hadn’t realized he’d changed this much worrying about Dominic and Eldo.

Hoping the two of them don’t break up, I pointed to the resume I handed him.

“Thank you. Could you look these over?”

Tom carefully went through each resume and provided what he knew.

“This person is competent but… has obsessive cleanliness. He can’t stand dirt. Thanks to him the Court Office got very clean, but his assistants kept quitting.”

“This one is backed by the Seref Duke family, and this fellow used to be Captain Gerard’s servant.”

“This maid is late as a matter of course. It never improved.”

“This attendant is overly lively. If the Prince is quiet, they’ll drain him of energy. There’s even a rumor the head of servants avoids them.”

“This maid has bad hands. She was caught stealing a few times and put on probation.”

“This personal attendant served for a long time in the Marcus Marquess’s household.”

“This one… isn’t much different from me. Has a cleanliness issue. Can’t even do the work but has strong backing.”

“Burn them in the fireplace.”

“This person is called the ‘Court Office Dandelion.’”

“Dandelion?”

“The things he says spread with a single breath so everyone at the Court Office knows—he’s a master of lightweight gossip…”

I listened silently for a while, then couldn’t hold back and spoke.

“Is there not a single decent person left in the Court Office?”

Not a single one seems worth the trouble. I couldn’t help but frown.

“That Crown Prince brat. He interfered. The only decent ones are from his faction. He deliberately picked only problematic people.”

“This won’t do. I’ll request more candidates.”

I decided to ask Prince Raven to make a fuss so that, somehow, there’d be more decent people than spies.

I immediately sent a messenger letter to Aidan.

Strangely, a few days later, the Court Office sent another list.

“What happened?”

Given Prince Raven’s personality, he wouldn’t have done this lightly. I’d ask him about it later and double-checked the newly compiled resumes.

This batch was also a bust. Just in case, I sent another messenger to Aidan.

But the next day he returned with a new shortlist. He had definitely done something.

“Oh, this person is diligent and well-regarded even at the Court Office.”

Whatever he did, we could now pick suitable people. With Tom Hank’s help, we narrowed it to about twenty interviewees.

“So that’s why companies put so much effort into reference checks.”

I wasn’t comfortable relying solely on Tom Hank’s word, so I also included candidates whose resumes and abilities looked solid. After all, human chemistry matters; if it doesn’t fit, a person can become a monster. I wasn’t immune to that either.

“I’ve learned a lot.”

After several days of one-on-one work, a comfortable rapport formed between Tom and me.

I gathered the shortlists, tapped them on the desk, and greeted him.

“Thank you. The schedule ran longer than expected, but we finished well thanks to you. I’ll tell Reyra many good things about you. If you need help later, let me know.”

“That’s enough for me.”

Watching him, I felt a new sense of nostalgia.

There had clearly been bad feelings between us. But through events and opportunities, the relationship was reestablished. In working life, this sometimes happens.

When you need help or cooperation while relations are hostile.

Many office workers stew and endure because of that. Then, sometimes, it just unravels. It’s not common, but it’s not unheard of.

Of course, 90% of the time, you just keep hating someone. This “event” is a rare 10% occurrence.

“Maybe it’s a good thing it was just a hygiene issue.”

I told him to go home and let him leave.

Thinking I should gift Tom a voucher for a popular restaurant, I headed to where Vespera would be waiting in the carriage.

After a two-week trip, Prince Raven returned to the palace.

“You have returned?”

His attendants had already been cleared out. I had instructed that be done—to make him look more eccentric.

In truth, he’ll come and go frequently from now on, and the fewer witnesses until new aides are assembled, the better.

The Prince’s face looked much better than before when we met again.

I was glad the gloom had mostly lifted. There was one more change.

“Aidan, when shall you come visit the Marquess’s residence?”

“Just come whenever. If I’m not there, just turn back.”

Amazingly, the two of them had become quite friendly.

They spoke comfortably and there seemed to be many things I didn’t know about.

“We traveled to the Libertas territory without using gates, stopping at other places along the way. It was just me, Nicola, and Raven, so a lot of fun things happened!”

Upon hearing that, I quietly closed my eyes.

“Nicola… I’m sorry…!”

I could clearly imagine how much trouble Nicola had dealing with those clueless ones.

“If you get lonely, call me, Nicola, or Coco. Of course, if you call Coco, you must call me too. One thing’s for sure: Coco can’t be bought with money.”

Aidan said that odd line and disappeared out the window, unaware of how fond I am of money.

“It’s been so long since I’ve traveled so freely. Aidan shook off the tailing spies well.”

Even if they watched, it wouldn’t have mattered. It was a true rest. It made me think the Crown Prince was more thorough than expected—not a stupid psychopath.

“Anyway, thanks to the Chancellor it was an enjoyable trip. The Libertas territory was beautiful and splendid. I saw the sea after a long time; it was nice. Thank you.”

“I’m glad you had a good time. It’s rewarding to see Your Highness’s complexion brighter than before.”

“Ha ha, is that so.”

He even laughed like that. The changed environment was already influencing him. I wanted him to rest more, but to maintain this state we had to act quickly.

“Now that you’ve rested, let’s get to work.”

I put on my business smile and handed him the shortlisted resumes.

“Shall we begin?”

The interviews began the very next day.

The interviews were done in two rounds: the first focused on practical skills, the second gauged diligence and loyalty. It was essentially a process to determine “Would they betray us…?”

Each interview lasted about an hour. No pressure questions. We asked them to naturally talk about their past tasks and how they felt.

Of course the final decision rested with the Prince.

I asked most of the questions and he made the judgments. If he’d been outstanding in the past, he should be able to handle this degree of assessment.

“Now we just need to pick the closest personal attendant…”

It was a heavy responsibility: the leader of the servants and Raven’s aide.

Prince Raven had chosen everyone else but left the personal attendant position open.

“Is there no one you like?”

He propped his arm, rested his head, and nodded.

“Yes. None.”

“Then you should order the Court Office to shortlist a few more people.”

“Among these…”

“…Yes?”

Prince Raven got up from the desk, sat on the sofa opposite me who was sorting the resumes. He met my eyes directly for the first time in a while; his golden irises looked clearer than usual.

“To tell you the truth, I’d like to appoint Nicola as my personal attendant.”

“…What? …Wha-at?!”

Was this the anxiety I’d been feeling?

“You’re going to send our gentle one into that dark pit of the Imperial Palace?”