Chapter 139

“I will give sufficient compensation to those who worked hard on this, including the Prince. Rest for a while and recover your health.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Everyone bowed at the decision on bonuses and secretly rejoiced. They left the Emperor’s palace with relieved expressions.

“You’ve worked hard. I will take special care of my Chancellor.”

Prince Raven smiled broadly. The atmosphere was clearly different from before. As someone who had been through a similar experience in the past, I was genuinely glad.

“Seeing the Prince’s admirable conduct, which can’t be measured in money, was enough for me.”

“…What?”

Suddenly Raven’s face flushed and he froze. Nicola beside him poked his side.

“Coco, you looked like a pro.”

“Eek?”

I immediately corrected myself.

“That’s not what I meant. It seems you’ve come a long way. I don’t know the Prince’s old self, but I thought it might be like this now.”

The Prince cleared his throat and nodded as if to say he was fine.

“Surprised, aren’t you? As you said, my heart is lighter. Even after seeing my brother, I felt better than expected.”

“Didn’t you do great things in the plague-stricken region?”

“Nicola told me. He said the Chancellor wouldn’t have deliberately asked for the impossible.”

“That’s right.”

“As you said, His Majesty really didn’t ignore my request and granted it.”

“Because it was a request that could be reasonably accepted. Do you now have the will to trust yourself?”

Prince Raven’s eyes grew wider.

“Then all of this is because of the Chancellor…!”

I grinned and bowed.

“I’ll come to the palace after recovering from the travel fatigue. Prince, please rest well too.”

Leaving the stunned Prince in Nicola’s care, I hurried to the central ministry.

I wanted to go straight home and rest, but I felt I couldn’t sleep until I checked whether that Lawrence had made a mess at the Chancellery.

“The Chancellor has arrived—.”

The Chancellery staff, overwhelmed with work, were surprised to see me and stood up.

“When did you come! You seem to have lost a lot of weight.”

“I thought you’d rest and come in tomorrow. Aren’t you tired?”

I waved my hand to tell them not to fuss and headed to the Chancellor’s office.

“I have something to check. Don’t worry, I’ll let you enjoy the last of your free time. Secretaries, come to my room.”

I also wanted to go home and rest, so as soon as the door closed I got straight to the point.

“Was there anything unusual?”

Of the three who exchanged glances, Elysia was the first to speak.

“Actually, after the Chancellor left, there was a break-in at the Chancellery.”

“…!”

They were indeed plotting something.

“Fortunately, we had made copies of the important documents, so we have the originals. They didn’t find what they wanted; it wasn’t just once, but several times.”

“Aldo.”

When I turned my gaze, he answered.

“My guess is they were focusing on documents related to the cases the Chancellor handled: from the former Chancellor’s fall, to the boulevard construction corruption, to reports related to the Hidden Department…”

Hmm….

I tapped the desk repeatedly with my index finger. What did they want?

They broke in to take documents that could be seen if an order were issued? Things that were already finished?

There was only one conclusion I could draw.

“They wanted to burn the documents.”

They intended to burn the originals to leave no traces. It was fortunate we kept copies, otherwise it would have been a disaster.

No — the fact they broke in several times meant they were nervous about something.

“Were any documents missing?”

This time Lukan answered.

“…The Supreme Justice helped. When he learned of the first break-in he was going to request the War Ministry, but he ordered silence and called people from the Duke’s residence to guard it.”

That can’t be. The head of the War Ministry is a person of the Crown Prince.

“Except for about five days when he took leave for Duke-related matters, he stayed late every day to guard it. There were even rumors that the Supreme Justice was possessed by a workaholic ghost again. Thanks to that, all originals were preserved.”

Elysia added.

‘Acting like nothing happened and yet so foolish…’

Looking closely, the three secretaries seemed to have stood guard together; the dark circles under their eyes were visible. They went this far to keep my word.

“All three of you leave early today and take tomorrow off. You’ve really worked hard.”

I hurriedly rose from my seat. When I went to the Ministry of Justice, they said the Supreme Justice was not at his post.

‘I wanted to see his face…’

I thought I’d visit the Duke’s residence around his leaving time and headed to fetch a carriage. Just as I was about to leave my disappointment behind, a familiar hand gently wrapped around my waist from behind.

In an instant I was moved into an unfamiliar carriage.

“Ren?”

Opposite me sat a man whose beauty seemed even more striking than usual.

“Did you have a good trip?”

He smiled at me in a melting way.

“Ren!”

“Ria.”

He squeezed my hand and grinned. Grinned? Was that a word I could associate with him? Yet facing the person in front of me, all loosened and beaming that brilliant smile, no other word came to mind.

“Have you been well?”

“No.”

Even as Ren shook his head firmly, he didn’t stop fiddling with my hand.

“This won’t do. Excuse me for a moment.”

Then he suddenly lifted me onto his lap and buried his face in my neck, inhaling as if I’d become an oasis; I was startled.

“Ugh, get off! I haven’t been able to wash properly for days, I’m really filthy! You smell!”

I tried with all my strength to push him away, but he was immovable.

“Not long ago you wouldn’t even let me touch you because of the plague, and now this. Smell? You worry about a non-existent smell.”

Yes, I think it’s time to speak up now.

“…That’s because Ren is besotted with me. Finding this scruffy look cute is temporary.”

Perhaps resisting in response, he hugged my back even tighter.

“Ren!”

“Then you should get used to it in advance.”

“Are you crazy?”

I patted his shoulder, but my cotton-fisted punch couldn’t land a blow. He only chuckled. He’s the kind of person who can break a magic barrier with his bare hands.

I only want to show my pretty side, but I’ve been creating nothing but embarrassing memories: hives, bare face, a scruffy look. He, meanwhile, was perfectly made up, which only made the comparison worse. I leaned on his shoulder with tears welling up.

“I heard there was a break-in at the Chancellery.”

“Since no originals were stolen, it’s nothing to worry about.”

His voice, softly resonant from his throat, felt warm.

“I heard they guarded it with the Duke’s men. Actually, Ren stayed all night, right? Hard to trust, isn’t it?”

“…They were trying to obtain it even by sending you to the plague area. Their goal was likely to seize the originals and burn them.”

“Without me, there’s no one to pressure the Crown Prince, and it’s easier to do preparatory manipulation.”

His body leaning on my shoulder gradually went limp and heavy.

“So… don’t scold me, praise me instead.”

I hugged him tightly, feeling both grateful and pitying, and patted his back. The more I got to know him, the more different he was from my first impression. A big puppy, nothing more.

“Thank you. You’ve worked hard.”

“Ria, you’ve worked hard too.”

We smiled at each other.

After visiting the plague area, Prince Raven made a complete return to the political scene.

He no longer locked himself away in the palace. His condition also stabilized. Probably because he confirmed that his actions in the plague area were accepted without suspicion. The Emperor gradually delegated tasks to him, and I subtly praised him and assigned him increasingly important duties.

“Interesting.”

With the absurd impression that he found work enjoyable, he gradually regained his old self. He was currently participating in a financial planning project with the Minister of Finance.

“Teaching him is enjoyable.”

So said the Minister of Finance. Apparently he was so thirsty for learning he absorbed everything like a sponge.

I hadn’t expected Prince Raven’s abilities to be this good; it was an unexpected piece of good news. In many ways, his path differed from others’.

Satisfied, I finished the department heads’ meeting and returned to the Chancellery, but the atmosphere was unsettled.

‘Why are they like that?’

I saw Selena pacing in front of the Chancellery door. She hurried over when she saw me.

“The Crown Prince is here.”

“…!”

I would have been surprised enough with Prince Raven here, but the Crown Prince of all people — and he came without summoning me…’

‘He must be in a particularly bad mood.’

“Thank you.”

I admired Selena for coming out to meet me as if something might happen. Thanks to her, I was ready for battle before opening the door.

Sure enough, I spotted that Lawrence causing a ruckus around the office. He was poking at my favorite cherry tree with his foot. Definitely not him.

“I greet the empire’s little sun.”

Lawrence waved at me as if pleased.

“Ah, Chancellor. I dropped by the Ministry of Justice and wanted to see you as well.”

He must have given Ren some awful task again.

“If you had told me in advance I would have gone to see you.”

“You went to dangerous regions; for something like this I had to come personally.”

If he were truly considerate, he wouldn’t have come at all…

I pointed to the Chancellor’s office and led the way.

“Please come this way.”

Lawrence followed arrogantly behind me. When we sat on the sofa, Lucan kindly served tea.

“Thank you.”

Lawrence didn’t even glance at the tea. With a light gesture he dismissed the attendant who had followed him. I signaled Lukan to leave the room.

Thud.

Everyone left, and only the Crown Prince and I remained in the room.

“What brings the empire’s little sun all the way here?”

Please, stop spouting nonsense and go away.