75

“Interesting,” Reyra, the finance officer, said when she heard the news, a satisfied smile on her face.

“I’ll go take a look.” The result had turned out better than I’d expected, which made me a little uneasy.

‘What if later that guy confesses to Reyra, gets rejected, and everything goes back to how it was?’

I had only pictured him lingering around, not actually confessing, but the thought unsettled me. If things reverted, would I have to contrive something to make him fall for her again?

Reyra tapped my forehead with her index finger, as if my expression was too serious.

“Stop worrying about pointless things and go do your work.”

Oh, right. Since my promotion to 1st Grade Secretary, work had piled up—mostly matters tied to noble property registration, standardizing report formats, and streamlining the reporting system.

“Yes.”

I replied politely and left the Ministry of Finance.

Work is for working, but other things had stolen too much time. Still, I couldn’t deny these reforms were crucial to the Chancellery’s efficiency.

At that moment I ran into the Duke, who was heading for the door with documents in hand.

“Hello, Supreme Justice.”

“Secretary Cornelia. How have you been?”

“I’m fine, thank you. Are you going to see the Minister of Finance?”

“Yes. There are a few things to check regarding the fund-tracking law.”

The conversation felt livelier than before.

I greeted him politely once more.

“Then I’ll head off first. Take care!”

“Um.”

“Yes, Supreme Justice!”

I thought he might have something specific to say, but his question was unexpected.

“Um, what happened with that knight from the royal exchange gathering?”

“…Yes?”

I wondered if I’d misheard him.

“Iliya told me the knight who came first in the hunt offered his quarry to you. Everyone’s curious how that turned out.”

‘Oh, now he’s even gathering information to get closer to the staff.’ His effort felt endearing.

“Well. We decided to have a meal together; maybe next week?”

“I see. What do you think of him, Secretary?”

“Me? Um… I don’t really know him, so I’ll meet him and ask various things first.”

“Understood.”

He nodded stiffly, said goodbye, and went into the Ministry of Finance.

‘To think he’d ask me about something like that. There’s a quietly amusing side to him.’

I remembered the tasks I had to handle and hurried back to the Chancellery.

“Coco.”

“Mr. Aidan, you’re here again?”

Aidan greeted me while sprawled across the kitchen table.

He had business at the Imperial Palace often enough, so I didn’t understand why he visited our house even more frequently. Still, he had been indulgent—the matter had benefited from his help.

“But it’s more fun here. Coco’s great, Julie and Rio like me, and Marcella makes delicious food.”

“The Marquis’s household and servants also like Aidan. You can have even better meals there.”

Someone might think I’m the female lead of a web novel who’s been ostracized by her family.

“I don’t know, just seeing Coco’s face is entertaining.”

“Unfortunately, only Mr. Aidan feels that way. I’m popular in my own right.”

“Popular?”

Aidan slowly sat up. Marcella, having finished the dishes, set down some tea and watched.

“Coco, what happened at the banquet?”

“Banquet?”

Aidan echoed, and at that moment Julie and Rio came running down from the second floor.

“Wow! Popular, popular! Our sister is so popular!”

“Sis, awesome, awesome! The coolest in the world!”

They circled the table as I took a cake from the shelf, sliced it, and set plates at the children’s places. They stopped spinning and sat politely.

“It’s actually nothing…”

I confidently recounted what happened at the royal exchange gathering based on what Mr. Bull had told me, and mentioned that more men had shown interest after the banquet.

I expected scoffs, but the atmosphere turned surprisingly serious.

“Oh-ho, really?”

Aidan smiled, but there was an eerie edge to it. Marcella sighed and scooped a mouthful of Rio’s cake.

“Why give me such reactions? Don’t you believe me? If your sister’s popular, that’s a good thing.”

Marcella, who had been listening quietly, suddenly issued a warning.

“Coco, you can’t just go meeting anyone. Get my permission before you meet someone.”

“Why?”

“Why? Do you have any idea how many dangerous people there are in the world?”

“But isn’t the deputy commander of the Royal First Knights’ status fairly secure? I did a little checking; he’s secretly quite popular.”

“Is he handsome?”

Aidan asked suddenly, still smiling.

“I think he’s handsome.”

“More than me?”

Maybe it was my imagination, but his questioning felt persistent. The gentle, delicate-looking young master had turned a little intimidating.

“He’s a different sort. He feels manly yet kind.”

“Am I not manly?”

“No, it’s just that he’s a knight…”

I started to say he was more developed physically but stopped. Somehow it felt like things were becoming irreversible.

“Is that your type, Coco?”

“Me?”

I hadn’t really thought about romance, so I couldn’t name a specific ideal. I answered vaguely.

“Well. There’s no woman who dislikes handsome people, right?”

“That’s true.”

“Coco, this brother thinks it’s still too early for you to date.”

Marcella cut in again. Julie and Rio stood watching, milk in hand, intrigued.

“But at Lucius senior’s wedding, the seniors and superiors said it’s the right age to marry.”

“Times have changed. This brother thinks it’s not good to be chased into marriage like that.”

“Oh, so it’s okay to date several men and then choose?”

Marcella’s flustered face amused me, so I teased without meaning it.

“N-no! Be cautious! I mean, you need to be careful. It’s still too early!”

“Sister, so you won’t meet that knight?”

Julie asked with sparkling eyes. The word ‘knight’ seemed to set her imagination alight.

I glanced at the two men beside me and smiled.

“Maybe.”

It’s better not to say.

Busy days continued. Since the Chancellery coordinated various departments and handled administration, requests came from the Ministry of Finance, the Foreign Ministry, the War Ministry, and others. Colleagues I had worked with before showed up more often because they were comfortable with me.

“Cornelia, are you okay?”

When senior Lucius asked with a worried face, I shrugged to indicate I was fine. Fortunately, I was still leaving work on time.

“They’re not asking anything difficult. It’s just a lot of small things, so it’s fine.”

Because these were other departments’ matters, the communication artifact kept buzzing with meeting schedules, visit requests, arranging a meal with Deputy Commander Girion, choosing lunch menus with Lukan and Elysia, and more. For the record, Elysia had been very cooperative since the Tom Hank incident was resolved.

“But she said she recognized you since you rewrote the road construction contract.”

Lukan had told me that quietly.

He said she was convinced of both my duty as a bureaucrat and my competence.

I don’t work for approval, but it felt good that my ability had prompted someone to change.

She formally apologized for her past behavior, and being one year apart in age made it easy to be informal with Elysia like with Lukan. She was quietly funny—introverted but blunt when she wanted to be.

• Central Ministries Chancellery group chat -

Cornelia Libertas (Chancellery_Grade1): When Elysia left her seat, Leo the assistant scribe yawned a lot.

Lucan Fairburn (Chancellery_Scribe): hahahahahaha

Elysia Langford (Chancellery_Scribe): You gathered them, now’s the time

Cornelia Libertas (Chancellery_Grade1): kekekekekeke

“Secretary Cornelia, are you very busy?”

Just as I was about to type a message, I looked up and saw the Minister of Finance standing there with a warm smile.

‘I have an uneasy feeling.’

Right—when a superior calls me over, it usually means more work.

“A little. What is it?”

He hesitated, embarrassed; that alone wasn’t a good sign.

“The Ministry of Justice has requested your cooperation on a task.”

The Ministry of Justice had never requested work from me before.

“That’s fine. How can I help?”

“But the thing is… it’s work that must be done after leaving work.”

“What?”

I froze at the thunderous news.

“Is there really a reason it has to be done after working hours?”

“The Supreme Justice has many things to handle at the Ministry of Justice, so he only has time after work.”

It’s hard to refuse a request from a Duke who practically eats overtime for breakfast. He’d seemed unhappy last time; knowing he was a decent person, I was willing to help.

“It’s fine. I’ll go to the Ministry of Justice after work starting tomorrow.”

Then I’ll probably have to postpone the meal with Deputy Commander Girion that was scheduled for next week.