Chapter 83

After that, for a while uneventful, smooth days continued. The Duke’s vow-like incantation seemed to act like an expulsion, and I neither had nightmares nor trembled in fear. In fact, having been hit so hard once made me face reality more coldly.

For now, the plan is this.

‘I won’t die alone.’

In this place that is like a second life, I vowed not to lose the things I cherish here. If something happens, you’ll die and I’ll die.

No matter how high he is, I can’t let him put poison in my carriage and let it go. First of all, I didn’t like that that guy was in the Crown Prince’s position. If I stay here long, won’t he be the next Emperor? I skimmed the royal family tree in the library to see if there were any other royal relatives.

‘Second Prince Raven.’

He was a reclusive figure I hadn’t seen even at the banquet. Said to be the Empress’s offspring, he was shrouded in mystery, so more information was needed. There was also Princess Reiana. For now, I stored in my head that there were alternatives to the Crown Prince.

‘Whoever does it will be better than you.’

Satisfied with that, I returned to the Chancellery and resumed work. Unifying the central ministry formats and systematizing the reporting was proceeding smoothly. In fact, I’m the one who knows how to do it, I’m the person in charge, and with the Emperor’s approval, there was no one to make needless objections.

Ding.

A notification chimed on the communication artifact indicating a message had arrived.

It was the department group chat.

Lukan Fairburn: Now that you mention it, the Supreme Justice hasn’t been looking for a First-rank secretary lately?

Elysia Langford: You did well.

Lucius Belmont: Cornelia, surely… no? Coco?

Why did Elysia immediately say “you did well”? She was letting me know I’d handled it with appropriate measures.

Lukan Fairburn: Is that true? Haha… The Asset Department incident is coming back so vividly, I’m very worried.

Lucius Belmont: I’ve heard the story, but was it really that serious?

Lukan Fairburn: Ugh~ Don’t even mention it. The secretary, can you believe it…

Leo Alder: What did she do?

Cornelia Libertas: Aren’t you all working?

Lukan Fairburn: Hmph, anyway, it was almost like revenge how often cooperation requests kept coming. I’m glad you’re getting along again. Secretary.

From this messenger I could guess the Chancellery’s harmony. I couldn’t say he had used a confession attack to stop the cooperation requests, so I let whatever speculation stand.

‘He said he’d protect me, yet he’s nowhere to be seen.’

I hadn’t run into him since that day. He didn’t even ask via messenger if I was okay. Still, I decided not to run away, and since nothing strange happened, it seemed fine.

“Cornelia, you’re from Ophel, right? Could I ask you to handle this job?”

Senior Lucius handed over documents from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance. The Minister of Finance’s and the Supreme Justice’s comments were written with signatures. The Minister of Finance had secretly messy handwriting, while the Supreme Justice’s was neat and tidy.

“The Ophel lord’s assets aren’t clear, so it’d be good if you go and see for yourself. Just check if they match what’s listed here. Since it’s your hometown, you’ll probably know better, and you can get some fresh air while you’re at it.”

“What? All of a sudden?”

“You took on all those forced Ministry of Justice overtimes and then took three days sick leave. Go down to your hometown and get some fresh air while you’re at it.”

It seemed like a bunch of ridiculous misunderstandings had been generated.

“I- I’m fine…”

“Even if we’re the same rank, I’m your senior, so you should listen, alright?”

Ophel wasn’t actually my hometown and I had no affection for it, but there was no particular reason to refuse, and since they offered to send me, it was a good proposal.

“I’ll gratefully go and return well, senior.”

Senior Lucius smiled satisfactorily and went back to his seat.

Realizing I had received much sympathy while on sick leave, I learned that, on the other hand, the Duke had taken quite a bit of flak. Reyra, the finance officer currently in a blissful romance, bought lunch as thanks for connecting the relationship. The topic came up during that.

“Yeah, that Minister of Finance who were so close called in the Supreme Justice and gave him a proper telling-off. I saw it myself, so there’s no doubt.”

“Well, it might not have been that extreme. I took care of it myself…”

“Still, it’s true that there were frequent overtimes because of other departments’ work. He borrowed subordinate staff excessively, so as a manager, it’s understandable he’d be furious.”

That made sense when I thought about it. Reyra the finance officer gulped down apple juice and continued.

“Anyway, it’s true the Supreme Justice has been busy lately. Now that you’re First-rank, you know, one of the tasks is tending to the superior’s affairs. It seems the Crown Prince keeps causing incidents, so the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Justice have been busy. Well, he was always busy though.”

“Why is it always the Supreme Justice working so late?”

I had confirmed his ability when I was in the Asset Department. He works well. Efficiently. He’s not the type to be stuck on an unsolvable math problem late into the night.

Reyra let out a small sigh.

“The Ministry of Justice takes the brunt of handling incident recovery the most. They have to keep taking measures so things don’t violate the law, and that makes them less flexible compared to our Ministry of Finance or the Chancellery.”

“Because you can’t just change the law at will all the time?”

“Right. So they have to find precedents and very small clauses one by one and slot them together like a puzzle to handle things. Doesn’t just hearing that make you want to tear your hair out?”

It was one of the big reasons I didn’t want to join the Ministry of Justice. Hearing they were suffering like that made me uneasy.

“Indeed. If only the one causing the incidents were gone, things would be peaceful.”

Reyra laughed at that.

“That’s what I mean! This is why I like you. The Chancellery’s future is certainly brighter than during Marcus’s time, right?”

“Miss Reyra, everything’s fine but please lower your voice a bit.”

I had to listen to Reyra’s continued romance story while feeling my frustration firsthand.

After finishing a day’s work and leaving the central ministries for regular dismissal, I ran into the Duke.

“Heading home?”

As always he was neatly dressed, but the dark circles under his eyes made him look tired.

“Yes. Aren’t you leaving, Duke?”

“I still have some work left. How have you been these days?”

The Duke instead asked how I was doing.

“If it’s hard, tell me. I’ll request the Minister of Finance to let you take more sick leave. I’ll send my physician as well. Don’t overdo it. It’s natural to be shocked when it’s your first time.”

I seemed to have many questions, but when I looked at the Duke’s face, they felt meaningless. I just hoped he would rest a bit.

“If it’s alright, may I help you a bit?”

The Duke widened his eyes in surprise.

“Isn’t it past dismissal time? It’s fine.”

“I’m offering this as special repayment for saving me. I have no other intentions.”

The Duke hesitated for a moment, then accepted.

“Thanks to you, I should be able to sleep a bit tonight.”

He lifted the corner of his mouth slightly. My lips curved into a smile along with his.

There was no one left in the Ministry of Justice office. It seemed true that he often worked late alone.

“It’s something I can’t tell my subordinates.”

Sensing my gaze, he noticed the implication and spoke.

“Then may I know?”

“You already know how things work here. There’s no lack of trust since you severed one arm of the Crown Prince’s funding.”

It was clear the Crown Prince had caused trouble.

“These officials came to serve the country, and it’s no good knowing that the royals cause incidents like this. Even one or two such incidents leave everyone stunned.”

Even while suffering that, he was trying to boost his subordinates’ morale.

“Is this kind of thing a duty nobles must bear?”

“Yes.”

Yes, a frustratingly narrow-minded, admirable noble.

Having worked late at the Ministry of Justice, it was easy to grasp the work. This time the Crown Prince’s incident was gambling.

“He kept losing money, so he put the treasures in the Crown Prince’s palace up as collateral, and when he lost even that, he ordered a new gambling statute to be enacted? To make it so that money lost to gambling is returned to the owners?”

“That’s right.”

What nonsense. Why should money used in a crime be returned?

“So the plan is roughly to wrap it up by recovering the gambling funds, including the Crown Prince’s palace treasures, under the royal name. Changing the statute is out of the question.”

But looking at the details, something was odd. The incident was too petty. This wasn’t work for the Supreme Justice.

“This seems like a matter that could be handled at the knight order level. I don’t think it’s something for the Supreme Justice to step in. Is it related to the Ministry of Justice?”

The Duke flipped through several papers and answered.

“No.”

“Then why are you getting involved?”

The Duke tugged a smirk and tapped the documents with a long forefinger.

“Because that’s the only way he can torment me.”