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I could barely move, but I forced myself to the Chancellery.

When I opened the door, Lucius and Senior Victor were packing their things.

“Hey, Chancellor.”

Lucius forced a smile and tried to sound cheerful. I rushed straight to the question that was tearing at me.

“Senior, what on earth is going on?”

I couldn’t calm down. Lukan and Elysia beside me wore equally gloomy expressions.

“The Minister of Finance did hint yesterday that there would be transfers, but I didn’t expect it to turn out like this. I never thought I’d be sent to the Ministry of Finance.”

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs…?”

Senior Victor’s voice was utterly despondent.

“No, so sudden… with no prior explanation? After those two left, nothing happened in our department. Me as Chancellor… this makes even less sense.”

Lucius sighed deeply.

“How could we know what those above are thinking? We do as we’re ordered.”

“Elysia and I were also shocked when we saw today’s notice.”

Lukan looked unusually flustered.

“Are we really saying goodbye like this?”

Elysia murmured softly.

I couldn’t stand there anymore and went straight to the Ministry of Finance on the third floor. The personnel transfers targeted all departments, but everyone could see the Chancellery was the main target.

As soon as I entered, Reyra nodded and said the Minister of Finance was inside. I signaled my thanks, knocked, and—without waiting for an answer—opened the door.

“Minister of Finance!”

“You’re here. Sit down.”

As if he’d expected me, the Minister of Finance pointed to the sofa across from him with a hardened expression. A distinguished guest sat there.

“Supreme Justice?”

“I’m here for the same matter. I just arrived, so listen with me.”

“Understood.”

I sat beside the Duke and waited. The Minister of Finance treated the situation with unexpected gravity; he drank his tea in silence and spoke slowly.

“A few days before the delegation returned, His Majesty summoned me. The matter was that the Chancellor’s seat had been vacant too long and needed filling. It was a reasonable directive—I even thought it was taking too long to find a suitable candidate. He then suggested a few people to me—all of them were the Crown Prince’s people.”

“…!”

“…!”

This was clearly the Crown Prince’s handiwork. Whether by winning sympathy or throwing a tantrum, he had bent the Emperor to his will.

“I naturally declined. The Chancellery had just started functioning like a central ministry again; going back to square one would be disastrous. But His Majesty did not want a prolonged conflict with his son. He wanted to let him build his own power base as the next Emperor.”

“Even if the means are unjust?”

The Duke’s low voice carried quiet anger. The Minister of Finance nodded bitterly.

“Yes. Even if it’s unjust.”

A heavy silence settled in the room.

“He argued that there’s no noble without dust on them when you shake them out; it’s not entirely wrong.”

The Minister of Finance looked self-mocking.

“Whether it’s acceptable for a royal with no solid position or achievements to be covered in nothing but dust is dubious. In any case, His Majesty seemed to expect I’d strongly oppose. He offered two options.”

“Options?”

He nodded and placed fountain pens with black and red ink on the paper, drawing several circular rings. At the top sat a ring with a crown.

“The first, as His Majesty suggested earlier, is to make a correction: appoint the person the Crown Prince wants as Chancellor.”

The crowned ring was filled in with black.

“The other was…”

He overpainted the black ring with the red pen and marked several rings below with Xs.

“Cornelia, First-Rank Secretary, would become Chancellor, and Lucius and Victor—the core of the Chancellery and the ones most likely to become the next Chancellor—would be sent to other departments. Then he would fill those vacancies with his own people.”

“…!”

“There wasn’t much time, and a choice had to be made before the delegation returned. It seemed the Crown Prince agreed to one of those two plans.”

I couldn’t accept this at all.

“Me in the Chancellor’s seat is ridiculous. My bloodline, status, education—everything is lacking. My career and experience are insufficient to present any achievements. This is just asking me to die.”

“I had no choice.”

“Minister of Finance.”

“If not you, he would have placed the Crown Prince’s pick as Chancellor. Then the Crown Prince’s favorite sitting in the Chancellor’s seat would rebuild the Chancellery to suit his tastes.”

“Still, this is…!”

“I had to bet on the more likely option.”

“The more likely option? Where on earth do you see that…!”

“Who put Marcus and Dorian out?”

The Minister of Finance glared at me fiercely—his own frustration spilling over. But I was the one who’d been drenched in the muck head-on.

“…The staff won’t follow me. That’s likely why the Crown Prince agreed.”

“He will regret it.”

The Duke, who had been listening quietly, spoke heavily but firmly. The Minister of Finance agreed.

“I agree. He will surely regret his complacent thinking.”

I felt suffocated by frustration, like I might die.

Just yesterday I had felt like the happiest person in the world, thinking I’d finally experience the fresh high of romance like others. Now what awaited me felt like a noose tightening into a guillotine.

“I’m going to get some air.”

I roughly untied the ribbon at my neck and left the office.

“Maybe this time I’ll really quit.”

I sat dazed on a bench in front of the central ministry, trying to calm the tumult in my head. I had never smoked, yet suddenly craved a cigarette.

Fine. Everything’s fine. But me as Chancellor! This is like giving a twenty-one-year-old the office of Prime Minister.

No matter how well-trained a K-office worker I am, this is a post I’ve never held.

“Cornelia.”

The Duke who had followed me strode over and sat beside me.

“You’re not… okay, are you? I’m sorry I didn’t anticipate this.”

I was startled by his unexpected self-reproach.

“What are you saying? That bastard is the problem; Supreme Justice, you did nothing wrong.”

“No. I knew he was that kind of person and I was complacent. I shouldn’t have been away from the court so long.”

The Duke looked genuinely regretful. I bristled and said:

“Once His Majesty stepped in, staying wouldn’t have changed much. I still think this delegation trip was very meaningful, so it’s a bit hurtful to hear you say that.”

The sudden jab left him flustered.

“Ah, no — it’s not that. It’s because I hate above all to see you put in danger.”

In fact, the delegation’s schedule clarified why I experienced Soul transmigration and helped determine what would come next. Even if I couldn’t change the current situation, gaining that knowledge felt like a great reward.

“Let’s watch for now. See how things play out.”

The view was foggy, but the time to choose a direction would come. Whether to run or to stand and fight, we’ll decide then.

Lucius and Senior Victor finished packing. That meant they were almost ready to leave.

The Chancellery staff traded sad goodbyes at the sudden parting; everyone liked the two seniors.

“We’re in the same building—why are you all looking so miserable?”

Lucius joked, but even he looked full of regret.

“If you need anything, come find us anytime. We’ll help.”

Senior Victor smiled gently at the Chancellery people.

I, a secretary, and the assistant clerks each picked up a box to help move their luggage. The two seniors protested they were fine, but everyone was unmoved. Lucius sighed and came over to where I stood.

“I can’t not say something when I see that face. Cornelia—you’ll do well. Everyone in this room acknowledges you.”

“Senior…”

“I won’t pretend it won’t be hard. It will be tougher than ever… but I want you to keep going and take on the challenge. Through you, I realized age and schooling don’t determine the Chancellor’s seat. Victor and I, in the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will definitely help someday.”

“Yeah. Looking at the previous Chancellor, as First-Rank Secretary, there’s nothing you can’t do.”

Senior Victor chimed in.

“We’ll be slogging it out in departments we barely know… but we won’t give up. We’ll wait for you to call us back to the Chancellery.”

“Just thinking about studying foreign languages gives me a headache already. Call us back soon.”

“Don’t pressure me. My head already hurts enough.”

“That’s how you won’t quit.”

“Ugh, I don’t know.”

Lucius smiled warmly, patted my shoulder a few encouraging times, and left the Chancellery with Senior Victor.

After moving their luggage to where the two seniors sat and seeing them off, I headed back first, my mind unsettled.

“Oh, isn’t this Cornelia, appointed the youngest Chancellor? Congratulations.”

Unluckily, I ran into a repulsive figure. I barely restrained the urge to punch him the moment I saw him—the insufferable Crown Prince who treated people like flies.

He looked in a very good mood. The fact he greeted me first made it worse.

I kept a perfect poker face. I absolutely didn’t want to show my feelings.

“Not at all. I heard Your Highness strongly recommended me.”

“Because I know you won’t disappoint me.”

He smiled smugly.

“Then do well.”

He tapped my shoulder and brushed past. Unlike Lucius’s pat, his touch felt like a worm crawling under my skin.

The next day.

A lackey of the Crown Prince and a new face arrived at the Chancellery for work.

“Hello. I’m Dominic Lanchester, working in the Chancellery starting today.”

“Good day. I’m Eldo Hiberge, assigned to the Chancellery.”

Both wore confident smiles, as if they were no strangers to the department.