Chapter 99

I barely managed to move my body and headed to the Chancellery.

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

“Hey, Chancellor.”

Lucius forced a smile and tried to joke cheerfully. I hurriedly asked what had happened.

“Senior, what on earth is going on?”

I couldn’t calm down at all. Lukan and Elysia beside me also wore gloomy expressions.

“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 sounded 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 also looked unusually flustered.

“Are we really saying goodbye like this?”

Elysia murmured softly.

I couldn’t stand still any longer 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 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 opposite with a hardened expression. There was a distinguished guest seated 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 for the Minister of Finance to speak. He seemed to know this was serious and did not crack his usual glib jokes. He drank the tea in front of him in silence and then 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 should be filled quickly. It was a reasonable directive. Even I 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 must have bent the Emperor to his will.

“I naturally declined. The Chancellery had just started to function like a central ministry again; reverting to square one would be disastrous. But His Majesty did not want a long conflict with his son, the Crown Prince. 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 a quiet anger. The Minister of Finance nodded bitterly.

“Yes. Even if it’s unjust.”

The room fell into a heavy silence.

“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?”

The Minister of Finance nodded and placed fountain pens with black and red ink on the paper. He drew several circular rings. At the top was 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, who were the core of the Chancellery and had the highest chance 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.”

But I couldn’t accept this situation 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 had to place 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. He was expressing his own frustration. But I was the one who got 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, said heavily but firmly. The Minister of Finance agreed.

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

I felt so suffocated from frustration that I thought I might die.

Just yesterday I thought I was the happiest person in the world, thinking I might experience the fresh feeling of romance like others. Now what’s waiting for me is a noose tightening like a guillotine.

“I’m going to get some air.”

I roughly untied the ribbon neatly tied around 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 I suddenly craved a cigarette.

Fine. Everything’s fine. But me as Chancellor! This is… like giving a 21-year-old the post of prime minister!

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

“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 the Duke’s 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 exclaimed 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 the Duke flustered.

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

In fact, this delegation’s schedule was an important time that clarified why I experienced Soul transmigration and helped me determine the direction of what would come next. Even if I couldn’t change the current situation, gaining him was a great reward for me.

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

The view was foggy now, but the time to choose a direction would certainly come. Whether to run away or die together, we’ll decide then.

Lucius and Senior Victor finished packing their things. That meant it was almost time for them to leave.

The Chancellery staff traded goodbyes sadly at the sudden parting. Everyone in the department liked the two seniors.

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

Lucius said jokingly, 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, saying it would be fine. I, and 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 was.

“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 say it won’t be hard. It will surely be tougher than ever… but I want you to keep going and take on the challenge. Through you, I realized that 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 be of help someday.”

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

Senior Victor chimed in from beside him.

“We’ll be slogging it out in a department 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.”

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

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

I kept a perfect poker face without a twitch. 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 expressed his satisfaction with an annoyingly smug curl of his lip.

“Then do well.”

He tapped my shoulder and brushed past. Unlike Lucius’s pat, it 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 very confident smiles, as if they didn’t feel like strangers in a new department.