The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success-Chapter 32

“Uh, huh?”

“How could someone like me possibly make that kind of teleportation scroll. I don't even have the skills...”

I quickly pulled my hand back, letting my shoulders droop powerlessly as usual, and continued speaking.

I really couldn’t make it, but even if I could, I wanted to mess with him a little more.

“I almost got disciplined last time for sticking my nose where it didn't belong... there’s no way I could do something like that...”

“Na-Namia, th-that’s...!”

“That’s all because of what you taught me, team leader...”

“Hey, you little—!”

Just as Oson, who was red with rage, raised his hand to slap me—

Honestly, it would’ve been fine to let him hit me once. I’d been slapped plenty by the Baron couple too.

‘Considering how much I'm provoking him, getting slapped once is cheap.’

Compared to the satisfaction I felt, getting slapped was nothing.

But suddenly, someone rushed in like lightning and twisted Oson’s arm.

“Auugh!”

Oson screamed, jumping up in pain.

At the same time, from a distance, the royal guards came running in a clatter.

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty the Empress! You must not run like that!”

Amazingly, the one who had twisted Oson’s arm was the muscle-bound Empress.

The Empress beamed triumphantly and shouted.

“Come on, let’s go! It’s time for the trial to start!”

“Your Majesty! No, if you rush like that—!”

“It’s because I’m afraid this bastard’s gonna bolt! Why are you letting such a suspicious guy roam around alone?”

The guards spoke tearfully.

“The only suspicious individual who’s supposed to be under guard during this trial is Your Majesty the Empress... That person is a witness and accuser... Please don’t forget...”

“Ah, right. I forgot.”

The Empress blinked innocently as she spoke.

But she didn’t loosen her grip on Oson’s arm.

“Well, anyway, let’s go. This guy needs to come along too, right?”

Giggling, the Empress winked at me.

She even subtly whispered, “Give me the signal!”

Thus, Oson was dragged away by the guards, being practically pulled along by the Empress.

His back looked just like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse.

And watching that sight, I thought coldly.

‘That guy... he really has something going on. Asking for a teleportation scroll... he was seriously planning to flee even if he became a wanted criminal.’

Now that it’s come to this, I’ll drive him into a corner until the end.

Well, it wasn’t because I was almost slapped. It’s just... convenient.

***

Break time ended, and the trial resumed.

The Empress looked just as cheerful as before.

Meanwhile, Oson’s face had been growing paler and paler ever since the Empress shouted, "That guy’s suspicious!"

“Now, we will resume the trial.”

The Minister of Justice, already looking exhausted, announced.

The Empress grinned widely and looked at me.

Her face seemed to ask, What should I do next?

At this point, we didn’t even need to memorize legal articles anymore. We just had to exchange the prearranged signals.

[Give me the signal!]

Just like she had said earlier.

As I smiled and prepared to signal—

‘Hmm?’

Unexpectedly, I made eye contact with someone else.

‘Huh? Surely not? He's looking at me?’

It was Kiaros, sitting in the front row.

It was clear. Kiaros was staring at me with eyes burning like the sun.

‘W-was I caught? Caught at what? What does he know, and how much?’

Otherwise, among all these people, he wouldn’t be staring straight at me, sitting all the way in the back.

As I blinked nervously, Kiaros’ red lips moved slowly.

Go ahead.

The words were short enough that I could understand just by lip-reading.

All you want.

A fishy smile mixed into his ruler-like expression.

Just meeting his gaze made my heart drop with a thud.

‘S-scary!’

Even though the Empress was technically a superior, she wasn’t a Dragonblood, so it just felt like dealing with a regular person.

But with a Dragonblood—just meeting eyes made your body tense up uncontrollably.

‘What do I do...’

Ordinary humans instinctively cowered before Dragonbloods.

And he was the very top of the government hierarchy.

There was only one possible answer I could give.

‘Yes.’

I stiffly mouthed the words back.

‘I’ll do my best.’

Meanwhile, the trial began in earnest.

Mostly, Oson screamed about how unfair this all was, while the Empress pushed forward, calling him suspicious.

...From the looks of it, the plaintiff and defendant had practically swapped roles.

I made a small heart with my fingers toward the Empress.

It meant: Just insist on it for now.

The Empress, delighted, shouted.

“When I bumped into that guy in the palace, my instincts from the battlefield were screaming their heads off! That bastard’s XX XXX suspicious!”

“Your Majesty, please, right now you need to be defending yourself...”

The Minister of Justice stepped in awkwardly.

It was then.

‘Hmm?’

While the Empress and the Minister of Justice were bickering—

Kiaros, who had been watching me, suddenly had a confused expression.

***

[It’s not like I’m in a position where I can stick my nose in...]

Earlier, Namia had said that with a somewhat bitter face.

Kiaros suddenly recalled Oson's outburst.

Namia had made the scrolls that saved °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the Crown Prince, yet her superior only ever scolded her for "getting ahead of herself."

‘Honestly, with that level of ability, her superior should’ve followed her advice...’

He remembered her drooping her head dejectedly while getting scolded.

That’s why, on impulse, he had mouthed to her:

Go ahead. All you want.

That part was fine.

But then, Namia looked back at him and moved her lips too.

However...

‘Hmm?’

Truthfully, Kiaros couldn't read her lips.

Namia’s mouth was small, and the distance was too far.

How the hell does Fron manage to read lips like that?

‘...Maybe it’s a scroll that improves eyesight or something?’

At that thought, he finally figured out the identity of the crumpled parchment in Fron’s pocket.

In any case, he didn’t have such a scroll.

He could guess up to the "Yes."

But the next four letters he had no clue about.

‘Aaae? What the heck?’

Then suddenly, like lightning, he remembered something she had said earlier.

[Just follow along exactly as you're told.]

Kiaros furrowed his brow.

Follow along? Is that what she meant?

Was she seriously telling him, the Crown Prince, to just follow her lead?

‘Telling me to go wild just because I said go wild... that's a bit much...’

Without realizing it, Kiaros thought that way—and flinched in surprise.

Maybe Oson had felt the same once, too.

How the higher-ups would dismiss the lower-rankers without even listening...

‘Am I now applying a double standard—giving her permission to drag this trial any which way, but holding myself to another rule?’

Kiaros was tangled in confused self-reflection.

And just then—

She made a finger heart toward him.

‘...Hmm?’

Kiaros rolled his eyes and hesitated for a moment, suspicious.

Was there a need to escalate things this much? Was there some bigger plan?

He didn’t know what it meant, but since he was the one who told her to act freely...

‘Well, doesn’t seem that hard...’

Kiaros furrowed his brow and, lifting his hand, made a tiny finger heart.

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

***

‘W-what?!’

Kiaros was acting weird!

He was sitting there so solemnly, with the most serious face in the world, making a finger heart.

The ridiculous seriousness of it was honestly shocking.

‘Did he misunderstand something?’

But it wasn’t the right time to clear up misunderstandings.

Luckily, almost everyone’s attention was on the Empress and the Minister of Justice.

With trembling Oson stuck between them, chaos was erupting.

“We should immediately execute this bastard! How dare he deceive the Imperial Family! I’ll tear him limb from limb and scatter him across the four corners!”

“To be precise, Your Majesty, the one accused of deceiving the Imperial Family is Your Majesty the Empress...”

Meanwhile, the Empress kept glancing at me.

Whatever Kiaros was doing, there was no turning back now.

Even if no one was watching me all the way at the back, plenty of people could see Kiaros.

‘Well, it can’t be helped...’

Still, the one making a fool of himself was Kiaros, not me.

As for cleaning up afterward...

Adults should clean up their own messes.

‘If I mess up the signals now, even Her Majesty the Empress might get confused.’

Oson was a definite suspect—he had even thought of fleeing.

I raised both hands and made an even bigger heart.

Go even harder.