Chapter 49
The Butterfly Effect of Being Marked (1)
I hurried back to the office before Huhwang could turn around.
The Crown Prince.
He was surprisingly tall and striking. Maybe good looks really did run in noble bloodlines — he was, after all, the Duke’s cousin.
Still, I’m not too bad myself.
Even if we were poor, the Libertas siblings were known for their looks. Anyway, the Crown Prince had the typical traits of a romance novel protagonist — silver hair and long limbs. Unfortunately, he was too far away for me to see details like his eye color or nose shape.
His name was Lawrence, right?
I’d never been particularly interested in the upper class, but before joining the Chancellor’s Office, I’d memorized the basics about the royal family. It was useful to know your employer’s background.
There was Lawrence, the Crown Prince and only son of the Empress; Raven, the Second Prince born of the Imperial Consort; and Princess Reiana. The Empire allowed only the Emperor to take multiple wives, but oddly enough, he had only one concubine. Not that I was complaining — less to memorize.
“The evaluation sheets have been recompiled.”
When I returned to the reception room with the tea, Lucan took the tray from my hands.
While everyone sipped their tea, I looked down at the manipulated evaluation report spread across the table. The company that should’ve been ranked last was now nearly a perfect score.
“We couldn’t bring ourselves to cut points from the others, so we just raised theirs instead.”
Honestly, I couldn’t blame them. If I’d seen how much effort those applicants had poured into their interviews and proposals, I’d have done the same. Still, watching it all made a strange emptiness stir in me.
I used to be just as desperate when I was job hunting and interviewing.
But now, realizing that all that hard work had only made me a prop for a predetermined outcome — it made my blood boil in a way that wasn’t like me.
Just then, Huhwang strolled in at his usual lazy pace.
“All done?”
His snake-like eyes scanned the evaluation sheets. Then, with a satisfied smirk, he gathered them up neatly.
“You should’ve done it this way from the start. What a bother.”
“……”
Once he left and the door closed, silence fell over the room. No one said a word.
—
“So, Mimi asked me to come over to her house!”
“And I’m gonna have a spinning top battle with Ricardo tomorrow!”
Despite being new to the academy, Julie and Rio seemed to have adjusted perfectly — almost as if they’d been waiting for this life. Maybe it helped that they were sponsored by the Minister of Finance. At least they weren’t being bullied or excluded for being poor.
The Minister of Finance never visited, but he’d written their recommendation letters and covered their tuition under the guise of scholarships. The admission fees had been paid with my retirement bonus — my conscience wouldn’t let me accept that money for free.
“They look so happy,” said Marcella, setting steaming bowls of stew before the twins.
“Looks like you’re just as happy as they are.”
Her face, too, had regained color and life. It was like watching someone get their lost teenage years back.
“Heh. I won’t deny it.”
Marcella had caught the attention of some noble soon after enrolling and was now receiving private lessons. When I asked who, she told me not to worry about unnecessary details — that her teacher was an excellent swordsman. Since the person had access to the academy, I assumed they had a respectable background. Hopefully, they wouldn’t suddenly demand tuition fees.
“Turns out, I really like swordsmanship.”
“That’s good to hear.”
I’d sent her there so she wouldn’t have to spend her life breaking her back on construction sites — if she was going to work hard, she might as well make good money doing something she liked. Judging by her glossy hair and bright skin, she was thriving.
“But why the long face? You didn’t even have overtime today.”
She sat across from me and studied my expression.
“Me?”
Right. That feeling I had at the Chancellor’s Office hadn’t faded even after getting home. For the record, everyone here thought my late returns were due to overtime.
I really need to switch my brain off when I leave work. It’s the only way to survive stress.
“If something’s bothering you, just do what you want. Thanks to you, we get to do what we want. I don’t like that you can’t.”
Her blunt comfort made me laugh softly.
“And if the Minister of Finance gets upset and cuts off your academy funding?”
Marcella raised an eyebrow as if it were nothing.
“Then I’ll just call it an experience and re-enroll later when I’ve saved up. You could work anywhere, you know.”
“Easy for you to say.”
I took a bite of the stew, then put the spoon down again. I had no appetite. Marcella sighed quietly.
“Coco.”
“Yeah?”
“You said you’re not Cornelia, right? Then why do you care so much?”
“……”
The question hit me so unexpectedly that my mind went blank. I hadn’t seen that coming at all. But Marcella stayed calm, almost indifferent.
“Whatever nonsense you say, me, Julie, and Rio — we won’t be your burden. So just do what you want. As long as it’s not a crime.”
Having said her piece, Marcella stuffed another big spoonful of stew into her mouth.
“…What are you talking about?”
And yet, somehow, I felt lighter.
—
After shaking off yesterday’s gloom, the manager — a.k.a. me — had to fight off a rising urge to quit the moment I arrived at work the next morning.
“Deliver this to the attendant. And bring back some snacks on the way.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t use the communication artifact — set up a meeting with the Ministry of Finance in person.”
“Yes?”
“The spacing in the meeting minutes looks crooked. Rewrite it.”
“Yes?”
Huhwang wasn’t just dumping clerk-level work on me — he was nitpicking nonsense just to make me rewrite documents. I knew instantly.
I’ve been marked.
It had to be because I’d protested during the evaluation. Being the Minister of Finance’s recommendation probably didn’t help either. The others — senior clerks and scribes — seemed to have figured it out too, shaking their heads sympathetically.
“Should I talk to the Minister of Finance about this?”
Lucius offered, but I shook my head.
“Let’s wait it out. He’ll get over it eventually.”
A month passed. Nothing changed.
Maybe he hated that I still finished everything perfectly and left on time. He probably wanted me to crack under the workload. The irony was, I could’ve done half the work sloppily and he wouldn’t even notice — but doing well somehow annoyed him more.
I was exhausted, though. My main duties were piling up while I kept getting stuck with meaningless errands.
But the hardened office worker in me stayed calm.
In one ear and out the other. I’m just a working machine. Machines don’t have emotions.
It was, in fact, the best way to drive a bully mad. They expected fear, frustration — but getting none of that infuriated them even more. Whenever I felt Huhwang glaring at me, frustrated and helpless, a small thrill of satisfaction flickered inside me.
Lucius said I was the toughest subordinate he’d ever seen. Maybe he was right.
But even so, it was exhausting.
“Cornelia, let’s go grab some snacks.”
Lucan tugged at my sleeve as I was buried in paperwork. I glanced reluctantly at my desk — there was still plenty left if I wanted to leave on time — but followed him out anyway.
“You could’ve asked one of the junior clerks. The scribes are swamped right now.”
The staff cafeteria always had bread and tea for employees. At least this world wasn’t stingy about food.
“Let’s be real — you’re the one swamped with work.”
“Maybe.”
I bit into a cookie with a soft snap. Lucan frowned as he began filling the basket.
“You barely move outside lunch hours, so I figured you could use a walk.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re seriously going to keep this up?”
As soon as I tasted the cookie, my body screamed for sugar. I started piling up the creamiest pastries I could find. Lucan looked horrified.
“Cornelia, stop! That’s enough!”
“Don’t worry. I promise — they’ll all disappear into my stomach before I leave work.”
“Cornelia.”
His tone made it clear he wasn’t talking about the snacks, but I couldn’t give him the answer he wanted.
“Should I apologize or something?”
“If that’s what it takes, then yes. Regardless of what’s true.”
Spoken like a true heir to a noble house.
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know. But you can’t keep going like this forever.”
Maybe he was trying to give practical advice — how to blend into the Chancellor’s Office without exhausting myself. After all, that’s how I’d survived my last job.
“Lucan, at least the First Secretary isn’t treating everyone like this. I’m handling things my own way.”
Still, ever since coming to this world, those buried questions kept resurfacing.
Am I really going to live the same way here too? Just in a different place?
I didn’t want that. Maybe it was time to finally do the things I’d always wanted to — to see what would happen if I stopped holding back.
“If I get too tired, I’ll quit on my own. But thanks for worrying.”
Seeing that I didn’t want to continue the topic, Lucan dropped it. We made small talk as we walked back toward the central building — just enough to ease the awkwardness — when a desperate voice caught our attention.
Turning around, we saw a man arguing with a soldier.
“Please, I just need to know! Just once, I beg you!”
“Without an appointment, unauthorized visitors can’t enter. How did you even get into the palace? Leave immediately!”
The man kept pleading, refusing to give up.
He looks familiar…
“Isn’t that the representative from the architecture guild we interviewed?” Lucan said.
As soon as he did, the man noticed us and started waving frantically.
“Oh, officers! Please! At least tell me why we were rejected! We worked harder than anyone else!”
Sweat poured down his face, his hair was a mess, and his suit was wrinkled. His desperate voice and trembling hands froze both me and Lucan in place.
…Shit.
