It was all done in an instant.
The Emperor returned to the palace, and at the same time the Crown Prince announced that he would take a long vacation.
'He is careful because this is the dark period.'
I thought to myself as I listened to the royal announcement.
“It's a wise choice.”
Despite his weakness, the Emperor was still better than Kiaros at the moment.
“Although His Majesty may only have one year left in his term…”
Despite the Empress's tireless efforts to collect various strange antidotes, the problem was not solved.
Fortunately, things have remained calm for now.
Of course, with the changes to the original story, it was impossible to predict what would happen next.
I had to stay vigilant.
'First, I have to pull myself together.'
After all, she is now a Minister of Passing!
The whirlpool of changes was not limited to the royal announcement only.
“Dismantling the old Manuscripts Department, establishing a new Manuscripts Department, and appointing a new minister!”
As soon as I was appointed Prime Minister, the news was immediately conveyed to the other department heads, as the Minister of Justice was among us at the time.
Naturally, the other ministers were shocked.
Even though it was a weekend, an emergency meeting was scheduled immediately.
The meeting was attended by ministers from various ministries, including me, His Majesty the Emperor...
"Are you saying a 23-year-old is the head of the department?
Does that make sense?
Without going through the ranks?"
“That's true, but this was the Magic Tower Master's negotiations.”
The Emperor directed all the arrows towards the absent person.
“It was necessary to return all the powers of this department to the palace.”
“Look at us!
We all have more than 30 years of civil service experience!
And yet, does a 24-year-old novice become a minister?
Really?”
“That's true.
But since the Magic Tower Master insisted, there was no other choice.”
Naturally, the other ministers did not accept this.
The Emperor shook his head and said:
“When the Magic Tower Master returns, you can complain to him.”
"but…!"
No one could say anything against the repeated strategy.
“The Magic Tower Master said so.”
If the Emperor wanted to keep the pressure on, they might say “The dragon is too tolerant.”
Finally, the Minister of Administrative Support intervened hesitantly.
“I, I really didn't mean to say this, but...”
He hesitated for a while.
He looked unusually nervous, and swallowed dry saliva.
'What's this rush?
This means you are planning a massive attack even if it is suicidal!'
The Minister of Administrative Support glanced at the other ministers and spoke very seriously.
“I heard that there is something unusual between Miss Namia Rawabi and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”
The rumor even reached the ears of department heads...
They did not want me to be a minister to the point that they mentioned such rumors at public events...
The Minister of Administrative Support Department continued his speech by saying:
“If I had appointed her as Minister based on these personal feelings...”
At this the Emperor touched his forehead with a serious expression.
“Ah…”
Seeing his troubled expression, everyone looked at the emperor with hope.
They were all preparing to delve into this truth.
“It really hurts me to say this.”
The Emperor muttered with a sad expression.
“Miss Namiya flatly rejected my son’s offer, saying he did not look like a man at all.”
The ministers' faces became pale with shock.
“My son proposed to her, but she confidently rejected him in front of us without leaving any room.
Her saying that Kiaros does not look like a man at all.”
It seems that some nuances have changed.
But the result looked good, so I nodded slightly.
"Due to the shock of rejection, Kiaros decided to stay away.
Let's keep this going for now, even if he won't be around for a while."
Mmmm, he was living in the dark period, but linking his withdrawal like this...
“Imagine how sad he will be when he faces rejection for the first time.”
The ministers remained silent, with puzzled expressions on their faces.
With a troubled expression, the Emperor declared,
“But I had to appoint Miss Namiya, who had completely rejected my son, to the position of Minister because the Master of the Magic Tower insisted on it.”
“…….”
“Aside from being a descendant of a dragon, does it make sense for me to discriminate in this case?
Even if my son suffers the pain of rejection?”
“…….”
“The imperial family perfectly distinguishes between duty and personal matters, despite the psychological damage to the crown prince.”
“…….”
“Are you just protesting because of her young age?
I accepted it even though it destroyed my son.”
“…….”
With every word from the Emperor, the Crown Prince's disapproval was emphasized.
The Emperor seemed to be selling his son hard, even though he wasn't there.
Then he winked at me.
Then I realized it.
'I should never miss this meeting.'
It had a structure where the seats of all those absent were covered.
In uncomfortable silence, the meeting ended anyway.
I thought as I grabbed the hem of my skirt with trembling hands.
'I've never been to a conference hall this massive...'
Really, really!
'...Amazing!'
With a calm face, I took a deep breath and swallowed the joy burning within me.
Finally the Emperor decided to end the situation.
“When we resume work on Monday, I will announce that Miss Namia Rawabi is now Minister of Manuscripts and I will begin the restructuring.
The entire reorganization of the Manuscripts Department will be left to Minister Namia Rawabi.”
✧✧✧✧✧✧
Reorganization.
In fact, that was a big problem.
I stopped at the empty office of the Manuscript Management Department, or rather the former Manuscript Department, and lost myself in thought.
'The department was small at first...'
Originally, the Manuscript Management Department consisted of 20 people.
But with all the strict disciplinary procedures and dismissals...
There are now nine people left, including me.
'All team leaders have been cut off.'
As for the remaining nine people, they all have less than ten years of experience.
They were all people who had not been promoted to the position of team leader.
‘I have to reorganize the department with these people…’
Manuscripts Department.
Nine people.
The department head is a fourth-year junior.
There was a high probability that there was a spy among them.
'It's a difficult department to manage properly in many respects.'
Eight people, excluding...
Some of them were good, some of them were incompetent, and some of them were difficult to work with.
The crucial thing is that they all had more experience than me.
Since there are no new employees for several years due to there being no work to do.
‘First, I need to consolidate everything and reduce the number of teams to two.
Fortunately, choosing team leaders is not difficult.'
Fortunately, it was easy to choose candidates to lead the team.
The abilities of the two remaining older members were fairly decent.
“Big Victor will be back soon too, so this is a ray of hope in all this ordeal.”
You scanned the list and smiled slightly upon seeing the name “Victor Arwin.”
Victor, who was also my eldest student at the academy, had been on a long-term business trip for three and a half years.
He had entered the Manuscript Management Department for personal reasons, but he was originally an intelligent and well-mannered person who was not well suited for this department.
[Namiya, wait until I come back.
When I become the youngest captain of the team, I will make sure to pick you up from the bottom.]
Those were Victor's last words.
“President, what should I do?
You will be the team leader when you return, but I have become the head of the department.
The department is still hopeless...”
Even the former minister's secretary was cut.
It turns out that even the secretary was shamelessly gobbling up the budget here.
“I don't even have a secretary now...”
Overall, I was supposed to choose one of the remaining six members.
But how can I use former seniors as secretaries?
It was embarrassing in many ways.
Due to the possibility of a spy, it's a bit annoying to delegate important tasks.
'There is only one way.
For now, I'll have to handle almost everything myself.'
I believed in Kiaros's competence.
If there is anyone who can uproot the seeds of discord, it is Kiaros.
So, I thought I could put up with some hardship until then.
“However, having a smart secretary would be really nice...”
I sighed and started checking as usual for any new documents.
This is the time.
'Huh?'
Surprisingly, a new document has emerged.
"...Kibun Altice?
Reapplying for training?"