That day, I had lunch with Victor during my afternoon break.
“Victor, Victor!”
“Ah, Mr.
Speaker, listen to our suggestions for a moment.”
"Victor?
I have something to say…"
But I really only “ate.”
Because a lot of people came to pretend to know him.
No one cared about me while I was with him.
“Um, what?”
Only Luca, who followed me daily and chanted competitive mantras, spoke to me:
“Why are you eating with Council President Senpai?
Did you finally come to your senses and decide to get family help?”
Victor looked at Luca and replied:
"Hmm?
What a fun friend.
He seems to be Namibia's friend?"
"H, well, why are you with Namiya, senpai?
That's surprising…"
“Me?
In fact, I’ve become interested in Namia.
I’m going to bother her a lot, so don’t be surprised now.”
Victor laughed out loud and patted Luca on the shoulder.
“But are you interested in family assistance?
What subject do you want information about?”
Thus Victor became friends with Luca in an instant.
He really had an amazing ability to approach.
“Wait and see, Namiya.”
After lunch was over, Victor winked:
“Today I failed because people kept talking to me, but I still wanted to hear your story.”
After that, I had lunch with Victor several times.
He would visit my class sometimes.
I was always lonely and without friends.
During my academy days, I used to feel the burden of getting close to someone.
Since I joined the academy with Juan, I was afraid that if I became friends with someone, my words would conflict with Juan and my family’s affairs would be exposed, so I was worried alone.
So when Victor came, I had no excuse to turn him down and had to deal with him.
So we spent some down time together.
Even when Victor failed the recruitment exam, we worked together in the manuscript management department.
And…
‘Victor doesn’t know anything about my circumstances yet…’
Not because I hid it carefully.
Rather, it was because thinking about whether or not to say it was a waste of energy, because we had not talked much in the first place.
After a short time of knowing him, I stopped thinking about telling him about my circumstances.
I think now that it was an effective decision.
So…
'Familiar, this scenario…'
I clicked my tongue as I looked at the employees surrounding Victor.
At that moment:
"M, what are you doing, everyone?
Me, in a strange department!
Um, in front of my desk!
E, are you ignoring me now?"
Anastasia frowned and hit the desk hard.
"Don't think that we're just ten people and we don't have a job and ignore us.
I'm the team leader here.
Got it?
A short while ago, I caught a criminal who broke into the place with one hit!"
Under Anastasia's pressure, everyone stood up straight.
They murmured in fear:
“Oh, sorry...it's been a long time, so we were very happy.”
“It's been more than three years.
We just wanted to say hi to him.”
Victor and his friends had a common trait: innocence and the absence of evil.
That's why they behaved so casually in front of the minister.
Well, maybe because they're all colleagues from the academy.
“Hey, let's go out and talk.”
"Right.
We should salute him, right?"
Victor laughed gently and scratched the back of his head:
“Oh, wait.
I have to hear about what happened in our department.”
His friends looked at me and smiled embarrassed, then they started teasing Victor:
“Ah.”
Under pressure from his friends, Victor shrugged his shoulders, “Hmm,” and put down his coffee cup, as if he was going to follow them.
I looked into his blue eyes calmly.
The only person who extended his hand to me during my difficult days.
A very warm and bright man, whose back I always looked at.
I said while looking at him:
“Get ready.
Our department is busy.
The number of employees has been reduced to less than half.”
“Ah, right.
Ten people including the minister, what is this?”
Victor laughed softly, so I shrugged and added:
“From tomorrow there will be no time for personal chat.
Even our trainee works at night until his nose bleeds.”
Victor's eyes widened and he asked:
“In our department... there is night work?”
“From tomorrow we will begin preparing for Saint Cairo’s banquet.
There is an event in which Her Majesty the Empress and His Highness the Prince will participate.”
My eyes lit up and I crossed my arms.
Scrolls happened with the Empress and Prince.
I wanted to do it with amazing skill.
It was a golden opportunity to show that the Manuscripts Department was no longer like its miserable past.
This is how talented freshers may emerge after next year's recruitment examination.
At that moment:
“Ah, Saint Cairo’s banquet!”
One of Victor's crowded friends shouted:
“There was a banquet!
Victor, you can go now.
You are the Marquis’s son!”
“Haha, right, right.
Victor, you are now a high noble, aren’t you?”
He hadn't thought about it before, so Victor opened his mouth slightly.
True, he became the adopted son of Marquis Arwen and left on a long journey soon after.
It was only natural that he would be strange to his new identity as the Marquis's heir.
“Ah… right, I didn’t think about that.
But a banquet needs a partner, doesn’t it?”
Victor blinked his round eyes slowly and turned to me:
"Namiya, you're going too, right?
Since you're the minister?"
"Yes."
“Have you chosen a partner?”
"no."
“Ah, so...”
At that moment, Kibun, who was standing quietly, interrupted Victor:
“Madam Secretary.”
All eyes turned to Kibun.
He looked at me and said:
“I want to be that partner.”
Anastasia broke the coffee cup with a “kling” sound.
Victor was surprised and frowned.
I answered calmly:
“Okay.”
Even Victor's friends were surprised.
Someone interjected curiously:
“What?
Minister?
The trainee doesn’t have permission to attend, right?
He’s a foreigner with no title?”
“No.
Usually only high nobles attend, but if an invitation is extended it is not impossible.”
I scratched my cheek and said:
“In fact, I agreed with His Highness Prince Jayden a little while ago.
I will be the first to ask for me.
An imperial order, I have no choice.”
This was truly inevitable.
“Ah, understood...”
Victor muttered embarrassed, then smiled happily:
“Okay, I'll go anyway.
It's okay.
Giving my young foreign apprentice friend a chance to see an imperial banquet is good.”
“Why do you keep calling me a friend?
I’m not your friend.”
“Look, it's normal to give a cultural experience to a boy who doesn't know the imperial language.”
Victor winked at Kibon and patted me on the shoulder.
“Anyway, we'll continue our conversation at the banquet, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Senior nobles… I don’t know anyone there.
I only know you, so I will follow you alone.”
Victor laughed loudly and his friends laughed along with him.
While Kibun maintained his impassive expression, he said calmly:
“Let's go, Madam Secretary.”
Unlike Victor, his style was very formal.
“We have a lot of work.”
Victor replied for me:
“Right, right!
Do your best.
Tomorrow when I start work, I will help a lot.
Young apprentice, bear with me.
Senpai is coming soon.”
Kibun didn't answer.
Victor laughed cheerfully and left with his friends.
‘Wow.’
One thing was certain:
'Their personalities are completely different and neither one compromises.'
Kibune's introverted strength and Victor's sociable strength neither wavered.
And after a short time…
A call came from the Crown Prince's office asking to visit me after work.