Chapter 112

Where Tara squashes bugs.... LOL

This chapter is dedicated to ck! Thank you so much for your ongoing support all these years! I find it fitting that the last gap chapter be dedicated to you!

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Episode 112. About 11 Months (4)

The office went eerily quiet, and all eyes were on me.

I smiled as naturally as I could and reflexively introduced myself to them.

"...H...Hello... I'm the newest member of the team...."

But before I could finish my sentence, the people in their cubicles looked away.

Or to be more exact, they turned their heads and went back to chatting among themselves.

"My God... Isn't that young lady?"

"She looks different. Huh.”

“Did she use some kind of magic?”

“Now she's worth looking at... Hahaha...Hahaha..."

Those rotten bastards... How dare they talk about my appearance like that?

That was what the male administrators dispatched from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Treasury department were saying.

"They did something like this during the Administrator’s exam, but this time, they must have spent even more money"...

"I heard they caused a lot of harm to the Imperial Family... I hope we won't be caught in the downfall..."

"If you don't want to be caught in it, don't talk about it, and don't get involved with her."

Wow, look at these people... Really, such lovely personalities!

That’s what the female administrators dispatched from the Inner Palace had to say.

My blood pressure had risen to the point where the veins on my forehead were bulging.

What a warm welcome! I hadn't felt this riled up in a long time.

I took a deep breath, forcing down the anger that was threatening to boil over. I couldn't unleash it against those dunces.

I had too much work to do to be bothered with this.

There were three desks each for the Military and Security departments, and five administrators had already arrived.

There was still five minutes left before work began. The tension was different here compared to the other departments.

"... Don't bother. They're all here for different purposes. We just need to do our job."

A strong, good-looking secretary spoke to me. Sitting at his desk under the Military sign, he seemed to be my immediate senior.

At that moment, commandment No. 3 of the 'Ten Commandments of Work Life', which I had researched while scripting a liberal arts program called 'Documenting 3 Days of Employment ', flashed through my mind.

[3. Remember, the most important role of a junior employee is to support their immediate supervisors and seniors.]

Right. It wasn't the aristocrats in the other departments that mattered to me; it was my immediate seniors and supervisors who would evaluate my job proficiency and assign me promotion points.

What mattered were the people behind me, or rather, in front of me, and saving my damned family....

My superiors in the Military who had started working even before clocking in.

"Yes! Hello. I'm Tara Elias, the newly appointed Third Secretary."

I introduced myself cheerfully, and the surrounding nobles, who had been pretending to be uninterested, turned their heads in surprise at the sound of my voice.

"Ohhh. You speak well. Welcome Third Secretary. Your desk is over there!"

"Yes, I look forward to working with you. Senior!”

I bowed and moved to the desk he pointed at.

"Nice to meet you, junior. I'm Joseph Hone, a second-year Third Secretary. You can call me Joseph."

Ahhh... I can't believe you did this Author Kim. Seriously, such a bad joke...." *

I shook my head inwardly and sat back in my seat.

Joseph... Hone.... They even… looked.... alike....

"Yes... Yes!"

I clutched the stack of papers he handed me with both hands, trying to clear the memory from my mind. It was a file with the assignee's personnel record cards and a list of my tasks.

"I see you've been selected for a special promotion as someone who has made a great contribution to the Empire outside of work. I look forward to it, junior! I'm also a second-year Third Secretary and Joseph's colleague, Shine Windows. You can call me Shine."

The man across Joseph's desk who stuck his head out to introduce himself looked quite thin in comparison.

Shine Windows...? A thought flashed through my mind then disappeared before I could grasp it.

Anyway, such a genuine compliment without malice. Ah... The warmth of the Military.

The other Ministry of Security administrators sitting at the nearby desks also greeted me then went back to work.

For some reason, I felt like I would enjoy working here more than I expected.

I sat down, looking over my work, feeling much better.

The incessant chatter of the gossip monger bureaucrats had lost their steam since I didn't respond.

But the female secretaries just a few meters away, seemingly indignant, added a few words.

It was as if they were deliberately provoking me to see my reactions.

"Even if she's lost a lot of weight, she will surely gain it back, won't she?"

"Of course she will, with that constitution."

"Ho ho ho. I mean...!"

Why were they so interested in other people’s business...?

I tried to avoid confrontation, but they shouldn't have mocked me so openly.

Some might wonder if it was a good idea to react to every insult. In my opinion the answer was yes. It was.

If I did nothing they’d think I’d given up. If I put up with it and ignored their behaviour, they would get into the habit of doing it and think they were justified.

Such misbehaviour should be corrected every time.

No one would defend my honor for me, and if someone defended my honor on my behalf, then it wasn’t totally mine to begin with.

To make sure that my future life as a secretary would be comfortable, I would have to show them that they shouldn't mess with me, even if it meant I had to use force. Just like when I was in school.

Even if it meant using weapons.

I immediately put my hand in my skirt pocket and undid the snap.

Then.

Clang!

My precious pink axe, which I had pre-registered with the Military and gotten permission to carry, landed lightly on my desk.

"Oh, my God, that's unbelievable....."

"I know. What is she doing? Why do it so suddenly... How embarrassing."

"Look at that color. My God, a lady with an axe...."

The nobles weren't smart enough to stop there.

I glanced at the deep potted plants along the wall next to my desk and removed the axe's sheath. The office's decor was classy, as it should be for one hosting nobility.

I slowly gripped the handle.

".....!"

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Joseph asked, his eyes wide.

"Ah! Senior, I see a pest that shouldn't be here."

"What?"

"I'll catch it for you to celebrate my first day on the job!"

After accurately aiming the axe's blade, I swung the hilt around once, the blade squarely aimed at the dirt, then gave it a couple more swings to make it look fancy and threw it without a second thought.

Thwack!

My pink axe landed with great precision deep in the potted flower bed, leaving not a single piece of dirt out of place.

".....!"

"....?"

"... She must be crazy."

There was a momentary silence.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

A male secretary approached me, curious, but his eyes were slightly trembling. He was a delicate looking man, probably sheltered by knights all his life.

"You can rest assured now. You won't be bitten by a centipede."

I pulled the axe out after a couple of shakes, lifting it up. A centipede, with the blade stuck in its head, still squirmed in a last ditch effort before it stopped moving.

"Ugh..."

"...Yuck. Gross!"

Various exclamations erupted here and there.

I picked it up and carried it over the desk of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which oversaw the Palace gardens and dropped it in a nearby planter.

Meanwhile, the whole room followed my every move. I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and wiped the axe's blade in a sweeping motion.

"Notify the gardeners. This centipede bites. The bite swells and is painful, but contains little poison, so it isn't fatal. But still, in a place where noble children work, we can't have centipedes roaming around now can we?"

The Head Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stared at me for a long time, as if stunned, then nodded slowly.

I flashed the room a satisfied smile and returned to my seat.

I didn’t expect this one action to change their minds, But at least they'd realize I wasn’t to be taken lightly.

The chatter continued, but very subdued. Joseph and Shine gave me a thumbs up.

I smiled and turned to leave, but a young lady who had just entered the aide's office caught my gaze.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry...."

As she stood there bowing her head as if she'd committed a serious crime, I recognized her as Olive Benson, whom I'd met once before.

***

Meanwhile, Count Lloyd had just finished a very long meeting about the commercialization of the newly patented Imperial heart and allergy medicines.

The conference room, which had been packed with people working on the project, was now empty, save for Dr.Oliver, who approached the desk calling out the Count, who was still buried nose-deep in documents.

"Hmm. What’s wrong? Is there a problem with the third clinical trial?"

"No. That's not it. I had a visit from Miss Tara a few days ago and..."

When Dr.Oliver trailed off leaving his sentence unfinished, Lloyd looked up from his papers and tilted his head.

"And?"

"... The aftereffects seemed mild. Fortunately, she quickly received the antidote, and her body is in good shape, so I don't have any major concerns about her future recovery."

"Aftereffects? What are you talking about...?"

"Weren't you aware that she got cold poisoning while working in Durben...?"

Bang!

Doctor Oliver took a step back in surprise. Count Lloyd's face was contorted with rage as he stood up from his desk.

Dylan entered the room after hearing the sudden noise.

"Your Excellency, what is the matter?"

"What? She got cold poisoning. When? How?"

"Ah.... You didn’t hear the details... Your Excellency?"

Lloyd immediately grabbed his jacket and began to move with unprecedented swifness, Dylan and Dr.Oliver trailing behind.

"Dylan, find out more! What happened... Ah! Ask Sir Andrei, he'll get the information quickly. That bastard Second Prince must be the reason. That's what happens when you get involved with him. He's such a snake! Get Tara here. Now!"

The screaming Count was walking so fast that Dylan and Dr.Oliver had to run to keep up with him.

"Your Excellency. It's her first day at work. She left for the Palace a long time ago."

Lloyd stopped dead in his tracks.

He slowly turned around; his face contorted in a very different way.

"Oh, my... today is already the day...."

Lloyd remained motionless for a long time.

"Your Excellency, are you alright?"

"... This is the result of my neglect. A father unaware of the dangers his children face..."

Dylan's eyebrows twitched at the Count's voice, barely above a whisper.

‘Is he thinking about Master Brandon?'

The Count had lived through his eldest son travelling far away only to return home in a coffin. And now he had discovered that Lady Tara, who had also travelled far from home, had fallen victim to cold poisoning.

As Dylan stared at Lloyd's face, filled with anguish and regret, and spoke softly.

"What would you think, Your Excellency, if we prepared a welcome gift for her return?"

Lloyd's eyes shone at Dylan's words.

***

At the same time.

Niels was arranging potted plants in the entrance hall when a carriage pulled up to the stairs leading up to the mansion.

The carriage was very old fashioned looking, though not as old as the Imperial Family carriage he’d once seen from afar.

Since the captain of the guard, who was usually stationed at the mansion's entrance, had escorted the carriage himself, it must mean that the visitor was a high ranking noble.

‘Higher than Elias....'

Niels, recalling the noble etiquette he had once learned, quickly checked his uniform, clasped his hands together and went to the door, standing tall.

The carriage door, gilded with decorative winged horses, opened and a noblewoman stepped out holding the carriage attendant’s elbow, making Niels take a step back.

"... Go and tell the Count. ‘An old friend has come to visit. Come and greet her at once!"

Editor's Note -

• Ok, this one was kinda tricky, and we aren't quite sure this reference we found is acurate but it fits the narrative. So, Joseph Hone was a mystery writer who wrote spy novels with a main character called Peter Marlow. It was established earlier that Author Kim liked mystery novels, it even got her into writing herself. Joseph Hone gave lectures on creative writing and traveled the world, noticeably the Far East, so it isn't a stretch to assume that he visited South Korea. Also, those travels were done to write documentaries, similar to what Yeonwoo did. Jospeh Hone died in 2016. I don't know how famous he was in Korea, but his books have been compared to those from John Le Carré, among others.

  Joseph Hone represents a mix between Author Kim and Yeonwoo, which is totally a reference Author Kim/ Munirang would use in their works! What do you guys think?

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