Cough!

I heard the sound of coughing behind me, despite the fact that Edmund was standing right in front of me. Like a broken robot, I creaked as I slowly turned my head.

When had time passed so quickly?

The clock on the wall showed that the working day had begun. Near the entrance, a crowd of employees were huddled together, clearly too stunned by the atmosphere to go inside.

“…New hires these days are unbelievably bold.”

Edmund said flatly, then turned toward the entrance.

“Are you all not coming in?”

“Yes, sir!”

Startled by his sharp voice, everyone rushed in and scurried to their desks. Even as they settled in, they kept glancing my way, so I buried my face in the papers to hide my burning cheeks.

“Good grief, Olivia! I’ve never seen a rookie as bad as you.”

Dante, the prince’s aide, let out a hearty laugh as he bit into his sandwich.

“A date proposal to His Highness, of all things. Unbelievable.”

My mentor, Natasha, shook her head in disbelief.

“Why? As long as he keeps his mouth shut, he’s not that bad to look at, right?”

Campbell, who entered the palace with me, chimed in.

To which Natasha raised a finger and said.

“The problem is, he never keeps that cursed mouth shut.”

That much, I had to agree with.

Edmund, as a male lead in a romance novel, was nothing like you’d expect—his mouth was vicious. Especially when someone failed to deliver results. His temper would spike, and today alone, he had already raised his voice three times—once even causing an employee to flee in tears.

“He’s a relentless workaholic.”

“A perfectionist, too.”

“Exactly! And yet a guy like that… with a girl this cute!”

Natasha cupped both of my cheeks with her hands.

“Tell me, is this your type? Are you into… sadistic guys?”

“What are you even saying?!”

I shouted in protest, and Dante laughed out loud again, just like before.

“Well, as a fellow guy, I gotta admit—he’s capable and impressive. Isn’t that what you like about him, Olivia?”

Absolutely not. Not even a little. I swallowed my bite of bread and answered.

“Anyway, I have to go on a date with His Highness. No matter what.”

At my firm declaration, everyone stared at me with open awe—like I was some rare species. Seriously, was it that strange?

Of course, the rumours were probably just the tip of the iceberg, and he was probably even worse than that.

Whether he was insufferable or not, if he was my boss, I had no choice but to stay in his good books.

If Edmund liked people who were good at their job, then I just had to be excellent at mine.

I was confident when it came to studying — I always had been.

I didn’t yet know if he was my master.

But if there was even a chance… then the first step was to win him over.

And if he wasn’t?

Well, I’d just move on.

“…Oh my god.”

Natasha murmured, staring at my desk.

“You really did all this?”

“Yes! Please take a look!”

Grinning, I handed her the neatly organized charts.

Even though math wasn’t my strongest subject, this much was a breeze.

“This is way easier to read!”

Natasha muttered in admiration.

One thing that bothered me while organizing Edmund’s last set of documents was that this world had no concept of graphs.

No graphs? Then I’d just invent them.

“For quantitative data, bar graphs like this one are best — they’re easy to understand at a glance. Line graphs, on the other hand, are great for showing trends over time.”

“What about this circular one?”

“Pie charts like this one are useful for showing proportions. This one, for example, breaks down the types of industry by region: Yellow represents agriculture, red represents fruit, green represents livestock, and blue represents mining.”

***

“So you’re telling me… a new hire made all this?”

For a moment, I wondered if I should reintroduce myself to Edmund.
But I gave up on the idea pretty quickly.

After all, until I fully proved myself, I had a feeling he’d continue to refer to me as just “the newbie.”

“Yes. It’s called a graph. It makes things easier to grasp at a glance.”

Compared to long-winded written reports, these visuals were much easier to understand—and they saved paper, too.

Of course, I didn’t invent them. It was something from the world I used to live in.

“Not bad. Pretty useful,”

Edmund muttered, glancing briefly at me before shifting his eyes to the pile of documents I had processed.

“Then… will you go on a date with me now?”

“…I’ll pass.”

Oof.

I turned away from Natasha’s pitying gaze and fixed Edmund with a smouldering stare.

Hmph! Don’t underestimate someone who has been trained to take exams.

I hadn’t expected him to agree after just one good day. Well, maybe I had hoped a little.

I could impart knowledge from my former life, but there were still plenty of tasks I didn’t understand. Knowing something and knowing how to apply it are two very different things.

Although I was learning from Natasha, I believed in thorough preparation and revision, so after work, I stayed behind to read the office manuals.

Before I knew it, I was the only one left in the office. Rowan had been worried when I came home late yesterday, so I decided to head back.

“Hey, you.”

I was walking through the garden, which had grown dim in no time, when a voice called out from behind.

“You’re not fired yet?”

That sly, cat-like gaze curved toward the First Prince’s palace as if amused. As soon as I saw the man step out from the shadow of the trees, I nearly cursed out loud.

“…Greetings, Second Prince.”

That was precisely why I was late on my first day.

I considered hitting him over the head with the thick manual I had brought along for additional study, but then I spotted a royal guard perched in a tree above, keeping watch, and I abandoned the idea.

“So you do know who I am now?”

Lucid strolled over with long, lazy strides and stopped right in front of me. Perhaps it was because, despite having the same father, they had different mothers. Lucid and Edmund had completely different auras.

While Edmund was classically handsome, with strong features and a chiselled physique, Lucid, on the other hand, was delicate and pretty.

“I sincerely apologize for not recognizing you before.”

“You’re not really sorry, though. That’s not what your face says.”

“…Excuse me?”

He took another step closer, leaned down, and brought his face near mine.

Why is his face so small? And his skin—it might even be better than mine.

“The look on your face right now. Like you really want to punch me.”

‘Wow. Is he psychic or something?’

I forced a smile and took a step back.

“Of course not. I wouldn’t dare. A lowly commoner like me would never dream of hitting a noble prince.”

“Snarky little thing, aren’t you.”

But the two steps he took forward erased any distance I’d just made.

“It’s the first time my dear brother’s ever kept someone around after being late on their first day.”

“…His Highness Edmund must be very punctual, then?”

“Oh, extremely. He hates wasting even a single second—an uptight, completely rigid man.”

‘Hmm. So it’s not just me, then.’

For a moment, I forgot all about my grudge against Lucid and found myself genuinely agreeing with him.

“That man has no blood or tears. He’ll cut off even the most loyal families over a single mistake.”

“My goodness. How could he?”

My reaction must’ve amused Lucid, because he started sharing more dirt on Edmund I hadn’t even asked for.

“And he’s a total neat freak. Never wears anything twice.”

‘Ah. That explains it.’

So that’s why he tossed the gloves I’d cleaned so carefully without a second glance.

“He probably sleeps with gloves on too.”

“Really?”

“I think he was about ten. We were sparring and then using the showers afterwards. This guy was still wearing his gloves while he was washing up.”

Hmm.

Maybe he just didn’t want anyone to see the scar. For a child, that kind of memory could become a trauma. Even I still wake up drenched in sweat whenever I dream about that day.

“You practice swordsmanship too, then?”

“With a body like his? He’s probably good at every sport.”

Lucid grimaced. Considering his broad shoulders and all that muscle, it made sense. He enjoyed physical activity.

“Ah—but there is one thing he’s terrible at.”

“What is it?”

Before I knew it, I had arrived at the outer gates of the palace while chatting with Lucid.

“I’ll tell you next time. Take care.”

‘Hey! You can’t just leave me hanging like that!’

I grumbled, but I still gave Lucid a proper farewell before stepping through the gates.

I got more information out of him than I expected, though.

For a start, Edmund hates sweet things.

He actually prefers bitter flavours and apparently hates adding sugar to his coffee.

‘Of course. Even the way he eats matches how he looks.’

Come to think of it, I put two spoonfuls of sugar in his coffee last time.

Thank goodness he spilled it — if he hadn’t, I never would’ve noticed the scar on his hand.

“All right, it’s time to put what I learnt today into practice and launch a gift offensive!”

As soon as I returned to the temple, I began rifling through my desk drawer.

“I know it’s in here somewhere… Ah! The herbal jelly.”

It was a gift Rowan once received, and he’d given it to me. But I couldn’t stand anything bitter, so I’d just stuffed it away in the corner.

“I found it!”

It was part of a gift set, so it was still nicely packaged. Perfect to give as-is.

“Now, what else did Lucid say…”

I began drafting two lists: A ‘Gifts for His Highness’ list and a ‘Never Ever Give Him This’ list, all based on my conversation with Lucid.

The name of the operation? “Steal the Master’s Heart” Project!

“But the most important thing is work!”

More than gifts, what mattered was utility. It was sad that my worth was determined solely by my results, but if that’s what Edmund valued most, then I had no choice but to play by his rules.

I laid out all three volumes of the office manual, reached for another notebook, and got to work.

All-nighters were nothing new to me. Filling blank pages with notes and memorizing line by line that had been my life for years.

“I’m going to survive this. No matter what!”