I arrived at the office just as the sun began to rise.

I did this, of course, to try and win Edmund over.

I wiped down his desk until it was spotless and organised the documents neatly. Feeling a great sense of satisfaction, I then brewed a fresh pot of coffee.

By the time the rich aroma of coffee began to waft through the office, I could hear footsteps approaching.

That heavy, dull sound of shoes—there was no mistaking it. It could only be Edmund.

I quickly checked my appearance in the mirror and fixed on a bright smile.

“…Newbie?”

“You’re here!”

“I am here, but… what is all this?”

“Strong coffee and herbal jelly!”

When I beamed up at him, he looked at me with a completely exasperated expression.

“Herbal jelly, you say?”

He stared at the jelly on his desk for a moment… and then crushed it in his hand.

‘What the—!’

I didn’t know what kind it was, but Rowan had said it was quite expensive!

“Wh-why are you doing that?”

“You bring me herbal jelly… that’s good for virility.”

“Vi-virility?!”

‘What?!’

Was it some kind of stamina booster?! I frantically examined the packaging on the jelly, doubting my ears.

And there it was—bold text that read: [Tonight, your woman won’t be getting any sleep.]

At that moment, I vividly remembered Rowan’s awkward smile as he handed it to me.

‘What kind of lunatic gives something like this to a priest?!’

“So, this is the tip Lucid gave you yesterday? Try seducing me through my body?”

“Wh-what?! No! That’s not it at all!”

Wait—how did he even know I met with Lucid yesterday?!

Edmund ridiculed me mercilessly, then dumped the rest of the herbal jelly straight into the trash.

“H-Hold on!”

I panicked and grabbed his sleeve, but Edmund only brushed me off with a thoroughly disgusted expression.

“Felix.”

When Edmund called the name in a low voice, his bodyguard, Felix, took a step forward.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“This one. Send her to another department.”

“But…”

“I said send her.”

When Edmund repeated himself, Felix finally nodded.

“Come with me.”

“W-wait! Your Highness!!”

I couldn’t let myself be thrown out like this. What if he was my master?

“Th-the Peace Festival!”

The Peace Festival. An event commemorating the day the current Emperor ascended the throne, which also marked the beginning of foreign settlement in the Umpha region. It was a festival that included many programs designed to celebrate and support foreigners.

“You… haven’t decided what events to include yet, have you?”

In the original story, Edmund goes undercover to the Umpha district in search of ideas for a festival, where he meets Ecla, the female lead. After saving her from some street thugs, he falls for her at first sight. Impressed by her fluency in the Imperial language, he ends up receiving all sorts of advice from her.

One of those ideas? Inviting the Nikita and Arian delegations to the Empire.

“How about inviting representatives from Nikita and Arian?”

“Like they’d ever come.”

Edmund waved his hand dismissively, as if it wasn’t even worth hearing.

“You never know. They might actually be waiting for an invitation.”

But who am I, if not the legendary transmigrator!

“Send an invitation to their envoys and propose a trade agreement.”

“Trade? Now you’re just spouting nonsense.”

“Nikita and Arian have been suffering a drought for three years. If the offer includes grain, it’ll be more than enough to draw them in.”

At that, Edmund paused, seemingly deep in thought, before finally speaking.

“…Felix, we’re going to His Majesty. Leave her and come with me.”

“Yes, sir.”

“See you soon!”

I twisted my wrist slightly to free myself from Felix’s grip, letting out a quiet sigh as I did so. I was certain that my proposal would be approved; if Edmund was truly a meritocrat, he would have no choice but to recognise my contribution.

Sure enough, just as I had predicted, the office became noticeably busier that afternoon.

“Dante, you’ll handle the list of invited delegates. Natasha, the banquet venue is yours.”

As Edmund assigned tasks one by one, a tense energy settled over the office. I waited, anticipating what job he’d assign me—but in the end, my name was never called.

“Wait a second. What about me?!”

I raised my hand and asked, but Natasha leaned in and whispered softly into my ear.

“Newbies don’t get involved in stuff like this.”

But it was my idea! How was I supposed to build any achievements like this? How could I ever impress Edmund?

While everyone else was running around busy with festival prep, only Campbell and I were left unoccupied.

“Hey, Olivia. I’m sorry, but with the festival coming up, I don’t think I’ll have time to train you properly.
Could you organize this in the meantime?”

Natasha handed me a file, and I had no choice but to nod.

By the time work ended, everyone was still swamped with tasks. I handed the completed documents to Natasha.

“Thanks for your help. You can head out now.”

I didn’t have anything better to do anyway, and sticking around would only get in everyone’s way.

“Someone take this to the royal kitchen.”

At that moment, Edmund scribbled something with his right hand, then picked up a sheet with his left and waved it at me.

Well, since I was already on my way out, I might as well take care of it.

“I’ll take it!”

I quickly ran over and accepted the file. It was a menu list for the banquet to be served to the visiting delegates.

“…Huh?”

But something seemed off.

“Wait a minute.”

“If this is about asking me out again, just get it over with. I’m busy.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s about this food list.”

“What about it? I already reviewed everything—there’s nothing wrong.”

Edmund frowned and glared at me.

“Arian can’t eat beef.”

I pointed to the line on the page that read ‘beef steak’.

“…What?”

As expected, Edmund frowned, clearly thinking I was mistaken.

“Does anyone know anything about this?”

“I’ve never heard of that.”

Dante replied, shaking his head.

“But now that you mention it… I don’t recall ever seeing the Arian-speaking foreigners eat beef.”

At Dante’s response, Edmund clicked his tongue, deepening the crease between his brows.

“In Arian, cows are considered sacred animals. They believe cows are messengers of their god.”

I had learned that by chance from a foreigner I met at the temple. They don’t eat beef. It was similar to how Hindus from my past life viewed cows, so it stuck with me clearly.

“Remove all dishes with beef. And verify whether this information is accurate.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

As the others quickly moved into action, I marked large Xs over every beef dish on the list.
Once I handed it in, I could finally go home.

“Newbie.”

“Yes?”

“…Thanks.”

‘Edmund just thanked me?’

Still feeling stunned, I clutched the papers and made my way towards the kitchen, but he promptly shooed me away.

The palace was confusing, as always. One wing looked like another, and so on — a whole maze of halls and courtyards. After wandering around for a while, I finally delivered the menu list to the royal kitchen and stepped outside.

Only to run into Lucid.

“Heading home?”

Why did I keep bumping into him? I hurriedly bowed and kept walking, worried people would start rumors about me being some kind of spy again.

But I overlooked one important fact: my legs were short, and his were long.

“I had something I wanted to ask.”

“What is it?”

I asked curtly. Lucid’s mischievous green eyes crinkled as he smiled. The skin under his eyes puffed out slightly, accentuating the beauty mark under his right eye, which sparkled in the light.

“I heard there’s a junior administrator who confessed to Edmund?”

‘Great. The news had already spread.’

At this rate, every official in the palace would know by tomorrow.

“That bold woman? That would be me, thank you very much.”

“What? It was really you? I heard it was a newbie, so I had a feeling it was you.”

Lucid looked me up and down before bursting into laughter.

“You’re so not Edmund’s type.”

Edmund’s… type?

My ears perked up.

“Then, what is his type?”

Were his actions prompted by my desperation? Or had he simply found a new toy to entertain himself with?

Lucid’s eyes crinkled with amusement as he looked at me, as though he had stumbled upon something entertaining.

“Well, first of all, he likes assertive women.”

Come to think of it, even in the early chapters of the novel, he was clearly interested in Ecla, yet he never made a move. He just waited for her to approach him or buried her in work.

“He likes smart people, too.”

I already knew that.

“And… someone with a bit of s*x appeal?”

I instinctively glanced down at my own body… only to meet Lucid’s gaze—he was giving me a once-over too.

“Yeah, I don’t think you stand a chance.”

His smirk made my face burn with embarrassment.

“Well then… have a good evening.”

Flustered, I bowed and rushed out the palace gates.

Now that I thought about it, Lucid always seemed to coincidentally escort me all the way to the outer gate.

“…Nah. No way.”

Shaking off the thought, I quickened my steps toward the temple.

***

“Hm. I told you she was interesting.”

Lucid raised a hand as he watched the figure with blue hair dart out the palace gates.

From a branch above, a silent figure leapt down. His escort, Jack, knelt swiftly before him.

“Did you find anything?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Jack produced a tightly rolled parchment from inside his cloak.

Lucid untied the string with practiced ease and unfolded the document.

“Olivia, huh… So she’s a beneficiary of the temple.”

Lucid calmly reviewed Olivia’s personal information.

“It says here that during the civil war fifteen years ago, she was found collapsed near the temple, suffering from memory loss. It’s unclear whether she was truly an orphan or simply separated from her parents.”

“…What’s this? She’s looking for a foreigner with a gunshot wound?”

“The only thing she remembers,” Jack explained, “is her name—and that a boy around her age was shot on the back of the hand while trying to protect her.”

“Don’t tell me… she thinks Edmund is that boy?”

Lucid let out a dry chuckle and crumpled the parchment in one hand.

“With that personality? Not a chance.”

“They say the idea to invite the diplomatic envoys this time was hers too.”

“And that graph His Majesty praised the other day? That was her invention as well.”

As Jack added that, Lucid’s green eyes gleamed—dangerously.