Relieving the Crown Prince's Burden
Today was the day I had to work in Adrian's office.
"You're here."
As I opened the door to the office, Adrian greeted me from behind a mountain of documents.
"Yeah. I am."
I sat down and checked her complexion.
She definitely looked better than when she'd collapsed the other day.
But her pale skin and the dark circles under her eyes were still there.
Even her blond hair seemed a bit frizzy.
"You're late."
Adrian spat it out without stopping her pen.
I glanced at the clock on the wall.
It was exactly 9 a.m. The minute hand was right on the hour.
"I came right on time."
"By my standards, that's late. You should've come a little earlier and been waiting."
"Fine, fine. I'll come early next time."
Still so prickly.
I didn't bother mentioning that Aria had taken time tying my ribbon. It'd just sound like an excuse, and I didn't want to share my private life anyway.
I gave a half-hearted reply and pulled a stack of documents toward me across the desk.
Adrian frowned at my brazen attitude, clearly displeased, but she didn't nag any further.
She must have realized that lecturing me was pointless.
Ignoring me and just getting on with the work was more efficient, both time-wise and emotionally.
I pulled my chair closer and started the tedious document sorting.
Budget amendment requests, club activity reports, facility repair applications.
All of it was boring as hell.
This kind of stuff could easily be handled by administrative staff or low-level clerks.
She reviews all this herself?
Even minor issues that could be delegated to others were being handled by Adrian personally.
I glanced up at her.
She was meticulously reading through the papers, jotting down corrections one by one with her red pen.
It was pitiful, but also frustratingly inefficient.
A clunky work style with no trace of efficiency.
She was clearly burning herself out.
I couldn't hold back any longer.
"Hey."
"No chit-chat during work hours."
Adrian replied curtly without looking up.
"No, I'm just curious."
I waved the document I was sorting.
"Can't you just make other people handle stuff like this? Why do you have to approve something like replacing library chairs yourself?"
Adrian's hand paused at my words.
She slowly lifted her head and looked at me.
Her blue eyes held a mix of fatigue and stubbornness.
"If I delegate, mistakes happen."
"So what if there's a mistake? Just fix it."
"No. It can't be helped."
Adrian cut me off firmly.
"The weight of the crown prince's seal isn't light. Even a tiny mistake could undermine the imperial authority."
"Authority, authority. You think something like this would really damage it?"
"You wouldn't understand."
She gripped her pen tightly.
"That's what the position of crown prince is."
"What is?"
"A seat where you can't overlook even the smallest thing. If I leave it to subordinates and a problem arises, the blame falls entirely on me."
Adrian murmured softly, almost like she was reminding herself.
"I have to be perfect."
Her voice carried a bitterness laced with self-mockery.
The weight in her words hit differently.
I have to be perfect.
I knew it wasn't just about job performance.
A woman disguised as a man in the crown prince's seat.
With no precedent in imperial history, she was probably striving not to show even the slightest flaw.
"So you have to personally check every single trivial thing to stay perfect?"
"Yes."
"And if chasing perfection makes you collapse like last time?"
At my point, the tip of Adrian's pen stopped again.
Ink bled darkly onto the paper.
She stared blankly at the spreading stain, her eyes wavering before sinking deep.
"It doesn't matter."
"What?"
"If I collapse, it just means that's the limit of my ability."
She crumpled the ink-smeared paper, tossed it in the trash, and pulled out a fresh sheet.
"This position doesn't allow weakness as an excuse. Even if my body breaks."
So resolute.
As if her suffering was just par for the course.
Watching her, anger bubbled up inside me.
Damn it, Adrian, you idiot.
Because she's the crown prince of the empire? Or to hide that she's a woman?
No matter the reason, living like that would lead to burnout eventually.
No, burnout was secondary.
If you collapse, who's going to beat the demon king?
This route required Adrian to become the hero.
She had to grow strong to defeat the demon king and reach the ending.
It was frustrating to see her wasting away from overwork before even facing him.
I shot up from my seat.
Adrian frowned at me.
"What are you doing? It's still work hours..."
"Move."
I strode over and blocked her desk.
"What?"
"Move aside. I'll handle those documents."
"Ha. Ridiculous. What do you even know..."
Adrian scoffed and tried to resume writing.
I snatched the pen from her hand without hesitation.
Click.
"Wh...?"
Adrian's eyes widened in surprise.
Daring to take something from the crown prince's hand—something she couldn't have imagined.
"Have you finally lost it? Give it back now."
Adrian warned.
She tried to stand, but I was faster.
I pressed her shoulders down, forcing her back into the chair.
Thud.
"Ugh!"
She flinched reflexively.
The moment my hands touched her shoulders, she instinctively raised her arms to guard her chest.
Her obsession with not getting found out as a woman, no doubt.
I pushed even more brazenly.
"Just need to finish these, right?"
"Important imperial matters handled by the likes of you..."
"C Dorm repairs budget. This is an important imperial matter?"
"..."
"Let me handle the trivial stuff so you can rest. You look pathetic."
"I'll manage my own body..."
"If you could, you wouldn't be like this."
I cut her off sharply.
Then I patted the back of her chair.
"Rest a bit. I'll show you how it's done."
"Ha. You?"
Adrian scoffed.
"Have you ever even done administrative work?"
"Nope."
I dragged a chair over and sat right next to her.
"But I bet I'll do better than you."
"Ha."
Adrian snorted.
"Your confidence is absurd."
"You'll see."
I picked up one of the scattered documents.
Even a quick skim showed dense numbers and material lists.
It'd give anyone new to it a headache.
But to me, it looked different.
This is just like game quest descriptions.
Theodora Chronicle had management sim elements too.
I'd handled territory management and academy budgets countless times.
This level of admin work was a breeze, eyes closed.
I sped through the document.
Dining hall menu improvements.
"Rejected. Budget insufficient."
Fencing club equipment replacement.
"Denied. Records show it was replaced last month."
Library extended night hours.
"Approved. On condition of adding night security."
I wielded the pen without hesitation.
Adrian, looking anxious, questioned me.
"Aren't you... being too sloppy?"
"Sloppy? I'm hitting the key points precisely."
I shoved one document right under her nose.
"Look at this. Flower bed project plan. Just lists flower types, no costs included. Not even worth reading—reject."
"..."
Adrian couldn't argue.
My point was spot on.
"And this. Dorm repairs? Quotes are inflated. Needs investigation—hold."
I sorted them briskly.
Approved, denied, pending.
The papers passed through my hands and stacked neatly in moments.
"Anyway, I'll keep handling it, so rest. Close your eyes or something."
"...Fine."
Adrian hesitated, then finally leaned back against the chair.
She'd hit her limit too.
"Thirty minutes. Exactly thirty. Don't do anything stupid."
"Got it. I'll wake you."
She eyed me warily at my words, then closed her eyes.
Her breathing evened out quickly.
A soft, steady rhythm.
Her sleeping face lost its usual sharpness, looking innocently young, like any girl her age.
Sleep well.
I watched her for a moment, then ramped up the pace on the documents.