I Was Just Standing There
I was just standing there, though?
“Haaaam…”
The aftermath of the banquet that had dragged on late into the night was worse than Serian had expected. She walked down the corridors of the Armaments Bureau like a ghost, her face gaunt and hollow as she fought back wave after wave of yawns. Every bone in her body ached. It was the price she paid for never letting her guard down the previous night while wearing the mask of the “rude hero.”
Just then, light footsteps echoed from the far end of the corridor, and Ella approached.
“Hey, newbie! How’d it go yesterday?”
A meaningful smile unlike her usual one played on Ella’s face. She looked at Serian with sparkling eyes, as if she knew every secret. Her gaze lingered on Serian’s exhausted expression. The terrifyingly sharp, gambler-like glint that had filled her eyes when she’d decided to attend the banquet was gone. In its place was the face of an ordinary, completely relaxed youngest colleague.
Seeing that, Ella became certain.
‘The battle… is over.’
Ella knew the truth. Serian hadn’t gone to the party last night to enjoy herself. It had been another battlefield—one where the Empire’s new hero had thrown herself headfirst into the web of political ambitions and schemes reaching toward her.
That was why.
In a tense voice, Ella asked quietly, “So, Serian. Did you achieve your goal?”
She wasn’t asking if the party had been fun. She was asking whether Serian had returned victorious from an invisible war.
Serian stared blankly at Ella. Then, with a genuinely, sincerely clueless expression, she answered languidly.
“Umm… I’m not really sure myself.”
What on earth had happened? What exactly went down last night?
Serian clutched her dizzy head and retraced her memories of the previous evening. Her plan had definitely been proceeding perfectly. The engineering student circuits in her brain spun furiously as she ran through her mental checklist.
Did I shock everyone with a decadent dress and provoke disgust? YES.
Did I leave a solid impression as a “rude bitch” with my arrogant expression and icy tone? YES.
Did I make the Emperor’s sore spot of a princess cry by blatantly ignoring her? YES.
Did I successfully ruin the banquet by pulling a wide-area aggro move and shattering my glass right at the toast timing? YES.
It was clear. Every variable had been perfectly controlled. Just from the looks in people’s eyes as they left the hall, the plan should have been a resounding success.
But then, out of nowhere, some unidentified arrest show had broken out… and a knight she’d never seen before appeared, calling her a hero and offering thanks. After that, everything had gone completely off the rails. The way people looked at her had flipped one hundred and eighty degrees.
Why—? I didn’t do anything?
Only then did a reasonable suspicion occur to Serian.
Wait… was this all a setup? Like a staged game of Go-Stop? Did everyone know about her situation and secretly team up to film the ultimate prank? Was this entire Empire actually one giant set—and this some popular show that the whole nation was watching? The Truman Show. No, no—The Serian Show?
Without realizing it, she whipped her head around, scanning every corner of the lab. Ceiling edges, gaps between bookshelves, even the tip of her pen. She desperately searched for any hidden cameras.
Then she fixed Ella with a suspicious glare and asked, “Senior.”
“Yeah? What?”
“Senior… you’re not an actress, are you?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
Ella looked genuinely dumbfounded. At that pure reaction, Serian finally let go of her last thread of hope.
“Sigh. Never mind.”
Alright—enough with the nonsense. It was about time to start planning the next project. Yes, if she was a development officer, she should act like one. She needed to complete a development project so outrageous it would get her fired. Why on earth would she resort to some deviant method like causing chaos in high society?
‘Right. The only proper path is the straightforward one—create a new toy that causes massive financial damage to the Empire and get myself kicked out.’
Having organized her thoughts, Serian sat down at her desk, picked up a pen to sketch out her next project—and that was exactly when—
BANG—!
The lab door flew open with a violent crash, and Ella burst in again.
“Ah, Senior! At least knock…”
Serian frowned as her barely-forming concentration shattered into pieces. But Ella didn’t seem to have any room to listen to complaints. The relaxed demeanor from moments ago was gone. Her face deathly pale, she spoke in a trembling voice.
“Newbie! It’s bad! You need to get ready right now!”
“What? What is it this time…”
“His Highness the Second Prince… is looking for you!”
His Highness the Second Prince, Kaion, has summoned you.
*
Deep within the imperial palace, in the Second Prince’s office.
Thud.
Second Prince Kaion set down the report he had been reading.
“Is… all of this true?”
At Kaion’s incredulous question, Leon, the commander of his personal guard who stood at his side, bowed his head. The report Leon had personally delivered contained the detailed record of a single girl’s deeds—deeds that defied common sense.
“There is not a single falsehood or exaggeration, Your Highness.”
If Leon’s report was entirely factual, that young girl was no ordinary person. Setting aside the title of greatest genius in history for a moment.
She had developed a new weapon that would change the Empire’s history—and then personally taken the field as commander, defeated one of Astra Empire’s strongest, the Fifth Tower Master, and recaptured an impregnable fortress?
Just that alone would have been enough to shock everyone. Up to this point, these were the already-famous achievements of the Empire’s new hero, the Flash of the Empire.
But on top of that—she had used a strategy no one could have imagined to wipe out every enemy spy hidden among the Empire’s influential figures?
‘…Does this even make sense?’
All of it had been accomplished the moment a single twenty-year-old development officer took office.
In that instant, Kaion felt a vivid thrill, as if the thick fog that had long blocked his path had finally lifted. He had been searching for a long time—for a sharp blade. One dangerous enough to overturn the Empire’s chaotic board and cut out the rot, yet one he absolutely had to obtain.
And this report was screaming in every single line:
The sword you have been seeking is right here.
Serian Elhardt.
She was exactly the talent he had been looking for. That immense intellect and martial prowess. If her influence and ability became his ally, she would become the most powerful weapon of all.
And the final thing that captured his heart—
She had saved Lilliana. The one person in this palace with whom he could truly open his heart. His younger sister by blood, sharing the same mother.
That alone was enough.
“…Bring her to me.”
Kaion made his decision without hesitation. He had to meet her in person. He had to confirm whether that blue meteor was truly a star that would shine in his sky.
*
Upon receiving the urgent summons, Serian reluctantly hurried to prepare. When she stepped out of the Armaments Bureau’s main entrance, a carriage bearing the gleaming imperial crest and a knight order were already waiting for her.
‘Why the hell am I being called?’
All the way to the imperial palace, Serian’s mind was a whirlwind of speculation. Then one particularly plausible scenario suddenly flashed through her head, and she slapped her knee.
‘Don’t tell me… it’s because I made the princess cry yesterday?’
Well, the banquet’s ending had gone strangely, that was true. In any case, the princess had cried because of her, and it was an undeniable fact that she had shattered a wine glass and caused a scene right at everyone’s toast timing.
‘Heh heh. At this rate, it’d be weird if I don’t get fired.’
A satisfied smile naturally formed on her lips. It was obvious. Lilliana must have run crying to her real brother—one of the Empire’s leading successors, the Second Prince—and tattled: Oppa— I mean, Brother! That crazy woman made me cry! Punish her!
Perfect. What was coming had finally come. This was clearly an official summons for disciplinary action or dismissal.
As she followed the attendant down the palace’s long corridors, Serian actually felt her mind grow calmer.
Knock knock knock.
The attendant rapped on the heavy door and announced, “As per Your Highness’s command, I have brought Development Officer Serian Elhardt.”
“Enter.”
The door opened, and Serian came face to face with the owner of the office.
Sharp eyes. A solid, battle-forged physique. It was Second Prince Kaion.
Before Serian could even offer a proper greeting, Kaion spoke first.
“Development Officer Elhardt.”
He paused briefly as if choosing his words, then looked at her with deep eyes and said, “Thanks to your sacrifice last night, my younger sister Lilliana owes you a very great debt, I hear.”
At the end of his words, Kaion added, “I will not forget this grace.”
He was sincerely expressing gratitude for stopping the assassination attempt and saving his sister.
But to Serian’s ears, the words sounded completely different.
‘A great debt?’
Oho…
Everything became crystal clear in Serian’s mind. So he had called her to issue a warning after all.
‘How dare you make my sister cry? Are you out of your mind? I will never forget this grudge.’
A clear threat carrying exactly that meaning.
Serian interpreted his words that way and decided to take it one step further.
‘Fine. Then I’ll just have to be even ruder.’
She put on the most arrogant and indifferent expression in the world. A faint, mocking smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
“It was nothing, Your Highness.”
—It was nothing at all, yet she came running to you sobbing her eyes out?
A sneer loaded with exactly that implication!
But—at that very moment, Kaion could only feel admiration.
To speak of uprooting the Empire’s hidden enemies and saving a member of the imperial family—an achievement of such magnitude—as “nothing,” and to smile so casually… It was the mark of a true heavyweight who already held everything in the palm of her hand, telling him not to worry about such trivial matters!
Kaion hardened his resolve. He would bring this woman to his side. No matter what it took, he would make her his sword.