After the Dark Magic Rampage Incident, the rookie officials' departmental rotations were suspended.
All new recruits were ordered to remain at home until the situation could be properly investigated.
But Finley and I had been dragged back into the Imperial Palace.
The place we were summoned to was the First Conference Room.
Not only were the high-ranking officials from the rookie orientation present, but even higher-ranking people had gathered.
Cabinet-level officials.
‘The lowest life-form in the ecosystem has somehow ended up among all the apex predators?’
I wanted to run away immediately.
‘More importantly, none of this happened in the original novel!’
The heroine going berserk?
The three of us had been detained for examinations.
Finley and I were questioned about the circumstances of the incident.
Yuliana was undergoing medical examinations.
‘Director Theodore is with her, giving her medicine, right?’
By now they were probably checking whether any traces of dark magic remained and whether there would be lingering side effects.
‘...I hope she's okay.’
She hated dark magic.
If she had become a victim of it herself...
Wouldn't that shatter her pride?
‘I should visit her afterward.’
But why had Finley been staring at me nonstop?
“Finley.”
“......”
“Do you have something you want to say to me?”
“You're the one who has something to explain.”
Damn it.
Ever since I had found the dark magic core, Finley had looked like he wanted to crush me with his gaze alone.
I had avoided answering at the scene because of the circumstances.
‘How am I supposed to explain something I don't understand myself?’
Still, I needed to distract him.
“Actually, I have something to say to you too.”
“Then explain how—”
“Thank you for saving me back there.”
“...What?”
“You grabbed me and pulled me out of danger.”
More specifically, he had grabbed my collar.
The back of my neck still hurt.
But thanks to him, my face hadn't been smashed into pieces.
So please accept my gratitude and drop the subject.
“I should've thanked you earlier. Sorry, Finley. I really owe you one!”
“No, that's not what I—”
“My, you're so humble.”
“You...!”
Just as he was about to raise his voice—
The second most powerful person in the Empire spoke.
“It is truly unfortunate that we have all gathered under such unpleasant circumstances.”
It was Prime Minister Luella Halifax.
As I looked at the middle-aged woman with snow-white hair elegantly pinned up, I was reminded of something.
‘The Imperial Family really is weak here.’
Not a single member of the royal family was present.
Prime Minister Halifax turned to Theodore.
“Lord Wordsworth, how is Yuliana Crosswell's condition?”
“The two of them have no external injuries. However, I judged that it would be difficult to bring them to a meeting like this just yet.”
“I see. Still, using dark magic... What sort of grudge could have driven her to that point?”
“Ahem. According to Miss Crosswell's testimony...”
Theodore cleared his throat.
“She believes the stress she experienced in the second department she visited played a significant role.”
“And which department was that?”
At that moment, Allison Capress stood up.
Her face was pale, but her expression was surprisingly confident.
“Your Excellency, I regret Miss Crosswell's statement. However, I did nothing except teach her the basics.”
Theodore looked troubled.
“Team Leader Capress, with all due respect, Crosswell testified that your verbal abuse was quite severe—”
“I also regret that testimony. However, the trainee was unstable from the very beginning.”
What?
‘What the hell is she saying?’
Allison continued shamelessly.
“And besides, can a few words from a supervisor really cause someone to fall under the influence of dark magic unless they already harbored malicious feelings?”
Whispers spread throughout the room.
“She has a point.”
“Wasn't Crosswell the top recruit? How disappointing.”
“Did she hide something during her psychological evaluation?”
“Perhaps she was involved with dark magic from the start...”
A chilling silence followed.
Being connected to dark magic was a capital offense.
‘That miserable witch.’
I ground my teeth.
Even if the testimony was unfavorable, was she actually trying to get Yuliana executed?
‘I have to say something.’
What Allison said had gone way too far.
‘But I don't have a single piece of evidence!’
Finley watched me clutch my forehead in frustration.
Then, without hesitation, he stood up and raised his hand.
Every eye in the room immediately turned toward him.
“May I speak?”
“And you are...?”
“Finley Seymus. I was assigned to the same group as Crosswell.”
“Hm. Finley. What is it you wish to say?”
“Team Leader Capress's statement is illogical.”
“Oh? And why is that?”
“Because the claim that Crosswell was unstable from the beginning is unsupported.”
“Haha. I understand wanting to defend your fellow trainee, but—”
Finley raised his skull-shaped bracelet.
“My artifact functions as a weapon.”
Then he added calmly,
“It also records audio.”
The moment he pressed the skull, familiar voices echoed through the room.
“What a waste of a desk. Oh my, are you hurt? Then I'm sorry.”
“N-no.”
“Right? People like you only understand things when they're told directly.”
The recordings began from the very first day we entered the Protocol Team.
Then they continued.
“You became an official just so you could marry well and improve your life...”
All the way up to the incident that afternoon.
The conference room fell into an awkward silence.
The insults hadn't only been directed at Yuliana.
‘Some of them were aimed at me too.’
“You certainly act like someone who's worked before.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“Well, you came from an orphanage. You've probably done plenty of menial labor.”
I had brushed those remarks off at the time.
But hearing them from a third-party perspective made them sound horrifying.
Embarrassed coughs erupted throughout the room.
“Ahem.”
“My goodness.”
“I'd heard rumors, but... hmm.”
Allison's lips trembled with rage.
She probably never imagined the quiet boy she ignored would stab her in the back with magic.
Honestly, neither had I.
‘What's gotten into you, Purple Head?’
No.
I should call him by his proper name now.
‘Seymus! You really are male-lead material!’
Encouraged by the atmosphere, I stood up too.
Allison glared at me, trembling.
“My name is Layla Lowell, and I was also assigned to Crosswell's group. Everything Finley presented is true!”
“You...!”
“Crosswell was not unstable from the beginning. From the first day of our training in the Protocol Team, she was subjected to verbal abuse—”
“This is slander! That artifact is fake!”
Allison's face turned red as she shouted at the room.
“Who are you going to believe?! I may not be powerful, but I'm responsible for imperial protocol—”
A deep male voice interrupted her.
The man seated in front of us stood.
Instantly, everyone's attention shifted toward him.
Carlisle.
“Team Leader Capress's testimony lacks credibility.”
“Duke Luphex?! What are you saying—”
“When the dark magic rampage began, Team Leader Capress shoved Lowell away from the building she was trying to take shelter in.”
“Th-that was an accident!”
“And yet you made no attempt to reopen the door and save her afterward.”
“......!”
“I witnessed it myself and can testify to that fact.”
The room's gaze toward Allison became colder than the Siberian tundra.
Prime Minister Halifax sighed and tapped the armrest of her chair.
“Enough. We are drifting far away from the purpose of this meeting.”
“My apologies, Your Excellency.”
“That's enough, Team Leader Luphex. More importantly, your superior officer is—”
At that moment, the conference room doors opened.
“My apologies. I seem to be late.”
Who did that elegant, composed voice belong to?
‘Huh?’
‘Could that possibly be...?’
The hidden mastermind from the original novel?