Episode 1
I’d already been waiting for ten minutes.
With my arms full of documents, I was just waiting for someone to come out of the emperor’s office.
Clunk—
I looked up absentmindedly when I heard the sound of the door opening. A royal guard stepped out.
“Miss Rose Foy. Sorry, but today won’t work. His Majesty says he doesn’t want to meet anyone.”
Just as I expected.
Ahaha. Of course. I clenched my teeth.
“‘Today?’ Do you really think he’ll only refuse today?”
The guard looked flustered, like I’d hit the nail on the head.
“W-Well, if you go back for now, I’ll try to talk to His Majesty again.”
He avoided my gaze. That made me a little suspicious.
“By the way, Sir.”
“Yes, Miss Foy?”
“Do you know what His Majesty looks like?”
“…What?”
“I’ve never seen him before.”
That huge office door had never once opened since my first day as an assistant.
It even made me wonder if there really was someone inside!
“But you’re a royal guard, so you’ve seen him, right?”
When I looked at him doubtfully, the guard’s eyes widened.
“Of course! I’m his personal bodyguard—there’s no way I wouldn’t know him!”
He even raised his voice like he felt wronged.
“Then please ask His Majesty. Why doesn’t he want to meet his own assistants? Isn’t that a bit too much?”
There’s a mountain of paperwork to take care of! Couldn’t he see how my arms were trembling from the weight?
“There’s no reason. His Majesty is always like that.”
But even the guard sounded half-defeated.
If the weather’s nice, he won’t work because it’s too nice.
If the weather’s bad, he won’t work because it’s too bad.
If it’s hot, cold, just right, or warm—no matter what, he never wants to work.
“Must be nice. I want to be lazy like that too.”
But workers like us have to ask for permission just to take a vacation.
“Hah. I’m jealous. Maybe I’ll be born as an emperor in my next life.”
When I got back to my desk, I grumbled to myself to let off steam.
That’s when my supervisor came over and gently placed a hand on my desk.
“Miss Foy. Another rejection?”
“Mr. Smith!”
Brown hair and brown eyes—such a common look.
But if there was one thing uncommon about him, it was his face.
A sharp nose and a warm voice.
He had a cool, calm face, but a gentle personality.
When he came near, the air around him felt softer.
Maybe that’s why his brown hair shimmered like silver waves, and his eyes looked like they had stars inside.
My handsome supervisor, John Smith, gave me a bitter smile.
“You look upset, so I guess it didn’t go well.”
“Of course not! His Majesty won’t meet with me, so I can’t get any approvals!”
I clenched my fists. I didn’t want to show my anger in front of my handsome boss, but I was boiling inside.
“Mr. Smith, look at that! What do you think that mountain of papers is?”
“Hmm. Our daily bread?”
“Our endless overtime work, more like.”
It was all work dumped on us because the emperor refused to handle it.
“Why do we have to suffer every single day like this, Mr. Smith? Isn’t this unfair?”
Even his face looked exhausted.
No matter how kind he was, he couldn’t enjoy cleaning up after the emperor’s mess.
“Do you know what people call His Majesty?”
John Smith raised his eyebrows—he was curious.
“A tyrant. A tyrant who ruins the country by refusing to work.”
That’s right. Other countries’ tyrants at least built useless structures, collected harsh taxes, or purged their officials.
At least they did something.
“Our tyrant is just on strike.”
Our tyrant doesn’t kill anyone—he just… doesn’t show his face!
“Since when did ‘tyrant’ mean ‘a ruler who gave up’? Or maybe it’s because he only makes us sigh, like sigh tyrant?”
I was so happy when I first became the emperor’s assistant.
I had promised myself I’d help a lazy ruler become a great leader.
“But His Majesty hasn’t shown his face even once since I started this job.”
Which meant it had been 367 days since the country’s top decision-maker vanished.
Now the stack of papers was taller than me—almost as tall as Mr. Smith.
After ranting like that, I nervously looked around.
Luckily, the other assistants didn’t react. Maybe they agreed deep down.
“What a terrible emperor.”
Mr. Smith added with a joking tone.
And he could say that even right next to the emperor’s office—because we all knew the emperor wasn’t inside. He wouldn’t hear us anyway.
“Making you suffer like this, Miss Foy. His Majesty really is cruel.”
He smiled gently. It was so kind, I almost cried.
“Only you understand me, Mr. Smith.”
So different from the irresponsible emperor, who might as well not exist.
Looking at Mr. Smith’s face was like healing. I had to enjoy it while I could.
Strangely, even though I always thought, “He’s so handsome,”
I could never remember the details of his face afterward.
I just figured his good looks were so dazzling that my brain short-circuited.
Luckily, after working so many late nights together, we’d become close.
Otherwise, I’d have been way too shy around a guy like him.
“Oh dear, it’s already time to leave.”
After thinking for a moment, Mr. Smith snapped his fingers.
“Good work today. Go home, Miss Foy.”
“What? But there’s still so much paperwork left!”
“Well, His Majesty isn’t working. Why should we?”
Hmm. That was actually a good point.
“It’s not urgent, so we’ll handle it tomorrow. Have a good evening, Miss Foy.”
With a picture-perfect smile, Mr. Smith waved at me.
I smiled back and quickly packed up.
I had to escape before someone gave me more work.
I lowered my head and quietly slipped out.
“Freedom!”
The air outside the palace felt so fresh as I left on time for once.
I rushed away and hopped onto the tram home.
As we passed through the city, the bell rang softly.
“Next stop: Greenmelody Park!”
I stumbled out, half-asleep like a zombie.
After dealing with the rush hour crowd, I just wanted to throw myself onto my bed.
“Mr. Smith really saved me today.”
I couldn’t remember the last time I got home while the sun was still setting.
The streets in the early evening were surprisingly busy.
The area around Greenmelody Park had lots of trees, some shops, and quiet houses.
Since it was a middle-class neighborhood that liked peace and quiet,
rent in the busy area nearby was actually pretty low, so lots of singles and newlyweds lived here.
I walked down a street lined with two-story apartments, unlocked my door, and went straight for my bed.
“Ahhh!”
Rolling around on my beloved bed melted all my stress away.
“Did you miss me, house? Your master is back.”
Even after being reborn in a fantasy romance world, I ended up as an office worker.
“If only I weren’t the daughter of a ruined baron, I could’ve been hosting fancy parties right now.”
But thanks to Grandpa’s gambling debts, my family was basically poor from the day I was born.
“Ugh, no point dreaming about stuff I’ll never have.”
I suddenly remembered tomorrow’s work, and the stress started crawling in.
I buried my face in the pillow to block the thoughts.
Whatever. I’ll deal with tomorrow’s problems tomorrow!
My peaceful evening passed quickly…
“Your Majesty, this is something only you can approve.”
Back to work. And back to rejection.
Every day was the same circle.
“Miss Foy. I’m sorry, but His Majesty—”
“Ahaha. Still refusing? That makes it 368 days now.”
Even the guard looked at me with pity.
“Well, Chief Assistant John Smith from your department handles most of the work anyway. Just pass it to him.”
“But this is important! His Majesty must approve it!”
“I was worried about that too, so I asked His Majesty. He said to give it to Mr. Smith.”
Wow. If even the core duties are handed off… then why do we even have an emperor?
In the end, I took the documents to my kind supervisor.
“Mr. Smith. So much work again today…”
I felt bad bringing him so much.
But even facing another night of overtime, John Smith stayed calm.
“No need to feel sorry. This is my job.”
So dependable. So cool.
“Seriously. If it weren’t for you, Mr. Smith, this country would fall apart.”
I joked—though it was 99% true.
He gave me a faint smile.
“True enough.”
A strange smile I couldn’t quite understand.
