Episode 3
The assistants were all speechless.
“Wait… That’s really… the royal seal?”
Everyone stared at Smith in awe, like he was some kind of legend.
Where in the world did he even get that thing?
“His Majesty gave it to me when I returned from my trip,” Smith said.
“When exactly?”
“Just now.”
He winked.
“It’s only temporary, though. He said he trusts me and asked me to handle a few important documents on his behalf.”
Ah. Now I got it. Of course His Majesty came up with such a “His-Majesty-style” solution again.
“Giving someone a huge task the moment they return from a trip… His Majesty really is something else.”
I pouted, and Smith smiled playfully.
“Do I stamp it here?”
“Yes, yes! Please stamp it right there—for the emperor’s seal!”
Thump!
The golden stamp landed perfectly. I felt all my stress melt away.
The problem that had been haunting me for three days disappeared in an instant.
“As expected of you, Mr. Smith! You’re our savior!”
“Mr. Smith, you’re a shining light!”
Even the junior assistants clapped enthusiastically for John Smith.
“All done. Here, take it.”
The moment I saw the document ready to be sent to the foreign affairs department, I almost cried tears of joy.
I leaned back in my chair with a big smile.
“You really are the best, Mr. Smith.”
I gave him a thumbs-up as he stood beside me. For once, his usually calm face looked a bit brighter.
“If it’s for you, Miss Foy, this is nothing.”
He looked pretty happy—like he’d been waiting to say those words.
“If you ever need the royal seal again, just tell me. I’ll bring it for you.”
As expected of my unicorn-like boss. He can just casually bring the emperor’s seal whenever.
Having a boss like him was like finding an oasis in a desert.
“You really are a man of talent.”
Smith stood a little taller.
His face even turned a bit red… though I didn’t notice at the time.
Anyway, the nerve-wracking day was finally coming to an end.
“I’ll be heading out now!”
One by one, the assistants started leaving the office.
Soon, even the ones who stayed late left to catch the tram, and the office became quiet.
As for me…
Looks like I’m working overtime again.
“So much paperwork…”
Piles of sharp-edged documents sat on my desk.
I’d held my pen so much that I felt like I was going to lose my fingerprints.
Now that the foreign documents were done, the domestic ones started acting up.
The life of an assistant was truly endless.
I slammed my head onto my desk in frustration, when my amazing boss suddenly spoke up.
“Too much paperwork?”
He must’ve heard me. So I poured out my complaints—things I’d been holding in for a while.
“Right? This paper, that paper—it’s like a flood. I keep having dreams where I’m drowning in piles of white paper.”
Smith seemed to think for a moment.
“Now that you mention it, we really do handle too much on paper.”
“It’s all just paperwork for the sake of more paperwork.”
“…You’re right. That’s not very efficient.”
He rubbed his chin like someone who just had a revelation.
“We need to change this.”
“Exactly! Can someone please fix this system already?”
Just the fact that he understood how I felt made me happy.
Even if nothing changed, it felt nice knowing he and I were on the same page.
After scribbling something down for a while, Smith turned to me with a gentle suggestion.
“Go home. Whether you finish this today or tomorrow, the work won’t disappear.”
“…”
“Think of it as a short break. Go rest at home and come back fresh in the morning.”
It was a kind suggestion… so why did it feel so sad?
“Haha… You’re right. I’ll head out then. I mean—oh, I said that wrong—I’ll go home now, not quit!”
“I’ll make sure you come back tomorrow.”
We laughed together, joking like we were planning to stop a runaway slave.
…So close. I really was this close to quitting.
Everyone had left the assistant office.
At exactly 8 PM, Smith returned to the emperor’s office—the one no one ever entered.
His footsteps echoed in the dark, empty room, officially without an owner.
Putting the royal seal back in its place wasn’t hard.
After all, he was very familiar with this place.
The truth is, getting the seal that morning had been quite the ordeal behind the scenes.
He rushed back from his trip, burst into the office, persuaded the guard Merlin, and ran off with the seal—all in under 30 minutes.
Still, it felt worth it. Because someone told him he was the best.
Of course, he had no intention of ever telling Miss Foy any of this.
She didn’t need to know about his clumsy behind-the-scenes scramble.
Smith sat naturally at the large mahogany desk and opened a drawer.
Inside was a single piece of well-worn paper.
John Smith’s Behavior Code
He calmly read it over.
- Act like a kind boss
- Understand what tasks assistants struggle with
- Pretend to go for approval to sneak into the emperor’s office
So far, everything was going well.
At the bottom was a recently added section:
P.S. Behavior Code for Rose Foy
- Help her in emergencies
- Find out what food and restaurants she likes
Rose Foy’s favorite: spicy food
Smith added a new line in his neat handwriting:
- Bring her the royal seal if needed
A crooked smile spread across his face.
After doing this for so long, he’d gotten pretty good at it.
He even had enough spare room in his heart to add special rules just for one person.
He reviewed the behavior code carefully, perfectly playing the role of John Smith.
“Rose Foy…”
She was probably the granddaughter of Baron Foy.
Before the emperor officially went on strike, Baron Foy had been on the loyalist side.
That’s why she’d been chosen to be an assistant.
And she had lived up to every expectation.
She’s one of the best people I’ve ever met.
He tapped his pen against the desk. Just calling her “capable” didn’t feel like enough.
“A person who truly deserves to be called a loyal subject…”
He had watched her closely for a long time.
Since when, exactly?
—Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Rose Foy.
Back when she was first assigned to the assistant office, she seemed like any other new recruit.
But she wasn’t like the others.
She had an incredible sense of responsibility.
—Miss Foy, where are you going? Didn’t we already handle that task?
—It’s an important matter. His Majesty needs to be informed.
—He’s not even going to check it. Just skip it.
Even when other assistants from her batch didn’t care, she never stopped trying to serve the emperor properly.
—You shouldn’t say things like that in the palace. We work for the emperor.
—Ugh, you’re so uptight. You’re the stressful type, you know?
Even her first supervisor belittled her. And Smith felt pure anger for the first time in a while.
It felt like he had been insulted.
So, he fired that supervisor. The official reason was negligence.
Then he fired all the coworkers who slacked off, too.
They weren’t listed as fired, of course. It was all marked as “voluntary resignation.”
Rose Foy would probably never find out.
Naturally, Smith became her new supervisor.
—Mr. Smith, you’re going to teach me? But you’re so busy as the chief assistant! I’m still new and make a lot of mistakes…
—It’s fine. New people are supposed to make mistakes. I just… felt like I wanted to teach you from start to finish.
He answered every one of her questions. Comforted her when she got discouraged after making mistakes.
—I only started understanding this job after working for years. You don’t have to be perfect already, Miss Foy.
He guided her. Ate lunch with her. Stayed late with her sometimes.
And before he knew it… she’d gotten under his skin.
Not a bad feeling at all. He stayed in character, playing “John Smith,” and won her trust.
He followed his behavior code carefully, like a normal person.
As long as nothing major happened, he planned to keep things this way.
If someday his feelings grew too big, he might need to tell her his true identity…
“…That’s a problem for later.”
He added another line to the paper.
- Be careful not to reveal your true identity
Then he thought for a moment, tapping his pen again, and added one more.
- Find a way to reduce paperwork (Important) (Urgent)
He waited patiently for the ink to dry.
His long, graceful fingers tapped the desk softly.
When the ink dried, he rolled up the paper and tucked it deep into the drawer.
Then he locked it.
Just in case someone ever came into the room—they must never find it.
The lock code was 0504.
Rose Foy’s birthday.
