IDWM 05

CHAPTER-05

Allison, who had been smirking, suddenly froze.

“Hm? What did you say?”

“I said I’ve finished everything you assigned me.”

I neatly tapped the reports into order against that supposedly expensive desk before holding them out to Allison.

The “work” she had assigned was basically organizing a pile of crappy reference materials she had carelessly thrown together.

How many years do you think I spent doing this kind of thing?

I drove the point home.

“I’ve checked all the spelling and typographical errors too. I also checked the font, formatting, and character spacing.”

“Ha. You don’t have much sense either! If you cram the page full of text like this, who’s going to read it?”

“Ah. Would you prefer the version with visual materials?”

“What?”

“I made another version in a different format, just in case.”

I picked up the second report from my desk and gently handed it to her.

People like this always make a fuss about presentation instead of the actual content.

I’d prepared another version just in case, and sure enough, she found something to complain about.

Allison looked me up and down before sneering.

“You certainly act like someone who’s worked before.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Well, you grew up in an orphanage. I suppose you must’ve done plenty of menial work.”

Wow.

This damn woman….

Allison smiled mockingly at me.

“What? Am I wrong? That’s what your records said. Unless your parents are actually alive?”

“Ah! No, you read it correctly. They’re probably dead.”

I smiled brightly as I answered.

“But whether someone has parents or not, we all have to work anyway.”

“Hah…?”

“Unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, that is.”

Allison’s face twisted.

Yuriana nervously watched the confrontation between us.

Grape-Head stood nearby with his arms crossed, observing silently.

“Lowell. Are young people these days all as insolent as you?”

“I wouldn’t know. But I haven’t asked about your parents, Team Leader Capress.”

A brand-new employee openly confronting her superior?

Normally, that would be unthinkable.

Your workplace is unfair?

Your boss abuses their authority?

You endure it. The world outside the company can be even worse.

But someone starts dragging your family into it?

Then you push back.

There were certain lines in life that shouldn’t be crossed.

For me, my parents were one of them.

Layla’s parents in this life might have abandoned me when I was a baby, but thanks to my parents in my previous life, I had grown up happy.

I might have no money and no status, but why should I tolerate an insult like this?

Allison stammered, looking genuinely shocked.

“You… Who do you think you are?”

“I’m just a new recruit from an orphanage.”

Unless you were royalty or from some ancient noble family, weren’t we all basically the same anyway?

Allison glared at me before abruptly turning away.

She realized there’s no point picking on me because I won’t be intimidated.

If you really want a battle of nerves, have it with me.

I might technically be a new recruit with years of experience from my previous life, but did she really want to bully a baby like Yuriana?

Unfortunately, Allison continued calling Yuriana over every day at exactly 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. just to berate her.

The next day.

And the day after that.

“I’m leaving early today. You can all go home when you finish your work.”

Allison left at four.

But not before piling the paperwork she hadn’t completed herself onto our supposedly expensive desks.

This damn woman.

For the rest of the day, we quietly worked through the documents.

Only two more days, and then I can say goodbye to this place too.

As we were nearly finished with the work—

“That woman….”

“Hm?”

Grape-Head suddenly spoke to me in a low voice.

“Why doesn’t she say anything to me?”

“Well… you’re from the Magic Tower, and your parents are alive.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Of course it matters.”

This guy came from an elite family comparable to the male lead or the mastermind.

She chooses her targets carefully.

But Grape-Head looked genuinely confused.

“That isn’t reasonable.”

“People are just like that. They don’t always fit neatly into zeros and ones….”

Wait.

While explaining the irrationality of the world to this innocent little lamb, I looked around and realized Yuriana’s seat was empty.

“Wait, where’s Yuriana?”

“She ran outside. I think she was crying.”

“You little—! Why are you only telling me now?!”

I’d been so buried in work that I hadn’t even noticed!

And why hadn’t the second male lead followed her when she was crying?

When the female lead cries, you’re supposed to go after her and hand her a canned coffee or something!

That’s how the romance starts!

Seriously, Grape-Head! This is exactly why you’re the second male lead!

What if the original storyline went completely off the rails and Yuriana decided she didn’t want to be an Imperial Palace official anymore?

What if she decides not to join the Dark Magic Department?!

I hurriedly jumped out of my seat and ran outside.

Apparently, following me wasn’t “reasonable,” because Grape-Head stayed behind.

Fortunately, Yuriana hadn’t gone far.

She was crouching in a corner of the garden, hidden from the people passing by.

“Yuriana!”

“La-Layla.”

“Are you okay?”

“Sniff….”

Oh dear.

The female lead really was crying!

Apparently even more embarrassed after being caught, Yuriana covered her face and began sobbing harder.

“Sniff… hic… sob….”

“Yuriana, don’t cry—”

Wait.

Just as I was about to comfort her, a sudden chill ran down my spine.

Wasn’t the male lead supposed to comfort Yuriana around this point in the story?

How could I forget?

After becoming depressed from Allison’s constant harassment, Yuriana went outside and happened to run into the male lead.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to join the Dark Magic Department, Crosswell?”

“S-sniff… Y-yes.”

“Then you can’t cry over something like this.”

“Yes….”

Carlisle spoke sternly and turned away, but before leaving, he added one final sentence.

“But if you join our department, at the very least, I’ll make sure you never have to cry because you were treated unfairly.”

There was a faint warmth in his voice.

Oh, shit….

I needed to get out of here immediately.

But just as I started pulling my hand away—

“Hic… Layla.”

The tear-covered female lead grabbed it.

“C-could you stay with me?”

“But… um… that’s….”

“Sniff… hic….”

…My coworker was crying her heart out.

I couldn’t exactly say, “A handsome man is supposed to come comfort you now, so I’ll leave you alone.”

In the end, Yuriana held me there, and I crouched beside her while listening to her worries.

“Sniff… What am I going to do, Layla?”

“Hm? About what?”

“I really want to do well… but maybe I just don’t have any practical sense.”

Oh dear.

Allison’s meaningless criticism had apparently hurt her more than I thought.

“Listen carefully, Yuriana. It’s not that you lack practical sense. You just lack experience.”

“Experience….”

“Everyone struggles when they’re starting out.”

“But Layla….”

“Hm?”

“L-Layla, you were good at everything from the beginning.”

“That’s because, just like that woman said, I grew up in an orphanage and did a lot of odd jobs.”

“That’s….!”

“So stop worrying about what she said.”

Yuriana had stopped crying, but she still looked dejected.

Hmm. She ranked first, so she must take a lot of pride in her abilities.

This was what happened when someone was constantly gaslit.

Fine.

It was time for a dose of harsh workplace reality.

“Listen carefully, Yuriana.”

“Okay?”

“Someday, we’re all going to become self-employed.”

“Uh… huh?”

If you don’t become an executive, eventually you’ll have to become your own boss anyway.

Whether you end up owning a fried-chicken shop, a café, or an entire building.

“We’re not all going to become high-ranking officials, right? So there’s no reason to stake everything on this job.”

Never build your entire life around your company!

Yuriana, completely unaware of the worn-out corporate philosophy behind my words, apparently interpreted them as heartfelt encouragement.

She smiled brightly.

“Thank you, Layla. I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Oh. Well….”

“I’m going to wash my face first!”

Yuriana jumped to her feet and ran away.

She must have been terribly embarrassed about crying so much.

Right. I still have work left too, so I should get going—

But as I started standing up, I suddenly froze halfway.

The male lead was standing just around the nearby corner.

Why the hell are you here?

And why were you just standing there after making eye contact with me?

With your hands clasped behind your back, no less.

Why aren’t you following the female lead?

…For now, though—

I needed to figure out exactly what was going on.