The Tyrant Empress is Obsessed with Me

13 – Granting a Vacation

“Have you heard? This time, the entire Division 1 went on a group vacation to the Kingdom of Keldy.”

“Keldy Kingdom? Where’d they get the money?”

“I heard they were selected as an excellent department and given a full-tuition waiver.”

“Is that true!?”

The eyes of the gossiping employees sparkled.

Keldy Kingdom.

Three-time consecutive selection as the best vacation spot in the Empire Magazine.

One of the top 10 places to visit before one dies.

A place where newlyweds are said to live a hundred years after visiting, and couples who are going through a slump will rekindle their flames.

“If we work hard, we can go too, right?”

“Of course. What kind of person is Ascal, the director? Taking minimal bribes, always only being 10 minutes late. He’s relatively fair. I’m sure he’ll send us too.”

“It’s time to bring out our hidden work skills.”

The wind was blowing.

Diligent work will bring about rewards.

The motivation it gave to the managers was tremendous.

The news of Division 1 going on a group reward vacation to Keldy Kingdom revived the forgotten morale of the evaluation department staff.

Division 2, Division 3, and even Division 4 started “working.”

As if using all their laziness up to this point as a stepping stone, the managers began working like mad.

“The efficiency is three times higher than usual.”

“What? Division 1 should be on vacation right now.”

“The average time for being late has dropped from 1 hour to 30 minutes. Even if the managers don’t arrange it, they voluntarily seek out work.”

Ria reported.

Ascal went around the office to check on things. There was no way those people were actually working. It was clear that Lia was mistaken about something.

“No, that land should be valued much lower because it’s tied to a plant conservation area.”

“Don’t you know that there’s a rumor that the conservation area will be lifted soon? If we take the potential value into account, this evaluation seems reasonable.”

“Hey, we’re supposed to assess the current value, not future value.”

Ascal, who had quietly arrived at Section 2, saw an unbelievable sight.

They were having a serious discussion about work.

No one was slacking off.

This was outrageous. This could not go on.

“Everyone, take it easy and work. I brought some snacks.”

Ascal, who had brought cream-filled donuts, suggested that Section 2 take a break.

There was a need to break this flow somehow.

“Has the manager arrived? Sorry, but we’re actually working right now; can you visit again later?”

But Section 2 ignored the snacks and returned to focusing on their tasks.

Feeling left out, Ascal left the section sadly.

‘No, it must be only Section 2. Let’s go to Section 3.’

Ascal trusted Sushia that much.

Even if everyone else was working diligently, Sushia would be different.

Arriving at Section 3 with expectations, Ascal was shocked again.

“Ah… Manager, you’re here?”

Sushia, with dark circles from working late, was busy writing documents.

“What happened, Sushia?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you working?”

“?”

Ascal’s voice trembled.

He couldn’t believe the scene before him.

Sushia, who came from a well-off family and was born lazy, would not work unless told to do so. That’s the Sushia Ascal knew.

And now, that immutable fact had been shattered.

“Ah… Why are you working so hard? I want to go to the Kellis Kingdom too.”

“You can go with your own pocket money.”

“This month, I’ve wasted so much money that my father cut off my allowance. I’m broke now.”

“So, are you working?”

“…If you’re not going to help, don’t bother me and leave, please. Manager.”

Ascal was driven away again.

This is dangerous.

Even without the first department, the evaluation department seemed to be functioning. Even more actively than before.

What would happen if the first department came back?

It would undoubtedly become an unstoppable disaster.

He had to come up with a plan.

“Ria, I just remembered, isn’t there an empty room on the second floor of the evaluation department?”

“Yes, I heard it’s too small for an office and too big for a storeroom, so it’s been left unused for now.”

“Let’s turn it into a break room.”

There was no break room in the evaluation department.

In fact, it was because the offices were no different from break rooms.

“With the leftover budget, we’ll partner with the best snack shop in the empire. And we’ll hire a masseuse to help relieve everyone’s fatigue. Specifically, a Miao-Miao masseuse known for their high prices.”

From No ble mt L dot c om

Temporary motivation can easily be broken by temptation.

With a little redirection, everything will return to its place.

“I’ll create heaven for them. So much so that they won’t even think about working.”

It didn’t take long for the break room to be completed.

“Manager! Please, come in!”

As soon as he opened the door, he could hear the soft sound of a music box. The magical music box, which played the range of tones that heal the heart, seemed to relieve tired minds and bodies together with the scent of lavender oil.

“Here’s the dessert. Since we have a guest, please enjoy and rest.”

The dessert melted in his mouth as soon as he took a bite. The subtle, luxurious sweetness lingered, proving that partnering with the empire’s best dessert shop was worth it.

“Please write down the areas where you feel pain and the intensity you prefer, and I’ll be sure to relieve your fatigue.”

The Miao-Miao receptionist in a white gown handed over a questionnaire. Ascal shook his head.

“I didn’t come here for a massage today. Can I just look around the break room?”

“Of course, the manager is always welcome!”

There were several massage beds, and all of them were full. The break room was so successful that people had to make reservations to enter.

“Manager… This is amazing…”

Following the receptionist’s guidance, he went further in and found Sussia lying on a massage bed, receiving a massage.

The mysterious cat masseuse skillfully pressed their paws on my back, and at first glance, their technique was clearly professional. The pushing and pulling motion was so flawless that it seemed they had even mastered the traditional Korean massage.

Softened and melted from the massage, I instantly succumbed to sleep. About ten minutes later, I suddenly woke up.

“Recovery complete. Time to get back to work!”

As soon as I left, another employee entered to receive a massage.

The exhausted employee enjoyed a quick dessert before getting a massage, and then left to work fully recovered.

‘Is this some kind of respawn point? Coming back to life after dying.’

From my observations, the employees were using the break room for a set amount of time, according to the rules.

It slowly dawned on me that this break room wasn’t a place for employees to slack off but rather, it had become the best place to improve work efficiency.

‘That one’s been using it for over an hour. Still, it’s a relief to see someone using the break room as intended.’

An admirable salary thief’s attitude.

Worthy of being a role model.

Curious about who it was, I slightly lifted the curtain.

And there, to my surprise, was an unexpected figure.

Bare-chested and receiving a massage, the person greeted me warmly as soon as they spotted me.

“Your Highness…?”

“Oh! Aascal! I was about to come see you, but here you are. I came to the break room and the skill here is even better than I thought. I realized I’d been here for over two hours. hahahahaha!”

The Crown Prince of the Empire, Cain.

The cat masseuse was sweating profusely while attending to him.

“Oh, it’s more tense there. Press harder.”

“Understood…”

Let’s pretend we didn’t see this.

I hastily escaped the place.

◆Imperial Magazine – Break Room Review

※ This introduction is written with the permission and review of the Empire.

※ We would like to express our gratitude once again to Mr. Aascal Deblur, the head of the evaluation department, for granting us the permission to conduct this interview.

As soon as I opened the door, the first thing that greeted me was the soft sound of a music box. The soothing sound from the magical music box, combined with the scent of lavender oil, calmed my slightly excited mind.

But there was an even more surprising encounter – imagine my surprise when a cat wearing a white gown lifted their adorable paws to bring me a dessert.

The dessert melted the moment it touched my tongue, wrapping my taste buds in a luxurious sweetness. It was clearly a dessert made by the top dessert house of the empire, Leblanc *this is a sponsored post in exchange for a nominal fee*.

After the dessert, the cat masseuse kindly asked me my preferences regarding the intensity and focus areas of my massage before guiding me to the massage bed.

As soon as he lay down, a soft touch massaged his tired back, pressing just hard enough to neither hurt him nor feel too weak. The perfect pressure seemed to ease his tense muscles as if touched by heavenly hands…

Ascal closed the magazine.

“Weren’t the Empire magazines on bad terms with the administration? I allowed them to write about it because I thought they would say something bad.”

“It seems like they were more touched than expected.”

“I see.”

“Also, the plaque arrived today.”

＜Department of the Year – Evaluation Department＞

＜Congratulations on being selected as the Empire’s Outstanding Department.＞

As a result of the incredible increase in employee efficiency fueled by motivation and the recreation room, they were selected as the Department of the Year.

The plaque was filled with words about additional budget allocations and words of praise.

He should save this to use as leverage later.

“I’m going to take a vacation too.”

There’s no answer at this rate.

Ascal decided.

To run away from this place.