"Graduation"

"We're planning to hold a party the night after tomorrow, on the weekend..."

Near the end of the workday, Catherine received an invitation from the other interns.

Some of the interns had left the Presidential Palace earlier, leaving only eight people.

Catherine was the only girl among them. The other seven were boys, all two years younger than her.

These young people all came from prominent backgrounds. Now that their internships at the Presidential Palace were coming to an end, they would more or less be handing over their work one after another next month before leaving for new journeys.

Before leaving, the interns who had persisted until this point—or whose families had supported them enough to complete the full internship—had gained a certain understanding of one another.

The news always described Catherine as the "Flower of the Common People," talking about how difficult her life was and how extraordinary she was.

Yes, judging from those reports, that was indeed the case. Her mother was still doing odd jobs, her father was still working as a warehouse manager, and she still lived in the cramped room assigned to interns, working while studying.

From any angle, she almost perfectly deserved the title "Flower of the Common People." The media liked her, and the public liked her too.

But the other interns knew the truth.

Only people with enough ability could complete an entire internship at the Presidential Palace. "Spending a full internship term at the Presidential Palace" and "experiencing the work of an intern at the Presidential Palace" were entirely different things.

Those who had left halfway through had influential people behind them, but not enough influence to support their staying there for long. It was merely a transaction.

They had arranged for the people they recommended to spend a few