Chapter 146: Chapter-146

Elara first looked at the condition of their surroundings—the broken furniture, unconscious Rony, defeated Lira, the beast knights standing guard—then said calmly, “No one.”

“What?” Eleana asked with confusion.

Elara looked at her. “Our father is still alive, so how can anyone be the Emperor? Let him stay in the coma. He’s still technically the Emperor. Then we can decide who wants to work.”

Eleana’s face lit up like she’d just been handed a lifeline. “Oh! Well, in that case, my mother and I are going on vacation. We’re too tired after all these years.”

“What?”

Elara’s expression shifted—not her usual flat calm, but something between disbelief and the emotion most people feel when they’re approaching anger. Her eye actually twitched slightly.

Eleana had been working non-stop for months. Elara had been planning to delegate significant authority to her—thinking her sister would want to help manage the empire now that the Emperor was neutralized.

But instead, her sister was declaring a vacation?

Eleana looked at her with a fox-like smile and said sweetly, “Well, well, little sister. You’ve handled everything so well up until now. You can keep handling it! Mother and I are going on vacation for a few months. Maybe half a year. We deserve it, don’t you think?”

Elara stared at her.

Then at Parmilda, who was nodding enthusiastically despite her injured ribs.

“Yes,” Parmilda agreed. “We’ve been trapped in this nightmare palace for decades. I think a nice long vacation—somewhere with beaches, perhaps—sounds absolutely perfect.”

Elara’s mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.

“You’re… both… serious.”

“Completely serious,” Eleana said cheerfully. “You’re so efficient, Sister. You’ll manage the empire transition just fine without us!”

“That’s not—” Elara stopped. Took a breath. “Managing imperial governance during political transition requires multiple experienced administrators. I calculated based on having your assistance and political expertise.”

“And now you’ll have to recalculate!” Eleana stood up, wincing slightly from her injuries but still smiling. “Consider it good practice for adaptability. You’re always talking about efficiency—well, being efficient means working with available resources, right?”

Elara’s eye twitched again.

“Besides,” Parmilda added, clearly enjoying this, “you have Helena. Duke Romian—once you figure out what to do with him. Your administrators. The beast knights. That’s plenty of support.”

“For *operational* tasks, yes. But political legitimacy requires—”

“Requires the Emperor’s seal, which you have access to since he’s in a coma,” Eleana interrupted. “Requires someone who can make decisive choices without emotional interference—that’s you. Requires someone the beast knights will follow—also you, since you’re the one who actually treats them like people.”

She walked over and patted Elara’s shoulder.

“You’ll be fine, little sister. More than fine. You’ll probably rebuild the entire government in three months and wonder why Father took forty years to accomplish less.”

Elara looked at her. “This is revenge for me being emotionally detached, isn’t it.”

“Maybe a little,” Eleana admitted with a grin. “But mostly it’s genuine exhaustion. I’ve been playing politics since I was twelve years old. I’m twenty-eight now. That’s sixteen years of constant stress, manipulation, and survival tactics. I need a break. A real one. Somewhere Father’s shadow doesn’t reach.”

Her smile faded slightly, becoming more genuine.

“And honestly? I trust you to do this better than I ever could. You don’t have the emotional baggage. The trauma. The ingrained habits from living under his system. You can rebuild from scratch, which is what this empire needs.”

Parmilda nodded. “She’s right. You’re the best choice, Fourth Princess. Not despite your… unique perspective, but because of it.”

Elara stood there, processing.

Her calculations had been wrong. She’d assumed Eleana would want to participate in governance. Had built her entire transition plan around having experienced political support.

Now she’d have to reconstruct everything.

“This is highly inefficient,” she said finally.

“Probably,” Eleana agreed cheerfully. “But we don’t care! We’re going on vacation!”

“When do you plan to leave?”

“Tomorrow morning. Already sent word to prepare travel arrangements while you were unconscious earlier.” Eleana’s grin widened. “We’ll be gone before you can argue about it.”

Elara looked at both of them. “You planned this in advance.”

“The moment you knocked out the Emperor, yes,” Parmilda confirmed. “We had about ten minutes while you were organizing everyone else. Plenty of time to decide we deserved a break.”

“That’s… manipulative.”

“We learned from the best,” Eleana said. “Except we’re using manipulation for good purposes. Like extended beach vacations.”

Elara’s expression finally shifted to something close to resignation. “Fine. How long will you be gone?”

“Six months minimum,” Parmilda said. “Possibly a year if we really like wherever we end up.”

“A year?!”

“Or longer!” Eleana added helpfully. “We’ll send letters occasionally. Let you know we’re alive. Maybe some postcards with scenic views.”

“This is—”

“Efficient?” Eleana suggested, her smile turning genuinely warm. “You’ll have complete authority. No one questioning your decisions. No political rivals to manage. Just you, implementing reforms exactly how you want them. Sounds pretty efficient to me.”

Elara stared at her.

Then, very quietly, said, “I hate that you’re right.”

“I know!” Eleana hugged her—carefully, because of injuries, but genuinely. “That’s what makes this perfect. You get to rebuild the empire your way. We get to recover from forty years of trauma. Everyone wins!”

“Except me, who now has to manage everything alone.”

“You have Dimerti. And your administrators. And an entire palace full of people who’ll follow you because you’re terrifyingly competent.” Eleana stepped back. “You’ll be fine. Better than fine.”

She paused.

“And honestly? If anyone tries to cause problems while we’re gone, just do what you did today. Knock them unconscious and induce a magical coma. Seems to work pretty well.”

Despite herself, despite the sudden massive increase in her workload, despite everything—

Elara almost smiled.

Almost.

“That would be efficient,” she admitted.

“There you go!” Eleana laughed. “See? You’re already adapting. You’ll be running this empire better than Father ever did within a month.”

“Two months,” Elara corrected. “Systemic reform takes time even with optimal efficiency.”

“Two months then. We’ll send a postcard to celebrate.”

Parmilda stood carefully, Gregor helping her balance. “Come, Eleana. We should rest before tomorrow’s journey. Let your sister start her administrative planning.”

“One more thing,” Elara said as they turned to leave.

They looked back.

“When you return,” Elara said quietly, “I’ll need your help. Not immediately. But eventually. Building a stable government requires diverse perspectives. Mine is… limited in certain areas.”

Eleana’s expression softened. “When we come back, we’ll help. I promise. But for now…” She smiled. “For now, you get to prove what you can do without us holding you back.”

“I don’t need to prove anything.”

“No,” Parmilda agreed. “But you will anyway. Because that’s who you are.”

They left, Eleana supporting her injured mother, both of them heading toward well-deserved rest before their escape—vacation—tomorrow.

Elara stood alone in the destroyed dining room, surrounded by unconscious enemies and exhausted allies.

Then she pulled out her notebook and started writing.

REVISED GOVERNANCE TRANSITION PLAN

– No political support from First Princess or First Consort (vacation, 6-12 months)

– Available resources: administrators (operational), beast knights (security).

– Timeline: Accelerate all reforms to complete before their return

– Probability of success: Calculating…

She paused, pen hovering over paper.

Then wrote:

Probability of success: High. Because I’m efficient. And they’re right—I don’t need them to do this correctly.

And for the first time that entire chaotic, violent, emotionally exhausting night—

Elara actually smiled.

Just a little.

Because rebuilding an empire alone sounded exactly like the kind of challenge she’d been waiting for.

Efficient.

Thorough.

Irreversible.

Just the way she liked it.

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