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.
