Heena looked at him like he’d grown a second head. "What do you an?"
The system floated closer cautiously. "I an, in the council just now—I don’t think it was a good idea to talk to them like that. To threaten them so openly. What if it backfires? What if they unite against you?"
Heena stared at him for a long mont.
Then she set down her pen and asked, very slowly, "System, do you know why the original Celeste was the ultimate villain of this story?"
The system blinked, confused by the sudden change in direction.
"Do you know," Heena continued, "why it took five male leads, one female lead, ’and’ a system working together just to defeat her?"
The system tilted his head, still not understanding.
Heena sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Let explain sothing to you. Yes, it’s true that in the three years of marriage, Celeste gave quite a bit of power to her five husbands. But it’s also true that her father was a smart and brilliant emperor. Do you know what he did when he took the throne?"
The system shook his head.
"Instead of killing all his siblings—like most emperors do to prevent challenges to their power—he made sure they could never have children. He sterilized every potential rival bloodline."
The system’s eyes went wide.
"He was literally the only emperor in this empire’s history who didn’t wade through blood to reach the throne," Heena continued. "But he also made absolutely certain that his own children would never have to fight each other for it either."
She gestured around the room.
"So right now, except for , there is literally ’no one’ in the entire imperial bloodline who can inherit this throne. No cousins. No distant relatives. No one. I am the ’only’ heir."
The system was starting to understand.
"And adopted children cannot inherit the throne according to imperial law," Heena added. "So in every sense, there is no one—absolutely no one—except who can sit on this throne legally."
She smiled coldly.
"Those nobles can plot all they want. They can sche and threaten and dump paperwork on my desk. But at the end of the day, unless they want to start a civil war and completely destroy the imperial system, they’re stuck with ."
The system processed this. "But Host... if that’s true, then why—"
"Why did they think they could push around?" Heena finished. "Because after just three years of having consorts, these bastards forgot who their emperor is."
She picked up her pen again.
"That paperwork last night? That wasn’t just revenge. It was a test. They wanted to see how much I could take. How far they could push before I broke."
"But you didn’t break," the system said.
"No," Heena agreed. "I pushed back. Hard. And now they know exactly where the line is."
The system hesitated. "But Host... if it was just a test, why did you spend all night reading those docunts? Why not just burn them or ignore them?"
Heena raised her hand and smacked him lightly on the head.
"You fool! Do you know when police search a cri scene, where do they look first?"
The system rubbed his head, confused. "Um... everywhere?"
"The ’trash bin’," Heena said. "They check the garbage. Why? Because that’s where people throw away the evidence they think is useless—the things they don’t think anyone will bother to look at."
Understanding slowly dawned on the system’s face.
"Those nobles threw all those ’useless’ old docunts at thinking I’d just sign them without reading," Heena explained. "But hidden in all that garbage, I found weaknesses. Patterns of fraud. Evidence of corruption. Things I can use against them."
She smiled.
"And I was also testing Larus. I needed to know if he was just a pretty greenhouse flower who’d wilt under pressure, or if he could handle the cold reality of imperial politics."
"And?" the system asked.
"He passed," Heena said simply. "He worked through the night without complaint. Found actual fraud cases. Proved he can be useful."
She looked at the system seriously.
"I’ve given myself ten years in this world."
The system’s ears perked up in surprise. "Only ten years?"
Heena nodded. "In these ten years, I’m going to stabilize this empire, deal with the main plot, and make sure Larus and his kingdom are secure. After that, I leave."
"But Host," the system said worriedly, "ten years isn’t very long for everything you need to do—"
"Which is why I need a strong partner," Heena interrupted. "When I leave, the original Celeste will be ’dead’—or at least, I’ll be gone from this body. I need soone competent to take over. Soone who actually knows how to govern."
She looked out the window.
"Larus can be that person. He’s smart, he’s capable, and most importantly—he actually ’wants’ to be useful. Unlike my current five decorative husbands."
The system was quiet for a mont, processing all of this.
"So everything you do..." he said slowly, "the proposal, bringing him into the docunts, showing him the political ga... it’s all preparing him to rule after you’re gone?"
"Partially," Heena admitted. "It’s also making sure I have soone I can actually trust while I’m here. Soone who won’t stab in the back the mont it’s convenient."
She picked up another docunt.
"Politics isn’t about being nice, System. It’s about power, leverage, and knowing exactly how far you can push before things break. Those nobles needed to be reminded that I’m not the weak, lovesick original Celeste. I’m soone who will burn their entire world down if they cross ."
"But you wouldn’t actually—" the system started.
"Wouldn’t I?" Heena asked, raising an eyebrow. "System, I have nothing tying to this world except the mission. No family, no real emotional attachnts, no legacy to protect. If they push too far, I absolutely ’would’ burn it all down and start over."
She smiled grimly.
Soon, a knock echoed through the office door.
The guards announced from outside, "Your Majesty, the royal consorts have arrived."
Heena didn’t look up from her docunts. "Let them enter."
The door opened and all five of them filed in, one by one. They bowed—barely, just enough to satisfy protocol—but their eyes were fixed on her, waiting, wary, trying to gauge why she’d summoned them.
Heena looked at them coldly.
Literally, she wanted to pull out divorce papers right now and slap them across each of their faces. Just be done with it. End this farce of a marriage and move on.
But she couldn’t.
She couldn’t completely throw the story into chaos. No matter how much she personally wanted to, Celeste ’needed’ to remain married to these five. If she divorced them all at once, the political backlash would be catastrophic. Not just taphorically—’literally’. Because despite everything she’d done to weaken their power bases, these five still represented massive forces in the empire.
The northern military. The rchant networks. The intelligence apparatus. The church. Whatever the hell Lucian controlled when he bothered to show up.
A divorce would unite them against her out of sheer humiliation. And that was a storm she couldn’t afford. Not yet.
So instead, she sat in her chair, crossed her legs, and looked at them with an expression cold enough to freeze fire.
"I’ve been thinking," she said, voice deceptively calm. "Perhaps I’ve been too selfish keeping all five of you to myself."
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