Chapter 149 --149
Her methods also created political noise. She raided a concubine’s palace—something that wasn’t "proper," even if she had authority as a royal seat holder. Elara did it anyway because she believed the concubine had done something wrong, and she didn’t want palace rules to protect someone who was actively rotting the system from inside. That one move told everyone two things at once: she wasn’t scared of noble women with titles, and she wasn’t going to let "tradition" stop her from enforcing control.
Inside her own palace, she rebuilt like a CEO fixing a corrupted company. She treated missing staff as fraud, ordered her beast knights into teams, pulled back "ghost" employees who were being paid by palace but serving outside god kmows where , and started interrogations to find who authorized the theft
Week One: The Hiring Nightmare
Elara sat across from her twenty-third interview candidate of the day. A middle-aged man with impeccable credentials—former treasury clerk, twelve years experience, references from three noble families.
"Your resume indicates expertise in tax collection administration," Elara said, reviewing his documents. "Explain your approach to preventing revenue leakage in provincial collection systems."
The man smiled confidently. "Your Highness, the key is establishing trust with local administrators. Building relationships. Ensuring they feel valued and—"
"Incorrect." Elara set down the papers. "The key is independent auditing, randomized inspection schedules, and consequence enforcement for discrepancies. Relationships are irrelevant to accurate accounting."
The man’s smile faltered. "Well, yes, of course, but in practice—"
"In practice, the ’relationship building’ approach you describe enabled the exact corruption I’m eliminating. Previous administrators who prioritized personal connections over systematic verification created the forty million gold deficit I’m currently resolving." Elara’s voice stayed flat. "You’re not hired. Next candidate."
"But Your Highness, I have extensive experience—"
"Experience in the failed system I’m replacing. That’s disqualifying, not beneficial." She gestured toward the door. "Thank you for your time."
The man left, clearly offended.