Chapter 446 --446
Chapter 446: Chapter-446
Elara kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, her voice a flat line of practical economics. "The labor required to manufacture ice cream out of season is entirely unoptimized. It is not even winter yet."The system stopped dead in the air, staring at her as if she had completely lost her mind. "Who on earth eats ice cream in the dead of winter? It’s a summer delicacy, Empress! It’s meant to be eaten when it’s hot!"
Elara paused for a fraction of a second, looking at the creature with an unblinking, matter-of-fact gaze. "But to harvest and store ice during the summer months requires a massive financial deficit just to produce a single portion. Therefore, if you wish to consume it, you will wait until winter, when the natural snowfall provides an infinite supply of free raw material. You can have as much as you want then."
The system puffed out its cheeks, its ears twitching in absolute irritation. "What about you? Look at you right now, completely ignoring the fact that you literally sat there with a relaxed posture across from *him*, acting like everything is completely normal! Well, let me tell you, if I wanted to, I could eat ice cream whenever and wherever I please!"
Elara didn’t stop walking, her gaze remaining entirely level as they reached the grand staircase.
The system flew ahead of her, turning around to float backward down the steps while folding its tiny fingers one by one, counting out its grievances. "Why such a massive difference, Elara? Why am *I* getting the strict budget speech while the Northern Prince gets a customized breakfast schedule? Why are we getting such vastly different treatment?"
Hearing that, the system shrugged its own tiny shoulders with a theatrical sigh, answers its own question before she could. "Well, of course! You work twenty-four hours a day, and practically the sole reason this entire empire even functions properly, so obviously, they don’t show me any gratitude or give me anything nice."
Elara stopped walking entirely, turning her vacant, glass-bead eyes to look directly at the floating creature. Her voice was flat, carrying the calm, absolute weight of an unvarnished ledger.
"From the moment you came to me, I have not received a single practical benefit from you," Elara stated flatly. "If this world is supposed to have a standard narrative, you have never provided me with the plot. If you are supposed to be an invincible system, you have never granted me a single extraordinary ability or piece of critical information. Even the ordinary guards outside my palace doors provide a higher tier of consistent service than you do. As for companionship? You abandon me for years at a time, so that is also a variable you have failed to provide."
The system’s playful smirk began to falter, its ears twitching slightly under her steady gaze.
"Now, you are asking in a roundabout way why I am treating Julian differently," Elara continued, her posture perfectly rigid. "If you want an ice cream, I can order the kitchen to prepare it. But as for you, you have not earned it. Julian works day and night to improve the state of his home province, actively demonstrating his capability. He provides a functional output."
The system went quiet for a moment, its tiny shoulders dropping slightly. "You know... I am busy too, Elara."
"I am not blaming you, nor am I in the mood to do so," Elara replied, her tone remaining completely literal. "I am simply stating the facts because you chose to tease and mock my schedule. I evaluate individuals based on their measurable contributions, not because of an arbitrary personal connection. The same applies to Julian. He works remarkably hard. When I stepped away from the active throne, it was not because I wanted to lighten my personal workload; it was because I calculated that the entire system could function without my specific title."