The New Empire theoretically had five emperors now. Besides Sandora and me, there were the already-retired Older Sister, Uncle Harlan, who diligently handled government affairs, and Bellavella before us, who was often AFK. Older Sister could only be considered a figurehead due to historical complications, so she could be excluded outright. Among those remaining, Bellavella was the laziest and least emperor-like. I usually considered myself lacking in energy, but Her Majesty the Queen before me was even worse: had anyone ever seen someone training new recruits on the drill field, suddenly decide to slack off, pretend to switch personalities on the spot, and then wander home by herself? She could pull that off...
So not only was she lazy, more importantly, she had absolutely no professional ethics. If the nature of a Shilin Apostle did not at least ensure that she would not drop the ball, I would have suspected that she might simply apply to Sandora and me for a private galaxy and retire there...
"Can't be helped. I was too exhausted before, so you have to let me relax a little now," Bellavella said, picking pastries from Lilina's and my plates and tossing them into her mouth without interrupting her speech. "You should count yourself lucky. I had originally decided to stay away from Empire affairs from now on and peacefully be a pastry chef here, only occasionally coming out to bail Silvia out. If I hadn't seen how hard you and Sandora were working to revive the Empire, and how interesting your New Empire was, did you think I would so easily come out and work myself to the bone for you?"
While using my own pastries to soothe the restless Lilina, I looked curiously at Bellavella. "Honestly, I find your condition pretty amazing... Though being contaminated