"Once" a brilliant empress who had founded a glorious legacy, Her Highness Brunhilde had of course experienced the traditional cycle of extraordinary abilities: from "unspeakable monster" to "vile regicide" to "Princess Ivenya" to "the radiance of Her Majesty the Empress illuminating the universe."
Of course, when dreams entered reality and past and present interwove, even she couldn't help feeling the surreal absurdity and foolishness of it all.
"Once strategic decisions become bogged down in too much wrangling and compromise, they always end up producing political jokes that go down in history. The Alliance Senate is like that. Is the Empire's Privy Council any different?"
Watching the strange smile on her liege's face, the chief of staff said softly, "Your Highness, you're a member of the Privy Council now."
Brunhilde nodded candidly. "Yes, Chief of Staff. I'm making fun of myself. Someone once told me that adults who can laugh at themselves are virtuous adults, and a ruler who can laugh at herself can at least play the part of a virtuous and wise sovereign. That's good enough."
Ostana's smile faded slightly as she adjusted her collar. The conversation seemed to be veering into dangerous territory, and this wasn't something she should be thinking about. She shifted the subject somewhat awkwardly.
"He's too important. Your Highness, to the people of Earth, he must be their only hope."
Yang Xiyi had achieved comparable results, but he was far away on the New Continent, so his fame was nowhere near as widespread. At least most ordinary citizens of the Commonwealth who lived in remote star sectors knew Yu Lian's name, but most of them had certainly never heard of Yang Xiyi.
"From a purely military perspective, the combat power of one person and one ship is negligible. But to the Galactic Empire, his