[Irelia's Resolve]

Poaching someone might not sound like the nicest thing to do, but it could be very effective.

If Irelia really could poach Sona, she would undoubtedly gain a much clearer understanding of how Demacia had reached this point. That would be invaluable when she returned to Ionia and helped rebuild the Land of the Newborn.

Besides, Irelia thought poaching Sona was genuinely feasible.

In New Demacia, Sona's position seemed quite unusual to Irelia, who was looking at things as an outsider.

As one of the three leaders of the north, Lux had been crowned empress after New Demacia was founded, and Eno held an important position within the Hextech ranks. Sona, however, seemed to have lost her power and had not entered New Demacia's circle of power.

Her titles as Minister of Culture and the Arts and chairwoman of the Art Support Association were certainly distinguished, but the cultural sphere had never been a department with real authority. Irelia now understood New Demacia's political structure fairly well. She knew that the clerks and the Hextech wielders were the most important parts of the new Demacia; compared with them, culture and the arts were little more than a sideline.

Irelia's understanding of New Demacia's situation was sound.

The clerks, the Hextech wielders, and the reorganized Demacian armed forces were the three legs holding up the country.

Compared with those three organizations, the cultural sphere was no more than a tail.

Moreover, New Demacia's cultural sphere was still filled with members of the old nobility. Although Lux had introduced compulsory education in the north more than a decade ago, even now, Demacia's true writers and artists were mostly of noble birth.

Arts education was a considerable luxury, and Lux's plans had always placed it low on the list of priorities. Before people