Laura Croft had met the Emperor more than once. She was also one of the few people who knew his civilian identity; after all, he had supported her expeditions even before becoming the ruler of a nation. But she also understood that his civilian identity and the identity represented by the Emperor were two entirely different people. The latter possessed all the former's wisdom and rationality, but lacked his sense of humor—she only dared say so because she had witnessed the Emperor in battle. She could not put it into words, because no language processed and shaped by the human mind could directly convey that thunderous brutality and swiftness. Though she did not fully approve of Latveria's bloody reforms, she understood their necessity and the Emperor's resolve. She was a historian. She knew the turmoil in the Balkan region required powerful autocratic measures and force—knowledge the ivory tower of the University of London could never have taught her.
She had voiced both her protest and her understanding to the Emperor, and he had greatly appreciated her advice and independent thinking.
That had been in the Amazon Rainforest, on the eve of the final battle between the Paititi people and The Trinity's mercenaries. She had seen how the Byzantine people of Kitezh had turned their isolated homeland into an airport, and how its people had become the Emperor's soldiers. She worried that the Paititi people would suffer the same fate. Aside from the agricultural subsidy agreement and acquisition agreement signed by the Emperor and the queen of Paititi, this was one of the rare matters Laura Croft had opposed.
She had crossed the curtain of rain alone, caught up with the Praetorian Guard, and found him between armored personnel carriers and campfires. Just approaching him, she had felt warmth. The heat