Thor was put in charge of overseeing the construction of the palace complex and the cities. Odin had given him a death order, so even pretending to be sick did him no good.
When he tried to dump the responsibility on Loki, Loki immediately foamed at the mouth and fainted, giving him no chance at all.
Left with no other choice, Thor braced himself and came to Apokolips. On the territory of a brother-in-law his sister disliked, he was building a palace for a sister who disliked her brother-in-law.
From a certain perspective, the ten cities, the palace, the thousand Pegasus, and the twenty thousand Asgardians could all be considered Hela's dowry.
Whether Russell and Hela acknowledged it or not, Odin certainly did. He threw both people and goods at Russell, no longer mentioning the wedding date, treating it as though the wedding had already taken place.
Making her a king in a foreign land was essentially exile by another name. Hela's pride could not bear it. After being forced to Apokolips, she constantly threw tantrums. Even after Russell beat her up several times, she still refused to settle down.
When Thor led the construction team to Apokolips, Hela immediately brought people to fight him. They fought five times in three days. She won the first two, but lost every match afterward.
Once she realized she was not even as good as her younger brother, Hela finally quieted down. She fell into a depressed state and hid alone in the temporary palace, sulking.
Without Hela causing trouble, construction of the palace progressed by leaps and bounds. If not for Thor, a complete amateur, giving orders at random, it could have gone even faster.
It was a learning process. His wealthy father threw money around like mad, piling up experience for