Chapter 198

Elara's face showed no change, as if she was saying something very ordinary.

"Lord Gregory has already been removed. Those who conspired with him, I will remove one by one. Plumera is in ruins and needs a new order and ruler, Benedict..."

After hearing Elara's words, Benedict looked at her with the same gaze as before, simply curious about what she wanted. "My sister who is here."

Elara touched his face. "From now on, you only need to do what you want. This emperor's throne, let sister have it. How about that."

This land of Plumera was built bit by bit by Elara.

Between her and Benedict, only she could keep this land moving in a better direction.

She wanted the throne.

She did not want to pretend with Benedict.

No matter what Benedict's answer was, there was only one thing that would happen.

He would definitely give up the throne for her.

After hearing Elara's last sentence, Benedict seemed to finally understand.

He nodded without any change in expression. Looking at her eyes, he smiled sincerely and said, "Alright, sister! I was always yours. If you want the throne, take it. Just stay by my side always."

Then, he hugged Elara, bent down, and buried his face in her neck, rubbing deeply.

Elara raised her hand and stroked his hair. Her eyes looked out at the sky with no end in sight.

"Then, go write the abdication proclamation later."

"The Plumera emperor Benedict will abdicate the throne to his sister Elara in two days."

"From now on, Plumera will change its kingdom name to Elara, meaning the flame that opens the world!"

Two days later

Plumera City was cleaned thoroughly from every corner. All officials connected to Lord Gregory were arrested. The corrupt merchants tied to him had their homes raided, and large amounts of money and supplies were seized.

The clear boundary walls dividing the east, south, west, and north districts were all opened by order of Elara. From then on, no matter where someone lived, they had to follow her new rules.

No one, regardless of status, would be exempt from these new laws.

The old city guards were taken as prisoners to the barracks. The new guards came from General Qi's army, plus three hundred strong men chosen by Francis. About ten thousand elite soldiers replaced the old guards.

If they lacked enough soldiers, Francis would recruit more later.

In this way, Francis's wish to become a commander was partly fulfilled by Elara.

The new commander of the city guard held a mid-level official rank, but since Elara had not officially taken the throne, he was only given command power for now.

The city gates were opened on all four sides. Damon led the elites from the Bai Family's Business to set up orderly refugee aid stations inside Plumera City.

From then on, refugees inside and outside the city would no longer be expelled or treated like goods for sale.

After completing these tasks, two more days passed.

On this day, Plumera City was clean and very serious in atmosphere.

Beggar refugees who used to roam the west and south districts were gathered into shelters by Damon, making those areas cleaner than ever.

The east and north districts were quiet because many people had been arrested. Few people hurriedly walked the streets, cautious and silent. No one dared to ride horses wildly or bully others as before.

Elara chose this day to take the throne.

About two-thirds of the city's population had been removed. Many locals still believed in Elara's former harsh reputation.

Because of this, her ascension was not as grand as expected.

There was no noisy crowd, no sea of people, and no officials kneeling before her in the great hall.

Only General Qi, Francis, Damon, and many officers who had followed her back to the city kneeled in the center.

To the left were Mathias, still holding the title of Prime Minister, his family officials, and other local officials who were not removed.

Behind them stood the old officials left after Lord Gregory's purge.

These officials were timid. They neither dared to join Lord Gregory's crimes nor report him before, and now they dared not speak against Elara's sudden throne claim.

Nearly two-thirds of the official seats in the hall were empty, silently pressuring the remaining officials to obey Elara.

They knelt carefully, following the new Empress who had returned from the southern border.

"Elara said: From today, I am the new Empress of Plumera. I hope everyone works together to make Plumera a strong nation! We will no longer be invaded by outside forces!"

Elara wore a golden, elaborate robe on the high platform, looking at those below.

The crowd was small and cold, but Elara was satisfied.

This old city had been damaged for many years and needed much rebuilding.

The people did not trust her yet, but she had time to earn their trust.

There were not enough officials, so she would select talents by her new system, not the old way based on connections.

The government had much to rebuild.

Elara was not upset by the quiet ceremony. She was very pleased.

Though few knelt, most were her supporters.

She would fill those empty seats with more loyal people.

She would lead Plumera step by step to prosperity and rise to the top among nations.

"By the Empress's will, we will obey and carry out her commands!"

"By the Empress's will, we will obey and carry out her commands!"

The kneeling voices were clear and strong, echoing throughout the hall and above Plumera City.

Elara's coronation day, the moment she became empress, brought a long mechanical voice from System 92 in her mind. A series of data updates played continuously for almost five minutes.

After Elara's successful ascent, many of Plumera's statistics improved greatly. The land area grew from the original 155,000 square kilometers to 420,000 square kilometers, more than doubling and reaching the level of a third-tier medium-sized country.

Unfortunately, she had focused mostly on war and consolidating power recently, so the economy and population had not developed much.

Once the economy, population, and military strength all reached the third-tier medium country level, Plumera would move up to become a true third-tier medium nation.

For her convenience, System 92 changed the way the economic and land size data were shown, using national size standards. The previously missing population data was now displayed too.

This made it easier for Elara to check Plumera's status at a glance. Plumera's territory had now reached the third-tier medium country level, marking a significant step forward.

Besides the major changes to Plumera, the improvements also brought national fortune points. Elara, who had been deeply in debt, fully repaid her fortune balance in one go. She still had over four thousand points left, enough to extend her life by more than ten years.

Fortune points were precious and powerful, able to truly reverse circumstances. Elara could not spend them all on lifespan. She extended her life by one year, using 360 points, leaving 4,584 points remaining.

Elara planned to save the rest for emergencies. After entering the national power level, System 92 also opened a new attribute section showing relationships with neighboring states and rivals.