Unfamiliar ceiling...
My throat is so dry...
Just then, the door opened.
A silver-black figure appeared before Elashia.
"Candice..."
Candice didn't speak, only handed the water cup in her hand to Elashia.
Elashia took it without hesitation and drank all the water in the cup at once.
"Ahh~ I'm alive again."
Elashia looked at Candice with grateful eyes.
But Candice didn't speak, only looking at Elashia with cold eyes.
"Eh?"
Why are you looking at me like that?
Elashia smiled awkwardly and said: "Thank you."
Candice continued to look at Elashia with icy eyes.
This... Elashia didn't know what to do.
The awkward silence continued.
Please say something!
Just as Elashia was about to break the silence, Candice finally spoke.
"Your Majesty, could you please take better care of your body."
Huh? How am I not taking care of my body?
Candice had seen in the Iron Empire's secret documents—humans cannot possibly use magic above the fifth tier.
In ancient times, when humans faced racial extinction, facing an extreme disparity in strength, the ancient sages burned their own souls to use ninth-tier magic to protect humanity's survival.
As a result, the ancient sages who should have lived at least a thousand years passed away just over a decade after the war.
Yesterday, when she saw the ninth-tier magic array forming in the sky, Candice immediately ordered her subordinates to seal the news, then soared into the air above the royal gardens.
Then she witnessed the previous scene.
Her blood pressure instantly rose.
Her Imperial Sister had just ordered her to protect Elashia!
But she also knew she couldn't interrupt Elashia's spellcasting, otherwise, if the spell backlashed, Elashia would almost certainly die.
She could only watch helplessly as Elashia completed the spell.
As soon as the spell ended, Candice rushed toward Elashia frantically.
Sure enough, right after casting the spell, she could barely stand.
Candice was both heartbroken and anxious, not even hearing her old friend's call as she flew away carrying Elashia.
Fortunately, during the flight, Candice used magic to examine Elashia's body and found no abnormalities.
But she also didn't know if something might have been missed.
Candice really had no other options and could only let Elashia rest in bed.
She had even planned what to do if Elashia didn't wake up, but fortunately, Elashia woke up after just one night.
"Hehe~"
Elashia could only laugh awkwardly.
But, setting facts aside, wasn't Candice also somewhat to blame?
If she hadn't disturbed her sleep yesterday, she wouldn't have immediately collapsed after casting the spell. (>﹏<)
Of course, Elashia only dared to complain a little in her heart, not aloud.
But why did Candice care so much about her?
Elashia clearly remembered that in the game, the relationship between Candice and "Elashia" was not close.
If "Elashia" wanted to "do good deeds," then Candice and she would naturally be mortal enemies.
And even if "Elashia" sincerely wanted to do good deeds, Candice and she would only have a mutually exploitative relationship, since what mattered more to Candice was governing Elasia well to gather more strength against the Undead Calamity.
After all, Candice always believed that no matter how important Elashia was, she couldn't be more important than an entire country.
This made things difficult for the "Elashia" who sincerely wanted to do good in the early game.
In the early stages, the main characters of the Elasia Empire hadn't yet gathered, and the characters in the capital either thought she was unimportant or that she was a bad woman.
The "Elashia" who truly wanted to do good often started out running around in an isolated state, and then triggered various "CGs" through accidents.
In contrast, the "Elashia" who wanted to "do good deeds" could gain many powerful forces through various extremely cruel methods early on, and occasionally receive help from the vampire and demon races.
So most players chose to be an "Elashia" who "did good deeds."
After all, compared to being CG'd, most people preferred to CG others.
But why did Candice care so much about her now?
She really couldn't figure it out.
Candice's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"I must warn you, if you dare to use such a dangerous spell again, you may lose your life."
"And I absolutely will not allow you to abuse your life like this."
Candice's eyes carried a commanding determination.
Elashia really couldn't understand why Candice cared so much about her.
Even if the "Elashia" in the game sincerely wanted to do good, Candice and she would only have a mutually exploitative relationship, and in several particularly tragic routes, Elashia would die at the hands of the Iron Empire's assassins, the [Xuan Guards], for arousing Candice's suspicion.
Although she genuinely liked Candice, such an ascetic intellectual, why would she care about her like family now?
Although from a blood relation perspective, they actually were family...
But it still didn't make sense!
Well, if she couldn't figure it out, she'd stop thinking about it.
╮(╯▽╰)╭
But to continue treating Sophia, Elashia still had to make a great effort to convince Candice that the magic she had just used wouldn't harm her.
"You're saying it just looked that way, but actually didn't consume that much energy?"
"Yes, yes."
Candice thought about it, and it seemed to make sense.
After all, a mage whose magical power was visibly minimal couldn't possibly cast ninth-tier magic even if they burned themselves.
But in the end, under Candice's strong insistence, Elashia had to agree that all future treatments for Sophia must be accompanied by her, to prevent any accidents.
"And can you control that visual effect? Such a huge magic array was seen by almost all the citizens around the imperial city just now."
Indeed, the special effects were truly frightening.
But Elashia really had no control over it.
Faced with Elashia's headshake, Candice sighed helplessly.
"Fine, I'll figure out how to handle it."
This conversation finally came to an end.
Elashia breathed a sigh of relief.
Now it was time to discuss serious matters with Candice.
"You've been governing Elasia for several days now. How do you view this empire?"
When discussing serious matters, Candice's voice became calm and cold as usual.
"It's a complete mess."
"The southern part of Elasia is currently suffering from drought. If we don't provide disaster relief soon, many people will likely starve to death before long."
"I've checked the treasury, and it's basically empty. Plus, with your previous termination of the agricultural tax, Elasia Empire's finances are now approaching collapse."
"In terms of security, everything seems normal around the imperial city, but bandit problems in various regions are worsening day by day."
"Most terrifying is the military situation—the armies in various places have essentially become farmers and bandits."
"This country no longer has any semblance of security."
Candice said decisively:
"Honestly, I think except for the ten Imperial Guard battalions in the capital, all other armies should be disbanded."
"After all, the treasury is already depleted to the point of being unsustainable."
Elashia was extremely satisfied.
As expected of the character with the highest [Governance] ability in the entire game, she had so quickly seen Elasia's nearly terminal condition.
"Good, so what do you think we should do now?"
Candice immediately replied:
"First, we need to find ways to alleviate the drought in the south as much as possible. Although the granaries are almost empty, we still need to try our best."
"Also, we need to immediately disband any local armies that can be disbanded. There's no longer any meaning in supporting them, and it's a waste of manpower."
"As a supplementary measure, we can absorb some soldiers who don't want to go home into the central Imperial Guard. Now we can only rely on the central Imperial Guard to solve bandit problems across the regions."
Elashia agreed:
"Good, I'll issue the orders soon."
Candice continued:
"Then, we must strengthen the training of the central Imperial Guard. It will be our greatest support for dealing with bandits and fighting the Undead Calamity in the future."
"And the central Imperial Guard lacks unified command. We must combine the ten Imperial Guard units into one."
"Makes sense!"
To prevent rebellion, Elasia's Imperial Guard had operated independently since the country's founding, which indeed ensured the emperor's safety, but the lack of unified command also greatly weakened the combat effectiveness of the central Imperial Guard.
And now was not the time to ensure Elashia's own safety.
"I believe we should appoint Knight Cecilia as the commander."
Candice nodded.
"I second the motion."
Elashia continued:
"I'll figure out the food situation, and let's leave the military matters as they are for now. We have more important things to do."
"This matter concerns the overall situation of humanity's resistance against the Undead Calamity."