━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Emilia was naturally pleased to hear about the infighting within the last remaining loyalists on the side of Alexander's father, and did her best to fan the flames as much as she could without being discovered.
On one side were those who had been involved in the assassination attempt, including many of the upper echelon of the faction and their subordinates. And on the other side were the ones who still supported Alexander's father, as well as those who were against the use of such nefarious means against their own.
Needless to say, the two sides of the 'scale' were far from being balanced, and if not for the advantage of his official position, Alexander's father might not have stood a chance against so many well-fed sharks. If left on their own, perhaps they wouldn't even spit his bones at the end.
Luckily for him, Emilia didn't want the man's opponents to succeed too easily, or at all. After all, while Alexander's father had 'higher priorities' in his mind recently, being more focused on seeking vengeance for his dead son, that was obviously not the case with these 'sharks'.
They would surely start targeting the twins even more ruthlessly if they won this 'battle', and the White Deer Corporation wouldn't be out of their calculations either.
Moreover, even if they weren't particularly resourceful or smart compared to Emilia's side, their threat couldn't be written off so simply.
After all, even if their individual lethality was low, the fact that there were so many of them made it extremely hard to keep track of their activities and plans.
In Emilia's mind, it was better to never let them fly. Otherwise, she would always have to watch the skies in the future.
'Luckily, Ginny and Jasper are now much more cooperative and willing to support my ideas.' Emilia smiled. 'If Noelle is able to take care of everything on her end perfectly, it shouldn't be difficult to make Alexander's father slowly whittle these pigs down to their bones while Ginny and Jasper gather the meat for us.'
Cynthia couldn't help but roll her eyes. "What's with that disgusting analogy?"
Her partner only stuck her tongue out cheekily before continuing to follow the 'training routine' set by her manager as 'punishment' for being so disobedient.
Of course, to Emilia, it was no more than some light relaxing exercise she had to do every morning. Not to mention being depressed, she felt that it was actually quite a good way to just open her mind and think through some of her issues in a simpler manner.
Naturally, her manager wasn't quite so pleased at the results of her punishment.
It wasn't that she was upset that little Emi wasn't being miserable, though. She wasn't quite so mean.
Had that been the case, she would have surely decided on a harsher punishment, though whether it would have worked once Crystal learned of it was another matter.
No, what bothered her was the fact that Penny, her supposedly capable 'assistant' in this 'mascot-making mission', insisted on watching little Emi 'train' with an intensity that she just couldn't justify in her mind no matter what.
The fact that the ponytailed blonde kept drooling while watching her mascot stretch and spin didn't help either.
'I didn't see anything, nope, I definitely didn't.' The manager nodded to herself after finishing her self-hypnotization. 'The fact that I won't be allowing Penny to be alone in little Emi's room ever is just for professional reasons and respecting the girl's privacy. That's right.'
Luckily, the fact that Penny was actually quite 'professional' when it came to other aspects of her 'job' helped her quite a lot in convincing herself, and her little mascot's fame rose slowly but surely among the people of Carmen, even before she'd shot her first real 'commercial'.
A part of it was definitely thanks to the 'scandal' that the girl had caused when she got kidnapped. Well, to be precise, most of the people who knew her only knew her thanks to the outrage generated by the government's mishandling of the situation, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
The government of Carmen wasn't going to be very cooperative with them in the first place, so there was no need to fear tearing their face while doing things. Had that not been the case, they wouldn't need to jump through so many hoops in the first place, after all.
The Gray Wolfe was now a shadow of its former self, and the White Deer was at the highest point of glory it had ever reached. How could the two of them even be considered to be each other's opponents had the match been fair?
Of course, the manager didn't quite understand how making her little mascot famous was going to help the situation, but that wasn't really part of her job.
Knowing her princess, since she decided to support the White Deer's decision and approved of the plans with little Emi, she must already have it all figured out. There was no need for people like her to doubt her wisdom.
In fact, even if she were to fail, the manager firmly believed it must be because her princess intended things to go that way in the first place, and it was all part of her plan. As for the reason why… who knows?
The only thing she'd been worried about was if little Emi would end up throwing a wrench in the plans of her princess, willful and disobedient as she was.
After all, just being cute was far from enough when it came to winning people's hearts, and the manager knew that work ethic and diligence were a big part of the equation, both of which little Emi lacked.
Thinking about the girl's performance so far, however, the manager couldn't help but sigh emotionally. 'Luckily, although she's far from being as perfect as my princess, little Emi still has plenty of talent to leave everyone impressed. I feel like I only need to showcase it well, cover up all the rough edges that don't resemble our princess, and she'll be the perfect mascot to win everyone's heart!'
Nodding to herself with confidence, she grinned. "Alright, Emi! Come, I think it's time for you to make your debut!"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Visit freewe𝑏(n)ovel.𝘤ℴ𝑚 for the best novel reading experience