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Since her arrival wasn't announced publicly, and only a select few people were actually aware of her return to Blue Dawn, there was obviously no grand welcoming ceremony waiting for her upon landing.
As far as most people were concerned, she'd never left in the first place, after all. While they hadn't seen her with their own eyes for a while, they only blamed their own poor luck.
Of course, even without a welcoming ceremony, being back in her own empire still made Emilia feel more at home than before, and she couldn't help but smile as she let Michelle lead her towards the already-prepared car.
"What about Amos?"
Michelle paused. "W-We've arranged another way for him to be taken away."
Clearly, although the hero generally took good care of his own hygiene, that wasn't really possible when Dixie only allowed him ten minutes of bathroom break every day, and that too with a metal chain wrapped around his neck.
Even if he was sprayed with a ton of deodorant, Michelle obviously didn't want such a person to share the same 'room' as her princess.
Dixie was a little more aware of Emilia's intentions when it came to the silver-haired boy, however, and knew that if he was to be sent in a different vehicle, someone she trusted would also have to go along with him to make sure nothing went wrong.
Not wanting to be separated from the crimson-haired beauty for such a reason, the knight quickly came up with a solution. "There's no need to waste too much thought on someone like him. Isn't the trunk still empty?"
Emilia couldn't help but giggle. "Alright, that's fine. Just make sure he doesn't hit his head on a bump or something."
Of course, given that the roads in most parts of the empire were already quite well-maintained, the likelihood of such an event wasn't particularly high. Still, Dixie instructed the soldier who went to fetch Amos from the back of the plane to put a helmet on his head, just in case.
Since the area had already been cleared of any prying eyes and ears, they didn't really have to be too vigilant. After dragging the freshly awakened and struggling boy out of the plane, the soldier just roughly strapped a helmet on his head, shoved Amos into the trunk, and then slammed it close, completely ignoring his muffled protests.
With the 'nuisance' now out of her sight, Michelle smiled as she opened the door for Emilia, and after she and Dixie had got in, happily went around to go to the driver's seat.
Although she knew how to drive even before, Michelle hadn't really been confident enough in her skills to really take her princess around all the time like Noelle. She would only do it when really needed.
But now that she'd had plenty of practice with Crystal, the brown-haired girl was quite eager to show off her 'skills'.
Unfortunately, with almost no obstacles or mishaps along the way, even the usually observant Emilia had no way of noticing such a thing.
It was only when they'd already arrived at the Blue Lotus Palace and Crystal whispered something in her ear after greeting her with a hug that Emilia turn around to face the slightly disheartened 'maid' with a smile. "Michelle is really becoming more and more talented every day, isn't she? I'm almost worried that someone else might poach you away."
The brown-haired girl was both flattered and panicked, and quickly waved her hands in denial. "N-No no no, as long as you need me around, I'll never leave!"
Emilia's pupils twinkled in amusement, and she couldn't help but ruffle the girl's short hair playfully. "I'll take your word for it then."
Crystal chuckled. "Forget about running away, if I hadn't known any better, I would've almost thought that she was gunning to take over Noelle's position instead."
The poor maid's entire face turned red under their combined teasing as even Dixie started chuckling in amusement, but the atmosphere soon turned somber when the topic turned to their 'mission' in Red Dusk.
"Cindy should be returning soon from her advanced scouting mission, so let's wait for her first before making a more concrete plan."
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Meanwhile, with Carmen's borders no longer as tightly closed and the information ban also lifted, it didn't take long for the rest of the world to catch up with the current state of events in the country. Well, somewhat.
After all, while the people within Carmen were now free to use the internet, journalists who had already fled from the country had yet to return and conduct proper investigations.
Not many were surprised at the president giving up on his position. After all, while it might seem like a big deal on the surface, the president's resignation was just an early retirement after he'd already taken most of the benefits from the position anyway.
Moreover, it was the easiest and most cost-effective way of placating their restless population, and the only criticism that many experts had on it was that it hadn't been done sooner.
In contrast, the fact that Ginny had taken up the newly empty presidential position was much more controversial, and sparked many hot debates throughout the world.
"With Miss Emilia setting a precedent in Blue Dawn, and now Miss Ginny doing pretty much the same in Carmen, are we looking at the start of a horrifying trend? Are the richest of the rich really going to take over the world this way?"
Of course, many experts had differing opinions. "I don't think the two are the same at all, actually. Miss Emilia's takeover was hostile, and only worked because the people on her side exploited the desperation of Blue Dawn's population almost perfectly. On the other hand, Miss Ginny's position of the president is something that she got lawfully."
"Agreed. Plus, let's not forget that miss Ginny was actually a citizen of Carmen from the start, while Miss Emilia had nothing to do with Blue Dawn at all."
Obviously, these people who had already distanced themselves from Emilia and the White Deer Corporation were desperately trying not to be on the bad side of the Gray Wolfe Corporation as well without compromising their ratings too much. After all, it probably wouldn't bode well for their careers.
What they failed to realize, however, was that the two were already on the same side, and regardless of which side they tried to criticize, they were just shooting themselves in the foot.
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