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While it might be wrong to say that the Empire of Blue Dawn was filthy rich, with coffers overflowing from an excess of gold, the term 'lack of funds' should still have nothing to do with anyone under Emilia's 'employment', officially or not.
After all, by 'borrowing' everything they needed from the White Deer Corporation, whether it be money or expertise, the efficiency with which they'd developed far exceeded what could be considered normal.
For those who had seen the days of desperation and poverty in Blue Dawn, which basically included everyone but small children, it wasn't without reason that Emilia was almost revered as a goddess.
Not to mention those working under the White Deer Corporation or the government, even regular people received more than enough aid to prosper and grow on their own if they needed.
Of course, there were a few bad apples who tried to take advantage of their goodwill, but that was inevitable.
pàпdá-ň?νêι.сóМ Emilia agreed with Crystal's view on dealing with such people — as long as they remained in the extreme minority, it was better to leave them be. Changing the system to 'weed out' such people would only make everyone else struggle more to get help when they really needed it, after all.
Noelle and Dixie were both opposed to letting anyone take advantage of Emilia's goodwill, of course, but the dark-haired girl would never speak out against her princess, and Sam naturally supported her little sister without even thinking about it.
Although Emilia felt bad for the gray-haired girl being 'bullied' like that even though she was being the sole voice of reason, she only pampered Noelle more for a few days to make up for it.
Everyone was free to give advice and question her decisions, but at the end of the day, Emilia knew that there was no need for her to come to the most 'logical' conclusion.
Instead of always being reasonable and justified, what mattered to her more was the happiness of those she cared about.
Naturally, with such lax management, it was extremely easy for anyone who 'needed' it to get support and funding, and this went doubly so for those who had the chance to be in direct contact with Emilia.
That was why she couldn't comprehend why this 'museum' had run out of funds.
Didn't Penny know about this? Why hadn't she asked her if she ran out of money? Or could there be a bigger problem that she had overlooked?
Although it would be a bit embarrassing to fund a project that was basically glorifying herself, Emilia would have definitely helped out her knights if they asked for help.
No one would have had the time to create something like this during the war, so Penny definitely couldn't have been too busy.
With the ponytailed girl's attitude, the only way she could have compromised was if Emilia herself was unavailable, and someone else rejected the knight commander's request on her behalf.
Emilia couldn't help but be worried. 'With Crystal's ability, there shouldn't be anyone who could embezzle funds or do any kind of malpractice in our top-level posts… right?'
Aside from her girlfriends, everyone else who could make decisions like that in the empire had been hand-picked after being screened by Crystal herself, after all.
But thinking about it again, even her blonde girlfriend wasn't omnipotent. It was entirely possible for someone clever and lucky enough to not even think about something bad in her presence, thus escaping her judgment.
Not to mention, she couldn't possibly be everywhere at once, and some people would rarely ever get to meet her.
Knowing that Emilia might have misunderstood, Crystal hurriedly interrupted her thoughts with a cough. "I-It's not because they didn't have enough funds, but because the artist didn't feel confident in being able to capture your image perfectly, so, well…"
Seeing how she didn't know how to continue, as the 'big sister', Sam naturally stepped forward to help the poor girl out. "B-But the other details are perfect!"
Emilia hummed thoughtfully, and looking closer, it was indeed true that the 'shape' and even the clothing of the central figure was a lot more detailed than what one could notice at first glance.
"Wait… how did you know? Crystal… big sis… have you been here before…?"
The blonde girl also seemed to have just realized her slip, and her face flushed in embarrassment. And under her father's gaze, even Sam didn't dare to squeak anymore.
As someone who had been labeled as a pervert who didn't even spare her own little sister, it would be really, really bad if she openly confessed that she'd made a 'museum' for her as well.
Luckily, Dixie seemed to pity them and came to their rescue. "We've all been here one time or the other, Emily. I-It's calming and nostalgic."
Seeing how her parents didn't seem to find it too strange anymore, Sam finally breathed a sigh of relief. "R-Right, w-we've even helped them a little from time to time, or these scenes wouldn't be so accurate."
Although it wasn't a lie, Noelle couldn't help but roll her eyes. 'You don't say, Miss Founder?'
Emilia and the older couple hummed in realization.
"It makes sense."
"Although it's a bit over the top, being able to see all your 'adventures' in person is really interesting."
Mrs. White's smile only grew wider as she made her way over to the next display, which showed Emilia serving dishes in a restaurant, of all things.
'It's no wonder that some people like to monitor their kids all the time. It's really cute.' She thought.
Although she thought so, Mrs. White firmly believed in respecting a basic level of privacy for anyone she held dear, unless the situation really didn't allow it.
After all, if she couldn't even show them this much respect, there was no way her daughters would be able to love her as they did.
Of course, as they moved forward, the dioramas kept getting more and more impressive and detailed.
From her school play to her fights during Blue Dawn's rebellion, everything was covered in such fine detail that if Emilia hadn't known better, she would have thought that the artists had been through her own memories.
Towards the end, even her speeches and appearances during various ceremonies were covered, and some were even accompanied by a display that could be used to play the footage of the events.
Emilia keenly noticed that there were no images of her from before she'd finalized her 'form', and knew that it must have something to do with either Dixie or Noelle.
Only those two would be overprotective enough to get rid of any 'inconsistencies' that could be used to bother her in any way, though she was sure that no matter how thorough they were, it was impossible to erase all of her 'teen' images.
'Anyway, even if someone has any doubts, I was a growing girl, and growing prettier isn't so strange. Plus, what other explanation is there, anyway? That I'm an alien?' She giggled.
Now that she knew that Sam and Crystal were involved in this 'project', Emilia obviously didn't doubt their intentions.
Of course… this incident did remind her to 'filter' those in power once more, just in case.
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