absence of reason

Roughly two weeks have passed since I declared myself Empress. By now the restructuring of Royal Magnificent into Imperium Marcium was finally completed.

It goes without saying that the biggest change happened on the top government level. Namely, I got rid of the position of Hand. It served me well enough, but it also showed me its tremendous weakness. A number 2 in an organisation is a danger for the person in charge.

Instead I put a council of six Ministers below me to answer to no one, but me:

Minister of defense Rina

Minister of internal affairs Lindsey

Minister of the imperial household Cutie

Minister of economics Marel

Minister of foreign affairs Vanessa

Minister of education Lauren

I wasn't completely satisfied with that arrangement. Cutie was only on here as a sort of ceremonial role and to have at least one guy on the council.(Gotta fulfill these gender equality quotas) I personally would have preferred Ben, but good luck getting him on the council without Rina going absolute apeshit.

Lauren wasn't my first choice either, or my third. This was a purely political move. At the very least she wasn't incompetent. Once everything has settled down I will have ample chance to replace her.

Really painful was the exclusion of Emma from the council. It was close between her and Vanessa, but ultimately Rina would need someone competent to reign her in. Emma would serve directly under Rina as general chief of staff of the imperial army.

Of course thanks to this arrangement I could also freely choose the next person to administer Gina's punishment.

“I'm up next?”, Lindsey asked, a smirk on her face.

“Indeed you are. I hope you are not too disappointed.”

“Let me tell you your reasoning for this”, Lindsey said, still smirking. “Since we already knew what Rina is going to do you put me first in the hopes that I go easy on Gina. After all, it wouldn't do to break her before she was used as a fuckslave.”

“I won't deny it”, I conceded. “Still, you can't say I didn't provide plenty of entertainment and humiliation for Gina right?”

“Indeed, you won't hear me complain about our current pace...provided it continues like that.”

There it was.

“No, hear me out. I am very pleased with the current turn of events. We are not even three months into Gina's one year long torment and we have already done so much. And that's my problem. You intend to put Gina trough three more, no doubt terrific humiliations and call it a day.”

“I have no reason of releasing her before her year is over.”

“Oh sure, no release but you intend to soften up on her tremendously right? Even tough she sliced your breasts open. Did it hurt, Marcie? I bet it did. I bet it felt like you would die.”

I let out a deep sigh. “Lindsey, please tell me. What exactly has Gina done to you, that you harbor such a deep seated resentment against her?”

Lindsey shrugged. “In comparison to you it's nothing. Frankly she treated me like she would every other nerd. Strippings, wedgies, swirleys. I just fought back and paid her lackeys back tenfold.”

“Then why? We know what Gina did. We know what an awful person she was. She is getting punished for it right now. She got everything stripped from her. All her dignity and power. Isn't that enough?”

“No.”

“Then what is?”

Lindsey merely gave me another shrug. “Dunno. Once she completely breaks I guess.”

Suddenly, I felt sick to my stomach. This person was relentless, worse she doesn't even have a reason to really hate Gina. Do I stare in the eyes of a complete psychopath?

“Come now”, Lindsey chuckled. “You don't even know what I have planned for Gina.”

“Indeed and that is an issue. I would hate to publicly refuse one of my most valued Ministers.”

“Isn't that odd? I am not the one who terrorized the school. I am not the one who mutilated you. And yet I can't help the feeling that you value Gina more then me.”

Helsinki syndrome, I thought. Or perhaps, it was just basic human empathy. “Gina is my subject, just as everyone else in this school. She committed a crime and is now in the process of being punished for it. That punishment needs to be in accordance with her crime. If I where to **** her just to please one of my vassals, I would jeopardize the justice I build my empire upon.”

“Nice speech.” Lindsey smiled and finally sighed. “Very well, I know when I am beaten. I shall announce my punishment for Gina next Monday. Is that acceptable?”

“It is”, I said with a certain wariness. “I do believe there is ground that we can come to an agreement that suits both our interests.

“To be sure”, Lindsey said, but the sly grin never left her face.