Return of Black Lotus system:Taming Cheating Male Leads-Chapter 118 --

Heena looked at the assembled nobles with cold amusement and said, "As Empress, I believe I have every right to delegate work as I see fit. Or are you suggesting I need your permission to govern my own empire?"

She let the question hang in the air.

"But perhaps you’re correct," she continued, voice turning sharp. "Perhaps I’ve been too lenient. Too accommodating. Perhaps I’ve allowed you all to forget something very important."

She stood slowly, and the movement itself commanded silence.

"I didn’t ask for your opinions on Prince Larus. I didn’t request your approval. I informed you as a courtesy—a courtesy I’m beginning to think was wasted."

Then, without warning, she drew her sword and drove it straight down into the council table.

’CRACK.’

The ancient wood split down the middle, the blade buried so deep it stood upright on its own.

Several nobles jerked backward. Even her consorts flinched.

Heena left the sword there and placed both hands flat on the table, leaning forward.

"Let me make something very clear," she said, her voice cutting through the shocked silence like a blade. "These documents you sent me? The ones you thought would bury me in bureaucratic nonsense? Prince Larus reviewed them. All of them. And do you know what he found?"

She smiled—cold and predatory.

"Seventeen cases of tax fraud. Twelve instances of falsified property assessments. Eight violations of trade law. All meticulously documented. All ready for prosecution."

The color drained from several faces around the table.

"Lord Remington," she said, not looking away from the crowd, "three of those cases belong to your family. Lady Ashford, five are yours. Lord Henrik—your son’s creative accounting was particularly entertaining."

She straightened up.

"So please, continue to send me your ’revenge paperwork.’ Because apparently, it’s the most productive thing any of you have done in years."

Lord Remington found his voice. "Your Majesty, you cannot just—"

"Cannot?" Heena’s voice cracked like a whip. "I ’cannot’?"

She pulled her sword from the table in one smooth motion.

"Let me tell you what I ’can’ do," she said, voice dropping to something dangerous. "I can strip every title in this room. I can seize every estate. I can dissolve this council entirely and rule by imperial decree alone."

She let that sink in.

"I don’t do these things because I choose to govern with some measure of civility. Because I believe in the structures that hold this empire together. But do not—do not ’ever’—mistake my restraint for inability."

She pointed the sword at the assembled nobles.

"You are here because I allow it. Your titles exist because I acknowledge them. Your power is borrowed from my authority. And the moment any of you forget that, I will remind you in ways you won’t enjoy."

Her gaze swept to her five consorts, standing awkwardly near the wall.

"And you," she said, voice turning cold. "How gracious of you to finally attend a council session. Raphael, shouldn’t you be at temple? Kieran, don’t you have troops to command? Or have you all decided that your only duty is to stand around looking decorative?"

Kieran’s jaw tightened. "Your Majesty—"

"My office. All five of you. After this session ends." She didn’t raise her voice, but the command was absolute. "We need to discuss what ’consort’ actually means, since there seems to be confusion."

She turned back to the nobles, and her expression shifted into something almost pleasant—which was somehow worse.

"Oh, and regarding my upcoming marriage," she said brightly. "I expect wedding gifts from every house represented here. Substantial ones. After all, you wouldn’t want people to think you don’t support your Empress, would you?"

The nobles looked like they’d swallowed glass.

"Your Majesty—" an older noble began, standing up.

"Sit down," Heena said quietly.

He didn’t.

"Your Majesty, you are the ruler of this empire, but you cannot simply—"

"Cannot?" Heena’s eyes flashed. "That’s the second time someone has told me what I cannot do. I’m starting to find it tiresome."

The noble drew himself up pompously. "The previous Emperor would never have—"

"The previous Emperor is ’dead’," Heena cut him off, her voice like steel. "And I am very much alive. Sitting on this throne. Wearing this crown. Ruling this empire."

She took three measured steps toward him.

"Are you suggesting he’d do a better job than me?" she asked softly. "Because if you’d like to join him in the imperial crypts to discuss it, that can be arranged."

The noble’s face went pale. "Your Majesty, I merely meant—"

"I know exactly what you meant," Heena said. "You meant that I’m not good enough. Not strong enough. Not ’male’ enough to hold this throne properly."

She smiled without humor.

"Let me educate you on something. I don’t need to rule like my predecessor. I don’t need to rule like any emperor before me. I need to rule like ’me’—and I’m doing exactly that."

She looked around the room.

"My parents are dead. I have no siblings. No children. No family who would weep if I fell. Do you know what that means?"

She let the question hang.

"It means I have nothing to lose. No hostages for you to threaten. No leverage for you to use. Nothing to make me hesitate when I need to make hard decisions."

Her voice dropped to something absolutely glacial.

"But all of you? You have families. Estates. Legacies you’ve spent generations building. You have ’everything’ to lose."

She met the older noble’s eyes directly.

"So before you tell me what I cannot do, ask yourself something: are you really willing to test whether I’m bluffing?"

Dead silence.

"I didn’t think so," Heena said. She turned and walked back to her seat, each step measured and controlled. "This session is over. Wedding gifts by week’s end. Audit responses within three days. And if I receive one more piece of bureaucratic garbage designed to waste my time—"

She picked up her sword and sheathed it with a decisive ’click’.

"—I will assume it’s a declaration of hostility. And I will respond accordingly."

She looked at them all one final time.

"Dismissed."

The nobles scrambled to leave, practically tripping over themselves.

Her five consorts remained frozen, clearly unsure if they were included in the dismissal.

"Not you," Heena said without looking at them. "My office. Now."

They filed out after her like condemned men walking to the gallows.

In the hallway, her secretary materialized at her side, eyes practically glowing with admiration.

"Your Majesty," he said quietly, "that was masterful."

"That was necessary," Heena corrected, rubbing her temples. "They needed to be reminded who holds the power here."

"I believe they’ll remember," the secretary said.

"Good." Heena sighed. "Now I need coffee, sleep, and about three hours to lecture five useless husbands on basic competence. In that order."

"I’ll have the coffee waiting in your office, Your Majesty."

"You’re the only competent person in this entire palace," Heena muttered.

"I know, Your Majesty," he said serenely. "That’s why you pay me so well."

.

.

Ten minutes later.

Heena had just picked up her pen when the system looked at her with shock, then immediately hid behind a stack of papers.

She glanced at him and said, "What happened? Why are you looking at me like that?"

The system peeked out, looking confused and slightly horrified. "Host... don’t you think that was a bit... over the top? Like, overreacting?"