"Li," I have to grab my Viceroy by her sleeve or she would run away as soon as the negotiations ended. "How are you managing?"
"Somehow," she says tiredly and yawns. "Damn time zones."
"What time did you have to wake up?" I get worried.
"More like I couldn't go to sleep till 3 a.m.," she complains.
"Soren," I turn to the guard captain. "Make sure she eats a lot, takes naps whenever possible and Noage checks on her regularly. We can't afford to have the Viceroy collapse on duty. You're responsible for the Viceroy's health and wellbeing."
"I'm doing as you ordered, my Emperor," Soren bows and it seems that I didn't have to remind him, judging by how annoyed Liana feels when she looks at him.
"Do Celestials listen to you, Li?" I keep asking.
"Well, mostly," she sighs. "They know that you asked me to act on your behalf so they don't dare to argue too much, but gosh, our people are a handful! I don't understand how you were managing to put them in their places all this time."
"The only problem I have with my subjects, including you, is how overprotective you are of me," I shrug. "I never had any issues with disobedience."
"Duh, Your Majesty is the embodiment of magic," Liana waves her hand. "Please, excuse me, my Emperor, I'll find a sofa and collapse on it for a few hours."
I watch her leave, chewing my lip. Maybe I can ask my father to give me a timeslot for ruling after all, but the moment that idea crosses my mind, I meet his disapproving gaze. He's been waiting for me patiently nearby, giving me and Liana a few moments to catch up.
"You should deal only with the most important issues," he shakes his head. "I know that Celestials are very dependent on their embodiment of magic, but you can't waste your time with administration right now."
"The Divementis don't rely on you as much?" I'm curious.
"Our statues are different," he sets the record straight. "My genes are special which makes me royalty, but I'm still one of them. However, Celestials revere the embodiment of magic as their god. Quite literally. Being the Celestial Emperor can't compare to being the Divementis Emperor when it comes to expectations. You have it tough, son."
On the contrary, that gives me some hope. Should I inherit the Divementis throne one day, hopefully in a very distant future, I could try transforming them into a constitutional monarchy so that they can rule themselves. It's a nice prospect, but for that to happen, we first need to win this war.