"..." About two weeks have passed since I woke up after becoming queen. Strangely, Esther hasn't come to see me since that day, and the shadows said she's at her mansion, but she's not doing anything, just living her daily life like normal.

I'm sure she's plotting something, but either way, the good news is that I finished making my 3 puppets, and they already know their roles perfectly and have started working.

"So, you three, what do you have to tell me?" I say to the three who are looking over various papers. Later, I'll give each of them their own personal office to properly divide the tasks, but for now, the three of them are looking over what they'll be working on.

"The war situation is pretty bad. Because of the competition for the throne, the war was treated as a secondary matter, which has created considerable problems. However, these are things that can be recovered with some effort," Vermilion says, holding a few sheets of paper.

"The political situation is... problematic, Evelyn-sama. I'll need to speak with you in more depth and detail, so I believe I should wait a bit until you have the time," Amanda says, her gaze tense on the papers.

"Resource generation is stable. It just needs a few adjustments for optimization and efficiency, as well as cost-cutting and the removal of useless personnel," Cypher says with that same empty look I imagined she'd have.

"Alright, it's good that you already have more direct assessments. Vermilion and Cypher, do what needs to be done. And Amanda, come with me. I want to know what's worrying you," I give them their orders, which they immediately acknowledge.

"..." I leave the place while Amanda follows me with some papers. She seems nervous, and considering the area she handles, that means something extremely bad.

"...Come here," I enter one of the rooms with her so we can be alone. I wonder what problem has occurred.

"So, Amanda, what problems do we have in your area?"

"First, about the nobility. What you did with the orders to so abruptly strip the nobles of their decision-making power over castle affairs has created some problems that aren't huge, but they require some attention."

"The second problem is that many nobles don't want you in power. They just haven't done anything yet due to uncertainty... this creates an unnecessary dependence on Esther, since that's the second reason they haven't acted: they're very afraid of your wife."

"The third problem is that matters of the war and the throne succession have consumed resources to the extreme, and this prevents you from building your own defenses to protect your power, which is the worst problem of all."

"Why is that the worst problem?" I ask, confused.

"Look at this. These are the official purchase paperwork for over 234 different locations that have been processed, and another 390 that are in the process of being added but which, in short, have already been purchased and are just being put into the registry," she hands me several papers. I glance over them briefly, confused about what's wrong with them.

All purchases of noble territories are cataloged to maintain legitimacy in case of conflict or lies. A noble buying things shouldn't be a problem.

"What's the problem? 234 plus 390 places bought isn't a big deal, right?"

"...Look at the name of who bought them, and what was bought," When she says this, I skip to the final lines of each purchase. All of them have Esther as the new owner. Furthermore, most of the purchases are trade routes, entire dungeons, and territories, as well as some other things.

"I still don't get it. Esther seems to have spent an immense amount of money, but what's the problem?" I really don't see any problem with her strange purchases.

"Hmm, Evelyn-sama, Cypher and I have been doing a financial balance sheet for the last 3 days. We're new to this, so we needed to choose which routes the resources would pass through."

"Look at these routes here, this one, and this one," she shows me three routes on the paper.

"They are the 3 best routes for transporting wealth, food, and transferring armaments."

"Furthermore, any other general route is also under Esther's command. In other words, we can't pass if Esther doesn't allow it, and we sent a passage request 1 day ago, and it already came back denied."

"...That... can't we just go through anyway? Or take another route..."

"Evelyn-sama, there is no other route. All routes are under her control. Besides, trying to force our way through could reduce your power and frighten the nobles, not to mention it could lead to a civil war if Esther decides to defend the territory from the unapproved passage."

"..."

"And not only that, territories for potential future routes, important logistical routes, and several naturally usable points are already in her possession. In 2 weeks, she practically bought all of this."

"Which has handcuffed you to her permission. If she decides to block your passage, you can't do anything, and that has already happened. And if she doesn't allow passage, we'll lose more and more money and resources..."

"I-Isn't there something we can do?" I ask nervously.

"No. Killing her is out of the question. We also can't confiscate assets because that would create immense friction with the nobles, who are already not accepting your rule well."

"And although there is a weakness, which is the fact that Esther spent practically all her liquid money and could be broken if we created an artificial economic crisis,"

"That method cannot be used, because an artificial economic crisis would break the kingdom, which is at war. In other words, Esther has defended herself perfectly against everything, while sealing off all possible trade routes."

"Can't we go through the underground?" I question, hopeful.

"No. The territories where we could pass already belong to her. She bought everything, knowing perfectly well that she could stop you... not to mention the time it would take to dig tunnels."

"How dependent have I become on her in the last few days?" I ask, to at least have a minimal idea.

"97% of everything involving transportation now depends on Esther's permission, and the remaining 3% are dangerous and unfeasible routes for important things."

"H-Hahaha, are you fucking kidding me? I haven't even been on the throne for 4 weeks!! How the hell did she handcuff me in just two weeks!" I say in disbelief at this absurdity.

"It happens that, normally, every demon king or demon queen described in the records would prevent the purchase and sale of certain 'valuable assets' for the kingdom with what we call 'Neutral Laws,' which are rules that only work for the term of that ruler."

"Unlike normal laws, which work even after the demon king is someone else, neutral laws only last while the ruler is governing. So this law is always deactivated as soon as a new demon king emerges."

"Esther took advantage of the short time the law was inactive to make the purchases. Furthermore, from what I can see, in 70% of the transactions, she used your name as a form of negotiation."

"Normally, we could create a law that would make the purchases fraudulent, but... you are married... and... she is the matriarch... so, by marriage laws, she has the authority to use your name... therefore... it's not fraud," Amanda looks away.

"...Anything... else?"

"...Esther has also gained control of 40 to 60% of the guild. It's impossible to estimate yet because the changes are still being calculated, but since she bought all the dungeons near the kingdom, only dungeons that are too far away and unfeasible for resource extraction are left..."

"And we can't stop this, because dungeons are a high-risk public asset. So you can't actually gain 100% ownership of them, because the ruler's monopoly on this resource would be a problem. But nobles can, because they aren't buying the dungeon as a structure itself."

"They're buying them as an asset, equivalent to buying a gold mine for ore extraction, which would enter the kingdom anyway... so the guild has to pay Esther, and Esther can also tell the guild they can't use that dungeon anymore if she doesn't allow it..."

"...Is this even legal? How can something like this be legally possible!?" I ask, frustrated.

"...It turns out that a King or Queen doesn't really have the freedom to do whatever they want. They still have to follow certain laws to be fair to everyone, or it would just be tyranny."

"And tyranny breeds revolt, which breeds rebellion. Besides, unlike a powerful demon king, Evelyn-sama, you are relatively weak... The legal system was created with a basic premise, from what I understand."

"The laws understand that the Demon King will always be the center of political and individual power. So, the laws assume that every demon king will always be the most powerful demon of all..."

"But realistically speaking, considering the strategic data I've read, Esther is currently the second most powerful demon. And considering her calculable growth, soon Esther will be the most powerful demon that exists today..."

"So you lose one of the law's defenses that never imagined a demon king being weaker. Besides, your political power hasn't been taken from you, Evelyn-sama."

"You are the queen. Your orders are theoretically absolute, and you are the one who permits or denies decisions of the kingdom... The problem is that Esther isn't controlling your power; she's controlling what you can or cannot do when it comes to moving things within your kingdom."

"And if you can't move anything, you can't do anything. In short, you have power that you can't use without permission... not because she has power over you, but because she controls the paths through which your power can be exercised."

"Simply put, you are the brain, but Esther is the veins through which the blood passes, and without her, you don't function."

"...How much... are we losing without her permission?"

"For now, nothing. But she has already closed some routes. So, in two weeks, when supplies absolutely have to be sent, the kingdom will start bleeding money."

"And it will only get worse. It's easy to estimate that in a month with routes locked, thousands of people will die, the economy will go into the red, and then this place here will start to be affected because things can no longer be sent here."

"In other words, the problem that was only about sending things out will also become a problem where we won't receive anything. That's why it's vitally important, for now, that you get Esther's permission to use the routes."

"Anything else will cause the kingdom to break. We can't wait, try a new route, or try to strip Esther of her power. All of this would lead to the guaranteed collapse of the kingdom because of the ongoing war."

"How did it get like this, Amanda?" I ask, unable to believe it. I was giving it my all, so how did Esther put this noose around my neck before I even noticed?

"How the hell did Esther manage to put this noose around my throat without me even noticing!!!"

"It was the situation, Evelyn-sama. Because of the war, you didn't have time to defend yourself. You did the best you could. By creating me, Cypher, and Vermilion, you dealt with the 3 main pillars of a kingdom's stability."

"The problem is that Esther had the means to defend herself from bankruptcy or political attack, and she had the intelligence to know what to do to control you. So she acted as quickly as she could before you noticed."

"Besides, it's not a noose, it's a leash, Evelyn-sama. Esther clearly doesn't want to dethrone you, kill you, or take your power. Instead, she wants to control you politically, making you dependent on her and on her own will to help."

"...I'll go talk to Esther... I'll see what she wants..." I say, leaving the room, stunned to discover that Esther did all this while I was killing myself with work.