Don't I know it. That's why we control and manipulate the truth. Every rung on the ladder, twisting reality to maintain their grip over the step below them.

[ Her father was an emperor. She won't say that he turned her into the hate-filled monster she became, but... ]

It wasn't necessarily easy, but if there was any good that came from the empire that I served, it was the pragmatism to seek those most fit for the job.