I feel bad about the guy though. He doesn’t deserve to have his tongue cut out and that’s pretty extreme. That’s her brother. That’s really messed up. Like was he like such a bad guy?
the empress is basically just a sitting duck at this point, waiting for perez to become emperor and kill her. shes probably thinking she might as well get rid of an annoyance in her eyes. a lot of resentment built up over the years and its now spilling over. or at least thats how i interpreted the authors decision to have his tongue cut out. its less of "he deserved it" and more "this is a irrational decision made by a very stressed and angry character" type of situation
augh i rlly liked the empress as a character. basically being sold into the imperial palace, not having any real political power, not receiving much help from her family despite trying to protect her house by any means necessary... yet still ending up as her own undoing. truly a great "rise" (to empress) and inevitable "fall" (as a villain) narrative