It is a shame that the vermin all get redemption arcs apparently. They are too dangerous to be left alive, due to the nature of their characters. Given how important their future positions are it seems that realistically the better option would be to kill them all, and have more worthy leadership take their place. Seeing as Melissa repeatedly states that the novel's people are idiots, due to the bad writing of the author, she should actually seek to lead the empire. In the event Melissa is unable to carry out a coup and appoint herself empress. Purging the worthless nobles, even to the point of allowing the empire to erupt into a hell storm of war would be preferable. Seeing as the current paradigm of the empire is of incredibly bad leadership, raising their heirs to be utterly worthless. The conflict would act as a crucible to forge a better, stronger nation than the current one.