>>23353746
Their conversation before the final battle is him telling her she shouldn't respect him because he's like every other scumbag and for her to follow her own path going forward. And she's clearly changed from her experience and thinks highly of Tekkadan. Even Rustal praises Kudelia in the epilogue. He groomed her to be his successor, not his puppet

>>23353764
He obviously sent her down there to "slay the dragon" so should she would gain popularity. But that's all the more reason to believe it will be a fair election. There would be no point in risking sending her to die if you could just fix an election