Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 115: Ultimatum [Bonus - ]

Chapter 115: Ultimatum [Bonus Chapter]

Before Nadia was captured, she and her older siblings have planned several times to save her father and brother from Dempsey. But, they failed all the time.

Her older brothers and their warriors had repeatedly tried to sneak into the county to get her father and brother out of prison but Dempsey was heavily guarded.

There were a lot of knights so they could not even get inside to at least see how their father and brother were doing.

A clash or an encounter was not possible either. They were few in number compared to them. They also couldn’t risk going against Arno as a whole when they no longer had any power or resources. Thus, they didn’t dare to be seen or risk getting caught by Dempsey’s men.

Their people in Safiro might get punished because of them when they were already suffering so much. They didn’t want to worsen everything.

With a great number of their population having perished from sickness, overwork, and executions, Safiro had gotten so weak that they cannot even fight back against Dempsey and even became dependent on them.

Just Dempsey’s men were more than enough to have them all killed.

Thus, they focused on getting as many children out of Safiro and stayed in hiding. They didn’t dare to provoke Dempsey.

But after Nadia was caught and everything went worst, Nadia concluded that a decision has to be made or their entire tribe would be in peril.

And getting summoned to the Imperial Capital was Nadia’s last hope of helping Safiro.

Due to how dire the situation was, Nadia came to an ultimatum. She planned to negotiate with Count Dempsey once he learns that she was hired as an assistant to the Empress.

Dempsey had threatened Nadia to be silent about what was happening to Safiro if she wanted her father and eldest brother to remain alive.

But Nadia was set on taking risks. She planned to have Count Dempsey agree for her to send food, clothing, and medicine to Safiro as additional conditions to her silence about what’s happening there.

And if Dempsey disagrees, she would reveal the truth to the capital even if her father and brother were killed.

Seeing how progressive Riva was, Nadia knew that there would be people who would sympathize with Safiro in the wide capital. She doesn’t know how to reveal the truth yet, but she was set on doing it if Dempsey won’t even let her send necessities to Safiro.

Nadia didn’t mind getting pitied as long as their people were helped out of their predicament.

After all, Nadia had prepared herself for the worst. It was because their people would die out if their situation in Safiro was left to continue.

As a member of the Chief’s household, Nadia knew she had to prioritize their people.

Safiro would be no more if most of their people die and only the few who were able to escape before survived.

[Father and eldest brother would understand if they knew what was happening to Safiro. They would have had scolded us for not reaching out to the capital as soon as we escaped Safiro. They would have chosen our people even at the cost of their lives. But we wanted to try saving them too.]

Nadia was saddened and was still conflicted with it but she had resolved to reveal the truth despite her feelings if Dempsey wouldn’t allow her to provide for Safiro.

Arabella grimaced. After seeing Safiro’s condition, she understood why Nadia thought of giving up on her father and elder brother and prioritizing their people.

If Arabella had been late in visiting Safiro, Nadia would have to live with the guilt of giving up on her family.

’Everything was probably Dempsey’s plan. He must have cooperated with the magician right from the start to get all this. But why would they go this far?’

Then, Arabella recalled magic ores were even more expensive than gold. Their aim was the mine not the fertile lands of Safiro. This was why they burned the forest without a care about the consequences.

Even if they lost the profit from the fertile lands, the magics ores were worth so much more.

’That bastard. He must have made the Safiro Tribe fully dependent on him and his County so they won’t be able to go against him. They were just obedient at first due to the signed deal with the Chief but before they knew it, they were greatly weakened and had become too dependent on Dempsey that they cannot go against him or the lives of their fellow tribesmen would be at stake.’

As someone who had been scheming in her past life, Arabella could easily see it.

’From the beginning, the forest fire itself was suspicious. How could a lush forest be burned in a few days when it was not even summer when it happened? The magician must have been involved.’

In her past life, Arabella had seen Dimo use fire magic. Rather, Dimo was deemed a cursed child for accidentally setting their home on fire. She could figure the magician with Count Dempsey must have set fire to the forest with magic which was why it easily burned.

Nadia and her tribe were manipulated mercilessly for profit.

[I didn’t dream of something as grand as the Emperor or Empress helping us. I only wished to save as many people in Safiro as possible from dying of hunger and sickness. I just wanted to at least help even just the children to be able to eat proper meals again. But it seems to be a miracle that I am speaking with His and Her Majesty right now about Safiro. Am I dreaming?]

Nadia was still overwhelmed that she had just revealed the truth to the highest-ranking people in the Empire. She never thought she would get this kind of opportunity.

Arabella wanted to embrace Nadia. She was just eighteen but she had been so strong through everything she went through. Arabella wanted to give her some comfort but she knew it wasn’t what Nadia needed most right now.

What Nadia needed was the assurance that her people, that Safiro would finally be saved from their seemingly endless suffering.