Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 139: Policies

Chapter 139: Policies

"She’s called Blanca," Esmeralda told them the young pegasus’ name. It suited the pegasus which was white everywhere.

Esmeralda informed them that she used her magic to hide Blanca’s presence which was why Alwin and Ferdinand could instantly sense her presence but not Blanca’s. She had coated Blanca with hers so intruders won’t be able to feel her presence.

However, powerful magicians like Alwin and the others could still sense it but were not able to tell it was a pegasus.

Alwin internally complained though that if his abilities were not getting limited due to Estrella’s policies, he would have been able to sense Blanca’s presence instantly.

"It was dangerous to let Blanca’s presence be known," Esmeralda apparently had to be wary since there may still be treasure hunters who seek pegasuses to sell at an exorbitant price in underground auctions.

From what Esmeralda knew, there had been pegasuses that were caught several hundred years back so she ensured the one with her remained hidden.

"I see. That’s a wise move. Greedy people could be everywhere after all," Alwin carefully inspected Blanca’s wings.

Arabella felt a lump in her throat as she saw that Blanca’s left wing was almost completely missing. Only a small part was left.

"No wonder she’s taking so long to heal. It was cut with a poison-embedded weapon. It wasn’t a normal poison either. She’s having a hard time growing it back," Alwin explained.

"Can you heal her? It is beyond my abilities. The poison had been preventing me from healing her as well so all she could do was hibernate and focus on self-healing."

They learned that Esmeralda had tried so hard for hundreds of years but never succeeded.

"This poison must have been made by magicians. It was probably geared towards killing what they believe were monsters. After all, other existences were always called monsters due to fear."

Arabella learned that like the nymphs, there were other long-lived races that remained in the human realm for various reasons. Blanca’s family was among them. And there were those who were caught by humans for glory, honor, riches, and other benefits.

She learned from Alwin and Ferdinand’s thoughts that it was part of the Emperor of Valeria’s duty and of any Estrellian who was allowed to go out of the continent, to save and protect long-lived races who were captured and help them return to Estrella if necessary. It was also their job to help those who were not able to migrate to Estrella before the barrier was put up which made entry difficult to nigh impossible.

It was one of the reasons why Ferdinand usually goes where there were rumors about monsters lurking. After all, almost all of the long-lived races were altogether labeled as monsters by humans.

"I can heal her, but she has to stay in the palace from now on until she fully recovers. Once she recovers, we will bring her to her kind," Alwin explained.

{To Estrella?} Esmeralda gulped.

{Yes. She’s too young to be left here in the human realm. She has a lot of mana too so she would keep attracting the attention of magicians if she stayed here. But once she is in Estrella, you wouldn’t be able to see her again until she’s of mature age. Only then would she be able to come and see you.}

{That would be after 200 hundred years.}

Esmeralda had a sad and longing look on her face.

{Why had this rule not changed yet? Can’t they go out as long as they are accompanied by adults?}

Esmeralda tried to find a loophole around the policies. She had been acting as Blanca’s mother and guardian so it was hard to part with her.

{No. Children are honest about their desires. They might sneak and try to meddle with humans or do something prohibited. This was a long-standing policy that had been made to protect the long-lived races.}

Alwin explained that currently, most humans do not recall their existence anymore. After all, most humans believe they were just made-up creatures by their ancestors. This helped maintain the safety of those who remained in the human realm.

But if most humans learn about their existence again, they would try their best to eliminate even nature spirits like Esmeralda or gain control of them for the sake of power.

"The rulers would not budge on this policy. All children are not allowed to get out of Estrella," Alwin reiterated to Esmeralda’s disappointment.

’Eh?! What are they talking about? Is this why I was never able to meet Fermin again? If a pegasus takes several hundred years to mature, how long does a dragon take? Doesn’t this mean I would be dead by the time Fermin matures?!’

Is this why Ferdinand never told her about Fermin alive in Estrella? Because she wouldn’t be able to see him anyway even if she knew?

’But I would be more than willing to go to Estrella to see Fermin. Couldn’t I go see him instead? Is Esmeralda not allowed to go to Estrella?’

However, she learned from Alwin’s thoughts that as a dryad, Esmeralda was bound to the reach of her roots.

Thus, for Esmeralda, her reach was Safiro up to the borders and just a bit beyond that. Even if she tried to spread her roots as far as she could over the years, she wouldn’t be able to reach Estrella which was protected by barriers on all sides.

Esmeralda was depressed about not being able to see Blanca again for a while or probably never since Esmeralda was already dying. However, she still chose for Blanca to be healed by Alwin.

After all, it was still the better choice rather than having Blanca remain by her side in prolonged hibernation desperately trying to cure herself.

{Please heal her.} Esmeralda relented and asked for just a few days to be with Blanca before she was taken to the palace.

Alwin then healed Blanca with Esmeralda and Ferdinand’s approval.

Arabella gasped as she watched the beautiful white wings grow back. She had watched Alwin heal the Safirans but it was still so amazing to watch the magic at work.