Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 175: Preventive Measure

Chapter 175: Preventive Measure

Arabella felt more heat rise to her face when Raymond was so close to pinpointing what they had been up to in Estrella.

’How could he guess so closely?! Ferdinand should stop looking at me like that. He is making everything too obvious!’

She wanted to glare at her husband or throw something at him.

But all she could do was pretend to be focused on her food.

[Amazing! No wonder His Majesty got a boner from watching her eat. What did His Majesty do to make Her Majesty like him to this extent? Did seeing His Majesty quickly resolved the issues in Prudencia and Safiro impress Her Majesty? Or she simply got to like His Majesty the longer they had been together. It’s been a few months after all.]

Raymond was elated at the development despite formerly prohibiting Ferdinand to sleep with her just a few days ago.

[Since it’s already happened, I guess I just have to send some of that tea Clarisse uses. It would be inappropriate if I give it to Her Majesty directly so I’ll just give it to His Majesty later. This way, they could still consummate as they pleased but Her Majesty wouldn’t get pregnant yet until His Majesty tells her the truth.]

’Oh, there is indeed a preventive measure effective for dragons. That’s exactly what I need,’ Arabella perked up.

Ferdinand wouldn’t have to suffer from the frustration of not being with her if Raymond sends her the tea he was thinking about. She could fulfill her wife’s duties as well.

’But how does it work? Should I just drink the tea after we did something?’

She hoped they would leave some kind of explanation so she would understand how it works.

[Her Majesty shouldn’t get pregnant yet to prevent any issues in the future in case she rejects His Majesty’s true identity. I hope she would accept him though. I have never seen His Majesty this lovestruck before. It’s his first time falling in love like this so I can understand how he feels.]

Arabella learned that Raymond also married late since all he focused on when he was younger was having fun challenging everyone.

It was hard to believe, but Raymond was apparently one to create trouble and ask others for a fight when he was younger. He changed when he became Ferdinand’s personal butler. He became focused on taking care of Ferdinand and working instead of fighting around.

’I’d love to learn more about this but I can’t even ask. I hope Ferdinand tells me the truth soon so I can finally speak more honestly with them and ask about all sorts of things,’ she glanced at her husband.

Ferdinand closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself.

In a few seconds, he was eating just fine again and he didn’t dare take a peek at her again. He had the poker face he usually had and there was no hint of the emotions visible in his eyes and face earlier.

If she didn’t know he was trying to focus so he wouldn’t get naughty thoughts and get aroused from looking her way, she could have misunderstood that he got displeased with her and decided to ignore her.

’Wait!’ Arabella came to a sudden realization as she recalled the countless times Ferdinand had treated her coldly.

’Was this why he had been acting so cold toward me in our past life?’

In the past, he was always poker-faced so it was hard to tell how he was feeling. His expression only ever changed when they were in her chambers doing naughty stuff. But once they were out of her room, he was cold as ice.

Arabella noted observing her husband more to see if her hypothesis was right.

They focused on eating and had discussions about updates regarding Prudencia and Safiro.

So far, everything was going smoothly with the two territories focused on trying to recover.

However, there was still no update about Hayden, the magician that somehow escaped Safiro during his own execution.

Moreover, there was still no response to the letter Ferdinand had sent to the King of Crux. They were still not cooperating in sending back the people of Prudencia they had bought as slaves.

[Crux Kingdom is getting more and more annoying. It seems they are beginning to think I am not serious with my message because I didn’t conquer them after I got Prudencia.]

Ferdinand was annoyed. He wasn’t in the mood to be in a war with another territory since he wanted to just stay by Arabella’s side especially since they had just gotten married. However, if Crux keeps acting hardheaded, they would have no choice but to attack soon.

The longer they do not do anything after there was no response or sign from the said kingdom, the more the possibility that the people of Prudencia were suffering in Crux.

As such, Ferdinand decided to send more knights to the northern borders of Prudencia. He also had a number of the knights accompanied by magicians begin surrounding Crux’s borders. It was ideal to let themselves be spotted by Crux residents and military officials to make the message loud and clear.

[Or should I go to the northern borders myself?] Ferdinand wondered.

[But my wife and I just got married. Just earlier we finally did something so intimate. If I leave again, wouldn’t she be cold to me again once I return? I don’t want to leave her side at all. My longing was soothed a bit after I got to enjoy everything we did earlier. But parting with her again just after we finally had something like that feels so wrong.]

’The departure to Medeus would be soon though,’ Arabella thought he should not leave yet until the assembly in Medeus was over. After all, if a war breaks out in the northern borders, they would likely be unable to join the assembly.

They have Alwin, Riley, and other magicians but Ferdinand apparently doesn’t use their abilities in war aside from healing the wounded and teleportation when necessary. The magicians were apparently reserved in case a dire situation happened.

Thus, the war would still take months and even years if their enemy was strong enough to keep up with them. Moreover, Ferdinand only brings knights lesser or equal to the number of troops of the enemy. It was as if he was giving himself a handicap.

However, it was also because the Empire was vast. While the knights were focused in one area, attacks may happen in other parts so they were never concentrated in a single location. The knights were usually assigned to strategic locations ready to respond to whichever part of Valeria got into a war with another territory.

’But if Crux keeps being unresponsive and uncooperative, it couldn’t be helped. We have nothing to lose by not attending the assembly in Medeus. Meanwhile, the people of Prudencia could be suffering from all sorts of abuse from their masters. Getting them back was more important.’

Ferdinand glanced at Arabella as she was sipping some tea, his ears turned red as he got distracted again.

[This is no good. Just looking at my wife now makes me like this. How could I keep holding back if it’s like this? I might just attack her in her room tonight. Hmm... Maybe I should, in order to satisfy this painful longing. No, no, no. She passed out earlier because I overdid it. I should let her rest tonight.]

Ferdinand suddenly fell silent and had a long internal battle with himself. Until he finally declared, "I’m going to the northern borders. I will depart with the knights."

He resolved to leave her side since just looking at her was making him lose his mind.

"But, Your Majesty, what about your tasks? There is a lot of work to do," Raymond reminded in case Ferdinand was forgetting there were tons of work piled in his office.

"Just make Alwin and Riley take turns sending them to me," Ferdinand instructed and Raymond sighed.

"Your Majesty, do you allow His Majesty leave when he had just returned about a week ago?" Raymond asked.

Ferdinand flinched and glanced at her.

"I will miss His Majesty but taking care of the people is more important. I will patiently wait for your safe return, Your Majesty," Arabella gave her approval since Ferdinand was already set on leaving anyway.

Raymond shrank in defeat but he also knew that Ferdinand had already set his mind on it. He just tried to appeal to Arabella since she might be able to change Ferdinand’s mind.

However, thinking about all the people in Prudencia waiting for their family members to return, Arabella concluded that if Ferdinand heading to the borders would make Crux relent, then he should.

[And here I thought I could make His Majesty attend the upcoming social events with Her Majesty.] Raymond lamented. He didn’t want Ferdinand to leave the palace again since he was apparently just planning to make him attend social events with Arabella.

’But what events are these? I don’t remember any event during this time before. I reviewed the events as well. I don’t remember one supposed to be held soon.’

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