Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 224: Outside Forces

Chapter 224: Outside Forces

Throughout the day, assassins kept attacking them. Their target was always Arabella’s carriage and not Ferdinand’s so he was getting more and more irritated the more assassins came.

Ferdinand ended up apologizing to her repeatedly for making her the target of assassinations like these because she was his wife. He did promise her safety despite all these attempts.

Assassination attempts were only happening now because they were finally outside of Valeria’s borders.

Their attackers probably thought they had more chances of surviving if they were outside Valeria’s borders. They underestimated the strength of Valeria’s Imperial Knights that Ferdinand had focused on strengthening since he was crowned.

Moreover, the knights would indeed not chase after them if they run away quickly since it would expose Arabella and Ferdinand to danger in case another group of assassins would come while the others knights were away.

It could be a divide-and-attack strategy. Or there was another group set to ambush the knights once they decide to chase.

But what their attackers didn’t know was the knights didn’t need to chase after them since Alwin or Riley could catch them instead.

They had summoned Riley as a backup magician ever since the assassination attempts began last night.

It was so that while one of them was catching the escaping assassins, one magician would remain near Arabella’s carriage ready to teleport them in worst-case scenarios.

And that scenario would be if Ferdinand himself had to participate in the fight. It meant the strength of the knights was no longer enough to defeat the attackers.

Arabella would be teleported back to the Imperial Palace or Magic Tower in case that happens.

Of course, it didn’t happen since the knights were reliable.

Alwin and Riley alternately caught the assassins who tried to flee once they realized they were no match for the knights. However, the instant they knew they could not escape, the assassins killed themselves.

Arabella and Ferdinand could no longer continue their earlier conversation due to assassins attacking in small groups. They both ended up waiting for reports inside the carriage as they listened to what was going on.

Arabella was getting more and more curious and wanted to peek outside but Ferdinand did not allow her to do so even once. He only opened the curtains once they left the area where the assassins attacked. But once he sensed attackers again, he closed the curtains yet again.

She doesn’t know how her husband was doing it, but he could sense them easily even though they were still far. He could also tell what was happening outside the carriage without looking.

And since they had to stop on the road repeatedly, it was already nighttime when they reached their next stop.

When they were in the inn, Alwin reported their findings. He and Riley had checked every single corpse of the assassins they had caught and realized something major.

"They are not from Eliora. Their features are not from any of the kingdoms in the continent. Judging from their features, they are from various continents outside Eliora," Alwin said and Arabella was wide-eyed.

She realized that Ferdinand’s enemies were indeed not limited to Eliora. Other continents also didn’t like the extent of his strength and how he had made Valeria grow even more powerful.

Valeria was a territory so strong it was untouchable for so long. And it suddenly began growing its borders again after Ferdinand occupied the throne. It was also a threat to other continents if Valeria gained too much power. Especially to nations that were closest to Eliora in terms of geography.

"It seems they have formed an alliance, probably a temporary one to stage these consecutive assassination attacks," Alwin continued. "They could have met while waiting to ambush us and decided to work together. Or those who sent them had agreements."

"I see. I knew the cowards here wouldn’t dare stage an attack when I would meet them in Medeus shortly. Outsiders are meddling," Ferdinand suddenly had a scary smile on his lips and Arabella realized why at the next words he said. "Perhaps it’s time to expand the Empire to other continents."

[They dare keep targeting my wife like that, I have to behead their leaders myself.]

"Hmm... It would be quite a lot of effort, especially with those surrounded by the seas but it’s doable, Your Majesty," Alwin seconded after thinking about it.

They were talking about conquering outside Eliora like it was nothing. They were indeed dangerous and powerful beings.

"Dear, wouldn’t it take too much time? It means you would be on the battlefield for quite a while. Probably years. We don’t even have children yet. What if something happened to you? Valeria would be leaderless and I would probably be killed by your enemies the instant you’re gone," Arabella didn’t like the idea of expanding to other continents so she made her husband think about it more.

"Oh, right. It might even take years. I don’t want to leave your side that long," Ferdinand thankfully recalled that he didn’t like staying away from her. He recalled he couldn’t just leave for the battlefield the way he used to anymore.

Alwin then continued with his reports and said that underneath the assassins’ protective clothing, they wore clothes made of fabric from various kingdoms in Eliora. They even wore magic to copy the features of the residents of various nations in the continent.

If Valeria didn’t high caliber magicians like Alwin and the rest, they wouldn’t have been able to tell the assassins were actually from other continents.

’What are they trying to do? Why would they go this far? Was it just to hide their identity?’ Arabella thought and gasped loudly when she realized something.

"Are they trying to make everyone fight?!" she asked and both Alwin and Ferdinand eyed her.

"I mean, could they be intentionally angering and insulting you by targeting me? If they wore clothing from various kingdoms here in Eliora, could they be trying to instigate conflict before the Assembly begins so we would be hostile to those whom we thought had attacked us?" she continued.

[She figured it out as well.] Ferdinand smiled.

"You must be right since they kept coming despite the others getting wiped out every time," her husband agreed.

[Their attempts would probably come when we are on the way back, not now.] Ferdinand was already expecting more attacks later.

[No wonder she was able to make all sorts of plots before. She easily came to this conclusion as well.] Alwin thought and Arabella flinched.

’It wasn’t that hard to figure it out!’ she wanted to say.

"Indeed, if they were assassins from Eliora, they wouldn’t have worn anything that could reveal where they were from. It was simply idiocy. But they went and wore all those for a purpose. Hearing His Majesty would attend it himself this year seems to have alarmed them. They must be trying to anger His Majesty so Valeria would not join hands with the Council," Alwin added.

’That’s right. If Valeria joins the Council, all those who stayed neutral would join as well. Eliora will be united.’

Alwin explained that the assassins may not even be trying to truly kill or capture Arabella but just wanted to start a conflict in Eliora. Ferdinand was known to have a short fuse after all.

If they successfully insulted and angered Ferdinand by targeting his weak wife, he might just go berserk in Medeus and make every member of the council his enemy. Nations in Eliora would end up weakening each other. And while everyone’s in a chaos, the other continents could swoop in.

Arabella shivered at her own thoughts. It was what she did in Valeria before.

"But it could also be that they were trying to check your value to His Majesty. They may be trying to verify the rumors that His Majesty treasures his Empress. If His Majesty gets angry that there were attempts to assassinate Your Majesty, they would conclude you are indeed important to His Majesty. Once they conclude that, they might try to make more serious attempts to capture or assassinate you to anger His Majesty," Alwin hypothesized.

[In the past life, His Majesty didn’t show much affection for Her Majesty since it would make her a target of his enemies. But it was too late to do it now since His Majesty had already been affectionate to her even when there were people around. Her Majesty may also misunderstand again so it wasn’t an option. We just have to ensure her safety so His Majesty wouldn’t go berserk if something happened to her.]

’So that’s why Ferdinand had been so cold before?’ Arabella gulped after hearing Alwin’s thoughts.

"So please be very careful in Medeus. Do not go anywhere without Rendell or His Majesty," Alwin added.

"Yes, of course," Arabella gulped.

She was horrified to be the target of these many assassination attempts. She didn’t experience this much in the attempts in her past life since she never left the Empire’s borders. Not even to visit Lobelius. Only once she had hired Dimo did she secretly leave Valeria quite often.

"You don’t have to worry about anything. We will ensure your safety no matter what," Ferdinand assured her.

"Thank you."

[Those bastards. They should just come at me directly instead. I will welcome them all with open arms and send them to greet the God of Death after much suffering.] Ferdinand’s expression was so dark once again.

"Alwin, trace where they come from. We should send them a greeting sooner or later."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

It was concluded that they would pretend not to know other continents were involved while magicians from the Magic Tower secretly investigate and trace where the assassins were truly from and the ones behind them.