Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 260: Signs of War

Chapter 260: Signs of War

The agenda of the Assembly were discussed one by one by King Neville Obrusca, the current Head of the Council and Representative of Medeus.

Neville was the King of the Obrusca Kingdom. His eldest son, Lemuel, Lucille’s older brother, was already ruling it in his stead since he was about to retire.

King Neville was just completing his term as the Head of the Council. A new Head of the Council would be voted upon in this Assembly. And once his term was over, Neville was said to retire and crown his eldest son as the next King of Obrusca.

The most important agenda King Neville discussed was the fact about their neighboring continents seemingly preparing for war. Especially Zynnia Continent.

Zynnia had been building up reserves over the years and had been gathering more troops. There were evidences of increased military activity over the past few years.

And King Neville discussed that Zynnia had been aggressive at the borders lately. They were becoming bold in going close to the borders and provoking smaller nations. It was as if they were intentionally prodding them for war to begin.

It meant Zynnia was already prepared and it was ready if war erupted at the borders. They wouldn’t be so bold if they had no confidence they could back up their actions.

This was why Ferdinand was invited to join the Assembly this year. The Council clearly wanted to borrow the strength of Valeria.

Having Icarus and his Reverio Kingdom on their side was already a good thing. But not only Zynnia was noticed to have become active in military activities.

Even Gelidra, the continent north of Eliora was preparing for war. The Reverio Kingdom was at the northernmost part of Eliora so Icarus would be busy with the northern borders.

Thus, it was important to get Valeria join them in case of war and if possible, even get them to become a member of the Council.

Ferdinand didn’t say a single word about it though even as King Neville and the other rulers kept glancing his way. He knew everyone just wanted to use Valeria’s strength so their armies wouldn’t have to be the ones to suffer the losses.

They were mistaken if they thought Ferdinand was the same as he was before and would eagerly go where war was.

[Is it because he had just gotten married?] King Neville wondered.

[If he’s still hostile to King Icarus because of her, then the rumors about him abandoning her after a month must be false. He must treasure her if he doesn’t want to leave her side for the war he used to love.]

King Neville was quite observant and noticed that though Ferdinand never smiled once since he entered the event today, the latter responded to every word Arabella said.

[I see. The Dark Emperor must have finally found love. If that’s not the case, then perhaps, Empress Arabella is already carrying his child. He must have found something to cherish.]

King Neville understood since he treasured his family. However, he knew that they needed Valeria’s strength if they were to win a war with Zynnia’s full force.

Zynnia had a smaller land area when compared to Eliora but the former had strong military prowess.

Without Reverio and Valeria, winning a war against the Zynnia would be difficult. Especially since the nations sharing borders with Zynnia were small.

Though these nations had strengthened their military due to their location, their numbers would be lacking if Zynnia sent a lot of troops.

They could manage with the help from other countries in Eliora but if the full force of the united army of Zynnia attacked, they would lose without Reverio and Valeria who were the most powerful military assets of Eliora.

[If an all-out war breaks out and he doesn’t join, Valeria would be surrounded by enemies in the worst-case scenario that the rest of Eliora was conquered. If he truly treasures his wife and future child, he would have no choice but to go to war again.]

King Neville understood that Ferdinand had something to protect, it meant that it was all the more reason for him to have no choice but to join the war. But the problem was how early or late Ferdinand decides to join.

Of course, Neville and the other rulers, especially those who shared borders with Zynnia, wanted Ferdinand to join early on to prevent excessive losses and damages.

Ferdinand’s expression didn’t change one bit though even as the dangers of Zynnia possibly planning to conquer Eliora were discussed.

But Arabella knew from her husband’s thoughts that he planned to take care of the southeastern borders since if the kingdoms there were conquered, Lobelius would be in danger.

Arabella just remained silent as well. She copied her husband and didn’t show any sign of fear or worry and just listened to the discussions.

Deep inside, of course, she was worried about Lobelius. But an all-out war with Zynnia didn’t happen in her previous life so she was somewhat assured Lobelius and Valeria would be fine.

Sure there were the usual skirmishes, but Zynnia did not challenge Eliora for an all-out war in the two decades she lived as Empress in her past life.

Valeria was always battle-ready too since that was how Ferdinand ruled. He took special care of the military so they could go to war anytime. Their harvest this year and the previous years was mostly good as well so they had a lot of supplies.

Valeria owned a lot of mines too so they have their own supply of metals and ores for armor and weapons.

The Empire was self-sufficient so it was just fine on its own.

On the other hand, Lobelius heavily depended on Lahar for metal supplies. Lahar had a lot of mines while Lobelius focused on farming its fertile lands.

Lobelius had a few mines since having mines meant sacrificing land supposed to be for agricultural purposes.

Mines usually damage even the surrounding areas so Lobelius didn’t have many mines since their greatest asset was their fertile lands that produced good crops. Thus, they befriended Lahar and Hazania to supply them with the metals they needed.

And thankfully, just in time, Arabella and Andrew had recently resolved the problems they formerly caused so the trade between their homelands could continue once again.

Especially now that war may happen, Lobelius would also need to make more armor and weapons. Even if Valeria helps them, they should be ready to fight even on their own.

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