Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 270: Set Up

Arabella agreed and had it scheduled for the following day since it would be better if she also had a private talk with Sera. Her schedule was mostly full so she was only able to have their tea party scheduled for three in the afternoon.

She surmised Sera was confident to speak with her now after she was assured that there was nothing between Arabella and Andrew. And that Arabella was rather fond of her Ferdinand.

However, when Arabella went to the receiving room in the Grand Palace which Sera had specified in her letter...

"Sera, you are finally here!"

Arabella froze when someone hugged her from behind.

It was Andrew.

"Andrew, What do you think you’re doing?!" Arabella instantly broke free and pushed him away.

Rendell entered as well upon hearing Arabella’s raised voice and got in between her and Andrew.

"Huh? Arabella, I mean, Your Majesty, what are you doing here?" Andrew blinked repeatedly.

[I thought she was Sera just now. What’s wrong with me? I should have verified it was Sera first. But, I was thinking of giving Sera a surprise hug. Why is Arabella here instead?]

"What do you mean? I was invited by Sera to come here for a tea party. It was supposed to be just the two of us. Why are you here instead of her?"

Arabella looked around and found that the room was designed rather sweetly and romantically. There were red roses everywhere and even the pastries and dishes were in heart shapes.

"Huh? But Sera and I were supposed to be on a date here so I prepared everything," Andrew frowned.

"But I received this letter," Arabella showed her invitation letter, and the creases on Andrew’s forehead further deepened.

"This is not Sera’s handwriting. It resembles hers but it’s a bit different. Sera no longer write her own letters too since she doesn’t like the smell of ink. And if she invited you to a tea party, she would have told me first," Andrew scrutinized the letter.

’What’s going on? I have a bad feeling about this. Huh, why does Andrew smell of wine?’ Arabella frowned when she glanced at the table and there was a whole bottle of wine.

"You are supposed to be on a date with your pregnant wife but you are drinking wine with such a strong scent? You are flushed too. Did you drink a lot? You shouldn’t be drinking wine with this strong scent when you are with your wife. She cannot drink alcoholic beverages and the scent would probably make her dizzy," Arabella spoke from experience.

"Ah, I had asked for a wine that with low alcohol content and doesn’t have any smell but this was what they brought. The palace maid made a mistake. I just tasted it a bit and I already asked for another wine since this one is too strong. I’m already feeling tipsy from less than a glass."

"Huh? You? Tipsy from a glass? Are you kidding?" Arabella knew Andrew could hold his drink well since he was a social animal. He could drink a lot of glasses of alcohol and not get tipsy at all.

"Surprising, right? This is the first time. I never drank wine with such strength before," Andrew felt embarrassed since he usually does not get drunk easily no matter how much he drinks.

’Huh?! That bulge. Why does he have an erection?’ Arabella was shocked when she realized it. She eyed Andrew from head to foot again. His face was flushed and his ears were red.

Arabella bit her lip when she realized what was going on. It was no wonder Rendell had been on guard and had been glaring at Andrew.

"Andrew, I have repeatedly seen you drink before but you never got tipsy from a glass. And you don’t get that," Arabella pointed at his erection.

Andrew gasped and instantly stood behind a chair to hide it.

"My apologies, that was..." Andrew didn’t know how to explain since he was even more surprised he had it.

[I haven’t been able to do it with Sera lately due to the pregnancy but I couldn’t believe I got like this outside. I had always been able to control myself. I had been looking forward to this date with Sera but how could I suddenly get like this? Now that I thought about it, I was much more eager to see have a date with Sera today. But how can I even mistake Arabella for Sera? Their aura is completely different and Sera’s hair is shorter. Is it the wine? How come it’s too strong?] Andrew was puzzled by his own actions.

"I think you drank something with an aphrodisiac. You don’t look very well. Your face and ears are red," Arabella surmised.

"Aphrodisiac?"

[Hmm... I do feel hot. I had even removed my coat and tie earlier. I had been pent up so I thought it was just me feeling horny because I hadn’t been able to do it with Sera and now we were supposed to be on a date. But who would give me an aphrodisiac? Sera knows I don’t need such a thing to get in the mood. If she’s fine with doing it now, she can just tell me and I’d be ready in no time at all. Is it one of the ladies chasing me? Ever since I dated Arabella, and even more so when I got married to Sera, I already told them to stop and find someone else. Who would still do this?]

"I think someone may have set this up to make it look like we are meeting again. I’ll leave first before anyone sees us together while you are in such a state. Let’s discuss this at a later time. In the interim, tell no one about this until we are able to discuss it," Arabella quickly walked to the door before Andrew could even reply.