Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 32: Estrella

Chapter 32: Estrella

"His Majesty believed you would live happily once you succeeded in your plans and ended his life. He thought you would live your life with King Icarus. So he thought it was probably for the best since he could also atone to his friend for stealing you from him. But in the end, you just killed yourself? What did milord suffer and die for?"

’Stealing? What does he mean?’

But she had no time to worry about those.

Alwin released blue fire in his hands as he glared at Arabella’s corpse. He looked like he was ready to set it aflame until it returned to nothingness.

"Why did His Majesty have to fall for a lady like you? Why did you have to be his mate when your heart would never belong to him anyway?"

Alwin was trembling with so much emotion and the tears in his eyes overflowed ceaselessly.

’I, I loved him once,’ she wanted to say. But that would in no way console Alwin.

Arabella could see just how much Alwin treasured his lord. She had heard before, Alwin had no family. He was all alone.

Perhaps, to Alwin, Ferdinand was his family. The only one he belonged to. And now, Ferdinand was gone because of her.

But instead of burning Arabella’s body, Alwin kneeled in front of Ferdinand’s corpse and controlled his raging emotions.

He could not hurt even Arabella’s corpse because Ferdinand treasured her.

’What have I been doing all my life?!’ Arabella fell to her knees as she processed everything she heard and witnessed.

It was as if her life was a joke.

She had lived her life meaninglessly.

She idiotically chased the wrong person for revenge. She merely vented everything on Ferdinand who was actually innocent of the crime she had pinned on him.

Arabella had been so much of a fool.

She thought she had grown wiser. She thought she understood the world better when she grew older.

But she didn’t at all. She never changed.

Ah, no. She did. She changed for the worst.

She blamed and hated her innocent husband and savior for a crime he did not commit.

She ruined Ferdinand and countless lives believing she had a reason to do so.

But in the end, her actions were not justified. She had no reason to make Valeria or Ferdinand fall.

Worst yet, Ferdinand already knew about everything but tolerated and accepted it all for her sake.

And he still loved her despite it all.

Why?

How could Ferdinand just let things go this far? He should have saved himself from everything if he already knew it. He shouldn’t have just suffered.

For several years, at least before her son was poisoned, she had loved Ferdinand.

Who would have thought they both had feelings for each other at the time?

They both unknowingly loved each other but everything fell apart instead.

Was their love not enough?

Why did they end up like this?

Just where did everything start to go wrong?

Or it was the beginning of their relationship that was wrong?

"You think you can just leave after everything you have done?"

Arabella gasped when Alwin looked straight at her. And this time, she was sure he was truly looking at her.

"I won’t just let you leave after everything. You have no right to die whenever you please. Atone for your sins," Alwin said and he uttered a spell.

All of a sudden, something wrapped around both Arabella’s wrists. Chains. Surprisingly, the chains restrained her and she cannot remove them. They were connected to her coffin.

’What’s going on?! Aren’t I just in a dream? I am supposed to be just an observer here.’

She was supposed to be just watching what happened in the past.

Why was Alwin able to see and bind her?

Alwin rose and Arabella gasped when she felt herself getting dragged somewhere. She closed her eyes when she felt dizzy and when she opened them again, she was in a different place.

Alwin had teleported them elsewhere.

They were at the foot of gigantic golden statues of the Goddess of Life and the God of Death on a mountain.

There was also another statue of a god that Arabella didn’t recognize. It seemed familiar though.

’Where did I see this before?’

Ah, in one of the myth books in Valeria Palace.

She closed her eyes as she tried to recall and gasped when she remembered.

It was the God of Dragons. He was said to be the creator of the dragon race.

She had almost forgotten since she long stopped praying to the gods, but there was also a statue of the God of Dragons in the palace and in every temple in Valeria.

’But where exactly are we?’ She looked around.

Arabella gasped when from afar, she saw a gigantic elegant palace on an island.

"Welcome to Estrella, Your Majesty. That island is milord’s abode," Alwin suddenly said and Arabella flinched.

She quickly distanced herself from Alwin and he chuckled.

"Worry not, Your Majesty. Even if I want to, I cannot harm someone so precious to my master."

She tried speaking to Alwin but no voice came out of her mouth when she tried to talk.

"I see. You cannot speak? But you can hear me, right?" Alwin asked and she nodded.

"That’s a relief. Because I’d love for you to hear everything I would tell you," Alwin smiled and Arabella shivered. He still looked so beautiful but he looked so terrifying.

Arabella braced herself to listen to whatever Alwin had to tell her.

"I hate you. I hate you with my whole being. I loathe you so much that killing you a thousand times would probably not be enough to soothe my rage and hatred," Alwin said and Arabella gulped. His hate was justified. He was very much loyal to Ferdinand, after all.

"But I would do my best to revive you, even at the cost of my life. Because without you, my milord would choose to die or sleep for all eternity until he ceases to exist. Look, he is already on his way here," Alwin glanced in the direction of the palace.

’What?!’

Arabella followed his gaze and gasped when she saw two silver-colored dragons heading in their direction.

One was so huge even from afar while the other was about a fourth the size of the larger dragon.

Their wingspan was so wide and they looked so beautiful as they flew.

They flew so quickly that they were already close enough for her to see them more clearly.

It was such a magnificent and breathtaking sight.

The dragons looked so regal and dignified.

This was the first time she ever saw dragons. She once thought they were not real.

She wondered why she wasn’t scared but was amazed instead.

The huge dragon had green eyes that made Arabella shiver as it reminded her of Ferdinand’s eyes.

The small dragon, however, had beautiful and warm amber eyes.

Arabella held her chest when it suddenly tightened and ached. Her heart raced for some unknown reason.

"You must be confused. Estrella is the home of dragons and other races which humans now call mythical. As you can see, I am an elf. "

’They exist?!’ She eyed Alwin from head to foot. His appearance makes sense if he truly was an elf. There was no reason for him to lie to her either.

Alwin explained that Estrella was a huge continent south of Valeria. It exists but humans cannot see it nor enter it due to the protection of the gods.

From her history classes, Arabella knew that what lies south of Eliora was supposed to be a huge ocean. Who would have thought another continent was there?

Alwin explained that Estrella used to be visible to humans when all the races lived in harmony. But after a Great War occurred, the gods decided it was best if the long-lived races were separated from the short-lived humans.

"And milord is a dragon. He looks so magnificent in his dragon form doesn’t he?" Alwin gazed at the huge dragon with so much adoration in his eyes.

Arabella frowned. ’Isn’t Ferdinand already dead? Why is Alwin referring to that dragon as his lord? Does he have another master here in Estrella?’

"My master is still alive," Alwin smiled at her as if he read her mind. "You only succeeded to kill his human body. But once milord died in his human body in Valeria, his soul instantly returned to his original body here in Estrella."

Alwin explained that Ferdinand’s human body was only temporary. It was created for a purpose. It was because Ferdinand had to be in a human body in order to be able to stay outside of Estrella.

"All his dragon abilities were forbidden to use outside Estrella due to the dangers they pose to humanity so they were sealed. Which was why he had lived like a normal human."

Arabella gazed at the dragons flying in her direction.

What Alwin told her just broke the reality she knew. It was hard to believe but how could she say it was impossible when she could see dragons right in front of her?

’So Ferdinand is still alive?!’

Arabella nervously bit her lip at the thought. She wanted to apologize for everything she had done. But she could not even speak.