Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 403: Elder Satara [Bonus - ]

Chapter 403: Elder Satara [Bonus Chapter]

Arabella’s mother said that due to all magicians who went to Lobelius experiencing unfortunate events, rumors spread that it was an unlucky, or even cursed place, for magicians. Thus, other magicians also began avoiding it and not accepting their offer even with increased or doubled pay.

"Ah, but we do have Elder Satara," Benjamin recalled.

"Yes. She had been a great help in a lot of matters even when the two of you were not born yet. And so far, even her advice about marriage partners is highly precise and effective. All those who asked her for advice were doing well in their marriage lives," their mother agreed.

Elder Satara was a trusted advisor to their parents. She was from one of the most powerful houses in Lobelius. She had lived a long life and was already ninety years old. She had greatly contributed to the wealth and power of her family, and it was rumored that she was a seer who had been able to tell us fortunes and bits of the future.

Elder Satara was the one from whom Arabella had heard stories about long-lived races. She was the one who told Arabella when she was a child, that nymphs and fairies were true, and they were still around but merely unnoticed or were in hiding.

Some people find the elder to be creepy since she speaks in riddles every now and then and says a lot of things they do not understand. But Arabella could recall that she rather enjoyed listening to the elder’s stories when she was young.

"Arabella, you have grown and even became so brave and calm now. So, I believe it’s time to tell you about this so can take precautions," her mother suddenly had a serious expression.

Arabella straightened up and listened closely as her mother finally told her about events in her past that she had no memories of.

"You still fear dark waters or any body of water at night, right?" Her mother inquired and she nodded. "That fear began after you almost drowned in one of the garden ponds back when you were young."

Benjamin added that Arabella kept saying someone carried her out of the water before he found her. And that there were two men at the pond at that time. But Benjamin did not find anyone else in the whole garden or the entire palace that night no matter how they searched.

"But when you woke up the following day, you had no memories of what happened. We thought it must have been because of shock and trauma due to how terrifying it was. We removed all the ponds near your room to it. And thankfully, you were fine for a while. But then, ever since that day, monsters appeared to attack you when you have a few guards with you. Several times, you sleepwalked at night and went to the garden again, and there, you were attacked by monsters."

She learned that she almost died several times due to monsters attacking her out of nowhere. But her parents, Benjamin, and her guard knights did their best to watch out for her. And they forbid everyone to tell her about the monster attacks since it might terrify her more and not allow her to live life as usual if she knew about them.

It was punishable by death, so no one dared to say anything. Thus, she grew up without knowing anything about it. The only one she remembered was when she was sixteen.

It was then that her parents kept hiring magicians to protect her. And the said magicians met unfortunate incidents and decided to quit. No matter how or how many they hired, it was the same.

"We asked for help from Elder Satara when we were at our wit’s end. And she said that for some unknown reason, you were being chased by grave dangers. She said you were visited by scarily powerful entities, but she doesn’t know who or what they were. One was trying to harm you while the other seemed to be trying to protect you."

Elder Satara recommended that Arabella’s parents ask for help from the temple since her case was beyond her capabilities.

And so, they did. They wrote a letter to the temple and a magician was sent to Lobelius. But the said magician died from the monster attacks even though he was supposed to be able to kill them with his magic.

It alerted the temple, and they sent several magicians to check Lobelius Palace and the nearby areas. However, they did not find anything suspicious that could have been causing the monsters. Thus, they returned to the temple and left one to watch over Arabella. But then, he died in an accident while doing his experiments.

It was what discouraged all other magicians from going to Lobelius.

Her mother said the death of those two were so suspicious that the Pope himself went to check on Lobelius and on Arabella.

"Eh? The Pope? Was it the same as the Pope now?" Arabella tilted her head.

"Yes," her mother said, and Arabella wondered why the Pope did not mention a thing about it. Or was it among the reasons why he said he was her strongest ally and gave her a ring?

"His appearance ever since then never changed. It was apparently because of his Holy Power," Benjamin recollected.

Arabella learned that the Pope came to bless Lobelius and the entire palace grounds. And when he checked on her, the Pope said the same thing as Elder Satara. He said that even he, cannot do anything about those who visit her since they were beyond his capabilities. But he did give her a blessing of protection.

The Pope’s blessing stopped the monster attacks for years. But when Arabella was fourteen, the monster attacks began happening again and it was way worse than before. Benjamin and her knights had trained hard for years and had grown stronger by then, so they were able to protect her without the need of asking assistance from the temple again.

But the worst attack came when she was attacked near Mt. Callion since the monsters were much stronger and larger.

Her parents were terrified by it and asked advice from Elder Satara. The elder checked on Arabella again. It was then that she noticed something.