Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 503: Evidence Against Narcissa

Chapter 503: Evidence Against Narcissa

Arabella sighed heavily once her assistants had left. It was time to face Narcissa this time.

’I didn’t want to give up on her since she was also very much capable. But if she keeps doing this, I truly have no choice but to let her go.’

. . .

Arabella had Riley retrieve all the documents Narcissa had worked on yesterday and rechecked them again.

Narcissa did well as usual. Even Nadia and Odette’s supposed workload which Narcissa did were all well done.

But she was placing an unnecessary burden on herself and making her workmates surrender some of their workload for her.

It would have been fine if Narcissa helped with other documents without threatening her workmates, and if they needed help. But they didn’t. Nadia and Odette would have been able to do more work if Narcissa was not limiting what they could do.

More work would have been done if they had shared the workload equally so no one would be burdened with too much.

’And getting rid of the others just so she would be recognized as my best assistant is a bit too much. I need Ivan, Nadia, and Odette as well. Those three are indispensable for the future. I cannot let them go if they are not voluntarily leaving.’

Arabella then had Narcissa summoned so they could speak about the issues.

. . .

[Why would I be summoned here as well? Will the others be summoned here as well?] Narcissa wondered.

She was ushered in and Narcissa stopped walking for a few seconds when she saw it was Arabella who was inside the room she was sent to.

[Her Majesty?! She’s already back?! Since when? Why didn’t I hear about it from my family or our other connections?]

Narcissa was wide-eyed for a second but quickly composed herself so it wouldn’t be obvious that she was shocked to see her.

"Greetings to Your Majesty," she greeted politely and curtsied gracefully.

[Nadia and Odette didn’t say something to Her Majesty, right? Ivan would surely remain silent. I did warn the two as well.]

"Welcome back to Valeria, Your Majesty. My family and I are elated that you are safe despite everything that happened in Medeus."

Narcissa pretended like she was not surprised that Arabella was back. She acted as if she and her family already knew. But there was no way they could have known Arabella would be in Riva today.

Raymond was still in Estrella so there was no one to tell Clarisse. And Clarrise knew what she could and could not tell her family.

’Narcissa is already used to the games of the social circle. She was able to compose herself so quickly and speak as if she already knew I was back. How old was she when she debuted to the social circle?’

Arabella assumed that Narcissa may have debuted early in the social circle for her to be able to maintain her composure and be unfazed in front of her despite everything she had done to her fellow assistants.

Or was it simply a normal thing for Narcissa to step on others to achieve her goal? Was it her way of doing things, so she didn’t feel guilty about it?

Narcissa was polite and respectful in front of Arabella. But to Ivan, Nadia, and Odette, she was something else.

’Is it indeed the status? She treats people depending on their status and respects them or not based on that. Then, if I’m not the Empress, she would not give me any respect either?’

"Thank you. Please be seated," Arabella did not comment about the incidents in Medeus since that would change their topic.

"How have you been with work while I was gone?" Arabella inquired, trying to see how Narcissa would react.

"I have been working more earnestly, Your Majesty. There were a lot of documents, but I enjoyed doing it all," Narcissa answered enthusiastically.

"Did anything happen to the office while I was away?" She tried to test Narcissa.

"None, Your Majesty. Everything is in order."

’For her, I guess.’

"I see. Is there anything you would like to tell me?"

Arabella wanted Narcissa to admit it herself.

[Something I would like to tell Her Majesty? What would it be?]

"None, Your Majesty."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

’Ah, so she truly would not admit it herself. It’s not even crossing her mind that I’m asking these questions because of what she did.’

"I see. I believe, you already know that I summoned Ivan. My guard knight noticed that Ivan was heavily injured, so I had him checked and he was indeed. I saw his arms and they were heavily bandaged. Yet, I was still able to see blood. I would have sent him home to rest but His Eminence’s assistant was thankfully with us and healed him. Did you know about his injuries?" Arabella asked this time.

[That Ivan! Did he tell her everything?! I already warned him. It’s not my fault anymore. He was the one who didn’t keep his mouth shut. Does he not mind his family suffering?!]

Instead of feeling fear or regret for doing something she shouldn’t have done, Narcissa was not even feeling guilty but was blaming Ivan instead.

"I didn’t know, Your Majesty. He must have had a fight somewhere. I heard he had beaten his former superior. He must have quite a temper," Narcissa mixed truths and lies together to make herself seem believable.

’That’s a lie. How can I trust her if she is like this?’

Narcissa was lying to her with a straight face. She seems used to doing it.

"I heard you slapped him twice," Arabella tried to attack directly.

Perhaps, Narcissa would finally understand that she was only waiting for her to confess. That she already knew the truth.

"That I did. But only because Ivan was being rude to me," Narcissa reasoned.

Arabella internally facepalmed.

"Then watch this," Arabella gestured to Riley, and he brought out a magic orb to the table and played a scene.

The record was from a magic surveillance device. Alwin had recently invented it so the Magic Tower could keep watch of several portions of the city simultaneously without using too much mana.

Arabella did not even know it existed until Riley told her.

Alwin was wary of her before. Thus, he never told her about it since it was another way he could keep watch over her.

Thanks to that device, Riley gathered conclusive evidence against Narcissa.

The magic orb showed a secluded estate near a forest on the outskirts of Riva. Two men were pointing their swords at a tied-up Ivan. They let him walk into the estate and led him into the empty storehouse.

After a few minutes, a carriage with a Ryvaleh logo arrived, and Narcissa got out of it.

Arabella internally smiled at this. Narcissa may be smart, but she did not seem to consider someone may have followed them. Or perhaps, she thought no one would dare since their connections were extensive.

[How come they have a record of this?! His Eminence saw it?! No, that couldn’t be. He was with them in Medeus. But if it was him, he would have acted immediately. It must have been someone else.]

There was no record of what happened inside, but after Narcissa and those men left, an injured Ivan walked out of the property. He didn’t have injuries before.

There were several more records, and Riley played it all.

It happened several times until someone wearing black hooded clothes threw pebbles at the gate and roof. It led to Narcissa and her men having to leave in case their location was exposed.

[Wait, those swords strapped on that man’s waists. Those were Nadia’s!]

Narcissa recognized the swords since she had just seen them earlier.

[No, it’s not a man! That’s Nadia! She’s the one who made the noise that day? We thought it must have been just an animal from the forest, so we kept using that place when nothing happened after that.]

Nadia entered the property and went to the storehouse where Ivan was in. She stayed there for a bit before going out with a bloodied Ivan. She was helping him walk since he was limping.

Yet, despite that, it happened several more times. Nadia was there to help Ivan get out of that property every time.

Thankfully, Narcissa did not even wear a cloak to disguise herself. Nor use a carriage without their household’s logo. Thus, it was clear that it was her indeed.

The kitchen staff, who was beaten up, was also brought to that same property. It was not registered to the Ryvalehs but to someone else’s.

[What should I do?! What should I do?!] Narcissa only panicked when she realized Arabella had a lot of evidence against her. She thought there was no evidence, so she was confident earlier.

"I have asked Ivan numerous questions, so he had no choice but to tell me everything. It appears you have been bullying him behind everyone’s back. And you are making him quit as my assistant. You cornered him to the point of depriving him of food, which, I had wanted all my assistants to have freely. And you even had him beaten up. Why?"

Arabella gave Narcissa a chance to explain herself.

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