Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 504: Narcissa’s Lies

Chapter 504: Narcissa’s Lies

[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.

"I... Your Majesty, that’s not me. It must be someone else disguised as me to try ruining my reputation," Narcissa tried to cover it up.

"I have also spoken with Nadia and Odette. Odette had witnessed you being extremely rude to Ivan. She asked you not to treat him that way, but you began treating her differently after that. And Nadia had personally witnessed you having your men beat up Ivan."

"That’s not true, Your Majesty. They are teaming up on me. They must be trying to frame me to ruin my name. I didn’t do any of those," Narcissa pretended like she was merely being accused.

[How dare she lie to Her Majesty.]

[The evidence is already there yet she kept it up.]

[Does she think Her Majesty and everyone else are idiots?]

Riley, Rowan, and Rendell who all heard Narcissa’s lies were getting vexed but tried to keep their calm.

Arabella had to do something about it before her guards got even more irritated by Narcissa’s continued lies and denials.

"Narcissa, this is the third time you directly lied to me today," Arabella began.

Narcissa was about to deny it, but Arabella gestured for her to stop.

"How can I trust you as my assistant if you lie to me like this without even blinking an eye or feeling guilty or regretful about it? I already told you, didn’t I? Ivan told me everything. Even the fact that you threatened him with his family’s lives so he would not say this to anyone. I had this investigated as well before heading here. Are you saying an investigation conducted by the Magic Tower is invalid and unreliable?" Arabella asked.

Narcissa was silenced and glanced at Riley.

Ferdinand himself, the ministers, and most Valerian houses trust the Magic Tower.

"Remember that I am not just your superior. I am the Empress of Valeria. Intentionally misleading and giving me false information is punishable by law," Arabella reminded her in case Narcissa forgot.

Narcissa clearly did not fear her authority but wanted to be hailed as the best assistant of the Empress. Meaning, the Empress could be anyone else. What she wanted was the glory and honor of being hailed the best assistant.

It wasn’t exactly wrong to aim high and be competitive, but she should have worked hard for that position instead of eliminating her rivals through underhanded means.

[Did Her Majesty just threaten me?!]

Narcissa blinked twice.

[After my family did their best to help clarify that she did not create a harem to spite His Majesty, she would threaten me?]

’Ah, is she thinking about that?’ Arabella heard about it from Raymond.

Raymond said that after he and Clarisse announced that they were going to have a third child and clarified that the rumors about them were false, the houses from which her assistants hailed, also helped to clarify that Arabella was not gathering a harem of her own in the guise of assistants.

It wasn’t just Narcissa’s family who tried to help.

Moreover, on Ryvaleh’s part, it was mostly Clarisse who tried to help clear her name. But of course, she could not disregard that the other members of the Ryvaleh household also helped as well.

Arabella was very much grateful for everyone’s help. But she could not overlook the gravity of Narcissa’s actions even with that.

[Her Majesty is just a bit older than me. She’s a princess from Lobelius but I’m also one. I carry Ryvaleh’s royal bloodline, and my father would be the next Duke. Our standing would not be that much different if she was not crowned Empress because His Majesty took a liking to her. But even so, she doesn’t have backing, so her power and influence are weak. It’s just starting to build up due to the recent events, but it can be shaken easily. If His Majesty gets tired of her, she will have no place here in Valeria. Everyone is just acting nice since they heard His Majesty likes her a lot.]

’My goodness. What is with these thoughts? Will she try to shake the small start I began to build? Did I hire the snake that would bite me?!’

Arabella was taken aback that Narcissa would think that way.

It was true that her influence was just beginning to build up. It was also true she became the Empress because Ferdinand liked her.

The nobles may indeed treat her badly or simply ignore her if they hear, Ferdinand does not favor her anymore.

And she had no backing yet among the nobles since she was from a foreign land.

Or perhaps she could already count on Prudencia and Safiro since they seemed to like her now. But those two are still in the process of recovery.

But she has Ferdinand.

They can look down on her all they want. But Ferdinand chose her to be His Empress among everyone else that could have been.

He was all the backing she needed for now. And quite a very powerful one at that.

’Just wait and see. I’ll work hard for everyone to recognize my achievements to the point they could not deny the value of my existence,’ Arabella internally promised.

"I... I did not intend to do that, Your Majesty. I simply had no choice but to punish Ivan. He is a cheater. He cheated during the selection. He should not be your assistant. He doesn’t deserve to be in his position, so I was trying to remove him so Your Majesty would not be troubled," Narcissa changed her story this time.

’You are the one creating trouble for me,’ Arabella internally facepalmed.

[Instead of apologizing for her actions, she’s shamelessly shifting the blame?!] Rowan frowned.