Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 544: Alwin Returns

Chapter 544: Alwin Returns

"Alwin!" Arabella gasped. He was finally back!

"Greetings, Your Majesty. I’m back," Alwin did the formal greeting.

But something was wrong with him. Half of his body had turned black. It was visible on his face, neck, and hands.

"Are you alright? What’s with those? What happened to you?!" she gawked at him.

Alwin touched his black cloak and its appearance changed to his usual cloak.

"I’m fine, Your Majesty. I’m fine. They are my guests," Alwin said since everyone was tense and ready to attack his guests further.

"Guests?" Raymond and Walter frowned and eyed the supposed ’guests’ suspiciously.

"Then, what’s the meaning of this ancient curse?" Regis eyed the discoloration on Alwin’s face and hands.

[Indeed. No wonder we cannot sense Alwin’s presence. It was tainted by such a strong curse. It was mixed too strongly that his presence felt different. But this close, we are at least able to sense some of his presence. Alvis was right about it being a curse.] Raymond thought.

"Ah, it’s a long story. The King of the Shadows used a curse on me, so I won’t be able to leave. The King will undo the curse once these two achieve their goal here and return to their homeland," Alwin explained.

[They are indeed shadows.]

[So, they were the ones tasked to come here for their princess?]

’They had to go that far? How dangerous is this curse?! And why is he not with Ferdinand and Alvis?’

Arabella and everyone else had their doubts.

"How are we assured the King will undo the curse?" Raymond pointed out.

"I signed a contract with these two. They will die if this curse on me isn’t undone after they have brought their princess home. They are both from the most important families and have relevant positions. Their families will not allow the King to not undo the curse," Alwin explained.

He showed two magic contracts and Regis inspected it.

[Hmm. It seems to be true. But how dare they use a curse on him! Alwin is a prince of the elves.] Regis kept frowning.

"Ah, I have also included a spell, so they won’t be able to hurt me," Alwin flicked his fingers, and the bodies of the two men clad in black glowed with magic inscriptions.

"Argh!!"

The two groaned in pain.

{Bear with it. I need to show my elders I am in control of this situation. If they think I am being threatened with my life, they will not allow you to get your princess back.}

Alwin telepathically communicated to the two.

{Don’t you think you are making it hurt too much?}

{If I don’t make it hurt this much, you two would not even react.} Alwin pointed out.

Regis only nodded after that, so Raymond and Walter finally lowered their swords and sheathed them.

The guests also sheathed theirs.

"I am Orpheus, fiancé of Princess Evania. We mean no harm. We are only here to get the Princess back," the longhaired man introduced himself.

"I am Darcus, personal guard of the Princess," the short-haired man also introduced himself. "I am also here for the Princess."

’Oh, so Orpheus is the man Evania didn’t want to marry and Darcus is her lover?!’ Arabella couldn’t help but check out the two.

They both seemed to be outstanding men.

’Orpheus seems to be more of her type though since she likes Alwin.’

But then again, Evania’s current taste was affected by her experience as Evelyn. It may change once she gets her memory back.

Moreover, if she already had feelings for Darcus before Orpheus was introduced to her, then his chances were slim.

Evania even ran away just so she would not be married to him.

’Maybe he had a rotten personality,’ Arabella glanced at Orpheus’ intimidating red eyes. He looked so beautiful, but his eyes were scary.

’And most importantly, as Elder Regis thought, why did they need to use a curse on Alwin?’

"Then why did Alwin need to be put under such a strong curse? This kind of curse has long been banned here and in Estrella," Raymond glared.

"Ah about that..."

Alwin and Orpheus explained that the King of the Shadows was warned that someone would arrive. The King was told that the guest would likely insist that he knew the location of the missing princess. But that person was just after rewards and did not really know where Evania was.

Thus, when Alwin arrived a few days later, they imprisoned him immediately without listening to his explanations.

Alwin was able to ruin his prison and almost escaped several times though.

Realizing that Alwin was a powerful magician, the King of the Shadows used the curse so he would not be able to escape.

Alwin kept causing a commotion though, so the King sent Darcus and Orpheus, their most powerful warrior and magician to take turns guarding him.

Since Alwin had memories that they were Evania’s lover and fiancé, he took the chance to tell them what he knew about Evania and what she experienced in the human realm so they would feel bad for her and convince the King that they should go and pick her up.

However, the King was so stubborn because the one who gave him the message was a deity. Thus, he still did not believe Alwin.

Thus, Alwin convinced Darcus and Orpheus to help him escape and follow him to the human realm to pick up Evania before she commits crimes and is punished according to the laws.

Feeling like it was their fault that Evania suffered a lot, Darcus and Orpheus decided to go with Alwin rather than remain in their kingdom wondering where Evania was.

Once they return with Evania, their King would no longer have any complaints since he was the one in the wrong this time.

They had been searching for Evania for a long time so Darcus and Orpheus would not be punished even if they let a prisoner escape and even went with him.

"Then, why are you not with His Majesty? Did you not meet him in Umbra?" Raymond asked.

"His Majesty went to Umbra?!!" Alwin was wide-eyed. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?! To look for you, of course," Arabella and Raymond said at the same time.

"T-to look for me?"

Alwin was overwhelmed. He did not expect Ferdinand himself would go.

[In my previous life, it was Raymond who was supposed to go and search for me.]

’Oh, so he had recovered memories of the past again,’

Arabella realized that Alwin had recovered some of his memories of the past while he was in Umbra.

She would ask more about it once they were alone.

For now, they had to know why Alwin was not with Ferdinand and Alvis.

"Alvis also went with him," Regis added.

"Why? Why do they have to go?" Alwin asked and his elders looked like they wanted to hit his head.

"Since your presence was altered by the curse, everyone was not able to feel even a tiny bit of your presence. It was almost as if you died, so everyone was worried," Arabella voiced it out for them since they would never say it.

"Eh?! It was like that?" Alwin blinked repeatedly.

"Everyone had been trying to search for you but there were no results. Thus, His Majesty decided to go there himself. Your uncle was also worried, so he insisted on joining His Majesty," Arabella added.

Alwin was speechless for a few seconds.

[I learned from the memories I recovered that they would send Raymond to search for me. I did my best to return before that happened. But My lord and Uncle Alvis already went to Umbra?! I did feel their presence get stronger. But I thought it was because they may have had to use a huge amount of mana.]

Alwin’s ears turned red. He was happy that Ferdinand himself went to search for him. He was also delighted that Alvis also went there to search for him, but he thought it was just because of his bloodline.

’Eh, so he also doesn’t realize that he is important to Alvis. Is this why Ferdinand said Alwin might not be happy to see his uncle? Did he think Alvis only tried to get him back because he was of Elvish royal blood?’

Arabella internally facepalmed. They were not showy or vocal with their feelings and care, so it wasn’t understood.

Alwin finally had a clue now since he was happy about it, but kept denying it.

"Then, we should return. His Majesty might keep searching for me," Alwin concluded.

"No. You stay here. Those two must have already caused a commotion in Umbra since they could not find you there. They may be on their way back already," Raymond supposed.

That was true. It was better for Alwin to stay here. What if he went to Umbra again and something happened to him?

"I agree. You are already here. We at least know you are safe despite that curse. No need to send you far away again. His Majesty may indeed return soon," Arabella seconded.

She knew of Ferdinand’s plan to use force if necessary.

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A/N:

Thank you for your support in September everyone! See you all this October.

The months flew by so quickly.

I’ll update more Chapters later.

My hands are aching today from the cold. I was already wearing gloves but it kept hurting so I stopped writing.

I tried dictation to text but it’s not accurate and it’s too slow so I end up encoding again anyway. Do you know an app that’s accurate with speech-to-text?