Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress -
Chapter 56: Excuse
Chapter 56: Excuse
’So this was why Alwin almost cried last time and lost his cool when I was talking about divorce.’
Now she understood why Alwin sounded so sure when he said Ferdinand was in love with her and would never agree to a divorce.
Alwin was so emotional when he said he merely didn’t want to see his lord get hurt and suffer because he had already witnessed it once.
’Should I apologize to him now for what I have done in the past?’ Arabella tilted her head in wonder.
’No. That would reveal I have memories of the past. Alwin doesn’t seem to know that I do. And they were partly at fault for not telling me anything.’
Arabella wondered if Ferdinand had memories of the past too. But he had slept in her room for a month without a single thought about the past, so she concluded he doesn’t.
’So only Alwin and I have memories about the past?’
She wondered if it was to ensure she doesn’t repeat her mistakes. Alwin was there to make sure she doesn’t stray.
"I see. Your Majesty has nothing to fear since I would be watching her. I’ll do some investigation later," Alwin responded regarding the matter about Renee.
"Thank you."
[Hmph. As if I would be happy with your gratitude. I know just how much of an ingrate you would be someday.]
’I won’t do it again,’ Arabella wanted to talk back but decided to just ignore his negative thoughts.
"So what was it you wanted to talk about His Majesty?" Alwin returned them to their supposed topic.
"Ah, I was worried about how His Majesty was doing. Is he doing well? He didn’t get injured or anything, right? Is the conflict at the borders getting worse?"
She hadn’t received a single letter from Ferdinand so she surmised he must be quite busy.
[Now, she’s pretending to care when she had not even asked about His Majesty for a while nor written him any letters.]
’He didn’t send me any letters either!’ Arabella wanted to say but kept mum instead.
She didn’t need to ask Alwin to get updates since she hears it from their thoughts. She forgot she had to play the part of an eighteen-year-old lady who longs for the attention of her husband too.
And she had to ensure that people think she has a good relationship with Ferdinand as well so she should have asked every now and then even if she already heard about how he was from their thoughts.
Because she forgot to ask for updates about Ferdinand, Alwin was having hostile thoughts again.
She didn’t send letters to Ferdinand either since he might just ask Alwin to teleport him back to the palace if she said she missed him.
Arabella didn’t want to disturb his focus. Or rather, she was busy with her goals. She had finally succeeded in getting work sent to her office, and she just gained ten assistants.
But she still had a lot to do. In the meantime, she’s too busy to have time to flirt around with Ferdinand. He was busy as well, so it works fine for both of them.
"His Majesty is fine. No one would even be able to come close enough to injure him. The Trelia Kingdom was just testing the waters. They fizzled out when His Majesty headed for the borders. They were just overconfident before because they thought His Majesty didn’t care much about Valeria’s territories sharing borders with them."
"I see. I’m glad it didn’t end up becoming more heated."
[See? She wasn’t even really concerned about His Majesty. I guess it’s already good that she’s at least thinking about the Empire. She used to just stay in her room all the time.]
’Ugh. Why is Alwin always so specific? What does he want me to say? In this life, I have been married to Ferdinand for just over two months now. And I had only been with him for a month. Does he expect me to be head over heels for Ferdinand already when I am still supposed to be moving on from Andrew?’
But then again, Alwin had memories of the past. She easily fell in love with Ferdinand before so Alwin was probably expecting it to happen the same as before.
"I mean, if war broke out, His Majesty would have to stay at the borders for long, right? I want to see him soon," Arabella acted like she already missed Ferdinand so much to satisfy Alwin.
"Uhm," she fiddled with her fingers. "Can you teleport me to His Majesty?" Arabella asked and as expected, Alwin frowned deeply.
"No. Absolutely not. His Majesty would be furious. He might just lop off my head this time," Alwin grimaced. "Even if war is no longer likely to break out, there are still a lot of Trelia troops at the borders. It would be dangerous if Your Majesty went there."
[Is she trying to get me killed this time?]
’Geez. How can he go to such conclusions already?’
"I see. I’m sorry. Then, can you deliver him my letter instead?"
Arabella already knew Alwin would refuse to teleport her to the borders. However, she still wanted to try asking since speaking with Ferdinand personally would make it easier to convince him because she would be able to read what he had in mind.
"Yes, a letter is much more appropriate. Your Majesty would have to wait until His Majesty returns for you to see him."
[What is she playing at? I perfectly recall she was asking for divorce before. She reasoned to milord that she only said it because she got irritated but she was serious at the time. I don’t know what changed her mind but she clearly isn’t into His Majesty.]
’Ugh. Of course, I was serious at the time. But I already changed my mind after learning about the truth. Can’t you cut me some slack?’ Arabella wanted to say.
"Thank you! Can we meet again tomorrow? I am yet to write my letter?" she acted all excited.
"Yes, of course."
And so, Alwin promised to visit her office tomorrow to fetch her letter for Ferdinand.
Right on time, Eunice came to her office.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report."
"Please excuse me for a bit, it must be important," Arabella said and allowed Eunice to enter when Alwin nodded.
"Two of your new assistants had questions I cannot answer, so I thought I should ask Your Majesty," Eunice said after greeting her and Alwin.
"What is it about?"
"Lady Nadia and Lady Odette asked if they could begin staying in the chambers provided for them before they begin working for Your Majesty."
[Why would they want to move in so early? They still had two weeks to do all the preparations. Did they assume they would pass and already prepared their things in advance?] Alwin was wary.
"Eunice, did they say any particular reason why?" Arabella asked while Alwin was listening.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Both Lady Nadia and Lady Odette said they live quite far from Riva so they wouldn’t be going home."
"They do not have a residence here in the capital?" Arabella tilted her head pretending not to know all the Head Households had a residence in Riva.
"Apparently, important guests were staying at their residence so they cannot stay there, Your Majesty," Eunice relayed and Alwin had a disapproving look.
[That’s a lie. Those two ladies were from the Head Households of Safiro and Prudencia. What was more important than the next generation of the household for them to be unable to stay in their own residence?]
"Why can’t they stay because of guests?"
"Pardon me, Your Majesty but they didn’t have a further explanation. However, I overheard while I was leaving that they agreed to stay at the same inn to share the costs if they were not allowed to stay," Eunice added.
"Share the costs?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. They agreed to stay in the same room so they won’t spend much on lodging. I believe they did not bring much money with them," Eunice explained, thinking Arabella wouldn’t understand why Nadia and Odette had to share the same room.
But she knew that much even if she had lived as a princess for eighteen years of her life and as an Empress for twenty-two years.
Arabella had also tried to mingle with commoners before. Aletha and her other maids in Lobelius used to accompany her once in a while when she had some free time.
"Oh, I see. Then, of course, they may. After all, the chambers were prepared for them to be able to move in anytime so they may begin using them."
She agreed despite the look on Alwin’s face.
[She’s still too gullible. What if they were up to no good? Sure they performed well in the tasks given today but who knows if they had other hidden agendas in applying as her assistants?]
Alwin looked like he wanted to shake his head in disapproval.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I shall relay it to them."
"If anyone else wants to move in right away, allow them. They may want to begin familiarizing themselves with the palace before they begin working."
Arabella made a reason for them despite Alwin’s wariness. She knew Ivan also wanted to move in as soon as possible.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Eunice bowed politely and excused herself.
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