Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 981: The Naia River

Chapter 981: Chapter 981: The Naia River

She ended up eating a lot with Ferdinand, dining with her.

It always seems to be the case when she’s with Ferdinand.

Arabella has more appetite, and he also ensures she eats to her fill without getting distracted by work matters.

After their meal, they said their goodbyes, and Ferdinand returned to Degril, another territory heavily affected by the pest infestation and plant disease because it shared borders with Sibruh.

Ferdinand needed to listen to reports from knights and magicians who were on duty last night and make necessary adjustments for patrol and scheduling of shifts for today and the following days.

Meanwhile, Arabella did her usual morning routine and attended the Court Session.

After learning about the pest infestation and plant disease, the people in territories near the lockdown areas remained in a state of panic, despite assurances they had been given.

The household heads tried importing food and supplies from the nearby territories, but merchants had increased the prices so much.

Likewise, ruling households and merchants nearby were hesitating to sell their produce to another territory in fear that if the pest infestation or plant disease also reached them, they would be the ones left with a shortage of supply for their people.

Even in areas at least several five territories away from the lockdown areas, more people had been buying in bulk for all sorts of supplies in fear of the possibilities.

Thus, Arabella and Raymond also approved of sending necessary provisions there to help with the food shortage that was impacted by those who hoarded resources.

They were not afflicted by the pest infestation and plant disease, but they still panicked anyway, simply due to the possibility it might reach them someday.

It was unlikely, though, due to the Naia River, a vast river that flowed beside Edra, that cut off the locked-down territories from the others.

It was thanks to the Naia River and its tributaries that the pest infestation and plant disease did not spread further.

Naia River and its tributaries prevented rats and grasshoppers, which were the main carriers of the disease, from crossing further after they had pillaged harvests and crops, and spread the plant disease from one territory to another, starting from Sibruh.

Since they still had food in the area, the pests did not migrate past Edra.

All the wagons and carriages that brought goods through the bridges were also traced to ensure that none of them had goods from the afflicted areas or had any of the pests who were carriers of the disease.

Thus, no territory beyond the river was affected.

But the people’s fears were what was making things worse.

This was exactly why, if at all possible, they would have preferred not announcing the pest infestation or plant disease at all.

However, too many areas were affected and locked down. Thus, it cannot be hidden anymore.

The ruling households would begin to doubt them if they did not reveal the truth.

Thus, even if they knew it might lead to this, they still had to reveal it to the people.

They could only do their best to prevent things from escalating or mitigate the results, such as this.

Thankfully, they had the resources to keep the supply stable in several territories at the same time.

Arabella learned from Alwin, Ferdinand, and Raymond that Imperial Storehouses in Riva were all protected by magic to keep the storage time longer and keep the resources safe.

Thus, some resources in the storage houses were from several years ago when harvests were bountiful. Yet, all of it was still good and edible.

The storehouses protected by magic were immensely useful in times like this.

They cannot simply make crops grow and bear fruit using magic like Alwin’s, since not all people can tolerate eating something rich with mana.

It was effective in Safiro for the trees since the people there were Esmeralda’s descendants and had been eating fruit trees blessed by her mana.

But for normal people, it may have varying effects. For some, it may make them healthier, but for others, it might be harmful since they were not used to high amounts of mana.

Arabella and her family were perfectly fine with it since her family had been eating fresh produce supplied by Elder Satara’s territory and had been blessed with higher amounts of mana than the rest of the fruits and other produce in Lobelius.

"Your Majesty, the announcement in Crux will be in a week. Would you like to attend in person?" Raymond inquired.

’Ah, right! There’s still that!’

Arabella almost forgot about it because she had been busy with Sibruh.

Raymond was talking about the announcement of Crux as a kingdom under Valeria. They will become a dukedom of Valeria after the transition period.

Since Crux has an entirely different culture from Valeria, it may take longer for them to transition, so they were given a longer time.

For the next few years, it will remain a kingdom, but under Valeria, before it becomes a duchy.

To stop any opposition, they would announce that Valeria had chosen Prince Sebastian as the new king. Meanwhile, Princess Seraphina would be one of his advisers.

This was part of the agreement they made last time.

"I’d love to attend in person," Arabella replied.

She wanted to see exactly what Crux was like, to see the people that would now also be part of their responsibility.

"Then, I’ll make the necessary arrangements," Raymond said like a perfect butler.

Being Ferdinand’s butler for several thousand years had made him used to acting in such a manner.

"Since Your Majesty is going, I’m sure His Majesty will, too," Raymond noted.

"Yes, I’m sure he would," Arabella chuckled lightly.

Ferdinand won’t let her go to a freshly conquered territory without him. Especially with the anti-magic weapons and the necromancers that appeared.

"Then, I’ll make plans with this in mind," Raymond chuckled as well.

He was already used to Ferdinand’s behavior, or rather, he knew about it too well since he was Ferdinand’s go-to person when he needed love or marriage advice.

"Yes, thank you."

Arabella then parted with Raymond and planned for the event with her maids, so they could prepare accordingly.

Her maids were worried since they had heard about what happened in Crux. However, they promised to do their best to dress her up as regally as they could to show off to opposing Crux nobles, scare them, and shut them up.

After a tea break discussing the get-up with her maids, Arabella headed to Sibruh again with her assistants.

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