Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 992: When to Loosen the Reigns

Chapter 992: Chapter 992: When to Loosen the Reigns

Arabella explained what she heard to Alwin and Ferdinand.

She understood how the two mothers felt, wanting to protect their children at all costs, regardless of what they become; however, punishing someone else for a crime is different.

After listening to their thoughts, Arabella learned that only Eugene’s mother tried to stop him.

The other family members did nothing since they were thinking of the benefits they could gain from it.

Lord Hamel was hoping Eugene would succeed so they would finally be free of the Former Marquess, who was too prideful and stopped listening to his vassals.

Lady Hamel was hoping Eugene would fail miserably and have himself caught and executed, so her son would be the only heir of House Hamel.

Eugene’s elder brother, just like his mother, believed that Eugene would fail miserably and hoped that he would so his mother would stop nagging at him to ensure he was always better than Eugene at every little thing.

Only Eugene’s mother truly tried to stop him out of concern not only for her son but also for the people he was involving in it.

Thus, this made it all the more reason that his mother did not deserve to be punished for this when she was the only one who did the right thing when it mattered.

Arabella informed Alwin and Ferdinand about what she learned from everyone’s thoughts so they could make informed decisions.

Ferdinand nodded at Alwin after they conversed telepathically, so Alwin continued to speak for them.

"I repeat. Lying to His and Her Majesty is a crime.

We already caught everyone who actively plotted and participated in the rebellion.

And we know Eugene Hamel is the one responsible for this.

We understand that you want to protect and save your son.

But getting punished for his crimes is not the way to raise a child.

He must take responsibility for his actions," Alwin said of their stance.

[So they already know everything?!! Then why summon us privately instead of announcing what happened to the public? Are they giving us a chance?!!]

[Does this mean we can negotiate the punishment?! We can, right?]

[It must be due to the circumstances...]

Lord Hamel and the others finally realized what they were up to.

This summons was made intentionally to give them a chance to explain and negotiate.

Alwin’s words were indeed to make it clear that they already know everything. They simply wanted honesty from these families and gave them a chance.

Because Sibruh is already chaotic as it is, and the Imperial Crown is already directly meddling with local affairs, they cannot execute nobles right now.

The people in the territory were already exhausted with all the issues they had been dealing with, and they had just begun to relax a bit lately.

Executing all the family members of the second most powerful family in Sibruh, or even just one among them, will make the people think that they were indeed siding with the Sibruh family.

Meanwhile, the nobles would think that they were trying to fully control Sibruh, and the new Marquess was just a figurehead.

These past few months, there had been several changes in the ruling heads already, and the nobles and the people were beginning to become worried.

Alwin and the others heard that there were already rumors circulating that Ferdinand was planting his people to control the whole Empire directly and gradually eliminate the ruling houses.

If rumors like this spread widely, nobles from various parts of Valeria may begin to think that they are indeed only doing this to get power directly into their grasp in all territories.

This will make the nobles, especially the ruling households, believe that the Imperial Crown might be after their seats.

That Valeria may be planning to unify the whole empire with just one ruler and manage it using imperial officials.

This meant the nobles would lose their standing in society.

Of course, nobles would not stand for this. It would be too much of a shock to the current system as well, since the people are also dependent on noble households for employment.

Ruling Households from various territories might work together and try to be free and independent of Valeria.

This would lead to bigger problems and possible chaos in the Empire.

Thus, as much as possible, they would resolve this without creating new issues and in a less risky way.

And talking to the nobles like this is their viable option right now.

This way, they could resolve this more peacefully without ignoring the victims or the crime itself.

Thus, they indeed summoned the families of the involved nobles here to make a settlement with them..

The nobles understood it and offered all sorts of offerings or tribute in exchange for their sons’ being spared from execution.

Eugene’s mother was also a noble and understood this.

She immediately said, "My deepest apologies for daring to lie. I am desperate to save my son. My inheritance from my family is a fertile piece of land. I know it is not enough, but it’s all I have. I offer all of it to help the displaced villagers due to my son’s schemes or wherever it may be useful."

Eugene’s mother then glanced at Lord Hamel, wordlessly begging for help once again, for him to also do his duty as Eugene’s father, even if it’s the last time.

[Eugene’s crimes are heavy. There needs to be something of more value...] Lord Hamel thought.

He was conflicted for several more seconds but finally came to a decision.

"I... I heard there will be mining projects. I offer one of our mines to help the people in these difficult times," Lord Hamel said.

[What?! Why one of the mines?!! Those are for my son to inherit!]

Lady Hamel’s eyes widened, and she looked like she was about to throw a fit, but Lord Hamel held her hand and gave her a warning look to stay silent.

[These should be useful to the people and also help in the projects in Arabella’s name.] Ferdinand thought and nodded at Alwin.

"Which mine specifically?" Alwin inquired.

[Is this a test? Eugene’s life is important, but if we surrender our best-earning mine, we might all die of hunger a few years later. Most of our earnings come from it now, with farming likely prohibited in the next planting season. But if I don’t give the best, we might be executed instead... What should I do?]

Lord Hamel thought carefully before he said, "Please choose which one would be more useful for your cause."

He decided to leave it up to them and crossed his fingers that they would not get the top-earning mine.

Alwin glanced at Arabella and Ferdinand, and they both nodded. This was better since they could pick what would be appropriate for the project they had.

They would accept the tributes and use them for the people of Sibruh, especially the one’s affected by the rebellion and Eugene Hamel’s plots.

There are times when rulers must set aside the law for the sake of the future or the greater good, and this was among those times.

But in fact, this was still part of the laws. They were tasked to always choose what’s best for the people, and this was one of them.

Instead of executing Eugene and the involved nobles, why not make use of them so the people would benefit from them?

This was their solution.

However, someone was not happy about it.

[Why did he leave it up to their choice?! Of course, I would choose the best! That was supposed to be for my son! Why are we giving it up due to that stupid son of a fool?!!]

{May I speak?} Arabella asked Ferdinand.

{Of course. You may do as you please. Why won’t you tell them we will show mercy this one time?}

Ferdinand agreed immediately since he knew she would not do anything unreasonable. He asked her to inform them of their decision not to require execution, since he preferred her image to be the one showing mercy while he was the mean one.

"Lady Hamel, what do you think causes the fall of a Household?" Arabella inquired, and the room fell silent and tense.

[Does Her Majesty want all of us to be punished?!]

[Isn’t Her Majesty supposed to be kind?!]

They thought Arabella was hinting that they would not accept any of their offerings and wanted them all punished according to the law, which was execution.

"I..." Lady Hamel nervously glanced at her husband, who was equally pale as she was.

[Was our tribute still not enough?! But if we give up more, it will be difficult for our Household to recover even after the lockdown. We have a lot of employees too. They will lose their job if we give up a lot of our resources. Mining is our most profitable investment so far.]

Lord Hamel was also in a panic, as the other nobles were.

"You may speak honestly about what came to mind upon my question," Arabella said to Lady Hamel.

"Uhm, lack of support and education to the heir and allowing an incapable heir to lead the household," Lady Hamel said.

It was her stance about her son and Eugene.