Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress-Chapter 707: Prelude

"I have a lot to say about his prank yesterday," Arabella clarified.

"Ah, I see. You are indeed siblings. I was wondering where he got the audacity to treat His Majesty like that," Alwin made a face. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

[I could simply obey yesterday since I cannot strain the relationship of her siblings with His Majesty.]

"He just wanted to get stronger because of the possibility of war. I already nagged him a lot in my letter and told him not to do that to Ferdinand again."

Arabella was defensive since Benjamin was her brother. But she had to explain since Alwin did not like seeing Ferdinand getting slighted. She did not either but she also had to defend her brother.

"Sure, sure," Alwin rolled his eyes but got her letter. He sent it to Lobelius using his magical messenger bird.

"Thank you," Arabella smiled. Then she added in a whisper, "Uncle Pretty..."

"You!" Alwin gave her a glare and Arabella merely laughed.

"It’s just the kids showing their awe to you. It’s true that you are pretty anyway so what’s there to be angry about?" Arabella further teased.

"Heh. Really. What would you do then if they just called you Aunt Pretty?" Alwin threw back the name-calling.

"I’d say thank you," Arabella didn’t mind.

"Ugh, so vain," Alwin rolled his eyes.

"It’s not about vanity. I would simply thank them for thinking I was pretty. They are kids. Let them have their fun. But of course, I would tell them to address me properly if we were in the presence of other people," Arabella clarified. "I’m sure Clarisse had already corrected them. She did not know you were around so she did not say a word but she probably did after we left."

She knew correcting kids in front of other people would embarrass them so Clarisse held back earlier especially since the kids were there with a new friend.

"Fine. Whatever," Alwin was about to leave but Arabella stopped him.

"Wait! Did Ferdinand give you any updates?" Arabella inquired since it was already late into the night.

"Ah, right. Something came up so he said you should sleep first," Alwin informed.

"Eh? What happened?"

Arabella had promised to give her attention to Ferdinand tonight so if he was still running late despite that, it meant something bad must have happened.

"The problem in Sibruh seems to be bigger than we thought. Good thing you heard the Marquess’ thoughts. His Majesty is going around the neighboring territories with the other magicians since they had to use magic to clear the pests that originated from Sibruh and prevent them from spreading to more territories," Alwin explained.

"What?! They spread to the neighboring territories?" Arabella frowned.

"Yes. It had been weeks after the Marquess succeeded in driving away the pests from his territory. Thus, the pests from Sibruh moved and caused trouble for the neighboring territories who had just begun harvesting. Moreover, the pests carried diseases from Sibruh and it spread to the said territories which were new to such disease and did not know how to deal with it. A lot of their crops and harvest were ruined and it was not reported in the Court Sessions since it just happened recently," Alwin explained.

Arabella blinked repeatedly at what she heard. "That’s terrible. This was exactly why Count Sibruh should have honestly reported everything."

"Yes. His actions had caused the nearby territories to lose their harvest as well so the ruling households were furious. His Majesty plans to replace Marquess Sibruh. If his family was into this as well, their entire household might be held responsible," Alwin reported.

"My goodness! What kind of plant diseases were spread?" Arabella inquired.

She recalled Ivan who had greatly helped Cordelia with his agricultural research before he came to the capital to be a Civil Servant.

"I’m not sure either since I have not gone to see it. However, His Majesty was furious that Marquess Sibruh drove away the pests instead of exterminating them when he already knew that there was a part of Sibruh that terribly suffered from plant diseases," Alwin explained.

"Oh my. The pests indeed need to be exterminated to prevent further spread of the diseases. It may be winter for us soon but if the pests head south and ruin the harvest there, it would be terrible," Arabella frowned.

She recalled that in her past life, one of the things that caused problems was the spread of plant diseases that made a vast part of Valeria suffer before it was exterminated.

Arabella could recall Ivan volunteering to be her representative back then.

’Wait! What if this was the same disease?!’ Arabella was wide-eyed at the recollection.

{Alwin, can you put up a barrier that would prevent Rendell from hearing us?}

At her words Alwin was surprised and realized she must have something very important to say related to their past life which was why she was asking for another barrier. He nodded and cast a spell.

When it was ready, Arabella finally spoke.

"Alwin, do you recall? In our past life, a vast part of the smaller territories in Valeria suffered from plant diseases and pests for years. Only when it reached the bigger territories did we hear about it here in Riva."

Arabella remembered it since it was one of the reasons why some territories thought Ferdinand was slacking off in his job. However, they did not receive any reports on the onset of the problem. If they did, Arabella or Alwin would have heard about it but they did not.

"Yes, I do recall. There was indeed. But we cannot conclude it was the same disease. Plant diseases come and go. Other territories had plant disease experiences as well but managed to curb it immediately. Moreover, there’s a huge time gap from back then. I believe it will be several years from now," Alwin pointed out.

"Yes, but it’s better to be careful. And maybe, we should begin preparing for it now. What if we end up suffering the same losses from back then? It would be terrible," Arabella countered.