Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress

"Then, as you said, we can lend some of our chefs, right?" Arabella redirected their topic to the chefs to hide her embarrassment.

"Yes, of course."

"Then, I’ll meet with them later, and ask who’s willing to stay there for a few days. They can return with Aletha once she returns here."

Arabella noted an addition to her schedule for today.

"Alright," Ferdinand smiled at her knowingly.

[Haha. She’s so adorable when she’s trying to hide her embarrassment.]

’Geez. How can he tease me like this in front of so many people.’

Arabella noted to tease Ferdinand later too when they are alone.

’Oh, right. I should inform Alwin to tell Blanca to head here after bringing her things to her room.’

Arabella rubbed her summoning ring and contacted Alwin.

{Alwin, can you please inform Blanca to head here in the storage area of gifts for me? My other maids are here to choose gifts for my siblings and Elder Satara.}

{Yes, of course. We will be heading there shortly.}

Alwin responded immediately.

"What did you speak with him about?" Ferdinand noticed Arabella rub her ring.

"Oh, I told him to inform Blanca to head here. He said they would be here shortly," Arabella reported since her husband was the jealous type even now.

He had gotten a lot better compared to before but he was still one.

They checked the gifts sent to her a bit more and in a few minutes, Alwin and Blanca arrived.

"Are you done bringing your things over?"

For the sake of her other maids, Arabella pretended to inquire at Blanca despite already knowing the answer.

"Yes, Your Majesty. His Eminence transported everything with magic so I can begin working immediately," Blanca replied and the Arabella’s other maids were visibly envious.

[It must be nice to have His Eminence as her lover.]

[His Eminence usually looks so cold. But just like His Majesty, he must be kind and sweet to his lover.]

[I think I really should get a lover soon. All this sweetness is killing me.]

Arabella could not comment on her maids’ thoughts so she simply said, "Alright then, you may begin working with them. They are here to choose gifts for my family in Lobelius."

"Yes, Your Majesty. I will do my best to help," Blanca was eager to do her first task.

With that Arabella and Ferdinand began heading to the throne room.

"Oh, right. I have already written a letter home. Can you send it for me?" Arabella turned to Alwin who was walking behind them.

"Yes, of course, Your Majesty."

"I placed it on my table, in my study," Arabella informed.

"I shall take my leave then," Alwin bowed and teleported to her study.

"You seem to be getting along with Alwin these days," Ferdinand commented and Arabella focused her gaze on him, alerted that he might have gotten jealous again.

Thankfully, he was not. He just noted that they were no longer giving each other glares like they used to.

"Ah yes, of course. After Alwin went missing, I realized I shouldn’t give him a hard time anymore. When I thought of the fact that something could have happened to him because he was working on a task he had to do because of me, I felt so bad. I wanted to have been more grateful for all his hard work. So now, that he is back, I don’t want to keep fighting with him anymore. So right now, I think we are in some kind of truce," Arabella explained.

"Haha. A truce, huh? It’s funny that you had to use such a term," Ferdinand chuckled.

’Because it’s like a truce indeed. Alwin could turn the other way around in case I make a mistake I did in the past. So, I still have to be careful.’

She wished she could explain to her husband but she was scared of the consequences of her dark history.

Ferdinand did not like other men touching even just a strand of her hair. If he knew she had once slept with other men, how would he react? Especially since Icarus was one of those said men. Thus, Arabella was still fearful and highly conflicted about whether she should tell him the truth about her past someday or just keep hiding it.

"Well, I cannot promise to always get along. In case he gets moody at me again, I might do the same. Haha," Arabella laughed it off as well to hide her worries. "But you don’t have to worry since I won’t fight with him often. Especially since he was the one who helped so that you will return."

Ferdinand flinched when she said those words.

[Right. There was that. Is she still angry at me about it?]

Ferdinand glanced at her and nervously searched her eyes.

"I’m not angry about that anymore. Just don’t do it again," Arabella reminded. She did not want to experience such a terrible feeling again.

Not knowing whether he was safe or not in such a distant place she had never seen before was utterly terrifying.

"Yes, I will not. I do not wish to leave you alone either. And do not fret about the imminent war with Crux. I will not head there myself. I will send some of the most capable Knight Commanders in my place," Ferdinand informed her.

"Really?!" Arabella was delighted by that news.

She knew her husband was strong but she still could not help herself from worrying. After all, in her past life, she had succeeded in weakening him with poison even if he was supposed to be unaffected by it.

Not that it truly killed him but it weakened him so much that assassins from enemy nations succeeded in killing him.

Arabella was still gathering information about that poison since the thought that someone might use it on Ferdinand again scared her. He said no poison works on him but she knew of one which did.

And yet, from the memories she recalled last time, Renee did not know where it was from either since Marcus just gave it to her.

Even if Ferdinand’s real body lies in Estrella, it still means Ferdinand would experience death here again.

Arabella did not want him to experience that again either. Simply the thought of seeing him in a coffin again was horrifying.

"Yes, I won’t go. The Knight Commanders are more than eager to show what they can do. A lot of the nobles would likely surrender as well once they realize that they had no chance of winning right from the start," Ferdinand replied confidently.

He had a lot of trust in the knighthood since he had been with them for a while since he was a child here. Thus, he had seen them work hard and had influenced their training routines.