Arabella’s family sighed in relief once they learned that the real culprits were indeed Jacob and Adolfo and they were going to be punished soon.
The trial was rely a formality after all. The two were set to be executed since there was more than enough proof against them.
Queen Ofelia was also relieved that although not announced in public, Lucille would also get so form of punishnt after trying to set up Arabella.
Arabella learned from her mother’s thoughts that she experienced many things from Queen Lucia when they were younger. It was one of the reasons Ofelia wanted Arabella to be with a man who would be able to protect her and their children.
Further, since only Valeria was able to learn about the real culprits; her family and Icarus realized that their investigation teams were still quite lacking.
Icarus was especially bothered by it since it emphasized the gap between Reverio and Valeria.
It was because Valeria had Estrellians on their side though. Even Alwin needed to have so of his limiters lifted so he could find the culprits. And Alwin was already very much formidable and useful in investigations and information gathering even with his limiters.
Likewise, this ti, it was a special case because Jacob was with the help of soone more powerful than he was.
. . .
Once they were done speaking about the heavy things and the mood got a bit lighter, Arabella followed her older brother when he excused himself as their parents had more conversations with Ferdinand.
"Ella," Benjamin hugged her. But she was not here for them to have a touching reunion or sothing.
"Brother, why did you bring King Icarus here with you? I’m sure you have heard about the rumors about him and my husband," Arabella pointed out.
"Sorry. I have sothing important to talk about with him after this so I agreed when he said he could co with instead of waiting," Benjamin continued to lie.
[I can’t tell her it was because Icarus had long been in love with her. That’s for him to tell her himself. But if she knew about the rumors, she must have a clue about it then. Or did her husband tell her about it?]
"Are you really friends with him?" Arabella never heard about it in her past life. Benjamin did not talk much about his friendships and the like.
"Yes. I’ve known him for years. He’s a kind and good person. I et him in Hazania quite often when we were younger," Benjamin bead.
[He was the person I wanted you to marry. But Emperor Ferdinand suddenly proposed to you. I was so against their marriage since Icarus was just about to propose then. But Mother and Father still chose the Emperor even after I told them Icarus also wanted to marry Ella. I even began doubting our parents’ intentions back then. But it seems there is indeed quite a gap in power and capabilities. Her husband’s people were able to find the culprit of the assassination attempt on her when we, nor Icarus were not able to.]
’What?! Benjamin and even our parents already knew about Icarus back then?’ Arabella began to have a headache. How co she only learned about Icarus’ feelings after she died? Yet her whole family knew. Sothing must have been truly wrong with her to not have noticed anything.
"How co you never told about him once? And I’ve never seen him in Hazania before," she tried asking Benjamin for more details.
"You were busy with the young ladies all the ti. And if you were ever alone, you sneak to the gardens to enjoy the flowers," Benjamin pointed out.
[He watched over you for quite a while. We secretly guarded you when you went to the gardens of Hazania Palace. If I had known he already liked you back then, I would have introduced you two. He hid his feelings well from too. It took a while before I noticed and made him admit it.]
’So this was what Icarus’ thoughts last ti ant?’
"You knew?" Arabella tried to learn so more information from her brother. She did not even know Benjamin guarded her during those tis.
"Of course. How can I not? You are always in danger so I had to keep telling the guards to follow you closely every ti you sneak like that," Benjamin seed to have had quite a headache from her little explorations.
"Right. Of course, my guards told you I was sneaking out."
Benjamin seems to have looked out for her. It made Arabella smile and Benjamin sighed when he noticed. He thought of patting her head but didn’t since she was already married now and was the Empress of Valeria.
"They did not tell . I saw you sneaking once and followed you. Do you know just how dangerous that was? This and that could have happened...." Benjamin began ranting about the past and citing all kinds of dangers.
"I was with my guards though," Arabella reasoned.
"But what if you were attacked by monsters again? You seem to have a reliable guard in Valeria but that doesn’t an you can go sneaking out sowhere with no other people again. Always bring other people with you when you go to the flower gardens or go out for a walk. A group of five or more would be best," Benjamin advised.
"Rendell always follows . There are other guards too but they don’t show themselves. Ah, and one or two of my maids co with us too. But what do you an by getting attacked by monsters again? I was only attacked by monsters once and that was when I was sixteen," Arabella replied nonchalantly and Benjamin was wide-eyed.
[Right. She doesn’t rember any of it. She always mysteriously forgets every ti. That one ti on the roads near Mt. Callion was the only one she could recall since it was the only ti she was attacked when she wasn’t alone. It’s probably ti we tell her a bit about it. But I have to speak with Father and Mother first. I’ll just warn her a bit.]
’Huh? What does he an?’
"Ella, avoid being alone. You don’t rember probably because you were too young back then. When you were young, you repeatedly got attacked by monsters when you were alone or just had two or three people with you."
[Ever since the ti she almost drowned at the pond, she kept getting attacked by monsters when she was alone or had only one or two guards. When it got worst even ten knights secretly following her was not enough. It continued for a while until she turned eighteen. It only stopped when she was married to the Emperor. Or because we don’t hear about it. But Aletha did say Ella was never attacked there. Perhaps what the elder said was working.]
’What?! Why don’t I recall any of it?’ Arabella did not have even a shred of recollection about it. Not even just a bit of hazy ones from such tis. She did not even know it happened until when Benjamin thought about it.
’Is this what Mother ant about the dangers that follow ? Is this one of the reasons they agreed to the marriage with Ferdinand? And who’s the elder Brother thought about?’
Then, she recalled the man (or rather, the god) who lured her into the pond when she was young.
’Was he involved again?’
Arabella only recalled her mory of the drowning incident after she saw the image of that entity in Alwin’s thoughts.
’Did he keep trying to kill and wiped my mories about it all the ti?’
[She turned pale. Right. She just narrowly escaped death. I shouldn’t scare her more. What if she stops doing what she wanted to do due to all these dangers? This was exactly why we cannot tell her about it. She will only grow fearful if we tell her about everything. Maybe, we should wait until she gets a bit older. We can’t have her live in fear because of this. If the attacks have stopped now, then it’s for the best.]
"Sorry, I didn’t an to scare you. Shall we head back inside? Your husband must be worried," Benjamin offered his hand to escort her.
Arabella wanted to ask for more information but Alwin showed up and said Ferdinand asked him to escort her back inside since it was getting cold.
She had no choice but to save it for later since her family had to leave since they had another appointnt.
Icarus bade his goodbyes formally as well.
Once they saw their carriages off and the gate was shut, Ferdinand sighed and wrapped his arms around Arabella.
"What’s wrong?" Arabella wondered if her parents told him sothing heavy. "Were my parents an to you when I wasn’t around? Did they scold you?" Arabella cupped her husband’s face and searched his eyes.
"N-no. But, I... How can I be a good son-in-law?" Ferdinand asked out of the blue. He didn’t want to lose out to Icarus on anything so he was being competitive yet again.
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