CHAPTER 338: FOCUS ON WORK

Since Alwin was gone and she could no longer ask questions in the interim, Arabella processed everything she learned so far.

First and foremost, Renee was once Queen Evelyn of Zygos and had been married to King Chester who was an abusive and cheating husband. Chester strangled Evelyn to death thinking he cheated on her and covered it up as a fire accident. But all of it may have been planned from the start and Chester and Fatima could have been the masterminds.

Chester had also kept comparing Evelyn to other prettier women which could have triggered Renee’s unhealthy obsession with beauty. Chester had also kept blaming Evelyn for being unable to marry his true love which could have been Arabella’s mother.

Arabella realized this could be among the reasons why Renee decided to fool her in the past life and occupy her body.

However, Evelyn was not truly Evelyn and Renee was not the original Renee either. Their bodies were simply occupied by Evania’s soul after they passed away.

Further, Evania was not human. She was among the long-lived races who lived in another continent that was like Estrella. She escaped for some reason, lost her memories, and occupied Evelyn’s body by chance.

Evania thought she was truly Evelyn and had mistaken herself to have reincarnated twice already. First, as a sickly girl and now as Renee. But both were not true since Evania only occupied their bodies.

Now, what Arabella needed to watch out for was how Renee/Evania would meet Marcus. With her memories as Evania still not with her, Renee would likely rely on a magician to pursue her revenge on her former husband.

Or Renee would recklessly attempt to assassinate Chester and Fatima. Thus, she had to be watched carefully or else Arabella and possibly all of Valeria could be blamed for it.

And Alwin went to ensure that Renee was secretly followed by someone who could act immediately once necessary.

So far, that was all the information Arabella learned today. She felt so dizzy earlier but now, it was all making sense as the dots connected. But she still lacked so much information.

’If only I could completely make Alwin my ally, we would be able to share information more openly.’

They were the only ones who had memories of their past life, and both had the same goal. To prevent the tragic future Arabella and Ferdinand once had due to all their misunderstandings and possibly meddling from other people.

If she could assure Alwin she could be trusted, would he tell her more about what he knew? Would he be willing to work with her?

Things would go so much faster if she could feed Alwin with the information she was able to learn through her ability. She wouldn’t have to go the roundabout way to tell him or Ferdinand.

But if she told Alwin about everything, what if he became so hostile to her? He wouldn’t have to hold back with his rudeness if he knew she wasn’t innocent of her former crimes and mistakes.

She could take the rudeness. She could take that much and live with it. At least she knew Alwin wouldn’t kill her or harm her no matter how furious he was with her.

But what if Alwin told Ferdinand she could read minds and had lived a previous life trying to kill him until she succeeded or rather, he allowed her to poison him and he was eventually killed in his human body to protect her?

Would Ferdinand still love her if he knew about all this? Ferdinand did in the previous life. He accepted her no matter what she became. But would he still make the same decision in this life?

If Ferdinand knew she had made him go to such lengths in the past, would he still cherish her as he does now? Or would he love her less? Or would he want to part with her completely?

Arabella’s chest hurt. Now that she knew she already had feelings for Ferdinand again, merely the thought of parting with him makes it difficult to breathe. She wouldn’t be able to part with him easily even if he doesn’t want her anymore. As much as possible, she doesn’t want to part with him now.

But if he truly doesn’t want her anymore, she shouldn’t force it, right?

She felt a lump in her throat.

’H-he had marked me already. Can that be reversed?’

Maybe it could. Maybe it couldn’t.

But what if Ferdinand hates her? He loves her so much now; she knew that much. But if those feelings turn into something else, she knew from experience how dark it could become.

What should she do if Ferdinand decides he couldn’t trust her and wouldn’t be with her anymore even if he still loved her?

’I - I guess I shouldn’t tell anyone yet. Just a bit more. I need a bit more time.’

Arabella hugged herself. Just thinking about the possibilities was scary. They might simply accept her no matter what, but they may not either. She’s not ready to face that yet.

Going to Medeus had helped her clear a lot of misunderstandings and she finally had a steadier relationship with Ferdinand. She was not ready to shake it yet when it had only just begun to be stable.

"Your Majesty, are you feeling cold?" Riley inquired when he noticed her brace herself.

"Ah, no. I’m fine. I was just thinking about something," Arabella managed to smile. She almost forgot Riley was there.

’What am I thinking about?! I should stop all these negative thoughts. There’s a ton of work to do. I’ll focus on work for now.’

Arabella slapped both her cheeks and Riley jumped.

"Y-Your Majesty?!"

"Oh, sorry. Please don’t mind me. I sometimes do that. Haha," Arabella laughed awkwardly. The slap was gentle, but her cheeks still reddened which was why Riley was alarmed.

"Please allow me to heal it, Your Majesty," Riley offered. He was afraid Alwin would scold him once he sees Arabella had reddened cheeks from slaps after he left for only a few minutes.

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A/N:

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