CHAPTER 1046: HOLDING BACK OTHER DETAILS

Chapter 1046: Holding Back Other Details

Arabella quickly secured the drawing and letter once the former queen handed them to her.

After giving Alwin the introductory letter and the illustration for safekeeping, Arabella said her goodbyes to the Former Queen and finally left the cell.

Outside the prison, Alwin reverted her to her original look.

Arabella smiled and said, "How was it? Did I do well?"

[I didn’t expect it would work so well. Who knew the Former Queen was so vain that flattery was enough to make her bend? Had she become lonely in her days here, to the point that the thought of having a comrade made her mouth loose?] Alwin thought.

"Very much so," Alwin gave Arabella a thumbs-up.

"..." Rendell was speechless in amazement and nodded in approval at what Alwin said.

[It truly worked... And Her Majesty is back to herself...] Rendell thought.

"Remember not to tell Ferdinand about it," Arabella reminded, and the two nodded.

[It’s not like it is something I can tell, My Lord. His Majesty sees her as a sweet, kind, and self-sacrificing person. He would likely scold us for trying to sully her name for petty reasons. He won’t believe just how villainous she can be. Even in the past, he never blamed her. He always thought it was his fault and told us not to interfere.] Alwin thought.

Arabella knew this too, but she still did not want them to tell Ferdinand.

Since Ferdinand was not here yet, Arabella took the chance to visit the other prisoners in case she also got some clue from them.

However, just as the Pope said, the other prisoners indeed had no clue about the people the Queen and her magician had been transacting with. The necromancers only came on the day of the attack itself and quickly escaped when they realized Crux would fall.

Those whom Alvis and the others caught had killed themselves before any information was extracted from them.

A spell to immobilize them and make them unable to use magic was cast, but a spell had been cast on them in advance before they joined the war and was activated with or without their will. Thus, Arabella’s talk with them was not fruitful. At least, though, she got some information from the Former Queen.

"Did you enjoy yourself badmouthing Empire? You seemed to say all those words easily," Alwin intentionally commented to annoy her.

"I didn’t! I felt like I was going to barf!" Arabella barked.

{Why did you say that out loud! What if Rendell became suspicious of me?} Arabella added through the summoning ring.

{He won’t. He could hardly believe you could utter such words. He thought you were possessed.} Alwin said nonchalantly.

It was true that Rendell found it hard to believe Arabella could utter such words, even if it was to flatter the Former Queen and make her talk.

Arabella still worried, though, that Rendell might become suspicious of her. But then again, Rendell was not one who overcomplicated things. He did not talk recklessly either.

As they walked out of the dungeon’s entrance, Arabella once again reminded Rendell and Alwin, "Remember, don’t tell Ferdinand."

"Don’t tell me what exactly?" Ferdinand said with a frown on his face and his hands folded on his chest.

His meeting with the Grand Knight Commander Maximus and the knights and magicians stationed here was over.

He came to pick her up.

"Ferdinand!" Arabella beamed upon seeing him, eager to share the good news. She ran to his side.

"That’s dangerous!" Ferdinand scolded as he caught her when she almost slipped. He scolded, "Don’t run! The ground here is uneven!"

"Why? Are you not going to catch me next time?" Arabella asked playfully.

"Of course, I will!" Ferdinand’s reply was instant.

"See? There is nothing to worry about, right? I won’t run when you are not here," Arabella clarified.

"I guess that’s fine then," Ferdinand said in defeat. "So what was that about-"

He was about to ask what she told Alwin and Rendell not to tell him, but Arabella quickly diverted the topic.

"Ferdinand! We got a bit of a clue!" Arabella revealed in a singsong voice. Then, she leaned in and whispered to his ear, "Should I tell you now?"

With Arabella so close to him and eager to tell the good news, Ferdinand pushed what he heard to the back of his head and saved it for later. Ferdinand wrapped his arm around Arabella’s waist and said, "Yes, of course, tell me now."

Arabella gestured for Alwin to use a spell so no one could spy on their conversation or the clue they got.

Alwin nodded, and once the spell was set, Arabella informed Ferdinand about what they got and showed him the drawing of the ring and the letter of introduction.

"Well done!" Ferdinand praised. He was surprised that she got something useful, while everyone else who went to interrogate, including the Pope, did not get anything new. "How did you get her to talk? Everyone else who tried did not get anything useful."

"I just conversed with her; she talks a lot," Arabella half-lied, hoping he wouldn’t ask more.

Rendell and Alwin internally contradicted but did not dare say anything.

The Former Queen did talk a lot, but it was because Arabella kept pushing her to talk more due to all her flattery.

"Really? Then, what is this about her disciple in the letter?" Ferdinand inquired.

"Who knows? Don’t sweat the details. What’s important is we have some clue now," Arabella tried to move away from the topic.

"Right..." Ferdinand glanced at Rendell and Alwin with one look saying he would talk to them later.

Arabella noticed and quickly diverted the topic, "How was your talk with the Grand Commander?"

"It is just the usual report. And all the knights and soldiers on our side who got injured have fully recovered now,’’ Ferdinand told her a short summary, also skipping the details.

’See? We don’t have to mind the small details as long as things are proceeding smoothly and nothing major was held back,’ Arabella thought.

She did not push him for more details since there were also talks he did not want her to know and he had learned to avoid thinking about them so she would not see or hear from his thoughts.

Arabella did not push to learn about them since she was also keeping secrets from him.