Comfort

"Milady!!" Aletha squealed once it was just the two of them. Her face had a genuine smile on it and her eyes were watery with emotion from the happiness of seeing Arabella again coupled with worry about how she had been.

[Milady looks as beautiful as ever! Hmm, but did she lose some weight?]

Arabella couldn't suppress the smile on her face as Aletha walked to her as quickly as she could and embraced her.

For her, it had been twenty-two years since she last saw Aletha. Thus, Arabella hugged her maid tightly.

It felt so weird to have a warm feeling in her chest after being so cold for so long. But she didn't hate this feeling. It was something she didn't know she sorely missed.

Holding someone dear to you. Arabella almost forgot it was this pleasant.

"I missed you so much," Arabella spoke honestly about her feelings for the first time in so long. She couldn't help the tears from escaping her eyes.

"I missed you so much too, Milady" Aletha rubbed her back gently.

'So much has happened to me after I departed from Lobelius. So, so much," Arabella wanted to say it all.

How her twenty-two years went by.

How she suffered for so long.

But she couldn't possibly tell Aletha, she had already died before and this was her second life.

She couldn't possibly tell Aletha, who taught her kindness and forgiveness, that she had caused the death of so many people in her previous life and watched her very own husband die in her arms.

Aletha would cry so much or mourn for her. Or she might be disappointed Arabella had gone against all their teachings.

Before she realized it, Arabella was sobbing and trembling in Aletha's arms.

"Everything will be alright. Everything will be alright, Milady," Aletha said and gently caressed her hair.

Arabella sobbed even more. Those were just the words she had been longing to hear for so long.

For someone to comfort her in their arms like this as she sobbed her heart out and cried like a little girl.

For her not to need to act like an Empress, or a proper noble lady, or a villainess.

For her to just be herself and still be accepted.

Only in Aletha could she find this comfort. And it had been so long since they were last together. It made all sorts of emotions Arabella had not felt for a while, to rage on inside her like a boiling kettle covered with a tight lid finally opened. She couldn't hold back and her tears fell as they pleased.

[What did they do for Milady to be sobbing like this?]

[Did they mistreat her?! Did she get bullied?! Was the Emperor truly cruel and inconsiderate?!]

[Is she homesick? Or does she still miss Prince Andrew?]

[My poor lady. She loved Prince Andrew so much and yet they parted so painfully. Now, she had to be with a scary man. It must have been difficult for her to be in this foreign land all alone while her heart is still hurting.]

[Holding her like this, I could tell Milady have truly grown slimmer since the last time I saw her in Lobelius. She must not have been eating well because of sadness. Or perhaps, the maids and chefs did not even bother to ask her preference? Had they been serving her food she disliked?]

[I was right to be worried. I should have insisted on tagging along when she was sent here. I'm glad I was finally allowed to serve Milady again. I had been restless all this time when I think about how she was faring here.]

Arabella was touched as Aletha's thoughts flooded her mind. She was overwhelmed to have someone who thought about her so much.

Aletha was indeed her safe haven. She was grateful to Ferdinand for the first time in so long for allowing Aletha to be here.

[Why is my wife sobbing?! Did something happen in Lobelius? Did she receive some bad news? I have to get this investigated.]

Arabella tensed when she heard Ferdinand's thoughts in her mind all of a sudden.

'What is he doing here? Is he planning to see me right now?'

"I'm sorry I was so emotional. I just missed home so much," Arabella said, quickly dried her tears, and fixed her clothing to be presentable.

[Oh, she's homesick again? Should I have allowed her to go home? But we just got married. I can't possibly do that.]

'Please just leave. You are distracting my reunion with Aletha,' Arabella thought.

"It's alright, Milady. You can cry as long as you please," Aletha had a motherly smile on her face.

"I'm fine now. Thank you for coming here even though you'd be far from your family."

Now that she thought about it, she just selfishly had Aletha be summoned here without asking her opinion. Aletha also had her family in Lobelius.

[She's so considerate to her maid. So they were this close? She must truly trust this maid to be able to show her emotions to her. She stopped crying last time right after I entered our room.]

'Because you were a pest. Just get the hell away from here, please?' Arabella thought and tried to focus on Aletha.

"You don't have to thank me, Milady. I have been so worried about you all the time. My family understands and they are glad I was allowed to continue to be by your side and ensure you are alright. Everyone is worried about you so I brought their letters with me."

Aletha retrieved something from the bag she was holding and handed it to her.

Arabella was surprised there were several letters for her. Most of them were from her maids. The last three were from her mother, father, and brother.

In her previous life, her parents had left right after her wedding to Ferdinand because they received a letter saying her older brother Benjamin, the Crown Prince of Lobelius got into an accident, got injured, and had not woken up yet.

They were so alarmed since Benjamin was the heir. They cared so much more about him than her who was given away to a scary empire with not even one ally with her.

It happened this time too. It was why she didn't see her parents when she was reborn even though it was right after the wedding.

In the end, her brother just hit his head so he lost consciousness but was not injured severely. She was supposed to receive news about it through a letter a month after her wedding to Ferdinand.

But since Aletha was sent here, Arabella surmised the former brought the letter with her too.

"Thank you. I'll slowly read these letters later since there are a lot of them," she put the letter on her table.

"Right. I also brought a lot of ingredients and fruits from Lobelius so I can make your favorite dishes. Your maids here are preparing some of the fruits in the kitchen. I'll prepare your favorite dish too once I am allowed access to the kitchen."

[I waited for the luggage to be checked and sent to my room since I wanted to prepare some before greeting Milady but I wasn't allowed in the kitchen since I'm still new. I just gave them some of the fruits instead so they could prepare them for Milady. I don't want to give them the stock I got for Milady when I'm not even sure yet if they could be trusted. They might not serve it to Milady and have it for themselves instead. I chose all those fruits and ingredients myself just to ensure all of them were fresh and of the best quality so Milady can eat well.]

Arabella was once again touched by such thoughtfulness from Aletha.

In her previous life, she had to live with eating food she didn't even like. She lost weight in the first few months she was in Valeria especially when she got pregnant.

But Ferdinand hunted a lot of animals and sent them to the kitchen saying the chefs should fatten her up or he would kill them if he visits her the next month and she was still so skinny despite her pregnancy.

Arabella had no choice but to eat as much as she can since the chefs were pleading with her. She also mistook it for Ferdinand being concerned about her so she felt happy and did her best to eat more until she gained a healthy weight.

After some time, she got used to eating Valerian cuisine even though some of the dishes still did not suit her palette.

Arabella's diet in Lobelius comprised mainly of a lot of fruits and vegetables. She only eats small portions of meat and just a bit of fish.

But Valerian diet which was filled with knights was so different.

They mostly eat meat and fish and greasy and salty foods which didn't suit her palette. She doesn't like greasy and most especially too fishy foods. She usually only eats fish to maintain a healthy diet.

But after twenty-two years of being the Empress of Valeria, she was too used to it now. It even made her wonder if she would still like Lobelian food the way she used to.

[What's taking them so long? I already visited the magic tower and came back. Why is the maid still here? It's been a while since the maid got in. She was supposed to just greet Arabella. Do they have so much to talk about? How long do I have to wait here?]

Arabella flinched when she heard Ferdinand's thoughts again and his obvious impatience.