Duchess Mecklen’s Elegant Revolt - Chapter 15 Part 5

“Why would His Majesty want to see me?” Brianna responded indifferently, clearly puzzled. “I just reported what I needed to and left. Nothing special happened.”

From the start, Brianna had no desire to get closer to the Emperor. While the position of Empress was undeniably appealing, something about it made her feel uneasy.

Moreover, thinking back to her time in Hadum and the experience of being dragged in to write a statement for the Emperor only deepened her discomfort. It had been her first time facing such an interrogation, and she had been more than a little frightened…

Suddenly overcome with anger, Brianna stabbed her salad with a fork.

“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?” the Marquis of Liege asked, taken aback.

“I don’t know, it’s just so frustrating!” she snapped.

The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt. What had she done to deserve being glared at as if she were guilty of some terrible crime? Of course, the Emperor’s foul mood at the time wasn’t her fault, but she had been caught in the middle, forced to endure the tense atmosphere.

Now, with her anger reaching its peak, Brianna’s father, the Marquis of Liege, inadvertently added fuel to the fire.

“Brianna, I’ve prepared a gift recently. How about you present it to His Majesty when you visit him?”

“Why don’t you give it to him yourself?” Brianna retorted sharply, her mood now completely soured.

The Marquis, not understanding his daughter’s sharp reaction, gently tried to soothe her. “Well, it’s just an opportunity to see him. It would be wonderful if His Majesty held you in high regard. It would bring great honor to our family, and I would be so proud of you. By the way, do you still have the handkerchief His Majesty gave you?”

“No.”

“What?” The Marquis’s cheerful expression instantly froze.

Brianna, still pouting, responded defiantly, “I don’t even remember where I put it.”

“What… what did you say?”

“The maid probably took care of it.”

As soon as she returned home after the embarrassing incident in front of Ernst, Brianna had thrown the handkerchief on the floor in anger. It was likely picked up by a maid during cleaning, but Brianna had no interest in finding it again and reliving the unpleasant memory. The last thing she wanted was to use the handkerchief as an excuse to have a private audience with the Emperor.

“It’s just a handkerchief. Surely, His Majesty wouldn’t be petty enough to ask for it back?”

“You… you…!” The Marquis of Liege was utterly speechless, clutching the back of his neck in frustration. How could his daughter be so careless with something so important?

‘I can’t even bring myself to scold her…!’

She was far too indifferent. At this rate, the position of Empress would slip through her fingers and fall to someone else. The Marquis, his face flushed with anger, slammed his fist on the table.

“Find it immEdeately. If you don’t, you can say goodbye to all your clothes and jewelry.”

“Why would you threaten me over something so trivial? Fine, I’ll find the handkerchief.”

“Do you have any idea how significant that handkerchief is? You can’t afford to be so nonchalant right now. Vivia is coming soon.”

“…Vivia?”

“Yes, Vivia, the second daughter of the Marquis of Delph.”

The name wasn’t unfamiliar. When Brianna was young, she visited the Delph estate with her father and met the two sisters. The elder sister, Edea, had been too aloof for Brianna to approach, but Vivia, the younger sister, had been more amiable, and they had gotten along well. However, their families had grown distant over time.

The Marquis of Liege continued, “She’s returning from her studies abroad and will soon debut in society. When she arrives, the Marquis of Delph will stop at nothing to secure the position of Empress for her. Are you just going to sit back and let that happen? You have to do something.”

“We’ll see. There’s no guarantee Vivia will become Empress.”

“What? How can you say that?” The Marquis was so shocked he couldn’t help but shout. The Delph family had produced the most Empresses in history. And now, faced with such a formidable rival, Brianna’s carefree attitude was infuriating.

‘Is this really my daughter?’

If she continued down this path, she would struggle to find a suitable husband and might even end up marrying someone beneath her station. The Marquis, overwhelmed by the thought, pounded his chest in frustration.

***

“…Eli?”

Hail woke up from his nap and waved his hands in the air. Usually, Eleanor would catch them right away. But this time, there was no sign of her nearby.

“Did she leave…?” Hail muttered, his voice tinged with sadness. Eleanor had promised to stay with him. Maybe she was in another room?

Hail hesitantly got up, gripping the edge of the bed tightly with his small hands. The bed was high, but the young prince knew exactly how to climb down safely.

He slid down slowly, letting his legs dangle over the side, then used the sheets as a rope to lower himself until his feet touched the floor.

“I did it.”

Once again, he had succeeded without getting hurt. Although he couldn’t see, Hail knew exactly where the door was. Just as he reached it, he let out a sharp cry.

“Ow!”

Hail sat down on the floor, clutching his foot.

“It hurts… it hurts…”

It wasn’t a serious injury, but for his delicate skin, the pain was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

‘It happened again.’

This wasn’t the first time something unexpected had hurt him in what should have been an empty space. Whatever it was, it was small and hard. He couldn’t guess what it might be, but the pain always made him cry. His eyes filled with tears as he sat there.

“Sniff, sniff… waaaah!”

As Hail began to wail loudly, the nanny came running.

“What’s wrong, Your Highness?”

Seeing him crying on the floor, the nanny quickly tried to comfort him.

“It hurts, it hurts…”

“Where does it hurt?”

“Here, here,” Hail pointed vaguely toward his foot. Unable to see, he wasn’t sure where exactly it hurt.

The nanny, though, quickly figured out where he meant and inspected his foot. “There’s no wound. You’re fine, Your Highness.”

“Sniff, sniff, waaah!”

Despite the nanny’s reassurance, Hail continued to sob. The world around him was full of things that hurt him, and that fear made it hard for him to leave his room. He had hoped that since Eleanor arrived, he wouldn’t have to feel pain like this anymore. But now, the pain seemed even worse, and he cried even louder.

“Please, Your Highness, don’t cry,” the nanny said gently, wiping away his tears with a smile.

Just then, Eleanor returned from the library, her arms full of books. Hearing Hail’s cries, she rushed over.

“Your Highness!”

“Waaaah! Eli, it hurts, it hurts so much.”

Hail wailed, his voice full of misery. As he struggled to reach her, the nanny had no choice but to let him go. Eleanor quickly scooped him up and patted his back.

“Where does it hurt?”

“It hurts, it hurts…”

“His foot seems to be hurting,” the nanny explained, seeing Eleanor’s confusion.

When Eleanor checked Hail’s foot, she saw that the skin had turned red, as if something had pressed against it.

“Did he step on something?”

“There was nothing there when I came,” the nanny said, shaking her head with an awkward smile. “It’s clean, see?”

“……”

“He must have scratched himself while climbing down from the bed. It happens sometimes.”

Though the nanny’s explanation seemed plausible, Eleanor couldn’t help but feel something was off. There was nothing on the floor that could have caused such a mark.

Realizing that no one believed him, Hail cried even harder in Eleanor’s arms. The nanny smiled awkwardly as she watched the scene.

“His Highness has become so spoiled since you arrived, Lady Eleanor,” she said.

“……”

“He used to cry only over serious matters, but now he cries at the slightest thing.”

What was it? Eleanor felt a subtle sting in the nanny’s kind words, as if she were being subtly chastised for coddling the prince too much. But without a clear reason, it was hard to argue against it. Apologizing to the nanny, Eleanor laid Hail back down on the bed. But he clung to her, refusing to let go.

“Eli, don’t go.”

“Your Highness…”

Seeing the blind prince desperately holding on to her tugged at Eleanor’s heartstrings. What was it that kept making this child cry?

While the nanny watched, Eleanor gently held Hail close, knowing that comforting him was all she could do for now. As she wiped away his tears, she glanced at the nanny. The faint smile on the nanny’s face irritated her for reasons she couldn’t quite understand. A strange tension hung in the air between them.