Duchess Mecklen’s Elegant Revolt - Chapter 18 Part 2

“Is something good happening today, nanny? You seem to be in an exceptionally good mood,” Sven remarked as he passed by the nanny, who was humming a cheerful tune.

The weather had grown unpredictably cold, making it difficult to do laundry outdoors. Despite the chill, which would normally make working outside unpleasant, the nanny seemed to be in an excellent mood since the early morning.

The nanny smiled softly in response to Sven’s question. “It does seem that way, doesn’t it?”

“Did something good happen?”

“Well, if you consider it good, then perhaps,” the nanny replied enigmatically, continuing to hang the remaining laundry.

“Let’s call it a day. You’ve all worked hard,” she announced.

“Thank you for your hard work,” the maids chimed in, offering their own farewells before dispersing.

The maids, who were dispatched from the main palace at the same time every day, returned once their tasks were complete.

After seeing them off, the nanny gathered her basket and headed inside.

“…It’s so peaceful without them around,” she murmured to herself, her face breaking into a satisfied smile.

‘No one is coming today.’

She glanced at Hail’s room from the hallway. Since the Emperor kept the young prince hidden away, the number of visitors to Winston Palace was always limited. Today wasn’t a day when the Empress Dowager or the Emperor were scheduled to visit, and to top it off, the most bothersome person of all—Eleanor—had left the palace early that morning. It was now her world, completely under her control.

Just then, she heard a sound behind her.

“What are you doing here?”

“……!”

Startled, the nanny’s shoulders jerked up in surprise.

“Sir Gallip?”

“Are you looking for something?”

It was Sir Gallip, one of the knights. The nanny quickly composed herself, placing a hand over her chest to calm her racing heart.

“No, nothing of the sort. I was just checking to see if everything was clean,” she replied, trying to appear nonchalant.

“You’re very diligent. You’ve been working all day.”

“Well, it’s my job,” the nanny replied humbly, though inwardly, she felt a flicker of unease.

‘Why is a knight inside the palace?’

Typically, the knights didn’t patrol inside the palace. Their primary duty was to guard the area around the palace. Even though knights were known to keep their mouths shut, if they frequently encountered the blind prince, rumors would inevitably spread, which was why the Emperor had intentionally kept them away.

Yet here was Gallip, casually strolling through the palace halls as if he belonged there.

‘Could it be…?’

“Is there something you need help with?”

“Oh, I’m looking for the prince’s room.”

“…The prince’s room?”

The nanny’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Gallip smiled confidently. “His Majesty has ordered that the prince be brought to the main palace. Could you tell me where his room is?”

“What…?”

The smile on the nanny’s face faltered, and she trembled slightly.

‘That’s impossible.’

The Emperor had never summoned the prince to the main palace before. He had always come to visit the prince at Winston Palace. The nanny’s complexion paled as she processed this new information.

“Now is not a good time.”

“Pardon?”

“The prince has already fallen asleep.”

“Already?”

Gallip glanced at the windows lining the corridor. It was too late in the day for a nap and too early for the night.

“But he hasn’t even had his meal yet, has he?”

“Well… He seemed unusually tired today,” the nanny stammered, her face betraying her discomfort as she struggled to find an excuse.

Seeing that she wasn’t going to back down easily, Gallip scratched his head with a sigh. “His Majesty’s orders are absolute. I have to take the prince with me.”

“What… What did you say?”

Before the nanny could protest further, Gallip walked past her, striding confidently toward the prince’s room as if he knew exactly where he was going.

Panicked, the nanny hurried ahead of him, rushing to the door. “Wait…!”

‘He mustn’t see this.’

The tacks were still there. She had to push them back under the bed before he saw them. In her panic, the nanny threw open the door.

“Your—!”

‘What… What is this?’

The room was spotless.

It was as if nothing had ever been placed on the floor. The nanny froze in shock as she scanned the area around the bed.

Hail, who was sitting quietly on the bed, looked up and spoke in a small voice, “Nanny…?”

“Your… Highness.”

How could this be? Who knew? How did they know?

A thousand thoughts raced through the nanny’s mind, coming and going in a flash.

Impossible. She had even checked the room herself multiple times while she worked.

The nanny’s hand, which was gripping the door handle, trembled uncontrollably.

“There you are, Your Highness,” Gallip said, entering the room and kneeling before Hail, who was rubbing his sleepy eyes.

“I’m here to escort you to the main palace.”

There was no time to stop him. Before the nanny could calm her racing heart, she had no choice but to hand Hail over to the knight.

As she watched the knight carry the prince away, the nanny kept glancing back at the room, as if in a daze. Her skin crawled, and it felt as though she had seen a ghost.

‘Was it just my imagination?’

She had been so confident that everything had gone according to plan. But now, the nanny’s face drained of color as she became acutely aware that something had gone terribly wrong.

‘I have to get out of here.’

She couldn’t allow herself to be caught. The nanny quickly turned on her heel and rushed to her quarters. Her anxiety was so overwhelming that she didn’t even realize she was biting her nails.

Who could have removed the tacks? With Sven gone to the annex, there was no one else around. The palace, now empty, felt colder than ever before.

‘No one must find out.’

She realized that the Emperor summoning the prince himself was a sign that everything was falling apart. If the Emperor discovered what she had done…

‘…I have to run.’

She couldn’t afford to be caught. The nanny sprinted to her room. As soon as she opened the door, a voice greeted her.

“You’re back.”

“……!”

The room, which should have been dark, was brightly lit. The nanny’s eyes widened in shock as she saw the woman waiting for her.

“You…”

“Did you see the prince off properly?”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting patiently, was none other than Eleanor.

The nanny had personally watched Eleanor leave the palace early that morning, so how was she here now?

In her confusion, the nanny stumbled into the room, only to trip over something on the floor and fall forward.

“Ouch, ouch.”

Grimacing in pain, the nanny clutched her knee. When she looked down to see what had caused her to slip, her shock was evident.

A wooden tack, covered in oil.

“I brought this from the prince’s room,” Eleanor said calmly.

“……!”

“Have you been secretly placing these in his room all this time?”

There was no need to guess what was happening. It was clear that Eleanor had orchestrated this entire situation. The nanny, realizing the gravity of the situation, hesitated before slowly rising to her feet.

“…I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

She needed to be careful with her words. Forcing herself to remain calm, she deliberately hardened her tone.

“Are you saying these were in the prince’s room?”

“Are you pretending not to know?”

“I’m not pretending. I’m genuinely asking because I don’t know,” the nanny replied, calculating her options quickly.

If Eleanor was behind this, then the answer was simple. Eleanor was no longer the Empress Dowager’s lady-in-waiting, and rumors were circulating that she was about to divorce the Duke of Mecklen. Soon, she would be nothing more than a fallen duchess. Who would believe anything she said? Especially since she came from Hartmann, a place with no strong foundation.

The nanny, having completed her mental calculations, decided to take an aggressive stance.

“It’s absurd. Not only did you sneak into my room like a thief, but you also commit such a disrespectful act. Winston Palace is off-limits without His Majesty’s permission. What you’re doing now is tantamount to defying the Emperor’s will.”

“……”

“I’ll go to His Majesty right away and report this.”

It was beyond audacious. As the nanny grew bolder, Eleanor couldn’t help but laugh, incredulous at the blatant hypocrisy. The situation was unfolding exactly as she had expected, but the nanny’s shamelessness was even more outrageous than anticipated.

“I checked the toys.”

“……!”

“The wooden toys, in particular, had rough surfaces. They’re completely unsuitable for a child of his age. When I turned them over, I found pieces of sandpaper sewn into the fabric.”

‘She’s already investigated that much?’

Though the nanny was taken aback, Eleanor didn’t stop there.

“Whenever the prince touched them, you made sure he felt pain. I have to commend your dedication—who would have imagined you were tormenting him so cruelly?”

“That’s…”

“If the prince had been injured, the doctor who visits every week would have noticed immEdeately, so you couldn’t go that far.”

“……”

“When did you start using such insidious methods to torment him?”

“…There must be some misunderstanding,” the nanny tried to sound calm, though her voice trembled slightly. “I didn’t realize the toys were in such poor condition. They weren’t brought in by me, so I didn’t inspect them that thoroughly.”

And besides…

“As you know, I have a lot of responsibilities, so I can’t inspect every single item. Anyway, the prince rarely plays with toys, so isn’t it enough that he didn’t get hurt?”

“Isn’t it enough that he didn’t get hurt?” Eleanor’s voice grew icy, her displeasure evident.

Though she felt the chill in the air, the nanny pressed on, “And not all the toys in the prince’s room were in such condition. Did you see the raccoon doll he always carries? It’s perfectly fine, isn’t it?”

“So you knew.”

“……!”

“That not all the toys were in such condition.”

The nanny had made a mistake. Her once-fluent words now faltered.

“You must have arranged the toys in a way that the undamaged ones were on top, and the harmful ones were hidden underneath. Even if His Majesty came to visit, he wouldn’t touch every toy, and since the prince despises toys, it was easy to avoid suspicion.”

And why was the raccoon doll in good condition?

“Because it’s big.”

“……!”

The nanny flinched, her shoulders trembling slightly. Eleanor noticed how her pupils were beginning to lose focus.

“The prince carried it around so often that it was more noticeable. If you had tampered with it like the others, everyone would have noticed something was wrong. You knew better than to make such an obvious mistake.”

Instinctively, the nanny began to back away, unable to suppress her rising anxiety. Eleanor slowly advanced, matching her retreat step for step.

“You said you were following Empress Edea’s wishes.”

“……”

“And that you were dedicating yourself to ensuring the prince grew up well.”

The last entries in Edea’s diary were filled with nothing but curses and resentment, making it difficult to discern exactly what had happened. But if Edea’s emotions were so intense that they spilled onto the pages of her diary, it was impossible that the nanny, who was so close to her, hadn’t noticed.

And yet, after Empress Edea’s death, the nanny relentlessly tormented the innocent Hail.

Even if there had been some hidden story between the nanny and Empress Edea…

There was no justification for subjecting a blameless child to such cruelty.

“Everything you said about caring for the prince was a lie.”

“……”

“In reality, you isolated him from the world, robbing him of the only means he had to explore it, leaving him with nothing but sorrow and fear.”

And despite all the evil she had done…

“You feel no guilt at all.”