Duchess Mecklen’s Elegant Revolt - Chapter 25 Part 4

Even after finishing their lengthy discussion about future plans, they didn’t have a moment to rest.

According to Eger, because the two of them had stayed up late roasting sweet potatoes the night before, a lot of work had piled up.

Lennoch suggested she go and rest, but Eleanor couldn’t easily leave his side.

Today was also the day Henrik and his group were expected to return.

Fearing she might miss them if things ran late and she had to stay overnight at the palace, Eleanor sent a letter in advance to convey her urgent matters.

Afterward, she stayed by the Emperor’s side, assisting with minor tasks, and before they knew it, evening had arrived.

“Would you like to stop by Zaire Palace for a moment?” Lennoch asked as they left the office late at night. “Hail has been asking about you a lot.”

“I’ve been wanting to see the young prince as well. That sounds wonderful.”

Eleanor happily accepted Lennoch’s request.

As they walked side by side, two knights followed behind them, but the Emperor lightly dismissed them to avoid unnecessary chatter.

Upon entering the Emperor’s private palace, Eleanor immediately moved to find Hail.

“Prince.”

“Eli!”

With a delighted voice, Hail beamed and hurried down from his bed.

Eleanor rushed over to catch him before he could trip, lifting him into her arms.

Hail, whom she hadn’t held for a while, felt significantly heavier.

As the little boy rubbed his face against her shoulder, Eleanor let out a surprised sound.

“It seems like you’ve grown taller, Prince.”

“Countess Hilda said the same thing.”

To help Eleanor bear Hail’s weight, Lennoch supported the boy with one hand from behind.

Eleanor asked Lennoch, who had come closer, “Did Countess Hilda volunteer to look after him?”

“I asked her. There was no one else I could trust.”

“……”

“She was hesitant at first, but thankfully, they seem to get along well. Lately, Hail has grown very fond of her.”

Countess Hilda was Norah’s mother.

Hearing that Hail was doing well made Eleanor happy, but she couldn’t bring herself to smile freely.

Lennoch’s comment about having no one else to trust weighed on her.

However, Lennoch himself didn’t seem particularly concerned.

Hail pouted and spoke to Eleanor with exaggerated affection, “I missed you so much, Eli. Why haven’t you come often?”

“I’ve missed you very much too, Your Highness. I’m sorry I couldn’t come more often.”

Hail’s expressions of emotion had become much more expressive.

Finding the pouting child adorable, Eleanor kissed his cheek, causing him to giggle at the ticklish sensation.

“Eli, I can handle my toys now.”

“Really? That’s wonderful.”

“And I’m growing plants too. My teacher showed me how.”

“Teacher?”

Lennoch answered to clear up Eleanor’s confusion, “He calls Countess Hilda his teacher. I didn’t see a need to correct him.”

Hail refused to let go of Eleanor. Seeing this, Lennoch gently pinched Hail’s cheek. “It’s late, Hail. You should get ready for bed.”

“No.”

Hail pouted at the Emperor’s gentle admonition, clinging even tighter to Eleanor.

“I missed you so much. I want to play with Eli.”

“Not tonight. Eli has important things to do.”

“What important things? I want to do something important too.”

In the time they hadn’t seen each other, Hail had grown much more stubborn.

Seeing Hail refuse to give in, Eleanor looked to Lennoch for help, her expression pleading.

Reading her gaze, Lennoch spoke to Hail with a serious expression, as if making an important announcement, “You can’t do this, Hail.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a game only adults can play.”

“Why only adults?”

“Because it’s a game that can only be played at night.”

“Why at night?”

“Because it’s better when it’s dark.”

“Lennoch.”

Unable to listen any longer, Eleanor quickly covered Lennoch’s mouth.

What on earth was he saying?

She couldn’t shake the feeling that this conversation was heading in a very strange direction.

Eleanor, her face flushed red like an apple, took matters into her own hands to calm Hail.

“Let’s stop for today, and I’ll come again tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes. If I come tomorrow and the day after that, we can play every day.”

“Really? Then come every day! No, live here!”

Hail raised one hand as if making a proclamation.

“If Eli lives here, I’ll go to sleep right away.”

“Well, that…”

Eleanor hesitated, unsure how to respond.

Should she lie and say she would live here, just to get him to sleep?

But she couldn’t bear to disappoint the hopeful child.

Lennoch nudged Eleanor, who was contemplating. “If you don’t agree, you might end up spending the entire night with Hail. Why not grant his wish for now?”

“…I suppose I have no choice.”

Eleanor sighed softly.

“Alright. I’ll live here forever, so please go to sleep now.”

“Really? You promise?”

“Of course.”

When Hail asked her to pinky promise, Eleanor linked her finger with his.

Even then, Hail still seemed unsure.

He asked her to promise his beloved plant too.

With no other option, Eleanor went to the plant Hail had been growing and made a solemn vow.

Only after creating all this “evidence” did Hail finally relax and settle down to sleep.

Having finally managed to put the child to bed, Eleanor turned to Lennoch as soon as they moved to the study, glaring at him.

“Your Majesty, wasn’t that a bit too much?”

“What do you mean?”

How shameless.

Is he really going to play innocent?

“I saw you laughing while I was promising Duil. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

Duil was the name of the plant Hail was raising.

He had named it Duil, calling it his ‘little brother,’ but it was a bit of a mouthful.

“I sent you plenty of signals asking for help, but you pretended not to notice.”

She had worked hard to help him catch up on his backlog, after all.

Eleanor felt a little hurt.

When she mentioned Duil again, Lennoch struggled to keep a straight face.

“Are you very upset?”

“Yes.”

Eleanor turned away from Lennoch.

Still embarrassed by what had just happened, she refused to meet his eyes, but suddenly a large shadow approached from behind her.

“I’m sorry.”

“……!”

An arm wrapped around her waist.

Without resistance, Eleanor was pulled back, and found herself enveloped in Lennoch’s arms.

His chin rested lightly on her tense shoulder.

“You were too cute making promises to a plant.”

“……!”

“You were truly lovely.”

His low voice murmured in her ear.

“I’m really sorry if I hurt your feelings. I’ll be more careful next time.”

Faced with his sincere apology, she couldn’t stay angry.

As her anger melted away, Eleanor’s lips curved upward.

It couldn’t be helped.

She’d let it slide this time.

Seeing Eleanor’s mood lift, Lennoch smiled softly.

“But Eli.”

“Yes, Lennoch?”

Eleanor, unaware that Lennoch was calling her by a nickname, responded.

“About the promise you made to Hail earlier—will you really keep it?”

“Well, yes, but… actually living here is not very realistic.”

Right now, attention toward her was steadily growing.

She worried that staying in the Emperor’s private palace might lead to harmful rumors, potentially causing trouble for Lennoch.

Eleanor confessed her honest thoughts, “I’m still cautious about making our relationship public.”

“……”

“Both of us still have much to do, Your Majesty. If my presence here were to become a liability, it could hinder what we’re trying to accomplish.”

There was also the issue of the factions trying to undermine the imperial family, not to mention Caroline.

“I’m sorry I can’t keep my promise to the young prince, but for your sake, it’s best to delay any official announcement.”

Eleanor raised her hand, gently stroking his head.

His rough-looking gray hair was surprisingly smooth to the touch.

At that moment, Lennoch said, “When I was young and studying imperial governance…”

“……?”

“The teacher who educated me taught me the behaviors a leader should avoid.”

He especially warned against indulgence in alcohol and women.

“He emphasized that a leader must be keenly aware of the flow of circumstances and make critical decisions when needed.”

Lennoch’s teacher had stressed that losing oneself to desires would lead to poor decisions, ultimately causing a nation to fall.

“Losing reason is the quickest way to ruin a country, he always said.”

Eleanor didn’t quite understand why Lennoch was suddenly sharing this story.

Without explaining further, Lennoch continued, “But now that I think about it, there are times when reason isn’t always necessary.”

“……?”

Something about Lennoch’s demeanor had subtly shifted.

His normally gentle green eyes held a chilling sharpness.

A strange sense of unease washed over Eleanor, her eyes widening.

“I don’t care if I go down in history as the worst Emperor of Baden.”

“What are you…”

His voice deepened.

“Or perhaps it would be more fitting if future generations recorded me this way.”

A mad tyrant who committed ruthless massacres, all for the sake of one woman.

***

A long-awaited carriage finally arrived at the entrance of the Hippias family estate.

It carried Henrik and his party, who had journeyed to Ceylon.

Their numbers had significantly increased since their departure.

As they needed more personnel during the trip, Milo had hastily filled the positions using his contacts.

Henrik instructed the butler to ensure that the trading company members rested comfortably in the annex before looking around.

“Is my sister still not back?”

“She said she’d be staying at the palace tonight due to her workload.”

“At the palace?”

A question mark appeared on Henrik’s usually impassive face.

Even if it was just one night, she would need a change of clothes and someone to assist with her hair and attire.

Was that possible at the palace?

But the butler said that was all he’d been told, so there wasn’t much Henrik could say.

The butler handed Henrik a thick letter. “It’s from Lady Eleanor. She said it’s for you and Mr. Milo to read together.”

“I see.”

Taking the letter, Henrik turned around.

“Manager, would you mind joining me in the study to read this letter from my sister?”

The “Manager” referred to Milo.

Eleanor had entrusted the entire company to Henrik, with Milo taking on the role of manager to assist him.

Milo, who had been chatting amiably with Becky, agreed easily, and Henrik headed straight for the study.

“Why is it so thick?”

Cutting open the envelope with a knife, Henrik muttered quietly as he pulled out the contents.

“It’s too much for us to read separately, so let’s just go through it together.”

“Alright.”

Curiosity clear in their eyes, they began leafing through the letter page by page, their expressions growing more serious.

The content could be summarized as follows:

1. Saruka, who turned El Gino into a criminal organization, is deeply connected to Caroline, the Duchess Dowager of House Mecklen.
2. Caroline is currently preparing to launch a tea business from Ceylon, identical to the one we are working on.
3. We must act first and ensure the success of our Ceylon tea venture before Caroline can take it away.

“It seems she really managed to get Jack Ruby talking.”

Milo was impressed as he read through the letter, which detailed the information Eleanor had obtained from the informant broker.

“The brokers in Ferret Street are notoriously difficult, yet she pulled it off. Still, I had no idea Saruka was connected to the Duchess Dowager of Mecklen. Did you know about this, Young Master?”