Duchess Mecklen’s Elegant Revolt - Chapter 26 Part 6

Duke Nestor was a man obsessed with money. Even though his family was known as the wealthiest in the empire, his greed knew no limits.

“We are far from being the best in the world. We need more money.”

Even Evan, who would do anything for the family, found his father’s desire overwhelming.

Although Pedro, his older brother, didn’t particularly like this trait of their father’s, Duke Nestor adored him because, more than anyone, Pedro was excellent at making money according to his father’s desires.

In contrast, Evan was…

“Damn it.”

Evan cursed, roughly running his hands through his hair. His fox-like eyes, usually half-lidded, were now wide open in anger.

‘Everyone is wrong.’

Did they think severing ties with Marquis Delph and Caroline would be beneficial?

Although he had joined the Balkan Trading Company on his father’s orders, Evan had learned quite a lot from observing their operations, much of which had surprised him. Moreover, the time and money invested in the business weren’t trivial.

But now they were abandoning all of that to back Eleanor, a woman whose new company was barely a fledgling operation?

It didn’t make sense to bet everything on her. It was obvious that far from becoming a source of wealth, she would end up blocking their future prospects.

“Damn it!”

Cursing again, Evan kicked the seat across from him. The rage burning inside him refused to subside easily.

If only he could prove his father and Pedro wrong. Right now, it felt like he could die happy if he could just do that.

“…Wait.”

Evan’s kicking stopped abruptly.

His father and Pedro both viewed Princess Hartmann’s business favorably. So what if that business, which seemed to be progressing well, suddenly collapsed?

‘Father would certainly change his stance.’

Even if Pedro was clueless, Evan knew his father was shrewd enough to do just that.

Suddenly, Evan’s mind spun rapidly.

‘If I ruin that woman, everything will be resolved.’

In an instant, a look of ecstatic realization filled Evan’s widened eyes.

‘Hartmann… The refugee issue hasn’t been resolved yet… Hippias…’

The Hartmann refugees were still staying in temporary shelters.

Most nobles disliked the idea of refugees coming near their territories, so they kept shifting the responsibility to others. And there weren’t nearly enough houses in rural areas to accommodate them.

The biggest reason people avoided the refugees was the fear of riots and social disorder that starving, angry refugees might cause.

“Maybe I should put up posters?”

He would make it look like the Hartmann refugees were putting up posters criticizing the imperial family. There was no way the imperial family would take such slander lying down.

“This is good.”

‘Let’s incite a riot as well.’

If the Hartmann refugees rioted, it would be even better. In such a case, Eleanor might be forced to step down from her position as Director. She wouldn’t be able to withstand the hostility from the nobles and citizens of the empire.

With public opinion of Hartmann at an all-time low, if she were labeled as being from Hartmann, the reputation of her store would surely plummet as well.

A boycott could happen, and her business would fail in an instant. She might even be driven out of the upper class.

It would be the perfect ending.

If things reached that point, his father would regret not listening to him.

‘I’ll laugh at Pedro, too.’

Thinking about his foolish brother’s future, Evan was filled with an exhilarating sense of superiority.

Who told him to take Eleanor’s side?

‘Good. I will definitely succeed.’

Having made up his mind, Evan ordered the coachman to change direction.

At the late hour, his destination was the temporary shelter for Hartmann refugees.

***

Eleanor found herself unable to move, breath held, under Lennoch’s gaze.

‘Wanting to turn back time.’

Those words shook her mind instantly.

While Eleanor turned pale with shock, Lennoch continued his story with a calm demeanor.

“It was something I thought of as a child, in my naivety.”

“As a child…?”

“I wanted to bring back my father. I believed that if I could turn back time, I could prevent his death. It was such a childish thought.”

Only then did Eleanor exhale the breath she had been holding.

‘It wasn’t about me.’

After all, there was no way Lennoch could have known.

No one knew that she had turned back time—not Lennoch, nor anyone else. Even if he had known, she believed he would have simply asked her directly.

‘Calm down.’

She wasn’t guilty of anything, so why did her heart keep racing?

Still not fully at ease, Eleanor felt her hands and feet stiffen. While she was trying to steady herself, Lennoch continued talking.

“So I searched through the imperial archives.”

The younger he was, the more desperate he had been. With the hope that he could find magic like that in fairy tales, young Lennoch had searched relentlessly.

“Lumana has a complex and convoluted history, with many sects. Some of those sects entered Baden and became part of the country’s recognized religions. But since they all have a common origin and aren’t entirely unrelated to Bahama, successive emperors have gathered information about them. It is one of the secret tasks of the imperial scribes.”

“…So that’s how you learned the story of Kaham’s Bracelet.”

“I was lucky. When I found out the bracelet’s secret, I felt as if I owned the world.”

Lennoch’s half-lowered gaze curved slightly. Though he was smiling, it didn’t seem entirely comfortable, and Eleanor felt a pang of sorrow for him.

“However, even though I had found a way, I didn’t have Kaham’s Bracelet back then. It wasn’t something I could just buy because I wanted it. I remember feeling very frustrated.”

“Then shouldn’t you have it, Lennoch?”

Eleanor raised her hand to remove the bracelet from her wrist. But Lennoch stopped her, preventing her from removing it.

“I am fine now. As I said, it was something from my childhood.”

“……”

“After accepting my father’s death, I let it go. Besides, after that, I gained a new wish.”

“A new wish?”

Eleanor blinked while Lennoch still held her wrist. Feeling her palms grow clammy with nervous sweat, Eleanor awkwardly curled her hand.

Lennoch brought his lips to the pale hand where the thin veins showed and said, “I wanted to meet you again.”

“……!”

“It was my one and only wish.”

Eleanor blankly stared at Lennoch’s long eyelashes, which had lowered as he kissed her hand.

“Now that we have met like this, I no longer need the bracelet.”

“Lennoch.”

“So you keep it. You can wish for anything besides turning back time. If you wish for it desperately enough, anything can come true.”

When Lennoch raised his head again, he looked as though he had the whole world. There was a flawless sincerity in his eyes, devoid of any greed.

“We have met now,” she whispered, barely managing to speak. “Then, what do you wish for next?”

In her previous life, when Lennoch had obtained the bracelet, she had already become part of Mecklen.

She was curious to know what Lennoch had wished for back then. Perhaps the answer would be different, but she couldn’t help but wonder.

Lennoch answered without hesitation, “Then I would wish for your happiness.”

“……!”

“It is not the bracelet’s job to make you happy; that is my responsibility.”

His green eyes, filled with warmth, were unwavering. They were like the serene prayers of a priest devoted to divine will.

Suddenly, Eleanor felt tears welling up in her eyes. She reached out, wrapping her arms around Lennoch’s neck.

“It seems this bracelet found its way to you.”

Her voice was slightly muffled, but this time she did not try to hide the tremor in it.

As she tightened her embrace, Lennoch naturally wrapped his arms around her waist. He had no idea what was going on.

Eleanor buried her face in his neck, holding her breath.

‘Now I understand.’

She felt as if she finally understood the reason for her regression.

The moment when she had been dragged to her final execution under Ernst’s orders, she had believed that there was no one who would cry for her. Even in her current life, that belief had remained unchanged—until now.

“Thank you.”

The one who knew how to turn back time with Kaham’s Bracelet.

The one who prayed for her happiness without fail.

Perhaps the only person who would have cried for her in her previous life.

With that thought, the tragic death she had faced in her past life no longer seemed so painful.

To you, who turned back my time.

Tears finally spilled from Eleanor’s eyes.

***

It was the dim light of dawn.

In the hour when everything was still asleep, the Emperor wore a soft robe over his bare body.

Eleanor lay in a deep sleep on the bed. Covered with a duvet over her white, bare skin, Eleanor’s serene figure was watched briefly by Lennoch, who smiled faintly before moving to the adjoining reception room.

“Your Majesty.”

A man who had been waiting stood up and saluted. He was originally a knight, but at the Emperor’s command, he had left his duties to carry out a separate mission.

“The second son of Duke Nestor is acting suspiciously.”

The man got straight to the point.

“He was seen leaving the capital and heading to the outskirts, so I assigned a few more people to follow him. Although the exact destination is still unknown, considering the speed and direction, Renzo seems likely.”

Renzo was the city where the Hartmann refugees’ temporary shelter was located.

After hearing that Evan had bypassed all the major cities in the area and was heading straight for Renzo, Lennoch tapped his knee thoughtfully.

“Since when has he been moving?”

“Around 10 p.m. He left after some commotion, taking a carriage. It seemed that Duke Nestor initially pursued him but eventually gave up, suggesting they had some kind of dispute. The servants scouted the area but eventually withdrew.”

Lennoch fell silent for a moment.

‘Nothing has happened yet.’

From the moment he had instructed Evan to investigate the nursemaid’s poisoning, he had assigned someone to watch him.

Lennoch had never expected Evan to conduct a proper investigation in the first place. He kept giving Evan tasks to uncover any suspicious movements. But so far, Evan had been more transparent than expected, making it challenging to find anything suspicious.

His activities were limited enough to track, and there had been no dubious contacts.

‘A guy who used to act so cautiously without any evidence is suddenly making a long journey?’

There must have been a change of heart. Judging by the informant’s report, it seemed that the conflict with Duke Nestor had been significant. Or perhaps there was another reason.

“What should we do?” asked the man cautiously, seeing that the Emperor remained silent.

“I’ll give you the authority, so if any problem arises, capture him on the spot. I’ll assign more men to you, just in case.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

It was an order to proceed without reporting back first.

The man saluted again and then asked once more, “What about Duke Nestor?”

“Leave him be for now.”

That situation needed further observation. They might be more connected to Caroline or Count Verdik than he thought.

Lennoch tilted his head slightly. “First, bring me Evan.”