Duchess Mecklen’s Elegant Revolt - Chapter 27 Part 1

27. Elegant Counterattack

It was a morning with the sun fully risen.

Eleanor woke up startled by the sunlight streaming through the window and looked around.

“…My goodness.”

She was still in the Emperor’s bedroom.

Looking at the clock, there was less than an hour left until lunchtime.

As she was about to get up in shock, a maid who had been waiting approached and conveyed the Emperor’s message.

“He instructed that you rest well in the morning and pass on his greetings to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager in the afternoon. He also informed others that Lady Eleanor was out of the palace on external business this morning.”

“Thank you.”

“Water for washing has been prepared. If you wish, I can guide you immediately.”

Instead of responding right away, Eleanor ran her hand over her flushed cheeks.

It seemed she had overdone it last night.

The red marks scattered across her body showed that she had pushed herself more than usual.

Still, to fall asleep so deeply that she lost consciousness—this was unlike her, who always kept her promises and schedule to the letter. Feeling embarrassed, Eleanor smiled faintly.

The bathroom wasn’t far. After bathing with the help of a palace servant, Eleanor changed into new clothes.

Thanks to Lennoch having prepared spare dresses in advance, she could easily switch to a fresh outfit.

Once her hair was neatly arranged, Eleanor headed straight to the Western Palace, where the Empress Dowager resided.

“It’s been a while.”

The Empress Dowager greeted Eleanor with a warm smile as she entered.

Berenice was not present.

Eleanor glanced briefly at Countess Lorentz, who was looking at her with a sullen expression.

“I’ve heard the news. It’s said your recent business has been remarkably successful, and I was just curious when you came to see me first. I’m very pleased.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

“How did you come up with such an idea? I had no idea you were preparing for something like this without my knowledge. Moreover, I heard Caroline faced quite the humiliation because of it.”

The Empress Dowager spoke playfully, showing no signs of displeasure.

In fact, she seemed rather pleased when mentioning Caroline, which made Eleanor understand why Lennoch had suggested she visit the Empress Dowager.

With an expression full of curiosity, the Empress Dowager looked at Eleanor, who answered with a smile.

“I was fortunate. Coincidentally, the ventures overlapped.”

“Coincidence?”

“Yes, just by chance.”

Eleanor emphasized the word “coincidentally” with particular force.

As a result, Countess Lorentz’s complexion darkened further.

The Empress Dowager, catching onto the nuance, burst into laughter.

“How could they overlap like that? Caroline truly has terrible luck, hoho.”

“I didn’t expect this matter to become such a topic of conversation.”

“I was quite surprised too. Every lady I meet these days never fails to bring up your story. Oh, and quite a few nobles are asking me to introduce you to them. Later, I’ll arrange a meeting with someone suitable for you.”

“I’m honored, Your Majesty.”

As the atmosphere grew more harmonious with compliments being exchanged, Countess Lorentz struggled to hide her discomfort.

However, even Norah joined in the chorus of praise for Eleanor, causing Countess Lorentz’s face to stiffen further, contrary to her efforts.

‘This shouldn’t be happening.’

Although Caroline told her not to worry, she still felt uneasy, fearing the incident where she secretly cut Eleanor’s hem might come to light.

Meanwhile, the person she most dreaded seeing was gaining favor in the palace.

Eleanor was undoubtedly the most talked-about figure among noblewomen recently. Those who had once envied her for securing the Empress Dowager’s favor were now lining up to have a meal with her.

From Countess Lorentz’s perspective, it was utterly exasperating.

‘Will she eventually come after me for revenge?’

The thought made her current position extremely uncomfortable.

Moreover, she could no longer act as recklessly as before.

Compared to when Eleanor served as a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Dowager, her current status was far beyond reach.

While Countess Lorentz simmered with jealousy and internal conflict, the Empress Dowager suddenly spoke to Eleanor.

“By the way, about that pink dress I gave you—it suited you so well. If it’s alright, would you wear it again sometime? I’d love to see you in it once more.”

The dress referred to was the one the Empress Dowager had given Eleanor when May spilled cleaning water on her, instructing her to change.

Since it wasn’t a difficult request, Eleanor readily agreed.

The Empress Dowager seemed genuinely delighted.

“Thank you. I’m sorry if it seems presumptuous of me to ask, but seeing you in that dress brought back memories. Getting older makes one more sentimental, you know.”

The wrinkles on the Empress Dowager’s face were filled with wistfulness.

It seemed the dress held sentimental value.

Curious, Norah, who had been listening to the conversation, asked, “Your Majesty, which dress are you referring to? If you mean the one at the last masquerade ball, I don’t think Lady Eleanor had a pink dress.”

“Hoho, well, you see. There was an incident where Eleanor’s dress was soiled.”

After a brief pause, the Empress Dowager glanced at Lorentz.

The culprit behind the dirty water incident, who had orchestrated May to spill it, was keeping her lips tightly shut.

Clicking her tongue internally, the Empress Dowager continued explaining to Norah.

“Since it looked unsightly, I retrieved a dress from my safe and gave it to her. Thankfully, it fit as if it had been tailored for her.”

“A dress from the safe…?”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Norah who reacted but Countess Lorentz.

She seemed utterly shocked.

The Empress Dowager turned to her with curiosity.

“What’s the matter?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Under the gazes of everyone in the room, Countess Lorentz quickly lowered her head.

‘A dress from the safe…’

No one understood the significance of this better than Countess Lorentz, who had served the Empress Dowager for the longest time.

There had been three dresses commissioned by the Empress Dowager when she married into the Baden Imperial family during her youth: one for the ceremony, another for the parade, and the last for the evening party.

The safe’s dress was the evening party dress.

However, the Empress Dowager never got to wear it.

The evening party had been canceled before it began, due to Charlene, the mother of the previous Emperor and the Empress Dowager’s mother-in-law, suddenly collapsing.

What should have been a joyous wedding turned into a complete disaster.

Since then, the party dress had remained locked away for decades.

‘To think she cherished it so much as to give it away.’

Even Edea, the former Empress, had not received the safe’s dress.

But Eleanor had.

“Lady Eleanor, no matter how busy you are, please visit often. It feels harder to see you than pluck stars from the sky.”

“Haha, I will.”

“You must! Please do. These days, most of my tasks have been taken by Lady Berenice, so I’m usually in the palace. It’s nice spending all day with Her Majesty, but sometimes it feels empty.”

Listening to Norah and Eleanor’s conversation, Countess Lorentz’s face turned deathly pale.

Realizing how deeply the Empress Dowager cared for Eleanor, everything seemed different.

It was as if the Empress Dowager had chosen Eleanor as the next Empress.

‘No, that can’t be.’

Countess Lorentz was suddenly overcome with fear.

Glancing at the Empress Dowager as she conversed with Eleanor, she noticed the loving gaze directed at her.

Perhaps it was just her imagination, but the atmosphere felt as though Eleanor was already part of the Imperial family, making Countess Lorentz’s heart sink.

***

The Duke of Nestor had been in a foul mood recently.

Since the disastrous dinner for Pedro’s departure, Evan had left the house.

Initially, he thought, ‘He’ll come back soon enough,’ and left it at that.

But a day passed, then two, and still no word from his son.

‘Where in the world has that rascal hidden himself?’

On the day Evan stormed out, one of the carriages managed by the family also disappeared.

Judging from the fact that the coachman responsible for the missing carriage had not returned either, the Duke surmised Evan had taken it.

However, there were no reports of anyone spotting the Nestor family’s carriage in the vicinity, even after two days.

By now, there should have been witnesses.

“A grown man, and all he does is give his father grief,” the Duke muttered to himself, clicking his tongue.

He couldn’t understand where Evan’s inferiority complex toward his older brother stemmed from.

Sure, he was fond of money, but he never deliberately favored one son over the other.

It’s just that Pedro, with his far greater earnings, naturally received more attention.

As his worries about his son’s absence grew, the Duke’s aide came to inform him of a regular meeting.

Setting his concerns aside, Duke Nestor attended the meeting.

“His Majesty isn’t here yet, I see,” Duke Nestor remarked to Duke Ezester as he entered the conference room.

“He must be busy. It’s not yet time, so he’ll probably arrive soon,” Duke Ezester replied curtly, as usual.

Taking a seat beside him, Duke Nestor surveyed the room.

Across from him sat Duke Mecklen, who was as cold as ever—perhaps even a bit angry.

Ernst, seated nearby, was noisily flipping through the meeting documents before slamming them down in apparent frustration.

‘What’s his deal?’

Given how obsessed he used to be with work, it was odd to see him displaying such reluctance now.

Though curious, Duke Nestor refrained from asking.

It wasn’t his business, and he dismissed it as Ernst simply being irritable.

Just then, the Emperor entered the conference room.

“May boundless glory accompany His Majesty,” Duke Nestor said, completing the formal greeting before sitting down.

The meeting proceeded as usual.

As always, Marquis Neto, the most outspoken participant, launched into an impassioned monologue.

Duke Nestor, finding the proceedings tedious, began leafing through the documents in front of him.

Time passed, though how much, he wasn’t sure.

Knock, knock.

“Pardon the intrusion, Your Majesty. I bring urgent news.”

A man entered the meeting room uninvited. It was Eger, the aide.

All eyes, including Duke Nestor’s, turned to him as he approached the Emperor without hesitation.

“What is it?” the Emperor asked.

“Posters slandering the imperial family have been found.”

“Good heavens,” exclaimed Marquis Radsay in dismay before Eger had even finished speaking.

The idea of a faction opposing the imperial family shocked everyone, and the nobles exchanged uneasy glances.

Remaining composed, Eger continued his report to the Emperor.

“Fortunately, we apprehended the ringleader before the matter could spread nationwide and removed all the posters. The culprit also attempted to distribute anonymous leaflets, but thousands of these were seized and similarly destroyed.”

“Who would dare insult the imperial family so brazenly?” Marquis Mathia demanded, visibly enraged.

“Slandering the imperial family is tantamount to treason. The perpetrator must be executed immediately.”

“Execution seems excessive. However, an example must be made. Flogging would suffice.”

“I agree. How about 100 lashes?”

“A hundred is too many. That’s practically a death sentence.”

The nobles in the meeting room offered their opinions one after another.

As the commotion grew, the Emperor raised a hand, silencing them.

Then he addressed Eger.

“Who is the ringleader?”

Before answering, Eger turned toward Duke Nestor.

Their eyes met, and Duke Nestor flinched.

The atmosphere was ominous.

“It’s Evan, the second son of Duke Nestor.”

“……!”

“He has been apprehended and is currently imprisoned in the dungeon.”

The document Duke Nestor had been holding slipped from his grasp, falling to the floor.

His face, pale with shock, trembled visibly.

***