Duchess Mecklen’s Elegant Revolt - Chapter 32 Part 6

The Delph Remarriage Law was abolished.

The moment those words left the emperor’s lips, Marquis Delph’s vision went black.

It was the symbol of his house.

Delph’s pride and the first victory the nobility had ever secured against the imperial family.

Even in the history of Baden, no other house had accomplished such a feat.

Only Delph had.

‘Completely outmaneuvered.’

And in the worst way possible.

Marquis Delph’s eyes, robbed of their focus, wavered aimlessly.

In desperation, he turned to the nobles who had stood with him.

But even they had no solutions.

The number of nobles opposing the emperor’s marriage had been overturned in an instant, leaving them at a complete disadvantage.

“And one more thing. The Balkan Trading Company case alone is not enough to detain Marquis Delph.”

The emperor continued speaking.

“Since it is a case that has already been settled, double jeopardy makes it difficult to issue another punishment. However, verifying whether new crimes exist is a necessary step.”

Therefore—

“Until all remaining suspicions are completely resolved, Marquis Delph will be suspended from all public duties.”

“……!”

“Furthermore, during this suspension, Marquis Delph is to remain under house arrest. Should he leave the designated boundaries, he will be subject to separate punishment for defying imperial orders.”

At the successive proclamations, Marquis Delph’s body swayed unsteadily.

Suspension.

The claim that he could return once suspicions were cleared was nothing but an empty excuse.

In truth, it was no different from being permanently exiled from court.

Realizing he had been completely cast aside, Marquis Delph trembled uncontrollably.

‘This can’t…’

This couldn’t be the end.

Slowly, he turned his body.

And then he saw her—

Eleanor, watching the entire scene from her seat at the top.

‘That woman…’

That woman, who smiled as if she knew nothing.

‘That seat should belong to Delph.’

In that instant, Marquis Delph’s eyes blazed with fury.

“She’s a fox!”

His sudden outburst cast an eerie silence over the chamber.

All eyes turned toward him as he pointed straight at Eleanor.

“That princess must have done something!”

Unable to direct his rage at the emperor, he instead unleashed it upon Eleanor.

“She used Duke Mecklen and discarded him, and now she has seduced His Majesty to orchestrate all of this. She wanted to ensure that the Delph family would never produce another empress—so that she could claim the title for herself!”

“……!”

Marquis Delph had lost all semblance of composure, ranting like a man possessed.

Foam had begun forming at the corners of his mouth.

“Destroying Hartmann wasn’t enough—now she seeks to swallow this nation whole! She trapped me in a scheme to force me into a corner! Arrest that woman imme—kugh!”

A sudden, choking sound.

Marquis Delph gasped and flailed desperately as an invisible force crushed his throat.

His wide, bulging eyes darted around in panic.

“Marquis.”

The hand clenching his throat belonged to none other than the emperor.

“You should have directed your accusations at me instead.”

“Khak, khh…!”

“Had you done so, I might have let it slide.”

With one hand wrapped tightly around Marquis Delph’s neck, Lennoch radiated pure menace.

The veins protruding along his wrist made it clear—

He was fully prepared to break him.

As Marquis Delph’s body slowly lifted off the ground, Eleanor, seated at the high table, shot up from her seat in alarm.

At this rate, Lennoch truly might kill him.

“You’re going to die anyway. Might as well make it clean right here.”

“Kuh, ack, sa-save…!”

“Lennoch!”

Eleanor rushed forward, grabbing his arm.

“Stop, Lennoch.”

His arm was as rigid as stone, refusing to budge.

But thankfully, her voice stirred something in him.

His lost reason slowly returned to his eyes.

As he loosened his grip, Marquis Delph crumpled to the floor, utterly drained of strength.

“Hah… huh…!”

Yet the emperor’s fury had not completely dissipated.

His ice-cold voice rang in Marquis Delph’s ears.

“You’d best not overstep your bounds.”

Because I am already holding back.

Hearing the lethal warning, Marquis Delph gasped for breath.

A dark bruise had already formed around his throat.

His bulging eyes fixed upon the emperor and Eleanor, still filled with hatred.

***

The long session of the Noble Council had concluded, yet no one in the chamber dared to rise from their seats.

They had all been overwhelmed by the emperor’s sheer presence.

After witnessing the near-breaking of Marquis Delph’s neck right before their eyes, an unprecedented tension filled the air.

Especially among the nobles who had sided with Marquis Delph—their faces were utterly drained of color, as if they had been handed their own death sentences.

“Let’s go.”

Leaving Marquis Delph still collapsed on the floor, the emperor departed the council chamber with Eleanor by his side.

Eger had to hurry after them so as not to fall behind.

Lennoch and Eleanor walked in silence for a while after stepping out into the corridor.

Only after they had entered the main palace did Lennoch finally speak.

“Are you disappointed in me?”

His voice was so gentle that it was hard to believe he had just been on the verge of killing a man moments ago.

Eleanor quietly gazed at Lennoch. As her clear eyes met his, Lennoch’s expression softened slightly.

“If my actions just now made you uncomfortable, I apologize.”

Hearing Marquis Delph speak so carelessly about her had made him lose control before he even realized it.

But now that his senses had returned, he regretted having acted so recklessly in front of Eleanor.

What if this made her resent him?

At his cautious apology, Eleanor released the hand she had been holding.

And then—

“Thank you.”

“……!”

Instead of taking his hand, Eleanor linked her arm with his.

“For being angry on my behalf.”

Lennoch’s eyes widened slightly in surprise—it was the first time she had ever done this.

Eleanor gazed at him with the same steady affection as always.

“I was a little startled, but I wasn’t afraid.”

Because she fully understood why he had reacted that way.

And if it hadn’t been Lennoch, she might have been the one to slap the marquis herself.

However—

“There are still some suspicious aspects of the Delph family that need to be investigated. If the marquis were to die too easily, it would make uncovering the truth difficult.”

“……”

“More than anything, Lennoch, I didn’t want to see you personally take a life. …Honestly, I had mentally prepared myself for it, but I suppose I’m still not immune to such things.”

From the moment she had resolved to become empress, she had braced herself for the realities of power.

Death was not some distant concept.

It might not be her own life at stake, but she could not guarantee that those who walked an opposing path would be spared from such a fate.

‘One day, I may even find myself wishing for someone’s death.’

But preparing for something and facing it in reality were two very different things.

Eleanor chose to be honest about her feelings with Lennoch.

Hearing her words, the hardness in Lennoch’s gaze gradually melted into warmth.

“I’ll be more careful in front of you.”

“Lennoch.”

“In the future, I’ll make an effort to send people to prison instead.”

“I highly doubt that, Your Majesty.”

Eger, who had been following behind them, suddenly chimed in.

“I saw it clearly—you lost all control. If Lady Eleanor hadn’t intervened, the marquis would have been dead.”

“Lost control?”

“It means you were about to kill him in a terrible manner.”

“Where did you even learn such slang?”

“Lord Pedro taught me. Apparently, in some Eastern countries, people shorten words this way.”

Although it seemed like a casual exchange of jokes, Eger had been just as tense as anyone else.

He, too, had been intimidated by the emperor’s sheer force in the council chamber.

Thank goodness Eleanor had intervened when she did.

Hearing Eger’s remark, Eleanor let out a soft laugh.

As the tension lifted and the atmosphere warmed, Eger took the lead and opened the door to the emperor’s office.

“By the way, Lady Eleanor, do you like cosmos flowers?” Eger asked as he prepared refreshments.

Seated on the sofa beside Lennoch, Eleanor tilted her head slightly. “No. Why do you ask?”

“I was curious after reading Duke Mecklen’s love letter in Black Cat. It mentioned that you liked cosmos flowers.”

“You actually believe that letter was real?”

“Of course not.”

Setting the tea on the table, Eger shuddered.

“Just hearing it gave me chills. There’s no way Duke Mecklen would have written such an embarrassingly sweet letter—it was obviously ghostwritten. But I wondered if perhaps someone had given them details about your tastes.”

“He knows nothing about me.”

Eleanor gave a faint, wry smile.

“If he truly knew, things wouldn’t have escalated this far.”

“Then shouldn’t we publish a correction article exposing the letter as a fake?” Eger asked worriedly.

“People who don’t know the full situation might actually believe Duke Mecklen’s letter is real.”

“Leave it be for now.”

The answer didn’t come from Eleanor—it was Lennoch who responded instead.

Leisurely savoring the tea Eger had brought, Lennoch continued, “It won’t be too late to reveal the truth later. For now, we focus all our attacks on Marquis Delph. We’ll be busy enough just rounding up all the nobles connected to him.”

“You mean the ones who opposed your marriage in the Noble Council?”

“Exactly.”

Eleanor recalled Lennoch’s earlier words.

To memorize the faces of every noble who had opposed the marriage.

Gathering a sheet of paper and a quill, she began writing down the names of the families and individuals she had committed to memory.

Watching her list dozens of names without pause, Eger clicked his tongue in astonishment.

“It’s going to be a nightmare sorting through all this.”

Thanks to Marquis Delph, who had mobilized all his connections at the Noble Council after falling for the emperor’s misinformation, identifying the key figures had become significantly easier.

Eger was once again impressed by Eleanor’s exceptional memory.

Lennoch, too, observed her growing list and said, “Compare it with the previous records of Marquis Delph’s network and filter out the obvious suspects first. For those whose involvement remains uncertain, we’ll find other means of investigation. At the very least, Count Davis and Count Tiber are confirmed.”

Count Davis had been exposed by journalist Lambert for attempting to use Marquis Delph’s influence for a promotion, while Count Tiber had secretly leaked the emperor’s false marriage information to the marquis.

Eger shook his head, realizing how much work lay ahead.

They continued their discussion when—

Knock, knock.

“Your Majesty.”

A knight entered the office.

Eleanor recognized him immediately—one of the guards stationed at Zaire Palace.

The knight stepped forward and presented a tightly rolled document to the emperor before exiting the room once more.

“What is that?”

Curious, Eger craned his neck.

As Lennoch read the message delivered by carrier pigeon, his lips curled slightly.

“Good news.”

“……?”

“Childe has finally found it.”

Caroline’s secret plantation.

***

Lennoch the child did not feel like working at all today.

His conversation with Childe from the previous night kept replaying in his mind.

‘I didn’t expect him to know about her, too.’

Since he couldn’t stay away for long, the conversation had been brief, but one thing was certain.

Eleanor would come to save him.

The thought filled the child’s chest with anticipation.

Childe had said so—just a little longer, and she would arrive.

“I hope she comes soon.”

Brimming with excitement, the child idly tapped the stones in the flower bed.

Soon, this tiresome task of tending plants would finally end.

With spring approaching, the garden had been filled with various plants.

For the first time, the child felt a rebellious urge stir within him.

‘Why am I the only one suffering like this?’

After quickly glancing around, the child reached down to yank a plant from the soil.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“……!”

Startled by the sudden voice behind him, the child spun around in alarm.

A burly man stood there, having approached unnoticed.

A former soldier.

Terrified, the child shrank back, instinctively lowering his head.

“I-I wasn’t doing anything.”

Among the people here, only Saruka frightened him more than this man.

Normally indifferent, the ex-soldier sometimes gave the child chills with his piercing gaze.

The man scoffed at the child’s weak denial. “Don’t try anything foolish.”

“Y-yes, sir…”

“If those seedlings are ruined, you’ll face more than just punishment.”

His tone made it sound as though he already knew exactly what the child had intended to do.

That realization drained the last bit of defiance from the child.

More than just punishment?

What did that mean?

“I’m letting you go this time.”

“……?”

“If it had been the village chief who saw you, you’d already be dead.”

“……!”