Duchess Mecklen’s Elegant Revolt - Chapter 34 Part 1

34. Confession

The sun had set, and early evening had arrived.

Vivia cautiously peeked outside the mansion to observe the situation beyond the gates.

The reporters standing guard at the entrance showed no signs of leaving.

They were determined to stay until someone from the Delph household came out.

‘As expected, the main gate is not an option.’

The back gate was no different.

Holding her nose to block out the foul stench of filth, Vivia stealthily moved along the wall.

At this point, she had no choice but to climb over it.

Leaving in the family carriage was also impossible.

The Delph family crest would be far too conspicuous.

“This way.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The two servants following her swiftly moved ahead.

The wall was too high for Vivia to climb over alone.

One of the servants knelt on the ground, offering his back as a foothold.

Then, the other servant stepped onto his back and climbed over the wall, landing on the other side.

Vivia followed the same process, stepping onto the servant’s back.

The servant who had already crossed extended his hand to her from the other side.

“My lady, take my hand.”

‘To think I have to touch the hands of these lowly men.’

Normally, she would have despised the idea of any physical contact with her servants.

But a desperate person has no choice.

With no alternative, Vivia practically threw herself into the servant’s arms and landed beyond the wall.

“I’ll be back in an hour. Wait here.”

“Understood.”

“Don’t let the reporters see you.”

Fearing they might be caught and questioned, she gave firm instructions before hurrying to the meeting place.

Vivia’s destination was none other than the shopping district for dressmakers.

Though not a typical location for an evening meeting, she had a different purpose in mind.

Every noblewoman entrusted personal orders to designers, and for aristocratic young ladies sensitive to fashion trends, the boutique was second only to their homes in frequency of visits.

This also made it the perfect place for a discreet rendezvous.

Vivia entered Adolf’s boutique, where the Marquis of Delph always placed his orders.

“You’ve arrived.”

Adolf, who had been informed in advance, greeted her.

The room he led her to was brightly lit, with multiple fireplaces casting a warm glow.

As Vivia approached the elderly woman sitting on the sofa, the woman acknowledged her presence.

“It has been a while, my lady. What urgent matter brings you here?”

“The reporters haven’t come looking for you, have they?”

As soon as she sat down, Vivia got straight to the point.

The woman before her was none other than Revoni, the maid from the Count’s household who had helped poison Countess Müller.

Revoni let out a small laugh, as if amused by the question. “Of course not. Without any evidence, there’s no way they could have found me so easily.”

“……”

“If the reporters are sniffing around, it wouldn’t be because of me, but for another reason.”

Though she didn’t specify, the implication was clear.

She was referring to the corruption of the Marquis of Delph and his dealings with the Balkan Trading Company, which had been exposed in Fox.

Vivia frowned slightly in irritation. “I’m just being cautious. You never know. You might have had second thoughts and decided to sell your story to the press.”

“My, my. Lady Vivia, are you doubting me?”

Revoni smiled in amusement at the accusation.

“If this scandal were to be exposed, it wouldn’t just be troublesome for you. I would be equally doomed. I was Countess Müller’s closest maid. If the Count were to find out that I was the one who fed her poison, I wouldn’t just be punished—I would be finished.”

Revoni had known Countess Müller since childhood.

They had once been quite close, but due to a certain incident, their relationship had soured, and they had never regained their former warmth.

Then came Vivia’s infamous caning incident.

At the time, Vivia and Brianna had been taking lessons from Countess Müller.

When Vivia failed to complete her assignments, it was Revoni’s second son who had been punished in her stead.

Even after realizing the child being caned was Revoni’s, Countess Müller had continued the beating without mercy.

From that moment on, Revoni’s resentment had turned into pure hatred.

“If you’re so anxious, why don’t you increase my payment?”

“What?”

“The dress I recently had made has already lost its charm. It’s fascinating, isn’t it? When I had no money, I never thought about these things, but now that I do, I can’t seem to hold onto it. It disappears the moment it comes into my hands.”

Revoni smiled slyly, her eyes crinkling in amusement.

“My lady, wouldn’t it be nice if you contributed a little more?”

“I already gave you money last week.”

“I spent it all on a family dinner.”

“All of it?”

Fifty gold coins. How could a mere commoner squander such a sum in just a week?

Vivia stared in disbelief, but Revoni merely sighed, cupping one cheek with her hand.

“My second son has quite an appetite. Perhaps it’s because he was beaten so often as a child. The fear of those days must still linger, leaving him anxious, so he eats ten times more than others.”

It wasn’t entirely false.

Revoni’s second son had suffered severe trauma from repeated beatings.

The fear of being beaten as a child had left deep scars, and though he ate far more than his siblings, he remained painfully thin.

“With the cost of food increasing, we’re barely getting by.”

“…Unbelievable.”

Vivia clenched her teeth, barely holding back a curse.

In frustration, she removed all the bracelets and rings from her wrists and threw them onto the table in front of Revoni.

“This should be enough to buy a decently priced dress.”

“Oh my, aren’t these your cherished accessories?”

“Yes, I wear them every day.”

She had no money on her at the moment.

Ideally, she would have returned home to exchange them for gold coins, but it had been difficult enough to sneak out without being noticed by the reporters.

Besides, what if Revoni changed her mind while she was gone?

Rather than risk it, Vivia chose to part with her treasured jewelry.

“Make sure to keep your mouth shut. If I hear even a single strange rumor, I’ll know it was you.”

She had exploited Revoni’s hatred for Countess Müller, but she knew full well that the woman harbored resentment toward her as well.

After all, it was because Vivia had deliberately skipped her assignments and avoided lessons that Revoni’s son had suffered even harsher punishment.

‘There was no other way.’

To kill Countess Müller, she needed someone who shared the same hatred.

And Revoni had been the perfect choice.

“Don’t worry, my lady. I won’t say a word.”

Revoni, tucking Vivia’s jewelry into her pocket, smiled faintly.

“We’re in the same boat, after all.”

***

After that, their conversation quickly wrapped up.

There was no reason to prolong it when both found each other unpleasant.

Shortly after Vivia left the boutique—

Revoni emerged as well, heading in a different direction.

She didn’t return to her employer’s mansion.

Instead, she wandered deeper into a dark alleyway until she finally stopped.

“Here’s the evidence.”

She handed over the rings and bracelets she had just received to a figure lurking in the shadows.

The man who stepped forward was considerably older.

Russell, an information broker.

He had once worked primarily for Caroline, but after failing to withstand Baroness Berenice’s pressure, he had ultimately sided with Eleanor.

Russell examined the jewelry and asked, “Is the Delph family crest engraved on these?”

“No, nothing like that. But if needed, I’m willing to testify in court. I’ll state where and from whom I received them. These were a gift from Marquis Delph to Vivia on the day of her debutante ball.”

Vivia had always sought her father’s approval, cherishing the accessories he had gifted her.

Russell gave a small nod at Revoni’s explanation.

‘Finally, I have something to report.’

Months of being hounded by Jack Ruby—

He had been relentlessly nagging about when there would be any progress in the investigation on Countess Müller, stressing Russell out to the point that what little hair he had left was thinning even faster.

Letting out a deep sigh, Russell carefully smoothed down the mere three strands of hair remaining on his head.

‘This should’ve been Jack Ruby’s job in the first place.’

One of his subordinates had once told him—

The investigation into Countess Müller’s death had originally been assigned to Jack Ruby by Eleanor herself.

But after Jack had used force to take over his entire organization, he had conveniently dumped all the tasks he didn’t want to handle onto Russell under the excuse of being ‘too busy.’

‘Damn him. I hope he goes bald.’

Russell was grinding his teeth in frustration when Revoni suddenly asked, “The one filing charges against Vivia for orchestrating the murder—it’s Director Eleanor, correct?”

Russell, still rubbing his head, simply nodded.

“I have only one request.”

“A request?”

“Abolish child corporal punishment.”

“……”

Taedong.

“That’s all I ask.”

Russell couldn’t answer immediately.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand Revoni’s feelings, but would Eleanor really grant such a request?

According to Jack Ruby, she was about to take the highest position possible for a woman—she was soon to become Empress.

Moreover, because the progress report had been delayed, Eleanor still had no knowledge of Revoni’s involvement in Countess Müller’s death.

“…I understand.”

However, Russell nodded.

This was an issue that couldn’t be solved with money, so the report had to be made regardless.

“I will make sure to deliver your request to the director.”

“Thank you.”

Relieved to hear his answer, Revoni let out a quiet breath.

“I’ll take my leave now.”

“Yes. I will contact you once there’s a response.”

Receiving Russell’s farewell, Revoni walked away.

‘At last, I can atone.’

Taedong was a system in which a child was designated to receive punishment on behalf of a noble’s child.

Usually, poor commoners who needed money would offer their own children, or young servants of noble families would take on the role, though most refused to subject their children to such suffering.

As a result, selections were sometimes made by force.

No one had volunteered for Vivia’s Taedong, so it was none other than Count Müller who had chosen someone by force.

And Madame Müller, knowing this, had continued to severely beat Revoni’s son whenever Vivia made a mistake.

Every night, as she changed the bloodstained bandages, her son’s pain-stricken cries haunted Revoni’s sleep.

‘I have no regrets.’

Killing Madam Müller back then.

And now, this decision to betray Vivia at the risk of her own life.

She hoped that, somehow, it would serve as a small relief for the suffering her son endured.

‘As long as the children can be happy.’

The money she had received from Vivia in exchange for murdering Countess Müller had been carefully saved up.

Even if she were to perish on the executioner’s block, her children would be able to leave the noble’s estate and live in peace.

And this, too, was for the sake of those poor children still suffering under the Taedong system somewhere in the empire.

For the first time in a long while, Revoni smiled in relief.

***

Night fell quickly upon the mountains.

Though they had planned to depart earlier, the child Lennoch had made a sudden request upon seeing Eleanor, causing the knights to delay their departure as they moved back and forth between the plantation.

“Lady Eleanor, I know this is a selfish request, but… could we make a grave for the fallen soldier at the plantation?”

“A grave?”

“I wasn’t close to him. Honestly, I didn’t like him. He was a bit scary, too. He said he had killed a lot of people… But in the end, he helped me escape with Vito, so…”

As he explained, the child hesitated, stealing a cautious glance at Ernst.

He was worried about provoking his temper.

Eleanor understood that the child felt indebted to the soldier.

Fortunately, Lennoch agreed to the request without hesitation, ensuring the soldier’s body would not be left to the scavengers of the wild.

“We should find a nearby town to stay in for the night and return to the palace tomorrow.”

“Is it because of him?”

At Lennoch’s suggestion, Eleanor glanced back at the crippled old man being dragged along in the distance.

Ignoring the wounds on his limbs, he had pushed himself to move excessively, and in the process, his broken jaw had worsened, leaving him utterly spiritless.

With his jaw shattered and no weapon in hand, even suicide was out of the question.

Lennoch nodded lightly. “It would be troublesome if he were to die. We should have a doctor tend to his wounds in town. Also, we need to prepare a carriage for you. Are you uncomfortable?”

Even if Eleanor insisted she was fine, traveling on horseback all day was undoubtedly exhausting.

To lessen her burden, Lennoch had seated her with him on his horse, but he was still concerned about her fatigue.

Eleanor naturally leaned against him, feeling the firm support of his back.

“I’m fine. It’s been a while since I’ve ridden a horse, so I’m actually enjoying it.”

“Is that so? I didn’t expect you to enjoy it so much. In that case, I’ll make sure to arrange regular riding sessions for you.”

“I’d like that.”

Eleanor responded with a bright smile.

In truth, her waist was beginning to ache slightly.

However, the warmth of leaning against Lennoch was too pleasant to disrupt, so she chose not to mention it.

A strong arm wrapped around her waist.

“Eli.”

Lennoch rested his chin lightly on her shoulder.

The gentle weight made Eleanor instinctively tighten her grip on the reins.

Each time he spoke, his breath brushed against the back of her neck, warm and ticklish.

“Why is Duke Mecklen acting that way?”