I Reincarnated As An Evil Duchess - Chapter 126
Translator: Nabi
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Chapter 126
Only then did life return to his eyes, which had been darkened and lifeless until now. The Emperor brushed off his clothes, which were covered in dried dirt from where he had been sitting on the floor, and turned to Oliver, who stood beside him.
“In that case, I need to get our act together first. Captain Oliver, could you lend me a hand.”
“Before that, please hand over Grand Duchess Blaine to me. I’ll see to it that she is escorted to the carriage.”
“No, I’ll carry this person.”
Shaking his head in reply, the Emperor rose to his feet, still cradling the unconscious Grand Duchess around her waist, as he was supported by Oliver and Seth, who hurried approached him. Afterward, as he held Grand Duchess Blaine tenderly in his arms, he turned to Seth and Min-ha and opened his mouth.
“Next time you come to the imperial palace, bring the Duchess with you, Duke Persen.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Well then, I’ll take my leave now.”
“I’ll escort you to the palace.”
“No. The imperial knights and the paladins are sufficient to protect me, so you should return to your estate quickly. By now, your younger sibling must be eagerly waiting for you, isn’t he?”
“….”
“His Majesty is returning to the palace! All members of the imperial knights and the paladins, assemble!”
With those words, the Emperor immediately boarded the carriage with Grand Duchess Blaine.
At the same time, Oliver gathered the scattered knights. The knights swiftly prepared the carriage carrying Rupert and the Emperor’s carriage. Then, the knights mounted their horses that had been placed ready and began escorting the two carriages, riding down the road one by one.
“Well then. Until we meet again, Your Excellency the Duke and Duchess.”
“Yeah.”
“See you again, Sir Gallahed.”
After Gallahed, who remained until the end, bidding farewell to Seth and Min-ha, they quickly distanced themselves.
As if questioning if something had just happened a moment ago, the only ones left on the wide road were the people from the Persen estate, including Min-ha and Seth. The Persen knights, who had been assisting the imperial guard and paladins until a moment ago, were now busy preparing to return to their territory.
Amidst the bustle, Lancelot cautiously approached the two who were still standing, facing the direction from which the Emperor’s carriage had departed.
“Your Excellency and Duchess, please board the carriage.”
“Wait a minute, I have something to say to her.”
“Understood.”
After saying so, Seth turned to Min-ha, who still had a complicated expression, and asked.
“If you’re feeling even a little bit uneasy, please tell me. I’ll send a letter to His Majesty.”
“…No, it’s not like that. It’s just… I feel a bit strange, that’s all.”
As he slightly lowered his head to meet her gaze upon her words, she weakly smiled and replied.
“After everything is over, I thought I’d feel light and happy as if a burden had been lifted, but it’s not exactly like that… It’s strange. I’m so glad to have cleared my name and returned by your side, and it’s also good that those people received their comeuppance… but I don’t know, somehow it feels empty, and there’s a corner of my heart that feels restless.”
“….”
“Haha… Am I being foolish? If I knew it would be like this, I shouldn’t have just kept my heart at ease and listened to whatever His Majesty pleaded or asked… Still, I also wonder what good it would be to trample over those who had already been ruined again… My heart is so confused, going back and forth, not feeling like my own… It’s confusing.”
Seth looked at Min-ha, who was awkwardly smiling and rambling, with an affectionate gaze before pulling her into a tight embrace.
He wondered if the hearts of those who love each other become similar.
On the one hand, seeing her experiencing emotions similar to what he felt brought him a sense of happiness. However, unlike himself, who had only felt pity for the Emperor, he was concerned that the woman in front of him couldn’t fully hate those who had tormented her, and his heart was not as unyielding as he would have liked it to be.
Gently stroking her back as if comforting, he eventually opened his mouth.
“I understand. I felt the same way.”
“…Seth.”
“But you don’t need to feel sorry or guilty towards Rupert, Grand Duchess Blaine, or His Majesty. You are, after all, the biggest victim in this matter. It’s the other way around, as His Majesty said, they should be the ones apologizing.”
“….”
“So, just shake off those feelings. Even though I like the kind-hearted you, I don’t like it when you have that look on your face because of those emotions.”
“…Yes.”
Seeing Min-ha nodding her head heavily, he smiled slightly. He knew well that no matter how much he said this, she wouldn’t be able to simply brush off those feelings in an instant.
‘… I’m worried.’
He wondered how he could have even considered living alone after divorce, feeling that he wasn’t as resolute as he thought. Seth chuckled to himself as he secretly entertained the thought of ‘What if they had actually divorced and parted ways.’
‘Well, I guess there’s no need to worry about that anymore.’
That was right. Being strong, resilient, and relentless was something he could do in place of her. After all, wasn’t marriage about spending a lifetime together filling each other’s shortcomings?
With this thought in mind, he lowered his head and gently kissed her cheek.
“Now, let’s get on the carriage. The knights have been waiting for you for a while now.”
“Oh, really? Yes! Let’s go, let’s go!”
As he held out his hand towards Min-ha, who nodded with wide eyes, and then, as if it was natural, she took his outstretched hand. Seth held her hand with his fingers interlocked, fitting together like perfect puzzle pieces, and they walked together to where the carriage was waiting.
After a short spring, the fields of the Persen estate welcomed the full-blown summer with a fragrant sea of purple.
Lavenders, which grew delicate leaves in the warm spring sunlight, blossomed under the summer heat, filling the sunshine with vibrant purple flowers.
Within the empire, lavender, used as a spice, tea, and medicinal herb, had long been a major summer export of the Persen estate. Therefore, when summer arrived, it was the busiest time for those who harvested lavender throughout the estate, dyeing it purple, as well as those who crafted various goods from lavender.
So, around this time of year, the bustling Persen estate, already busy with lavender harvesting and lavender-based product crafting, was now additionally occupied with festival preparations.
People who roamed the fields with baskets on their arms to harvest lavender adorned their windows and house walls with beautiful fabrics, and those who produced special lavender products, such as medicinal herbs, tea, and spices, also prepared delicious food and wore beautiful new clothes.
The reason they set aside their usual work and embarked on festival preparations was that the Duke of Persen’s wife, Duchess Minase Persen, had cleared her name and been released from her wrongful accusations.
To celebrate this occasion, Duke Persen significantly reduced the taxes imposed on the residents within the estate.
So those who were relieved of the tax burden welcomed and celebrated the return of the Duchess, who had cleared her name, as a way to express their gratitude. Still, despite the fact that the reduced tax burden was a relief, there was also a sense of wanting to take a break, but nevertheless, they were delighted with the favorable turn of events.
In the meanwhile, the Persen mansion was also engulfed in the festival atmosphere.
The mansion, which had been both the beginning and the end of all these events, was naturally bustling with preparations for the banquet.
Amidst the busy servants decorating the mansion and preparing food, an unexpected shouting could be heard from the eastern annex of the mansion.
“Vane! Not there! A little more to the right!”
“…I understand.”
It was less of a shouting match and more of a one-sided scolding.
The one making the noise was Noah Persen, the younger brother of Duke Persen, to Sir Agravein, who had a blunt and vicious-looking appearance with dark gray hair.
Agravein, who was taller by at least a head than ordinary men, with a sturdy build and a formidable demeanor, was currently carrying Noah, who was riding him like a horse as the child was musing on ‘How to beautifully hang the paper decorations he had made.’
And perched comfortably on Agravein’s shoulders, Young Lord Noah extended his short arms to hold up the paper decoration he had made in front of his room’s corridor window. He was sure it would look good, but when he actually held it up, it didn’t seem to fit well at all.
[ T/N: I was going to say this before but Seth really do be making all his intimidating looking knights do a babysitting job LOL ]
Noah pouted his lips and patted Agravein’s head with his small hands.
“Vane! A little lower!”
“….”
“Ung?! Lower!”
“…I understand.”
Agravein, who had been briefly silent at his words, soon bent down as the child instructed without saying a word.
Then, with a wide smile, Noah, who seemed satisfied with how he had hung the decoration, clapped his hands in delight before he lowered his head and spoke to Agravein.
“Alright! Now, let’s hang five more here!”
“…Yes. I understand.”
Having to do this five more times in the future…
Perhaps if it were Gawin, he would have fled long ago, but Agravein, once again, silently nodded his head.
Among the servants who laughed loudly while watching the two, there was a man standing with a crutch in one hand and a cane in the other. He approached Noah, who was excitedly picking up decorations, and Agravein, who held out the box he was holding in his hand to the child.
“Young Master Noah, even if Sir Agravein is the kind of person who can’t refuse, you shouldn’t be so forceful.”
“Oh, Bedi!”
The moment Noah saw Bediviel, who was smiling at him, he called out his name loudly and shook his legs. Seeming to understand that the child wanted to be put down, Agravein wordlessly lifted Noah, who had been riding on his shoulder, and gently set him on the ground.
Noah immediately approached Bediviel and embraced his crutched leg while speaking.
“Bedi, are you still in pain? Do you want me to he-help you?”
“Haha, that’s fine.”
“Really?”
“…Ugh. Yes, of course.”
When Noah tightened his grip on his leg while tilting his head, Bediviel’s expression briefly contorted.
Watching this, Agravein approached Noah with an expressionless face before gently pulling the back of the child’s clothes and parted his lips.
“…If you hug his leg so tightly, Sir Bediviel will be in pain.”
“Pain? Is Bedi hurting because of Noah?”
“Yes. He will have an ouch.”
“…Kuk.”
At the ensuing conversation between Noah and Agravein, Bediviel burst into laughter without realizing it.
Perhaps because it was Agravein, who boasted the most muscular physique among the Persen knights and had a fierce demeanor, that it was an unbearably funny thing within the empire to hear him say ‘ouch,’ as he could likely count on one hand how many times he had uttered that word.
While his laughter caused Agravein’s stern expression to crumple, Bediviel didn’t apologize to him, knowing very well that it wasn’t out of anger but embarrassment. Instead, he brought up a different topic to prevent Agravein from feeling more embarrassed.
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Translator’s Note: Hello, it’s Nabi! I’m the translator of this novel ପ( ๑•ᴗ•๑ )ଓ♡ If you like the novel and would like to support me, please feel free to click the button below to go to my kofi~! Thank you so much for always supporting the novels I work on, even if you don’t buy me a coffee, I really do appreciate it a lot. ❤︎
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