Awakening Love: Reborn to Be His Duchess Chapter 528: A Name to Remember

Elowen watched her quietly.

Tears kept slipping down Nikki's cheeks, one after another.

"But they didn't care what I said," Nikki went on, her voice shaking. "One of them looked me over like I was something up for sale, then said I was plain as anything, just had a sharp tongue. Said even if I were handed to his household for free as a servant, I'd still be an eyesore, and he'd have me dragged out and thrown into the street."

Elowen's brows drew tighter with every word.

These people...

She pressed her lips together, then asked, "Do you know which families they belong to? Or at least what they looked like?"

Nikki shook her head, frustration and embarrassment mixing together as her tears kept falling. "I was too angry, and then too upset after. I didn't think to remember their faces. Just... three or four of them, all dressed well, with attendants."

Her voice trailed off.

Elowen let out a quiet breath.

She hadn't expected anything like this to happen at the Imperial Examination Hall. If she had, she would have sent Scarlet along.

Scarlet never forgot a face.

Not one of them would have slipped away.

"I'm sorry, Your Grace," Nikki said suddenly, guilt creeping into her expression. "I shouldn't have told you this. Now I've upset you too."

Elowen looked at her, her voice softening.

"I'm not upset with you," she said. "I just hate that you had to go through that. You're young, and you handled it better than most would. This shouldn't have been yours to deal with. That's on me."

Nikki froze for a moment, clearly not expecting that answer.

She sniffed, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right! Kaelan was nearby. He heard what was happening and came over to help us."

Elowen's gaze lifted slightly. "Kaelan?"

"Yeah," Nikki said quickly. "The moment he walked over, those men stopped laughing. They straightened up right away. He didn't say much, just looked at them and reminded them that the examination grounds weren't a place for gathering and making noise. They must've been intimidated, because they didn't say anything else and left soon after."

Scarlet let out a small breath. "Good thing he stepped in."

Elowen gave a faint nod, then looked back at Nikki, her tone steady, almost confirming something already decided.

"So Kaelan saw them. Which means he knows exactly who they are. Is that right?"

Nikki nodded. "Yes. They hadn't left yet when he came over."

"Good," Elowen said. "That's all I needed."

She looked at Nikki again.

The girl had stopped crying, but her eyes were still red. Elowen's voice softened.

"Don't cry anymore. When your brother finishes all three sessions and comes out, I'll go with you to meet him."

Nikki stared at her, stunned.

"Your Grace?" she stammered. "You... you can't go there. It's crowded and chaotic outside the examination grounds. You shouldn't be in a place like that. It's not appropriate..."

Elowen's expression didn't change, her smile calm and unwavering.

"Nikki," she said, each word clear, "you need to remember this. No one gets to mistreat someone from Hale Manor. I don't care who they are, or what name they carry."

Nikki went completely still, her lips parting slightly.

Someone like me... she's willing to stand up for me?

Her nose stung, and her vision blurred again as tears filled her eyes.

This time, it wasn't from humiliation.

Elowen looked at her and couldn't help but smile. "What is it now? Crying again? Was it really that bad? I told you, I'll make this right for you."

Nikki shook her head quickly. "I'm not upset anymore, Your Grace."

"Then why are you crying?" Elowen asked.

Nikki looked at her, voice trembling. "Because... I'm grateful."

Elowen raised a brow slightly.

Nikki took a deep breath, her expression turning serious, almost solemn.

"Your Grace, from now on, my life is yours. If you tell me to go east, I won't go west."

Elowen paused, caught off guard.

That night at Stillwater Court, after the lamps had been lit and the manor settled into quiet, Elowen told Cassian everything that had happened.

From Nikki being humiliated outside the Imperial Examination Hall, to her own decision to go there in person when the exams ended and stand up for her.

By the end, she let out a small laugh. "She's still so young. Something like this, and she's already saying her life belongs to me."

Cassian looked at her for a long moment.

"Ella," he said, "do you know how men like that are made?"

Elowen gave a small nod. "I do."

Avenlor had its ways. Some were bound by fear. Some by gold. And some were taken in young and shaped over time.

The last kind were the most loyal.

They placed their lord's will above everything, even their own lives.

Cassian's lips curved slightly.

"What you did for Nikki today," he said, "is not so different from how I built mine."