"Duchess?"
Chris frowned when he couldn’t find Penelope Askary in the carriage. The man put all the cakes he bought in the carriage and approached the coachman.
"Hey, have you seen Duchess Penelope?"
"No, Sir. I thought the Duchess was with Sir Chris."
Chris clicked his tongue in annoyance and started to panic. Even so, the man tried to stay calm. He glanced around, trying to find Penelope Askary. The crowd around Chris made it difficult to find the Duke’s wife.
"Dammit! I shouldn’t have left the Duchess alone," Chris muttered. He turned his head around and raised an eyebrow when he felt a touch on his shoulder. A man looks nervous in front of him. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Are you the knight escorting Duchess Penelope?" the man asked, making Chris widen his eyes. He imdiately grabbed both of the man’s shoulders tightly, making the man widen his eyes and panic. "Forgive ! I just want to convey a ssage from the Duchess!"
"ssage?!" Chris shook his head firmly. "No, I’m not mad at you! Quickly, tell what ssage the Duchess gave !"
"The Duchess has to follow a mysterious man, who suddenly appeared behind her. That man threatened that if the Duchess doesn’t follow him, then he will kill everyone who is here."
"What?!" Chris hissed. "You’re not lying to , are you?!"
"No, I’m not lying at all!" The man gave him the item the Duchess had given him to serve as evidence. "The Duchess gave it to for to give it to you. The Duchess also said if you still don’t believe , I was told to tell you this." The man cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Sir Chris, I know you drank two bottles of red wine that night in the kitchen with Sir Jellal and Sir Edgar. Then, you also broke Duke Edmund’s favorite plate. I won’t be reporting it to Duke Edmund so don’t kill or arrest the man who delivered the ssage to you. Philleo Aaron ca to and told to et him in an alley."
Chris froze. Indeed, that night only Duchess Penelope saw him partying with Jellal and Edgar in the kitchen, also how he accidentally broke Edmund’s favorite plate.
"Which way did the Duchess go?!" asked Chris in a worried tone.
"There!" The man pointed to the alley where Penelope had been.
Chris clenched his jaw and glared at the man. "Do you know the way to the imperial palace?"
The man blinked. "Yes?"
"Go to the palace and show this thing to the guard at the palace gate! Then, tell him that you must et Duke Edmund as soon as possible. Tell them that Chris Armstrong sent you to deliver a ssage to Duke Edmund that Duchess Penelope is in danger!"
The man imdiately nodded and ran toward the palace. He left the balloons just like that. anwhile, Chris imdiately cursed under his breath and ran toward the alley that the man had pointed at him.
"I hope you are fine, Duchess!"
###
"Finally I can see your face again, Penelope."
Penelope Askary stopped in her tracks. She created so distance with Philleo Aaron. The woman looked back and noticed that many people were passing by. If Philleo wanted to do bad things to her, Penelope could scream for help.
"It’s no use looking back, Penelope," said Philleo. He smirked. The man sat down on a pile of objects in the alley, then crossed his right leg over his left. "I’ve put up a magic barrier in this place. They won’t be able to see you or hear you. I am free to have you, Penelope!"
Penelope, who already suspected this was a trap, still looked calm in her place. "Do you think I’ll let you do whatever you want with ? I’m not afraid of you, Philleo Aaron. I’m here to hear what you want to talk to about."
"I know you’re investigating Marquess Lysander." Philleo got down from the stuff and approached Penelope. He stood before the beautiful woman and stroked her face gently. Penelope imdiately jerked Philleo’s hand away and gave him a murderous look.
"How did you know about that?"
"I told you, my dear Penelope. I can do anything with my magic power," chuckled Philleo. The man pulled away from Penelope and shrugged. "I know a few things about Marquess Lysander."
"What do you an?" Penelope asked in a firm tone.
"I can tell you everything I know, Penelope. But, of course, the information I’m about to tell you isn’t free." Philleo crossed his arms and tilted his head. The man smirked. "How about it? Are you willing to do what I want if I tell you this information?"
Penelope clenched her jaw and clenched her fists. What should she do now? She needed this information but she also didn’t want to grant Philleo Aaron everything he wanted.
"What do you want?" Penelope asked.
"Unfortunately, all I want in this world is you. If you promise to co with and live with , I will be happy to help you capture Marquess Lysander. Isn’t that how you can save Isabella Lysander? I really feel sorry for that woman, Penelope. She isn’t the biological daughter of Marquess Lysander but that man made her have to follow all of his orders and even tortured her all the ti."
Penelope froze. Her eyes widened.
"What... did you say just now...?" Penelope gulped. "Isabel isn’t the biological daughter of Marquess Lysander?"
"Oh? You did not know?" Phileo laughed. "Yes, she is not the biological daughter of Marquess Lysander. She was just a child without status and was adopted as a child by Marquess Lysander. Isabella is just a commoner, Penelope! She was adopted by Marquess Lysander because that woman had magical powers in her body. It’s just that Isabella Lysander never knew about it because the magic power in her body hasn’t awakened." Philleo stretched out his right hand. "Since I already told you, now you have to co with and I’ll tell you the rest."
Penelope snorted and smiled coldly. "What do you an, Philleo Aaron? I never promised to co with you."
"What?!" Phileo was wide-eyed. "But, earlier you—"
"I only asked what you wanted but I never agreed to your request," Penelope opened her palm and morized all the details of the formulas and magic spells taught by Claude Sylvester. The green light then ca out, making Philleo’s eyes widen again. "And for your information, I’ve learned magic so I can attack you and all my enemies!"
Philleo imdiately cursed and created a magic barrier from his two hands. His magic and Penelope’s magic collided, then caused such a great explosion. Philleo looked around and the magic formula he used to create a barrier in this place started to crack.
"You?! How could you do this?!"
Penelope grinned. "I told you that I’ve learned magic and might be even more powerful than you, Philleo Aaron!"
"You damn woman!" shouted Phileo. The man was casting a more difficult spell, which was far more powerful than his previous spells. Right now, the anger inside him was more dominant than his love and obsession for Penelope. The purple and black light ca into view and aid at Penelope.
Penelope, who didn’t have ti to dodge, was wide-eyed. She scread and was thrown out of the alley. Philleo’s magic barrier was broken. The woman groaned in pain and coughed up blood.
"Penny...?"
The call made Penelope turn her head around. The woman was crying and smiling.
"Finally you ca, Ed. I’ve been waiting for you. Sorry, I acted alone without your permission."
Edmund Gerwyn, who imdiately ca using Jellal’s teleportation magic after he heard what happened with Penelope from the man that Chris sent, froze and widened his eyes when he saw Penelope coughing up blood. Moreover, now Penelope closed her eyes. As if losing his mind, Edmund ran toward Penelope and hugged her body carefully.
"Penny, open your eyes. No, you can’t do this to . Penelope Askary!" Edmund was starting to not be able to breathe properly. Then, he turned his head and he gave Philleo Aaron a murderous look. "I will kill you, Philleo Aaron!" He growled.
###
The first thing she saw was the ceiling of a room she didn’t recognize.
She groaned softly and held her aching head. Then, when the mory of Philleo Aaron attacking her with magic appeared in her head, the woman widened her eyes and got up in one swift motion. She gulped and glanced around. Then, she frowned. Where is this? Why isn’t she on the street like she should be? Then, where is Edmund? Hadn’t her husband co to save her?
"Sienna, did you fall asleep while mopping the floor again?" asked soone with an amused tone. "You didn’t hit your head on the floor, did you? Is your head okay?"
"Sienna...?" She had not heard that na in a long ti. When she possessed Penelope Askary’s body, she decided to forget that na and all her past life, in her old world. "Did you... just talk to ?"
A woman with blonde hair frowned and walked up to her. She touched her forehead and said, "You don’t have a fever. I think you probably hit your head on the floor when you fell. Rest in the locker room, Sienna. I will take over all of your work. I told you not to overdo the work."
When the woman left, she imdiately ran to find a mirror. She just realized that she was in a convenience store. This place is her part-ti job. She imdiately stood in front of the mirror and was wide-eyed. Her body froze and her hands automatically cupped her cheeks.
"I... turned back into Sienna...?" She muttered. She gulped and started to break out in a cold sweat. Her heart was beating twice as fast as usual. The woman started to panic. "Was everything I experienced as Penelope Askary just a... dream?"
Feeling it was pointless to dwell on what seed like a dream—a very long dream, of course—Sienna decided to forget everything. She intends to throw garbage in the back of the supermarket. When she was in an alley to take out the trash, her steps stopped. She looked up and was wide-eyed. Sienna subconsciously took a step back and fell. Her index finger pointed at the figure in front of her tremblingly.
"You...."
The figure smiled.
"Have you forgotten ?"
"What?"
"Why did you leave and the twins behind?"
"Edmund... Gerwyn...?"
"Yes," nodded Edmund. He stretched out his right hand. "Co back to , Sienna." The man shook his head firmly. "No, Penelope Askary. Co back to and the twins, Penny. We are waiting for you. Didn’t you promise to live your life as Penelope Askary from now on? Then, what are you doing here?"
Sienna moistened her lips. "I..." The woman held her aching head and groaned softly. She squeezed her head tightly and began to struggle to breathe. "What really happened?!" She exclaid.
"Penny—"
"SHUT UP!" Sienna shouted. The woman tried to catch her breath. She started crying. "Don’t talk to ! I do not know you!"
anwhile, at Gerwyn’s mansion, Edmund was sitting by the bed. His hand gripped Penelope’s cold hand tightly. The man looked very panicked and worried. He had asked for help from a doctor, priest, and even a wizard, but nothing could make Penelope open her eyes. Even when Sarah brought the twins in, the twins couldn’t use their powers on Penelope. The twins were even busy crying in their room at the mont. Apparently, they were very scared that sothing bad happened to Penelope, their beloved Mother.
"Penny, open your eyes." Edmund put the back of Penelope’s hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. "Please."
In such a dark place, Goddess Oizys watched everything while grinning. The Goddess of Sorrow and Suffering laughed contentedly and bit her nails.
"Well then, Penelope Askary," she muttered evilly. "What are you going to do now when I lock you up in my created nightmare?"
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