Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a sunny day, ironically.

A day like any other day.

Penelope woke up to Emily knocking on her door, as she always did.

"My lady? It's time to get up." Penelope sighed, and swung her legs off the bed.

"I'm up, Emily." The timid maid entered the room, followed by two others. They scurried into the bathroom, drawing her a warm bath with rose petals. This treatment was one of the only perks of her new transmigrated life. If it weren't for the violent men, the horrible family, the rumors of insanity, and the constant threat of death, Penelope might even enjoy this life.

She admired herself in the mirror, modeling an elegant light green gown that brought out her eyes. Blue eyes, that resembled her mother's. No, not her mother's, she reminded herself. Penelope's mother. Sierra Agriche. 'With beauty like this, why did Penelope even bother with her family?' Penelope wondered, smiling at her reflection, before turning away. She had a plan for today, to visit Eckles again. She hadn't seen him for a few days, and she couldn't risk his percentage dropping. God, the thought made her nauseous with anxiety. Better hurry there.

Once she reached his door, she knocked lightly.

"Eckles?" She called out. Drawing her hand back from the door, Penelope ran a thumb over her nails. Perhaps this was a mistake. Maybe she should have brought him a gift. No, but he said he prefers time with her, didn't he? Was he simply being humble? Should she have brought him another sword, or jewelry, or-

The sound of the door opening jerked her out of her thoughts. Eckles stood in the doorway, his face bright as he saw her. Penelope watched his gaze scan her up and down. Sometimes, she forgot he was a man in this world, a man who was close to being completely in love with her.

"I thought I'd go shopping today. Escort me." It felt weird to order him around like this, but a noble lady would never bother with formalities with a guard, not even one as mad as Penelope. Eckles nodded, his expression unreadable. Penelope hated that about him, that she could never read him. She glanced up at the percentage; 60%. At least that about him was controllable. To be honest, he was completely her type. Tall, dark-haired, protective. In fact, he was probably Actual Penelope's type, because he reminded her a bit of another one of Penelope's love interests. Or, rather, Roxana Agriche's love interest.

*Quick Explanation:

So at the beginning of Hard Mode, you get the option to play Penelope's beginning in exchange for a better understanding of Penelope. Siyeon played this side-quest, and that's how she knows all of the characters, like Dion and Cassis and Sierra and the others. Does this make sense? Probably not. But I'm too lazy to come up with anything else so too bad.

Ok, explanation over

*********************************************************************************************************************************************

Although they weren't alike in looks, per se, or personality, there was something that reminded Penelope of Cassis when she looked at Eckles. It was probably that they were both slaves ordered around by Penelope/Roxana. In fact, sometimes Eckles reminded her more of Dion, Roxana's obsessive, possessive, asshole half-brother. What was it with Penelope and having horrible brothers?

"Master? Are you alright?" Eckles's voice brought Penelope out of her thoughts. How long had she been zoned out for? Her guard was staring at her with concerned eyes, head tilted. It was times like this that he really did look like Cassis.

"Ah, sorry Eckles. My mind was elsewhere. How close are we?" As soon as the words left her mouth, the carriage they were seated in pulled to a stop. She must have been thinking for quite a while. Eckles climbed out of the carriage first, then held out his hand towards Penelope. She placed her hand in his, and carefully stepped down. She still had not gotten used to wearing dresses and heels everyday. All the more reason to get out of this damn game faster.

Penelope looked around, her eyes falling on a street market nearby. Perfect.

"Come on." She started walking towards it, her shoes clacking against the cobblestone road. Penelope could feel Eckles following a few steps behind her. She would prefer walking side by side with him, but she had to remind herself that Penelope Eckhart was a noble lady, and he was just her personal guard.

A jewelry stand caught her eye. It had simple, but elegant gems, in the form of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, you name it. She decided to get a few things for her father, Vinter, and Eckles. Her father, because even though he wasn't a character with a percentage, his approval of her was incredibly important to her survival. Eckles to raise his percentage, and Vinter because it never hurt to have a back up. Yes, that would suffice. Getting anything for her brothers or the crazy bastard would just be a waste of effort and money.

Turning to Eckles, she told him "Go wander. I need to pick out a few things."

He hesitated, not wanting to leave her, but left after a moment. Penelope approached the stand, and started to inspect the jewelry. She saw some white cuff links that would surely suit Vinter's hair. Picking them up, her eyes kept wandering over the selection of goods. A silver watch, inlaid with sapphires the color of Duke Eckhart's hair, perfect for him. It joined the cuff links in her hand. Finally, she picked up a bracelet. It was simple, with black and gold beads. Not feminine, but not too decorative for a simple guard. She paid for the gifts, and slipped them into the purse she brought. As she turned around, she was met with a pair of eyes.

Eyes as red as rubies.

As red as blood.

Chapter Text

“Hello Ana.”

Penelope’s blood ran cold. Two words she’d read over and over again, sitting on her bed playing the side-quest for Penelope’s backstory. The nickname that only one of Penelope’s awful family member’s called her.

Dion.

“I’m sorry?” Her brain went into panic mode. She’d never actually met Dion of course, but just like all of the love interests in the current timeline, she’d seen him through the game. And what she knew, scared her. But the scariest thing was that she hadn’t spent nearly enough time with him, as the side quest was relatively short, as any of the other love interests. She had a limited knowledge of his and “Penelope”’s relationship. So, perhaps if she could play dumb, he wouldn’t realize he’d found her. How had he found her anyways? And how had he recognized her?

“Roxana.” Dion stepped closer to Penelope, who simply tilted her head, trying not to show how nervous she was.

“I think you may have me confused with somebody else sir.”

Dion’s eyebrows furrowed. Not a good sign. He didn’t look confused, but possibly angry. Or… hungry? He was annoyingly hard to read, just like a certain guard who was conveniently absent for this. What was even the point of having a personal guard if not to save you from your creepy, possessive half-brother.

In a flash, Dion grabbed Penelope’s wrist and yanked her towards him. She froze, not knowing how to react.

“So that’s how you wanna play it?” He whispered, his breathe tickling her ear. God, why did she have to run into this creep today? This never happened in Hard Mode when she was playing it! Well, then again, she never got this far.

Penelope scanned the market. No sign of Ecklies, that useless idiot. And of course, none of the other people on the street batted an eye, because whatever God existed in this world apparently hated her. Fine, she’d deal with it herself.

“I don’t know who you are, or who you think I am, but you need to get off me.” She replied coolly, pushing Dion off of her. He smirked in response, keeping a grip on her wrist. “I’m serious, whatever game this is-”

“Oh but you love games Ana. Don’t tell me you’ve gotten boring since you ran away? And I spent all this time coming to get you, don’t you think you should at least drop the act? Or would you rather I drag you back to Father right now?” Dion said, his nails digging into her skin. She looked around again. Still no sign of Ecklies.

“Fine.” She gritted her teeth, and pulled Dion away from the cart. They headed to a nearby deserted alley, because if she was going to deal with this pathetic psychopath, she sure as hell wasn’t going to do it in front of other people. “What do you want Dion?”

“What do I want? Your time away from Agriche has made you boring and stupid Roxana. Did you honestly think that dying your hair would hide you forever?”

“It worked pretty well for two years.” She said, rolling her eyes. “How’d you find me anyways?”

“On a mission. We got hired to take down some royal bastard here. Then I hear rumors of some crazy bitch, so I checked out that house of yours.”

“And you what? Followed me here?”

“Yes.”

What. an. Asshole. Poor Penelope. Or… Roxana. Whatever. There were more pressing matters right now.

“Well. What do you want, Dion.”

“Ha. Are you serious?” He raised his eyebrows, running a hand along his chin.

“Of course I am. I assume you don’t need money, so what? Help with the mission? I don’t do that kind of stuff anymore. In case you haven’t noticed, I have a f-”

Just as quick as he had done before, the bastard shoved her against the rough brick wall. His eyes, which were cold before, were now brimming with anger.

Huh. No wonder Penelope ran away.

“Don’t. Say. It.”

“Say what?” It came out more teasingly then she’d meant it. What had she even said wrong? It wasn’t like she had said what she’d been thinking about him this whole time. That he was a psychotic, weird, obsessive, sister-loving, ugly freak with major daddy issues who’s only redeeming quality was that he was related to Penelope. Oh fuck, had she actually said any of that out loud?

“Those… people.” He spat out the words like they were acidic in his mouth. Ironic, given that his breath smelled of blood. Oh God, HAD HE EATEN SOMEBODY ON THE WAY OVER HERE? “They are not your family. You can sit in their house, eat their food, play dress up like you’re some stupid noble bitch, but you’re an Agriche through and through. It’s in your blood.” He pulled out something from his pocket. It took Penelope a moment to realize it was a dagger.

Fuck.

After ALL of that hard work, after sucking up to her dumb father and brothers, after dealing with all of that shit, THIS was how she was going to go down? Killed by this fucking maniac, who wasn’t even important enough to make it into the main game?

She closed her eyes and took a sharp breath, waiting for him to plunge the knife into her. And here she’d thought it’d be that dumbass crown prince who’d stab her one day. She’d traded one psychotic bastard for another, great.

Suddenly, pain shot across her wrist. Her eyes flew open in shock, and dangerous blood-red eyes stared back at her. Penelope could feel something dripping down her arm, and as she turned she saw the red liquid rolling across her white skin. Huh. She wasn’t expecting that. Dion drew the knife back, and slashed across his own palm. Well. She wasn’t expecting that either. He placed his bloody palm against her fresh wound, making her flinch back in pain.

“See? We have the same blood.”

He was even more of a deranged creep than the stupid game gave him credit for.

“Alright, wonderful, we have the same blood from our loving father. Now, what. Do. You. Want. I’m tired of this, and I happen to have plans today.” She’d almost forgotten about Ecklies. If she could just get away from this guy, she might be able to gain some sympathy and guilt from him for abandoning her.

“You’re coming back with me.”

She really should have expected that. His eyes showed that there was no way she could talk her way out of this. So, violence it would be. If she could hit him with her knee and run, maybe she could get to the carriage before-

“Lady Penelope is not going anywhere with you.”

Or not.

Chapter Text

“I said, the lady is not going anywhere with you.”

Vinter Verdandi was usually a comforting figure for Penelope, one of the only love interests who killed her the least in the game. Although he had brought Yvonne and indirectly started the chain of events that lead to her many deaths, he hadn’t directly killed her as much. Low standards, but that was the rule in this game. Right now however, she wished Vinter would disappear very quickly.

“Who is this, Ana?” Dion’s grip tightened on her wrist, blood still dripping down her arm.

“Marquess Verdandi, and you?” Vinter said coldly, taking a step forward.

“I didn’t ask you, magician.” At this, Vinter’s eyes widened. Penelope knew she should feel bad for him, as it was extremely dangerous for Vinter to be discovered as a magician, but he had ruined her plans by being here so too bad for him. “Ah, was that supposed to be a secret? Did you truly think the leader of Agriche would not train his children to recognize magicians?”

Vinter froze. Agriche was a well known name, even in this empire, not for good reason. The family of bloody, violent, murderous psychopaths. An Agriche here could not be good news, and Penelope could only guess what he was thinking of her for being involved with one.

“Agriche or not, that is no way to treat a noble lady.” With a blast of white, Dion was blasted away from Penelope. Vinter was by her side as quickly as Dion left it, holding a handkerchief to the cut on her arm. “Are you alright, Lady Eckhart?”

“Lady Eckhart? Hah.” Dion scoffed, his eyes trained dangerously on Vinter’s hand on Penelope.

Ignoring him, Vinter smiled softly at Penelope; “Seems you’re always injured when I see you, Lady Eckhart. We have to stop meeting like th-”

He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence, as Dion was on him in a flash. He pressed a knife, the same one he had used on Penelope not too long ago, to Vinter’s throat.

“Vinter!” Penelope cried. She knew love interests couldn’t die, but she had also thought there were only two murderous asshole brothers to worry about in the game.

“Choose Roxy. You can come with me willingly and I’ll let Mr. Magic here go, or I can slit his throat, knock you out, and drag you back to Agriche myself.” Dion’s eyes glinted as he smiled. That sick bastard was actually enjoying this. It made Penelope sick to think about what the original Penelope had to deal with daily with this piece of shit as her brother. She had to think of a way out of this. Obviously she wasn’t going back to Agriche, but even if she ran away right now and let Dion kill Vinter, she didn’t know what consequences the game would give her. Images ran through her mind, of getting stabbed by Dion out of anger, getting executed for ‘murdering’ Vinter, getting blamed and mobbed by the townspeople who Vinter had helped. She couldn’t let everything she had worked for slip away like this. She had to survive, had to get back, had to win.

“You’re welcome to try, coward. You want to see what’s faster, your magic or my knife?” He pressed the knife closer to Vinter’s neck. Vinter must have been about to attempt some sort of spell. Where was the damn game’s quest thing when you needed it? Some sort of guidance would have been very helpful right about now. Alas, as everything else in the damn game went, Penelope would be on her own.

“Let him go, Dion.”

“Or what, Roxy?”

“He’s a fairly famous noble. Your father wouldn’t be happy with you for killing some poor marquess who just so happened to stumble upon us, now would he? Does he even know you’re here?”

Ah, she had guessed correctly. Dion’s jaw tightened, and she saw a flash of surprise in his eyes, just for a moment. If his father didn’t know he was here, he must have had orders to kill her on sight. What exactly was his plan then if he dragged her to Agriche? Lant surely wouldn’t welcome her with open arms, he’d probably kill her immediately, so why wouldn’t Dion do that now instead of bringing her to Father? Oh, who knew what that crazy psycho was ever thinking anyways. It was useless trying to understand his reasoning.

“You’re not going to kill him, Dion. You want to, but you won’t, will you? If you could, you already would have. So, you’re hoping I’ll cry and beg and go with you instead. Did you honestly think my years away made me that soft?”

Penelope could see the confusion growing on Vinter’s face. How was she going to explain this to him? Whatever, she could worry about that later, once Dion was gone far away.

“I missed this side of you, Roxy. I missed all of you, especially that crying face of yours. Perhaps, if you make it for me again, I’ll let you and your little lover boy here go. For now.”

What a joke.

“You forget Dion, you have no leverage here. We both know you won’t kill Vinter here, and as long as he’s alive he won’t let you take me. Better scurry along home, rat.” She could feel her face settle into a cold expression on the last words. Penelope was sick of him, and wished more than anything that she could head back to the dukedom and take a long warm bath to get the horrible feeling of his touch off of her.

“Only if you come with me, sister.”

Oh fuck him.
Vinter inhaled sharply. The secret was out now. She only wished it could have been Ecklies who heard it, somebody who wouldn’t judge her for such an upbringing. Poor original Penelope, who had worked so hard to keep her family hidden, to have it exposed by this obsessive weirdo.

“Must you ruin all of my fun Dion? You’re such a sore loser.” Better to appeal to Dion’s idea of her, the cold and calculative Roxane Agriche than Vinter’s pitiful and miserable Penelope Eckhart, as only one of them was currently holding a knife.

“I haven’t lost anything yet dear Ana.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth, than a sword suddenly appeared pointed at his chest, only a hair from piercing it. The wielder said nothing, his face hidden from Penelope. She could tell who it was however.

“A little late, don’t you think Ecklies?”

“My apologies, master. I ran into some… trouble.”

Dion must not have come alone. That was rather unlike him. At least now her trusty bodyguard was here, even if it meant one more person dragged into the Agriche sibling drama.

“Checkmate, Dion. Drop the knife.”

He smirked in response, a horrible and sickening grin of amusement.

“It’s adorable you think this puny thing could stop me.”

Penelope didn’t know if he meant the sword, or Ecklies.

“I suggest you let the Marquess go if you don’t want my guard to impale you.” She refused to let his stupid ego frighten her. Honestly, she had no idea if Ecklies could beat Dion, but it was worth a try at the least.

“You remind me of somebody, dog. Who knew that fucking Pedelian was so replacable to you, Roxy? He’d be so hurt to know, he’s been looking for you too.”

She was right, Ecklies was similar to Cassis. Wait, that wasn’t important right now.

“Brother.” She gave her sweetest smile as she stepped closer to him, heels clacking on cobblestone. “Drop. The. Knife.”

Penelope leaned into his ear, whispering so Ecklies and Vinter couldn’t hear.

“Or I’ll rip out your heart right here and now, and hang it up as a trophy in my room.”

A nauseating laugh echoed through the alleyway as Dion’s blood red eyes met Penelope’s ice blue ones.

“You know just how to seduce a man, dear sister. Very well.” He dropped the knife from Vinter’s chest, lifting his arms up in surrender. Penelope nodded at Ecklies who lowered the sword hesitantly. It was clear in his eyes, now that Penelope could see them, that he wished to exact the same violence on Dion as Penelope had just described. That was the difference between him and Cassis, and she was sure Dion had seen it too as he raised his eyebrows at her.

“See you soon, sister.”

With that, he left, trailing blood from his own wrist as he did.

What a mess that was.

Chapter Text

“Are you alright, my lady?”

Of course, Penelope should have expected that even after everything, Vinter would act like the perfect gentleman. And perhaps he might have even meant it a bit, but one look at his face told Penelope he was still trying to process everything that’d just gone down.

And so was she.

Never, not in a single one of the many, many, attempts Siyeon made at Hard Mode, had Penelope’s true identity been revealed. What was she supposed to do now? How was this even possible?

“I’m alright, thank you Marquess. And I believe I owe you an explanation.”

“Ah, if you feel comfortable then I shall be glad to listen. Would you prefer a more… private… location?” Vinter asked, glancing not-so-subtly at Ecklies. The knight in question remained where he was, although Penelope noticed he clenched his sword a bit tighter.

“Ecklies.” With obvious reluctance, Ecklies stayed put as Penelope and Vinter walked away from him. She was fairly sure he could still hear them but she’d keep up the act to make Vinter feel more comfortable.

“You’re still bleeding, my lady.” Vinter delicately pressed a handkerchief to the wound on her arm just as he had done not so long ago in the garden. It made Penelope oddly jealous of the time when she only had to worry about avoiding one psychopathic murderer instead of two.

“Well, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, that man was my brother.”

“So I heard, yes.”

Penelope took a deep breath and conjured up her best recalling-traumatic-memories face. Of course, it wasn’t her life story she was about to tell but she had played enough of the game-play to give him most of the right information.

“I’m sure you’re aware that I am not the Duke’s biological child. I was adopted at the age of 16, after running away from my family. That family was the Agriche household. Dion, the lovely man you just met, is only my half-brother. We share a father but separate mothers, as our father, Lant Agriche, has multiple wives. My family is… unique. You’ve heard the rumors and tales.”

At this, Vinter nodded. Of course he had, as had everybody.

“I will spare you the details, but as I’ve mentioned I ran away at 16. I dyed my hair to throw my family off the trail. You see, while my father would simply kill me on the spot, my brothers don’t seem to share the same sentiment. If it were just the threat of death I was running from, I wouldn’t have gone to such lengths. I’m not sharing this to make you feel pity for me, but to help you understand why I accepted Duke Eckhart’s invitation into his home. I knew, or I thought at least, that his power would protect me, would hide me. It seems I was wrong.”

They had wandered quite a bit from the alley at this point, Ecklies still trailing behind, seemingly out of earshot. Vinter was a good listener, as was to be expected, and Penelope almost enjoyed telling the story. She had always found Penelope’s backstory fascinating, wishing her own story was interesting, that she had another family out there ready to whisk her away. Alas, it was much harder to romanticize the Agriche family when you were the one facing them.

“That is…” Vinter was silent for another moment, lost in thought. Not that Penelope could blame him, it was a lot to take in. “Does your family know? The Eckhart household, I mean.”

“No. Duke Eckhart is under the impression that I came from a poor noble family in debt, and that is why I was running away. His sons think I come from a commoner family in the slums as that is where their father found me.”

“I see. I suppose I do not have to ask you if you wish me to keep it a secret?”

“You do not.”

“As you wish my lady. However, I cannot help but be concerned if you will be alright with that… dangerous man after you?”

“You forget that we were raised the same way, Marquess. And I have a whole dukedom unwilling to lose another daughter, fake or not.”

Vinter smiled. Penelope wondered, briefly, if he had ever smiled at the original Penelope that way. If anybody had ever smiled at her that way. Cassis, perhaps, the only man Penelope had ever loved.

“Speaking of the dukedom, Lady Eckhart, you should be heading back soon.”

“You are quite right. Until we meet again, Marquess Verndandi.”

She offered him his handkerchief back, but he refused it.

“A reminder, my lady, that I am always here when you need assistance.”

With that, he disappeared, and Penelope was left standing alone in the empty street.

Time to head back.

—-------------------------------------------
Thankfully, Ecklies had not required the same explanation as Vinter had. That was what made her favor him above all the rest, the way he knew when to leave her alone. It was quite refreshing to have a moment to simply breathe in the carriage after such an eventful day and before what was waiting for her at the mansion.

“Penelope.”

Reynold Eckhart, Penelope’s second oldest brother, was standing in front of the door to her bedroom. And she had been so close to slipping inside without having to talk to anybody.

“Where were you?” He accused, leaning against her door to prevent her from going in.

“I went to do some shopping in the streets. With my money, not father’s, so you don’t have to worry. Now move, please.”

“Out shopping in the streets? Do you realize how dangerous that is for a member of the Eckhart family such as yourself?” Reynold seemed angry and argumentative as usual, but unfortunately Penelope was very much not in the mood.

“Oh don’t worry, brother, nobody would waste their time kidnapping the fake princess of Eckhart.” Penelope let the utter annoyance she was currently feeling slip into her voice.

“That’s-!” His voice shook from shock and he now stood up from his place at the door. Penelope took the opportunity to reach for the door handle, but she realized too late that she was reaching with her injured arm. Reynold’s eyes widened in concern as he caught sight of the wound. “Hey are you hurt?”

“No.”

“You’re clearly bleeding, idiot. Hang on, I’ll call a doctor-”

“Don’t bother, it’s nothing.” She wrenched the door open and slipped inside before he could stop her, slamming the door to cut off his protests.

Finally, some peace and quiet for the first time all day.

Emily must have been out working on something else, and Penelope was so grateful for the absence of the maid that she almost felt guilty. She leaned against the door and closed her eyes, trying to steady her heart rate that hadn’t been able to quiet down since she first heard Dion say those disgusting words.

It was only a bit past lunch time but Penelope was already feeling like going to bed, and she was too exhausted to care whether she missed dinner or not. She collapsed onto the soft mattress as she kicked her heels off, slipping under the cool sheets and letting fatigue erase all the events of this morning.

She’d worry about it tomorrow.

Chapter Text

The wolf was fast. Faster than Penelope for sure, it was only a miracle she was currently ahead of it. She could feel its red eyes burning into her back as she ran, faster than she’d ever ran before. She was sprinting for her life, she knew as soon as the black wolf caught up to her would be good as dead. Penelope passed blurred, faceless people as she ran and tried to scream for help, but found she had no voice. Her bare feet thumped against the ground, the sound of paws just behind her. Suddenly she reached a cliff, a wide ocean beneath her.

Glancing behind her, she watched in fear as the horrible beast stalked towards her. It was like the thing knew she wouldn’t dare to jump. Backing away slowly, she felt the edge of the cliff and the terrifying nothingness beyond it. Taking a deep breathe, she let herself fall.

And fall.

And fall.

It seemed like an eternity until she hit the water. Sinking down, down, down. Penelope waited for the release of death to take her as she stared longingly at the golden sun shining through the waves. The sun that was getting… closer? That couldn’t be right. But there it was, becoming bigger and bigger until it wasn’t a sun anymore but a great winged animal. It swooped through the water, right to Penelope, until she was looking right into its ruby eyes.

Penelope woke up with a shock. What a strange dream that was, a black wolf and a golden eagle? Perhaps the events of yesterday had fried her brain into insanity.

Ah right. Yesterday. With a sigh, Penelope slumped back against the bed. She gazed up at the ceiling as she replayed what had happened. Why did everything in her life have to go so terribly wrong?

Well, there was no time to be laying there feeling sorry for herself. A knock at the door broke her peaceful thinking. Disappointing, she mused, as this was probably the only alone time she would get all day.

“Come in, Emily.”

“Good morning my lady.” The maid kept her head bowed as she entered the room. Closing the door behind her, Emily smiled at Penelope brightly. “Duke Eckhart has requested you join him for breakfast, my lady.”

How kind of him. Pursing her lips in frustration, Penelope swung her legs off the bed and stood up. Reynold must have told him of their argument yesterday. What else could she expect of the spoiled brat of Eckhart? In fact, she was rather lucky it was Emily who had been at the door and not Reynold himself barging in to yell at her. If the real Penelope had been in her place, she probably would have been delighted to be invited to a meal with her “family”. But that girl was no longer here, so Penelope would have to deal with the consequences of her actions.

She’d picked out a purple knee length dress with a white lace bodice, and Emily had paired it with some simple jewelry and a purple ribbon in her hair. Penelope had grown quite fond of wearing ribbons, they reminded her a friend she knew back in her own life. Her heels clacked against the polished floor as she followed Fennel to the dining room. As soon as they reached the large wooden doors, she took a deep breathe and pushed them open.

Inside sat the rest of the Eckhart family. Duke Eckhart resided at the head of the table, his head held proudly as it always was. No matter how many times she saw him, it always shocked Penelope how much he resembled her own father. To his right sat Derrick Eckhart, Penelope’s oldest adoptive brother. He was staring at her with the same cold look he always had. It would have bothered her, if she had not already been used to it from her own oldest brother. Finally, the pink-haired bastard sat to the left of Duke Eckhart, glaring at her. Penelope felt his eyes scan her arm for the injury he had unfortunately seen last night, but she had worn a long sleeve dress for exactly that reason. Taking a seat on the left side of the table, one seat away from Reynold. Penelope kept her eyes down on her plate. She didn’t expect to eat well this morning, as the kitchen staff at Eckhart had never treated her well before. Even though the main chef had already been fired for messing with her food, she had no hopes for the new one.

“Penelope.”

“Yes, Father?” She gazed up at him, meeting his disapproving eyes. It seemed each Eckhart had a permanent way they looked at Penelope; Duke Eckhart with his disappointment, Derrick mirroring his father with some additional anger, and Reynold with the look that Penelope had just stabbed his puppy through the heart. Which was dumb, given that Penelope had never done anything to any of them. Not the current Penelope, not the real Penelope; neither of them had done anything to deserve this treatment. It made her angry whenever she thought about it for too long.

“There is a reason why I called you here today.”

No shit.

Clearing his throat, Duke Eckhart continued, “I’ve been informed you and Reynold had an… argument yesterday.”

She’s expected this. It was unlike Duke Eckhart to interfere in his children’s fights—unless it was Penelope’s fault of course.

“Yes, Father.” Penelope held his gaze, unwilling to appear angry. “I apologize for letting my emotions get the best of me, I was rather tired last night and did not behave with the proper attitude.” There, that should be a good enough apology.

The servants brought in the breakfast, as Reynold looked at her in bewilderment.

“Hey, wait. Who told you about that?”

What?

“It doesn’t matter Reynold.”

So it wasn’t Reynold? That was… surprising. It must have been a servant that told him then.

“I would prefer it if you would both get along, as you are all almost adults at this point.”

Penelope suppressed a shiver at the indirect reminder that her coming of age ceremony was quickly approaching. The night Yvonne would appear. Out of habit, she glanced at Derrick. His eyes were already on her, and she wondered if they were both thinking of Yvonne as his jaw tightened.

“Penelope was the one out in the common streets without protection!” Reynold blurted out in anger. From the surprised look on Duke Eckhart’s face, Penelope gathered the servant had omitted that fact.

“You what?” If Penelope was anybody else, she would have mistaken the emotion in Duke Eckart’s eyes for concern for his adopted daughter. But Penelope was not naive, and knew well enough that the concern was for his reputation, not her safety.

“I did not go out without protection,” Penelope shot a withering look at Reynold, “I had Eckles with me.”

“The slave?” Derrick asked incredulously. If he clenched his jaw any more, Penelope thought to herself, his teeth will break.

“If you are referring to my personal knight, you would be correct. I do not take kindly to insults thrown at my guard, young master.” At that, Derricks eyes flashed with even more anger. His percentage pinged, down by two points. No matter, it was high enough that she wasn’t in any danger.

“You must be suicidal if you think that puny bastard is enough protection. Where was he when you got that injury?” Reynold spat back.

Damn him. She had been hoping the injury wouldn’t be brought up, as now she had to come up with some sort of an excuse as to where it had come from.

“Injury?” Duke Eckhart even sounded concerned now. Perhaps it was, concern for his most precious investment, the replacement for his beloved daughter. Looking down at her untouched food, Penelope closed her eyes and clenched her hands before lifting her head back up.

“I sustained a small injury, Father. It was not Eckles fault, but my own, as I sent him away for a moment.”

Derrick gripped his knife at her words, as if the idea made him angry enough to use it. Why was even he so bothered? It wasn’t like he was the one whose stalker lunatic half-brother showed up and cut an ugly gash in his arm.

“How did you get the injury Penelope? And what kind of an injury?” Duke Eckhart questioned not unkindly.

Briefly wondering why he was even asking, Penelope locked her fingers in her lap and met his eyes again.

“I fell.”

“You… fell?”

“Yes.”

“Bullshit!” Reynold stood and slammed his fist on the table, surprising her. “I saw it! You wouldn’t even let me call a doctor for you, why would you do that if you simply fell?”

“Reynold.” Derricks cold voice stopped Reynold in his tracks.

“Penelope why would you-“

“It is not an important enough wound to call a doctor for.” She cut off the Duke, answering as unemotionally as she could.

Subconsciously, Penelope’s hand drifted up to the wounded arm to feel the damage. It was covered in dry blood as she hadn’t had enough time to clean it, but at least it wasn’t still bleeding like it was when she woke up. Dion sure knew how to slice a lasting cut, as expected of an Agriche.

“Penelope.” The Duke brought Penelope out of her thoughts, which mostly consisted of her cursing Dion and Reynold out in both English and Korean. “If you wished to go out, you only had to ask.”

What a joke. As if the Duke would have let her go out.

“As you have proven yourself and your guard incapable of taking your safety seriously,” That was unfair, if anything, her so-called “family” had been the ones to not take her safety seriously. “If you wish to go out again, you will take Reynold or Derrick with you.”

Hang on, what? He had to be joking.

But the Duke’s eyes held no humor in them, only the same exhaustion they always had. She waited for one of her “brothers” to protest, but they were both oddly quiet.

Perfect. The one time she actually needed them to be their horribly annoying selfs they decided to behave nicely.

“Fine.” She said through gritted teeth. “I’m afraid I’ve lost my appetite.” Standing up from the table, she ignored the protests from the others, heading straight for the door instead.

Once she reached her room, she collapsed into a chair, feeling tempted to scream and throw things. Ah, she thought bitterly, this must have been what drove the real Penelope mad.

If she wanted to go out now, she would have to find a way to sneak out without anybody noticing. There was no way she would take Reynold or Derrick, not when there was the ever growing threat of lowering their percentages.

Damn Dion.

If that psychopath hadn’t showed up, none of this would have happened and she would have had a perfectly normal day like she planned.

It was probably safest to lay low for a while, as the Duke would surely be wary of her sneaking out. It wasn’t as if she went out regularly anyways, and as long as there was no need for her to go out she would be fine.

Another knock at the door ruined her silence.

“I don’t need assistance Emily.”

“Um, my lady? There’s a letter for you.”

A letter? She had no friends, so who could it possibly be from? Vinter, perhaps, or even…

Now that was a terrifying thought. Would Dion even dare to send her a letter? Well, yes, but it wasn’t his style. Although, Penelope wasn’t all that familiar with what exactly his “style” was, so she couldn’t be sure.

Emily entered the room, holding an envelope with shaky hands. Cautiously, Penelope took it from her and sliced it open with one perfectly painted nail.

Fuck.

Chapter Text

Dear Princess,

It’s been too long hasn’t it? It appears as if you’ve been ignoring my past letters, something I’m sure you know is considered blasphemy against the royal family. If you ignore this one too, I’m afraid I’ll have no choice but to have you imprisoned for insulting the crown prince. The queen is holding a ball in two day’s time, I’d better see you there if you want to keep that pretty little head of yours.

Eagerly awaiting your presence,
Callisto Regulus

Bastard.

This could not be happening.

Penelope had been so caught up in fighting off the psychopath that was her–no, Penelope’s–biological half-brother and dealing with the therapy-goldmine that was her adoptive family, that she had completely forgotten about the other bloodthirsty lunatic that was the crown prince. How wonderful.

She threw the letter down to the table, and dropped her head into her arms. As if she didn’t already have enough to deal with. And–oh lord–surely a ball thrown by the queen would require a new dress. And a new dress would require going out, which meant taking one of her brother’s with her.

The question was which brother.

Derrick was certainly the more mature of the two, but Reynold had not been as horrible to her of recent as he usually was. And, Reynold was more likely to ditch her rather than hover around like an annoying fly.

It was decided, she’d ask Reynold.

The rest of the afternoon went by fast, Penelope daydreamed about running away from the absolute shit-show that was Penelope Eckhart/Roxana Agriche’s life and planned out her next moves. She’d go shopping for a dress, pick up something for Ecklies while out, go to the ball, fake being sick, head home and have Ecklies take care of her while “sick”, therefore avoiding all possible problems.

It was, in a word, perfect.

Well, almost perfect that was.

The next day, Penelope set out on the first step of this plan, asking Reynold to come out with her.

Dressed in an emerald dress that went just half-way down her shins and her hair swept up into an elegant but simple bun, she knocked upon the second son of Eckhart’s door.

“Reynold?”

“Who is it?” He sounded annoyed.

“Penelope.”

“Uh- c-come in.” Now he sounded panicked.

Frowning slightly, she pushed open the door.

This was when the first problem arose.

Reynold was not alone.

“Hello, Penelope.”

“Derrick.” Penelope nodded at him, shooting a confused look at Reynold who avoided her eyes. Ah, they must have been discussing her. “I need to ask Reynold something.”

“You can ask it while I’m here, no?” This is why he was not her favorite. He didn’t not know when to fucking leave her alone. But if she insisted he leave now, it would seem suspicious.

“I need… a dress. And as Father so kindly implemented yesterday, I have to take one of you with me.”

Reynold snorted. Penelope sent him another confused look, it almost sounded like he was… smug?

“Reynold? Please?” She gave him her best pleading look without looking too desperate. He blushed and looked away, covering his mouth with a gloved hand. She watched his percentage go up 5 points, then glanced over as Derrick’s dropped by 4. Was he that hurt that she didn’t come to him? That was surprisingly… petty of him.

“Yeah, whatever. I’ll go.”

Thank God, there was one step down.

“Wait.”

Come on.

“Penelope, you cannot be trusted to go alone. I’ll come with you too.”

“What- Hey! I just said I’d go with her!”

“And you cannot be trusted to watch her.”

“And what makes you so-”

“If you insist, young master.” Penelope felt a bit of annoyance slip into her voice, but it couldn’t be helped. To have the nerve to just invite himself along? “I’ll set up the carriage.”

The carriage ride was awkward to say the least.

First, Reynold sat down with his back to the carriage driver, then Derrick on the other side. After sitting down next to Derrick, as far as possible, Reynold said that she should sit next to him as “Derrick’s legs were too long for her to be comfortable sitting by him”. And when Derrick shot him a glare, he folded his arms and slumped in his seat, mumbling something about his older brother being an “ostrich looking bastard” and Penelope had to stifle her laugh with a cough. Then, Reynold complained about how bumpy the ride was, to which Derrick sighed and chided him about his manner, starting yet another argument. At this point, Penelope just stared out the window and dreamed of jumping out of the moving carriage into the street.

Once they finally arrived, Penelope couldn’t get out fast enough. She nearly pushed Reynold back into his seat to step out of the carriage first, and hurried as ladylike as possible into the dress shop they were parked in front of.

“Good day, Lady Eckhart!” The friendly dressmaker exclaimed with a smile bright enough to blind anyone. Penelope was so happy to be out of the carriage, she almost hugged the woman. Instead, she smiled tightly back, and glanced around the shop. There were dozens, no hundreds, of dresses, all beautiful enough to give her old self in Korea a heart attack. It still dazzled her, how glamorous Penelope’s life was, even if it was only to cover up something deeply ugly. She understood why the “mad dog” filled the absence of love in her life with riches and jewels; she would have done the same if given the chance in Korea.

Blinking back into reality, she noticed that Derrick and Reynold were almost right behind her, looking awkward and embarrassed. Derrick was hiding it better than Reynold, but it was clear in his tightly clamped lips that he was uncomfortable. Well, he was the one who insisted on coming.

“What are you looking for today, my lady?”

“A dress for the Queen’s ball.” She answered simply.

Somebody coughed behind her, and she turned around sharply. Both of her brothers were looking at her incredulously.

“Penelope, the invite was… only for Father, Reynold and me.” Derrick said, almost regretfully.

“Invite?”

“Yes, we received an invite a week ago from the Palace.”

“How interesting. Thankfully, young master, I received my own invite this morning.”

She turned back around to the dressmaker, ignoring the confused noises that followed her statement.

“Ah, Lady Eckhart, I have just the dress for you. Follow me.” Was she imagining it, or was there something mischievous in the woman’s eyes? Perhaps the blood loss was finally getting to her.

She followed the dressmaker into a dressing room, and lost her breath immediately.

Inside was the most beautiful dress she’d ever dreamed of. The strapless bodice was made up of red butterflies, leading into a long skirt of crimson with a scandalous slit up the side. Entranced, she felt with fabric in her hands, soft silk and lace almost melting from the touch of her fingers. Before she could realize what she was doing, she slipped into the dress, which fit her exactly. It highlighted everything a dress should, showing off her legs and waist. As she gazed into the mirror, she pictured the real Penelope Eckhart in such a dress. But it wasn’t Penelope Eckhart that the dress reminded her of, but…

“Roxana.”

Whipping around, her eyes met wide, sapphire eyes, eyes that belonged to Jeremy Agriche, the younger son of Agriche, and Roxana’s half-brother.

She really should have expected this.

Now, she did expect Jeremy to make an appearance at some point, but she thought he would hijack her carriage or something, not show up when she was with BOTH of the Eckhart siblings.

“Jeremy,” she hissed, shoving him to the side to peek out of the curtain. Thankfully, Reynold and Derrick seemed to be engaged in yet another argument.

“Ana.” This time it sounded sad, pitiful. For the first time in a long time, Penelope felt bad. Out of all of the Agriches, besides Roxana, Jeremy was her favorite to engage with in the game. Once his trust was earned, an exceptionally easy feat to accomplish, he was loyal to Roxana to a fault.
Closing the curtain and turning back to her “half-brother”, she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“What are you doing here Jeremy?” She asked exasperated, hoping her tone would show the severity of the situation

“Sister!” He threw his arms around her. Jeremy was now taller than her, which was rather annoying as he was younger, but not shocking to any extent. “It’s been so long.”

“I know.”

“You- you left!”

“I know.” She didn’t know if it was the real Penelope’s feelings or her own, but she felt guilty at his obvious upset, and hugged him back. After a moment, Jeremy pulled away.

“Ana, why did you leave? Why didn’t you come back?”

“It’s complicated, Jeremy.”

“Does it have something to do with that Pedelian bastard?” Well, she had to give him credit for not being an idiot.

“Yes. But Jeremy, you can’t stay here-”

“No, Ana, you can’t stay here. You have to come back!”

Just why did she have to run into him here of all places. With Reynold and Derrick, right there!

“Jeremy, I’m- I’m not an Agriche anymore.”

“I heard.” His expression was immediately overtaken by anger. “Dion and I heard all about the mad dog of Eckhart. Ana, how could you leave us to join this family that treats you like nothing but a replacement for some dead bitch!”

Penelope prayed to God Reynold and Derrick had momentarily gone deaf.

“Jeremy I didn’t want to, but I needed a way to hide from Father. You know very well what he would do if-”

“Who cares about Father? You are an Agriche, not a fucking Egg-heart. They are not your family, Roxana! I am! I'm taking you home with me!”

“Jeremy-”

“What did you just say?”

Reynold stood in the doorway of the dressing room, a look of anger twisting his face almost beyond recognition.

“Repeat what you just said.”

Chapter Text

The universe seemed desperate to get her killed, which was rather fitting as she was the villainess of this world, but it still felt unfair.

“Who’s this?” Jeremy’s expression turned poisonous upon seeing the younger son of Eckhart standing in the doorway of the dressing room.

“Get away from my sister right now. I don't know what kind of psychotic bastard you are, but you are currently harassing the princess of Eckhart, a crime that will certainly not be dealt with lightly.”

Jeremy snickered, which elicited a surprised and even more angry reaction from Reynold.

“The only thing you just said right now that was true is that I’m a psychotic bastard.”

“Jeremy.” Penelope shot him a warning glare. He rolled his eyes, but sheathed the sword that he had drawn at some point during the conversation.

“Penelope, who is this?” Reynold shouted, his anger was regrettably not as easily calmed as Jeremy’s.

“Keep your voice down!” She said hastily, glancing nervously at the doorway that Reynold stood in front of. It was certainly bad enough that she had to deal with Reynold, but if Derrick got involved she might just have to let Jeremy kill them both. “He’s a friend of a friend.”

Jeremy darkened at that, but he was smart enough to know not to correct her.

“Yeah right, you don’t have friends. Get the hell away from my sister you perverted mother-”

“Your sister?! What delusional world do you live in-”

“Both of you stop it!” Penelope, who was currently standing in between them, raised a hand up to each of them. Once again, she looked behind Reynold to see Derrick, thankfully, still engrossed in conversation with the dressmaker. She wasn’t going to take any risks though, and moved behind Reynold to close the curtain quickly, since he clearly wasn’t going to leave.

“Jeremy. I’ll talk to you later, so just-”

“Like hell you will! Penelope I know you don’t know any better because you don’t socialize, but you can’t just fraternize with random and strange men!”

She rubbed her eyes, feeling a headache coming on.

“He’s not a random or strange man, Reynold, like I said, he’s a friend of a friend.”

“Besides, Ana knows well enough how to handle random men.” Jeremy shot back, before Penelope could stop him.

“Ana? Her name is Penelope you bastard.”

This conversation was clearly not going to go anywhere useful for her, so she moved her hand up from her eyes to her hand. It was then that she realized she was still wearing the dress. The dress that had reminded her so very much of…

“Jeremy? Did you get me this dress?”

His expression changed again in the blink of an eye, lighting up with a smile and nodding proudly.

“Don’t you like it, Roxy? It’s perfect for you. Well, it would be better if your hair was still…” He seemed to realize what he was saying and trailed off. The happy expression didn’t leave his face though, and it was so adorable that she found herself smiling in return.

“It is rather perfect, Jeremy, thank you very much. How did you know I was going to the ball anyways?”

Reynold folded his arms and leaned against the wall near the curtain, clearly sulking that he was being ignored. He kept flicking his eyes between the two Agriche children, with something that looked curiously like concern.

“Oh I’ve been intercepting your mail. Speaking of, why haven’t you returned any of my letters recently?” The smile finally fell from his face, looking as sad and pitiful as he had before Reynold walked in.

Letters?

What on Earth was he talking about?

Unless…

She had been throwing out any letters that weren’t important. She had no interest in tea parties, as they were merely invitations to be publicly mocked and pushed to an outburst, and the bastard Crown Prince had recently taken to disguising his letters in an attempt to… well she wasn’t quite sure why he had been doing that. He probably found out she had burned any letter from the Imperial Palace, besides the ball invitation obviously.

It was quite likely that any letter Jeremy Agriche had sent her had been thrown out or burned along the other ones.

“I’m afraid I’ve been throwing my mail out without reading it. You sent me letters?”

“Ever since Dion got the address.”

Even just the name of that crazy bastard made her feel like throwing up or screaming. Or both.

“I’m so sorry.” She tried to soften her voice as much as possible, stepping slowly towards Jeremy. She could feel Reynold’s confused stare on her, he was surely wondering what she had hit her head on this time. The Mad Dog of Eckhart was not one to ever apologize, especially in such a soft and kind manner, to this clearly dangerous man.

“It’s alright, Ana.” Despite his words, Jeremy still looked dejected. Without thinking, Penelope raised her arms and hugged him. He melted into it, clearly elated that she had initiated the contact. Penelope knew this was a bad idea. She knew he was crazy, that Reynold was right behind her, that Derrick was probably wondering what was taking so long and where his brother went, and yet…

And yet, she’d always wanted a little brother.

When she was younger, she watched all her classmates with their parents, with their siblings. She hated it, how unfair it all was. Why did they all get to have happy families? What had she done wrong?

Young Siyeon had a friend, whose name was long forgotten, who had a younger brother. Hwan, that was his name. Her friend would complain, everyday, of how annoying it was to have a younger brother that always wanted to cling to her, to play with her, to talk to her. Siyeon would listen to her friend’s troubles, even if it made her sick to the stomach with jealousy. One day, after school, she saw Hwan waiting for his sister on the sidewalk. Her friend had neglected to tell him that she had detention that day, so Hwan stood there, looking at the door expectantly. She couldn’t take it, watching the boy wait for his sister, who didn’t even like him. To be honest, she saw herself in Hwan’s eyes, that were fixed on the school’s entrance, that were so full of determination and longing. The longing to be wanted, appreciated, loved. Siyeon had walked straight up to him, and offered him some candy out of her bag. He lit up at the present, and she savored that smile much more than she would have the candy, so everyday for a year after that she would save her money to buy him candy.

“Penelope, have you gone completely mad?!” Reynold's annoying yelling interrupted her train of thought. Pulling away from Jeremy, she steeled herself and turned to her so-called brother.

“Jeremy, I’ll reply to your letters. I promise. I have to go now, we’ll talk again later, alright?”

“Alright, Ana.” Jeremy agreed, although he didn’t look thrilled at having to leave so soon. Peering out of the curtain to check if the coast was clear, he slipped out of the room with ease.

“Penelope Eckhart, what the fuck is going on?!” Reynold screeched. She regretted sending Jeremy away so soon, she could certainly use his sword right about now.

“None of your business, Reynold. And if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you would leave. Right now.”

“Why, so you can sneak some other suspicious bastard in here?!”

“So I can change, you idiot.”

“Oh.” Looking rightfully embarrassing at his own idiocy, Reynold turned around and left as well.

So she was alone again.

Why were all of the characters from the prologue of Hard Mode suddenly showing up? Had she incurred some game-curse that made it a thousand times more difficult to get through it alive?

It didn’t matter anyways, they were here now.

And while Dion was certainly a truly vexing and dangerous problem, having Jeremy around was surprisingly…

Comforting.

She was once again reminded of Hwan’s expression, the way his eyes shone at the lollipops and candy bars she gave him. It hadn’t mattered that it meant she often went without any money to buy herself edible food, she felt satisfied by his cheerful face in a way that was so much better than a full stomach.

Once she’d changed back into her own clothes, she stepped out of the dressing room, dress in hand. Drawing in a deep breath, she headed for Reynold and Derrick who were, for the millionth time today, in another argument.

“I’m done.”

“Finally.” Derrick sighed, amusingly relieved at her appearance. That didn’t last long though, as that emotion was quickly replaced with suspicion. “Was there a… man coming out of your room just now?”

Damn it damn it damn it.

“Are you so stupid that you can’t even recognize your own brother now?” Reynold retorted to her utter shock. Was he trying to cover for her right now?

“No I meant… whatever, nevermind.”

Reynold had actually covered for her!

Derrick took the dress from her hands, frowning at it slightly, and brought it to the dressmaker to purchase.

“Why’d you do that?” Penelope whispered to her adoptive brother.

“Just because you’re being stalked by some weird freak doesn’t mean I need to let Derrick know. He’ll just put you on probation.” Reynold whispered back, looking away from her awkwardly. It was almost sweet that he was at least pretending to care. Most likely, he just enjoyed the idea that he knew something Derrick didn’t.

“Thank you.”

He blushed and covered his face out of embarrassment, looking down at the floor as if he wished it could swallow him up.

Derrick returned back to the pair, still holding the dress, with a confused look on his face.

“Penelope… where did you get the dress?”

“It was in the dressing room when I went in.”

Oh God, was he going to accuse her of stealing now? It certainly made sense, it was just like the game to do something like this as soon as she had resolved the previous problem.

“Come here for a moment.”

They both walked over to the dressmaker, who looked just as confused as Derrick.

“Lady Eckhart, I’m so sorry, but that isn’t the dress I set out in the dressing room. I must have mixed up the rooms or something… would you like to try on the dress I meant for you?”

“That’s alright, I like this one.”

It was true, but she also liked the idea of having a present from Jeremy.

“Of course, the only problem is that I was specifically instructed to gift you the other dress.”

“Instructed?”

“Gift?”

Penelope and Derrick spoke at the same time, bewildering the poor shop owner.

“W-well yes…”

“Who gave you these instructions?” Derrick spoke in a flat tone, but it was clear there was some frustration behind his words. It was odd, wasn’t this a sign somebody out there liked her?

She herself very much doubted that was what the dress was for, but Derrick didn’t have to know that.

“The Crown Prince.”

Chapter Text

The carriage ride back from the dress shop was much more awkward than it was before. Penelope didn’t even think that was possible but lo and behold.

She really needed to get out of this damn game.

Although she’d much rather have lit it on fire right then and there, Penelope ended up taking the Crown Prince’s dress back home as well as Jeremy’s.

“Penelope.”

Derrick finally broke the awkward silence that had stretched on since the three of them stepped foot in the carriage. There was, at least, no fighting between Derrick and Reynold this time, because Derrick was clearly too busy wondering why the hell the Crown Prince was sending Penelope gifts and Reynold was too busy staring incredulously at her. She was sitting across from both of them this time, which was somehow even worse.

“Yes, young master?”

At this, she watched his percentage go up a point.

God, she’d been so busy trying not to get killed by Dion or figured out by the Eckharts that she had completely forgotten about the percentages.

Thank the Lord that they were all well above zero now, so she didn’t have to worry about them killing her in the immediate future. Well, as long as she didn’t get found out anyways.

“Who sent you the invitation to the ball?”

Her silence seemed to suffice as an answer.

“You’re not going.” Reynold said, his eyebrows furrowing.

“Reynold, that’s for Father to decide. I agree that she should probably stay home but-”

“Do I get no say in this?” Penelope interjected. Both brothers looked at her as if they hadn’t expected her to hear them arguing right in front of her face.

Now, she wasn't exactly jumping up and down with joy at the prospect of going to the ball. In fact, it was seemed, on the surface, smarter to stay home and visit Eckles instead. She could try to raise his percentage, after all.

But the problem was that staying at home on the night of the ball would mean staying in the mansion by herself without the family there. And that would be a perfect opportunity for Dion to try and murder her. Sure, the knights would be there, but it wasn’t like any of them would be tripping over themselves trying to save her, especially if the real Eckharts weren’t around.

As stupid as it was, a more public and crowded place would be better to blend into. Plus, it was being held at the Palace, so surely there would be tons of security, much more than at home.

And, although she would never admit it, she was a little bit excited. She’d never been to a ball before, obviously, and to have been invited by a prince?

Mind you, a psychotic, murderous prince who tried to kill her before, but a prince nonetheless!

A prince with annoying beautiful hair…

“Why… why did the Crown Prince invite you, and with a dress too?” Count on Derrick to ask the obvious questions.

“Do I look like I know, young master?”

“At the trial, you said that you and him…” Derrick trailed off, obviously not wanting to recount the trial.

Penelope didn’t either, she still wasn’t really over how horrible it all had been.

“Perhaps it’s an apology for what went on at the trial.” That was definitely not it, but Derrick didn’t need to know that.

In fact, Callisto had already given her her reward for that–a promise not to kill her. Not that she totally and completely believed him on that, but, man, was that a nice promise to have.

“So you and the Crown Prince aren’t…”

But Penelope didn’t hear Derrick’s question, already lost in thought. Remembering the trial had made her think of the prize she’d won at the hunting competition, her beloved money. If only money was a love interest in this damn game…

When she got back to her room, she sent Emily away immediately so that she could get some alone time. Between all of the drama today, she hadn’t had a single moment to herself. She did feel bad about sending Emily away constantly, but she’d make up for it with her preparation for the ball.

The ball…

Rubbing her eyes in exhaustion, Penelope sank into a chair by the window. It seemed all she felt these days was exhaustion. These past few days had just one disaster after another. She’d never made it this far when playing the game, but she was pretty sure that the Agriches weren’t supposed to show up because they were barely mentioned in anything she saw about the game online.

So what had changed?

Clearly her taking over Penelope’s body had done something, but what would cause such a big shift in the storyline?

Would this affect the timeline of Yvonne’s return?

Oh God.

The thought made her dizzy with anxiety.

Eckles.

She needed to go see Eckles.

She needed to raise his percentage, just as a safety precaution.

Yes, even if Yvonne’s return was sped up somehow, at least she had Eckles.

Her ever faithful knight.

Unfortunately, as soon as she stood up to leave for the knight’s training grounds, she heard a knock at the door.

“It’s Pennel, my lady. The Duke requests that you see him in his office.”

Great. Just great.

Duke Eckhart sat regally at his desk filling out paperwork when Penelope entered his office. He bore a striking resemblance to her adopted father back in the modern world, and Penelope felt her heart clench for a moment.

She reminded herself that she was in a different world, a different reality, a game.

It wasn’t real.

Derrick stood behind his father, Reynold on his right side. They both looked angry, as they often did when looking at Penelope.

What a sad thought.

“Penelope, your brothers told me about what happened at the dress shop.”

The Duke set his quill down as he spoke, and Penelope’s gaze darted from it to Reynold. He shook his head slightly, confirmation that he hadn’t said anything about Jeremy.

Thank heavens for that.

“I would like to attend the ball, Father.”

“That is fortunate because you have to.”

Reynold made a sound of disagreement and shock, but Derrick silenced him with a look.

“Defying the order of a member of the royal family would most likely result in imprisonment, or worse,, so regretfully, you’ll have to attend the ball.”

Ah. She should’ve thought about that. Of course she couldn’t reject the Crown Prince’s invite, even if she wanted to.

“But, in light of recent, ahem, incidents,”

Reynold scoffed behind him.

“It seems it would be unwise to send you without any protection.”

What, did he want to send her with the entire Eckhart knighthood?

“So, you’ll be going with an escort. I’ve looked over your invite, and it didn’t say you would be attending as the Crown Prince’s date, therefore it should be alright for you to bring your own.”

Her own date? If they were going for protection, wouldn’t it make the most sense for her to bring Eckles? He was her personal knight after all, wasn’t this the whole point of a personal knight?

“Father, I think that’s a very smart idea.”

For the first time since she’d stepped into the office, the Duke smiled.

“You’ll be escorted by Vinter Verdandi.”

“What?” All of the Eckhart children exclaimed in unison.

The three of them started talking at the same time, cutting each other off.

“Marquess Verdandi? He’s nearly your age-“

“Father, do you really think that he-“

“What about Eckles?”

Everyone turned to look at Penelope at.

“Excuse me?” The Duke raised an eyebrow at his adopted daughter.

“Eckles, my personal guard. Why can I not just take him?”

“The slave?!” That was from Reynold, who stepped forward. Penelope looked at Derrick, expecting him to scold Reynold for his outburst, but he stayed quiet, staring at Penelope with a wild sort of expression.

She didn’t mind losing some percentage points from the brothers if it meant raising Eckles’s score. Honestly, taking Eckles was the perfect solution. It would give her the opportunity to raise his percentage, and she trusted him to protect her against the Crown Prince.

It seemed the Eckharts did not share this opinion with her.

“He is not a slave anymore, Reynold, and I don’t take kindly to you referring to my personal guard as such.”

“Regardless of his current status, Penelope, if he used to be a slave, or even a commoner, he cannot attend the ball.”

“And why not?”

Derrick slammed his fist against the wall, startling Penelope. “Penelope Eckhart! You are well aware of the etiquette of the nobles, why do you insist on bringing this slave of yours?”

“First of all, young master, as I have clearly started, Eckles is no longer a slave. Additionally, I can trust him to protect me with his life, which is more than I can say about any of the other knights.”

That shut him up.

“Penelope, the Eckhart knighthood is loyal to the Eckhart family, that means they are loyal to you.”

“They are loyal to the Eckhart family, yes. That loyalty does not extend to me, because I am not technically a part of this family, Your Grace.”

Reynold and the Duke started shouting at the same time. Penelope couldn’t quite make out what they were saying but she caught the words “adopted” and “noble” as well as the phrases “anybody else says” and “the Eckhart name”. Derrick stayed characteristically quiet, only showing his displeasure at her words in a startled and almost hurt expression. Odd, she would have thought that he of all people would agree with her.

Penelope closed her eyes for a brief moment, allowing herself to believe, just for a second, that they truly meant what they were saying.

She opened her eyes.

“Father. Please, let allow me to take Eckles to the ball.”

“No! You are not taking that fucking-“

“Reynold!” The Duke cut him off. “Penelope, you will be taking Vinter Verdandi.”

Well, it was better than nothing she supposed. Vinter was also a love interest, and going to the ball with him would surely give her the chance to increase his score.

Derrick cleared his throat, turning her attention away from her thoughts.

“Father, Vinter Verdandi is not capable of protecting Penelope from the Crown Prince.”

Penelope almost laughed. Vintner was perhaps the most capable, even more so than Eckles, but of course none of the Eckharts would know that.

“I assure you, he is.”

Or… was it possible that the Duke did? She studied his expression, waiting for a hint that he knew more than he was letting on.

“Marquess Verdandi has been taking swordsmanship since he was eight years old. He is more than qualified.”

Or not.

“When he was eight, Penelope hadn’t even been born yet!” Reynold burst, unable to contain himself any longer. Derrick sent him yet another icy glare, and Reynold sulkily crossed his arms. 

“Whatever you think is best, Father. If that is all, may I be excused?”

“You may.”

She curtsied and left the room. Her heels clicked on the marble floor of the hallways as she walked away from the office.

Click, clack.

Would Eckles’s score decrease if he found out she was taking Vinter to the ball?

Click, clack.

Would he feel betrayed that she took someone else? But—surely—if she explained the situation with the Crown Prince he would understand, right?

Click, clack.

She tried to think back to the gameplay of Eckles’s route in Normal Mode. How did he react when competition was introduced for Yvonne’s heart? For some reason, she couldn’t remember-

“Penelope.”

She whirled around at the sound of her—no, not her name.

It was Derrick.

She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she hadn’t even heard him approach.

“Young master.” Penelope greeted him, trying not to betray her inner anxiety. He’d nearly given her a heart attack by sneaking up on her like that.

“Penelope, you must not say things like that in front of Father.” “Pardon?” “You said,” he swallowed, as if the very thought angered him. She hoped, just for a moment, that he would choke on his own anger. “You said that you were not part of the Eckhart family.” “I did.” “Do you have no shame?” Derrick raised his voice, and she had to steel herself not to flinch. She’d been on edge ever since Dion showed himself, and Derrick yelling was definitely not helping her increasing heart rate. “How can you say that, after everything Father, everything we, have done for you? We took you in when you were just a starving orphan and gave you shelter, food and clothes. We let you throw your silly tantrums and ruin the Eckhart name because you were our responsibility. And now, now you say that you are not a part of this Duchy?” There was a time when Penelope would have bowed her head and agreed. She would have begged for forgiveness and repented. She would have put herself back into probation, she would have walked on eggshells around the whole Eckhardt family just to survive. Those feelings died when Derrick visited her in prison. She’d been a fool to believe she was making progress with him. With any of them. The only one she could rely on was Eckles. He was the only one who understood her, the only one who could save her from this godforsaken game. “Has it occurred to you, young master, that I may very well have a family of my own? That, perhaps, I did not want to be brought into this house to play substitute for someone I’ve never met and someone I will, as has been made very clear, never live up to? Did it occur to you that, if given the chance, I would never have set foot in this house in the first place? I am no Eckhart, young master. I never have been, and I never will be. I may play the part, I may eat your food and wear your clothes, and I may very well die in these halls, but I will never be one of you.” With that, she turned sharply on her heels and walked briskly away.

She didn’t want to have to watch his percentage drop; she could feel her heart clench at the idea.

It felt good to say those things. Just like it felt good to say to say those things to Reynold that day in the attic, even if she didn’t know where it came from. She didn’t even know why it felt good. It wasn’t her story to tell, not her words to fight with.

But it felt good nevertheless.

As she reached the training grounds for the knights, she felt her chest growing progressively tighter. She’d felt it start ever since she’d been called to the Duke’s office, but it’d gotten much worse after she’d left Derrick.

How inconvenient.

She tried to control her breathing as she reached the dorms of the knighthood. Muscle memory took her up the stairs and to Eckles room. It was just after lunch time so the knights must be on an afternoon break.

She knocked on the door, still trying to fight the waves of anxiety that threatened to knock her over.

She’d expected it to get better as she got closer to Eckles, but it didn’t seem to be.

If anything, it was getting worse.

“Master?”

Eckles stood in the doorway, training outfit still on, sword tucked away in its sheath. She smiled, pushing her panic down.

“Eckles. I came to visit you with some news.” Penelope walked into his room, surveying it as she did. It was still the same as the last time she’d been in it. Small, but not enough to be suffocating. Much brighter than when she’d visited him after the hunting festival, but that was to be expected. She couldn’t shake the image of Eckles, looking up at her with teary eyes, from her mind. His eyes might have been filled with tears at the time, but they also been filled with something much darker. Something that made the tightness in Penelope’s chest grow. Something she didn’t want to provoke again.

Eckles closed the door behind him.

“Master?”

“I’ve been invited to a ball held at the Royal Palace.”

Eckles looked confused. And it was no wonder. It would be odd of her to come all the way here just to tell him that.

“The Crown Prince, he invited me. With a dress. As his date.”

Eckles’s expression turned stoic. His eyes were the only thing that held any sign of emotion. They flickered with something familiar, a glimpse of what he had shown the last time she’d visited him. It was gone just as soon as it came though, and Eckles returned to being her picture perfect knight.

“I don’t tell you this to make you upset, Eckles. To be quite honest, with the current... situation...” She broke off, pacing around the room. She ended up sitting on the bed, beckoning Eckles to her. He knelt in front of her, taking her hand to his cheek.

“My family, my real family, they are not like the Eckharts. They are bloodthirsty and vengeful, they will stop at nothing to get what they want. And right now, they want me back, either alive or dead.”

Eckles’s tightened his grip on her hand.

“I am afraid, Eckles.”

He looked up at her.

“Eckles, would you really do anything for me?”

“Yes.”

“Would you… kill for me?”

Penelope could feel time slow down as she asked the question.

Eckles’s expression showed no sign of hesitation.

“Yes.”

The answer seemed to echo around the room, or perhaps just around Penelope’s head. She felt the anxiety she had pushed down release in waves, pulsating through her until she could finally breathe again.

A smile made its way onto her delicate features.

She pulled her hand from his grasp, and caressed his face gently.

“Good.”

Chapter Text

Are you sure you don’t want to wear the other dress, my lady?”

“For the fourth time, yes, I’m sure, Emily.”

Penelope stood in front of the mirror, admiring herself—or rather, the body she was currently in.

“Do you not think this one looks beautiful on me?”

“Of, of course not, my lady!” Emily exclaimed, clearly panicked. “Everything looks beautiful on you, especially this dress! It’s just that the other one was gifted to you by-“

“I’m aware, Emily, but this one just suits me so much better, don’t you think?” She smiled sweetly as she said so, watching Emily’s reflection become even more anxious.

Perhaps this dress was bringing out the Agriche side of Penelope after all.

She looked over at the box that contained the other dress, the one that was gifted by the Crown Prince, and grimaced. It was a reminder of what was to come at the ball, the threat of the Crown Prince and… 

Well, she had prepared for him specifically.

Turning away from the box, she admired her reflection again. The red went so well with her hair and eyes that she wondered if Jeremy had seen a portrait of her before having it made.

“If I may ask, my lady, do you really have no idea who this dress came from? It’s just that it fits you so perfectly…”

“I haven’t a clue, Emily.”

The lie rolled right off her tongue so quickly that she almost believed it herself for a moment.

A knock at the door interrupted them.

“It’s Fenel, my lady. Marquess Verdandi has arrived.”

“Thank you, Fenel.” She waited for the sound of his footsteps leading away from the door. “Emily, you are not to let anybody in this room. Every half hour, check to see if there are any intruders, and call the guards if anybody shows up. Do not try to confront them on your own, alright?”

“Understood, my lady. Are you… expecting someone?”

“More like dreading, Emily.”

With that, she stood up, and swiftly left the room. As she neared the staircase, she passed a vase of flowers that caught her eye. The flowers themselves were ordinary, the same as the ones in her room, but the vase was unlike any other in the mansion. Painted on the vase were dozens of blood red butterflies, eerily identical to the ones that the real Penelope had raised when she was Roxana. 

Penelope clenched her jaw and descended down the stairs.

The vase was a threat, a warning, but it wouldn’t work on her.

The sound of men’s voices disrupted her thoughts of the vase, and as she neared the bottom of the stairs she saw Duke Eckart talking with Vinter.

“Good evening Father, Marquess Verdandi.” Penelope greeted them, before noticing Reynold and Derrick standing behind the Duke. “And, young masters.”

Reynold’s eyes widened upon seeing her dress.

“Why did you choose that one?! Are you insane or something?”

“I happen to like the way this one looks, brother.“ Penelope smiled as she talked but made sure to narrow her eyes on the word brother. 

“But-“

“What do you think, Marquess?” She cut Reynold off before he could accidentally reveal something crucial.

“You look beautiful as always, my lady.” His eyes crinkled as he smiled, and for a moment Penelope thought that maybe, in another life, she could have fallen in love with this man. Another life where she didn’t have to deal with psychotic Crown Princes and bloodthirsty half-brothers and love percentages. But, she reminded herself, they did not live in another life. They lived in this one. 

And this one had all of those things and then some.

She almost missed the way Derrick glared at Vinter as he complimented her, like Vinter had just insulted him personally by calling her beautiful.

“It was a wise choice to not wear the Crown Prince’s dress, Penelope, to avoid any further misunderstandings.” The Duke remarked, clapping poor Vinter on the back as he did. “After all, that’s what Marquess Verdandi is here for!”

Vinter merely chuckled uncomfortably at the Duke, before smiling meekly at Penelope. She returned the smile, wishing that they could just get on with it.

Reynold scoffed at his father's words and grumbled something about a useless old man before Penelope shot him a glare. The Duke, clearly sensing that Reynold was about five minutes from an outburst, cleared his throat and suggested that they start leaving for the ball.

Both Derrick and Vinter offered their arms to Penelope at the same time, leaving her frozen on the spot. She was reminded, quite involuntarily, of the moment right after the court hearing with the both of them that was suspiciously similar to this one. 

She took Vinter’s arm, relishing in how Derrick's face darkened and his percentage lowered a few points. 

“Shall we?” Vinter led her out to his own carriage before Reynold yelled.

“What do you think you’re doing, you bastard?”

“Reynold, it’s custom for dates to arrive at formal events together, is it not?”

“Father you’re not really going to let that creep take Penelope in his carriage are you?!”

“I agree with Reynold, Father, she is too young to be riding unaccompanied with an unmarried man.” Derrick's voice betrayed a bit of anger that made Penelope’s fist clench. How dare he be angry at her for not wanting to ride in a carriage with him after everything he’d done at the hunting festival?

“Penelope is right, the Marquess is her date after all. And Reynold, I don’t appreciate you calling my friend a “creep”. Marquess Verdandi is a respectable and…”

Penelope climbed into the carriage before she had to hear the rest of the Duke’s lecture. Vinter offered her his hand as leverage, which she gladly accepted. He sat across from her, and waited until the carriage started to move to speak. 

“So, Lady Penelope, would you like to explain the real reason why the Duke asked me to accompany you today?”

Ah, count on Vinter to be the smart one out of all the characters. His playful tone brought a light smile to her face.

“It’s rather a long story.”

“It’s rather a long carriage ride.” He crossed his legs and gave her a smile of his own. “It has to do with your former family doesn’t it?” Vinter’s expression fell into something more concerned as he asked.

“Yes and no. The Duke asked you to come as my date because of his concerns about the Crown Prince. I’m sure you remember my… history with him.” Vinter nodded, keeping his frigid purple eyes on her as she talked. “He is the one who invited me to the ball, and gifted me a dress as well. So the Duke decided it was a good idea for me to go with a partner, so that the Crown Prince couldn’t approach me alone.”

“And the other reason?”

“I am not afraid of the Crown Prince, Marquess.” Penelope smiled at him, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I am afraid of my brother.”

“The one I was… introduced to the other day?” Vinter arched an eyebrow.

“The very same. You see, the Crown Prince is no threat to me, just a mere annoyance. But Dion… Dion is dangerous. Extremely dangerous. The rumors do not reflect even half of it, to put it frankly.”

Vinter nodded once again, seeming deep in thought. It was interesting, how Penelope could almost see his brain working. His forehead crinkled as he furrowed his brow, his jaw clenched tightly, his blinking turned slow and methodical. Finally, the muscles in his face relaxed, and he met her eyes once again.

“Well, I won’t tell the Crown Prince that you called him a mere annoyance.”

Vinter exited the carriage first once they had arrived at the palace, offering his hand to her once again. And she accepted it again, the white glove feeling cool against her skin. She was extremely grateful for Vinter at the moment, but the feeling of wariness hadn’t completely disappeared around him. He was, after all, still the one who would bring Yvonne back during her coming-of-age-ceremony. It was such a pity too, Penelope was starting to enjoy his company. It was nice to have something resembling an ally in this god-for-saken world. 

As they walked towards the palace, Penelope’s anxiety started to rise. She searched every face for red eyes, even though she knew that Dion wouldn’t show himself until the worst possible moment. 

“Looking for your brother?” Vinter whispered in her ear and giving her a smile that was entirely of out place for the situation.

“Stealth happens to be his specialty, unfortunately for us. Well, stealth and bloodlust.” She returned his smile, like he had just said something amusing to her. His eyes paused on hers and she could see concern through his facade.

Penelope turned her attention to the palace again, not wanting to look at him anymore. It was odd, his concern should have been comforting, but it rather annoyed her right now. Unfairly so, she knew, he was just trying to look out for his friends daughter.

Focusing harder on the palace in front of her, Penelope realized she hadn’t been here since the hunting festival ended. In fact, the last time she had visited was when the Crown Prince was still ill after the trial.

Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to think about the palace after all.

As they were directed into the ballroom, Penelope couldn’t help but continue to search the sea of nobles for any signs of danger. Her nerves were at an all time high now. 

Vinter squeezed her hand lightly and gave her a reassuring smile. Oh. Her hands were shaking. Returning the smile, she tried to take a deep breathe and straighten her shoulders.

She had prepared, nothing would go wrong tonight.

They strided into the ballroom, and Penelope’s breath caught in her chest.

It was gorgeously decorated; golden ribbon dangling from the ceiling to the walls, white curtains drawn back on one side to showcase the starry night and spacious balconies, and a dazzling golden chandelier in the center, which was designed to look like a star had just fallen right from the sky. 

It was moments like these that made her forget about Korea and her previous life.

Key word being moments, because in an instant, her anxiety came back in tenfold. There were a lot more nobles inside the ballroom, meaning that she couldn’t spot Dion even if he was standing in this room.

Vinter guided her to a spot near a wall, and excused himself to go fetch drinks. As she stood there, wishing she was anywhere else, something awful appeared in front of her.

Special Event:

Dance with two male love interests.

Penalty: -5% from all attending interests

Reward: ??

Of course, the game chose now of all times to give her a new event. 

Accept or Deny?

Well, 5% was a considerable amount, and she really couldn’t afford to lose much. On the other hand, it might be more dangerous to draw attention to herself right now. 

But the reward wasn’t specified, which usually meant it was something worth the while and then some.

Biting her nail, she debated the two options.

She didn’t take long, and clicked Accept right as Vinter walked up with two champagne glasses.

Smiling, Penelope took one from his hand and sipped it. 

“Would you like to dance, Marquess?”

His eyes widened a bit.

“Is that not a bit… precarious, my lady?”

“Not if it’s with you.” She fluttered her lashes a bit, and then couldn’t suppress a giggle when he blushed.

Vinter held out his arm, and she took it once again.

He led her out on the floor, where they began a slow waltz. Obviously, Cha Siyeon didn’t have any experience dancing like this, but either Penelope’s muscle memory or the games mechanism kicked in to help her not make a fool out of herself.

As they spun around, Penelope tried again to calm down. 

They finished the dance with ease, and took their place back by the wall. Just as she was about to excuse herself to go find Reynold for the other dance, a voice interrupted her.

“Excuse me, could I steal the young lady for a moment, sir?”

Penelope looked up to find…

Vinter?

No, this man had Vinter’s hair, but his eyes were the color of the golden ribbons adorning the ballroom.

 Wait.

No.

This couldn’t be-

Fuck.

“I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met. I am the son of Marquess Pedelian, Cassis Pedelian.”

Fuck.

With a pleasant smile, Penelope Eckhart’s former lover stuck his hand out to Vinter. 

Chapter Text

“Marquess Verdandi, Vinter Verdandi.” Vinter said as he shook Cassis’s outstretched hand. He shot a quick glance to Penelope, but she was shocked into a tranced state.

“A pleasure, Marquess.”

“If I may, Lord Pedelian, what is it that you need with my date?”

It might have been her imagination, but Penelope could have sworn she saw anger flash in Cassis’s eyes at the last word. 

No, it must have been her imagination, because the Cassis Pedelian that she had seen in the game was a kind and polite young man, if not a bit pitiful. 

“How terribly rude of me, Marquess, I should have clarified. Could I request a dance from the lady?”

His eyes met Penelope’s. Golden poured into emerald for what felt like centuries, until she snapped out of it.

“Of course, Lord Pedelian. I’ll be right back, Marquess.”

She gave Vinter a quick nod to assure him that everything was alright. And it was. Cassis, despite the shock that he had given her, was quite harmless. He had been enamored by Roxana, and owed her his life.

So there was no danger in a dance. 

She wanted to know what he was doing here, if he recognized her, and if his presence had anything to do with Agriche’s reappearance, which she highly suspected.

As she glided onto the dance floor once again, her eyes met with Derrick’s. His shock rivaled her own from moments ago, but it had a little more darkness to it. Why was he so upset with her tonight? She’d noticed it earlier that night with Vinter, but could not come up with anything that she had done to deserve it recently.

“You seem to be distracted, Lady Eckhart.” Cassis words pulled her out of her thoughts. His voice was smooth, like the Crown Prince’s, but soft as well. He was older and more refined than she remembered him from the game’s prologue levels, but that made sense given that they took place a couple years ago.

“My apologies, Lord Pedelian, it has been a troubling night.”

“It is about to get more troubling.”

His tone stayed the same but something changed in his eyes. Something that made her blood run cold.

“Excuse me?”

“Surely it has not slipped your attention that your brothers are attending tonight?”

“Of course not, my lord, in fact, I was about to go seek out Reynold before you-“

“We both know that is not who I speak of.” He leaned forward, his breath tickling her ear. She shivered against his hand on her waist.

“I was wondering if you recognized me.” Penelope smiled, hiding the fear that was climbing up her throat. “What are you doing in the Eorka Empire?”

“Tracking your brothers, as it happens, who were tracking you. Lucky coincidence that they led me right to you, Roxana.”

Cassis whispered her name with a smile, like it was a secret just between the two of them. 

“These past few years have treated you well, Cassis.”

“Well?” His smile grew wider but his eyes darkened.

“Well? No, Roxana, they have not. I have looked for you, in every place I go, in every young woman I meet, hoping for a glimpse of my savior. I have suffered without you, more than I suffered in that poisonous house of yours.”

Penelope’s heart nearly stopped. Looked for her? Suffered without her? Where was this guy when the real Penelope was getting killed or cast out? Why did he have to show up when the woman that he was really looking for was gone?

“It is forgiven though. You are here now. I am here now. No more suffering for either of us, Roxana.”

How ominous. 

“What do you mean by-“

“There you are, Princess, I was wondering where you were hiding.”

A voice appeared behind her, as well as a hand on her shoulder, interrupting her question. 

It was a voice she knew all too well, a voice she had hoped not to hear tonight.

“Prince Callisto.” Cassis stepped back from Penelope and bowed. The dancing around them slowed, as everyone started to stare at the Prince, the outsider, and the fake daughter.

This was precisely the kind of thing she had been trying to avoid.

“Who are you?” Callisto didn’t even attempt to hide the hostility in his voice, as he sneered at Cassis.

“Cassis Pedelian, your Majesty, son of Marquess Pedelian.”

“And what, pray tell, do you think you’re doing with my date?”

“Your date?” Cassis’s eyes flicked from Penelope to the Crown Prince, confusion covering his handsome face.

“Yes, my date!”

“No, not his date!”

Both Penelope and Callisto said at the same time.

“Princess?”

“My date, your Majesty, is Marquess Verdandi.”

She gestured to Vinter, who was at the front of the crowd gather around them now.

“A little old for you, isn’t he?” Callisto laughed darkly, glaring at Vinter now.

“Not that much older than you, your Majesty.”

“And why aren’t you wearing the dress I sent you?”

Gasps and whispers from the crowd. Great, now the rumors about her and Callisto would never die down.

“Not that that dress doesn’t look beautiful on you, Princess, but I picked that gift out for you specifically.”

“I was given this dress as a gift as well, your Majesty, before yours.”

“And who gave it to you? Marquess Verdandi? Or this Pedelian guy?” A dangerous sort of amusement filled his voice, and she tried to think of the quickest lie she could come up with before someone else stepped in for her.

“Neither.”

A voice sounded from behind the crowd, which immediately parted to identify the speaker.

Jeremy motherfucking Agriche strutted towards the center of the dance floor, hands in his pockets.

“It was gifted to her, by me.”

“And who are you?”

Before Jeremy could answer, another voice shouted from the people gathered around them.

“You again?!” Reynold pushed and fought his way towards them, his eyes locked furiously on Jeremy.

“Reynold,” Penelope warned, stepping forward before she was stopped by Callisto’s hand on her shoulder once again.

“Get away from my sister, you creepy bastard!”

Jeremy laughed, running a hand through his blue hair.

“I’m the bastard? Do you even know how much she’s suffered in that damned Eckhart house, you peony-looking-“

“What did you just call me?!”

“At least I didn’t starve her half to death!”

“Alright, Jeremy, that’s enough.” Penelope tore away from Callisto to stand in front of Jeremy. All eyes fell on her; golden, purple, blue, and red.

“Let’s not cause a scene.”

“Oh, I think we’re well past that, Princess.”

“Why does he keep calling you that?” Jeremy asked with a disgusted look on his face.

“Mind explaining to the rest of us who you are and what your relationship with her is first?” Callisto shot back.

“Jeremy. Jeremy Agriche.”

Screams ensued from the crowd of people. The Agriche name was well, well known, even in a different empire. 

“And this,” Jeremy continued, pointing at Penelope, “is my-“

“Pen friend!” She exclaimed, cutting him off before he could expose her.

“Pen what?” 

Everybody looked at her in confusion, including Jeremy.

“We exchange letters back and forth. He sent me the dress as a gift after I mentioned the upcoming ball.”

“You never responded to any of my- ow!” Penelope subtext jabbed him with her elbow and gave him a look.

“Yeah, we’re pen buddies or whatever.”

“Pen friends.” She repeated with a smile, turning back to the even more confused Reynold and Callisto. Only Cassis was aware of what was happening, but he hid it extremely well with an expression of confusion that matched the others perfectly.

“So you’ve been writing to him, but ignoring my letters? How cold, Princess.”

“Stop. Calling. Her. That.” Reynold gritted out with a piercing glare.

The crowd’s whispering was getting louder and louder. Penelope could barely breathe with all the attention on her. It was suffocating, like every eye on her was slowly constructing her chest tighter and tighter and…

“If everyone is quite done arguing, I must excuse myself for some air.”

Without waiting for a response, she whipped around and nearly sprinted away.

“Penelope!”

“Princess!”

They called after her, but she lost them through all of the people blocking the way and found herself in an unoccupied hallway of the palace. When she was sure that none of them could see her, she hurried to the nearest balcony. 

“Ecklies?”

She called out into the night air. Penelope held her breath, waiting for a response. She saw a shadow appear in the tall oak tree near the balcony and sighed in relief.

“There you are, Ecklies.”

The figured dropped down onto the railing of the balcony, dressed in all black.

“Hello again, Ana.”

Chapter Text

Penelope staggered backwards. 

“Where is my guard, Dion?” 

“Hmmm?” He smirked as he stalked closer to her.

“Don’t play dumb, where is my guard?” Penelope punctuated everything word of the question, hoping that her fear was hidden well enough.

“Oh, you mean that puny little thing you had with you last time? Yes, I do recall running into him.”

“Don’t tell me you killed him.”

“Was I not supposed to?” Dion’s tone was mockingly innocent, but his words and expression were anything but. His smirk grew even more maniacal, which Penelope didn’t think was possible, as he studied her barely concealed panic.

“Kidding, Ana. He’s not dead, unfortunately, just knocked out.” 

It took everything in her not sigh in relief.

“You can see him when you come back to the house with me.”

Penelope gave her best cold laugh at that.

“I’d sooner kill him myself then return to that damn house with you.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Dion remarked coolly as he took another step towards her.

“What are you even doing here, Dion?”

“What do you think? I’m here to take back what belongs to Agriche. Your little fun is over, Ana.”

“First of all, I’m not a thing that belongs to anyone, much less Agriche. And what I meant was, why are all three of you at this ball?”

“Three?” Dion’s eyes narrowed and he stopped inching towards her.

Did he really not know?

“Ana, what do you mean three?”

In a flash, she was cornered against the wall next to the entrance to the balcony. 

“Who else is here?”

As if on cue, the door next to them flung open.

“Penelope?” Derrick called out, not noticing her and Dion immediately as the door hid them from view. “Are you out here? I thought I heard voices…” His voice trailed off as he caught the rather shocking sight; Penelope being caged against a wall by a strange, dangerous man.

“What is going on here?” He asked in a low voice, two octaves away from growling.

“Young master! Oh thank goodness!” Penelope exclaimed, putting on her best pitiful performance. Dion suppressed a laugh, before she pushed herself away from him to hide behind Derrick. “I was getting some air and this man attacked me!”

For once, she was grateful to see him. 

"Who are you and what were you attempting to do with the young lady of the Eckart house?” Derrick asked coldly, shielding Penelope with one arm. She was unable to resist the urge to smirk at Dion, who returned it with a little too much enthusiasm for someone who had just lost his advantage.

Derrick became more frustrated when Dion didn’t respond to his question and positioned himself to lean nonchalantly against the wall–the same one Penelope had just been caged against. Watching him, Penelope was reminded of the copy-and-paste male leads in trashy romance books and nearly wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“It isn’t like you to hide behind another man, Ana.” He finally spoke, although now Penelope was wishing he had just stayed silent forever.

“Answer the question, who are you-”

“And such a boring one at that!” Dion continued to talk to Penelope, completely ignoring Derrick’s threats.

“Answer my question.” Derrick repeated, clenching his fist with increased irritation. “Or I’ll call the guards and let them drag you out.”

That finally got Dion’s attention, who slid his cold, red eyes over to meet Derrick’s for the first time. 

“I assure you, those guards are no obstacle for me. Right, Ana?” He drew out the nickname with an annoying grin, nearly causing Penelope to throw up. God, was he this nauseating in the novel or just in real life?

“Penelope? Do you know this man?” Derrick addressed her, his tone filled with suspicion. Good Lord, why did it have to be him that rescued her? She should have known that he’d suspect her as soon as the first sign of doubt appeared.

“No, young master.” Expertly, she kept her tone serious but allowed a little shakiness to her words as well. It seemed to work, with the way Derrick straightened up a bit.

“You wound me, sis-”

For the second time, the door flew open. This time, it was the Crown Prince, one hand on his sheathed sword and the other holding the door he just slammed. For a moment, everybody was still; Dion, Derrick, and Penelope all turned to the newcomer, who in turn, studied the scene in front of him.

In a moment, he had figured out the situation, and turned his expression into a savage smile.

“Well, Princess, it seems like my timing keeps getting better and better.” Callisto tilted his head in a way that might have looked innocently curious on anybody else, but looked downright murderous on his handsome face.

“Your Highness” was the only response she could muster up, utterly frozen to the spot with indecisiveness.

“Who is this bastard?” He gestured to Dion with the hand that was holding the door, letting it fall closed behind him.

“I was just asking the same question, your Highness.” Derrick replied, flicking his eyes between the two men.

“You have such odd friends, Ana.” Dion remarked to Penelope, a smug expression still on his face. Penelope had half a mind to full on bitch-slap him, before she reminded herself that he was a trained and deadly assassin.

“I will ask one more time before I have you arrested for threatening a young lady. Who. Are. You.” Penelope had rarely seen Derrick this angry before. In fact, she hadn’t ever seen him this angry at somebody besides her. It would have been quite refreshing to see, if Dion hadn’t shrugged off the wall and opened his mouth. Suddenly, it hit her that Dion was definitely about to tell Derrick the truth, and she was definitely about to get in serious trouble.

“I can take it from here, Little Duke.” Callisto cut Dion off from talking, addressing Derrick as condescendingly as humanly possible. 

“With all due respect, your Majesty, this man was just threatening a young lady of my own household.” Derrick shifted to cover Penelope even more, except now it seemed he was shielding her more from Callisto than Dion. 

“In my palace.” Callisto countered, stepping forwards towards Derrick. “I’ll investigate the issue on my own.” He held a hand out to the door, and narrowed his eyes threateningly. 

A tense moment passed, before Derrick broke and approached the door, turning back to look at Penelope, with a look that said that they would most definitely be having a conversation when this was over. Oh, what joy.

“Alright, how do you know this man, Princess?” Callisto turned to look at Penelope, completely ignoring the extremely dangerous murderer right next to them.

“I don’t, your Majesty.”

“Clearly, his identity is something you don’t want your older brother to know, if your terrified expression is any indicator.”

Taken aback, Penelope stared at him in surprise for a few seconds. Dion, ever the man of opportunity, decided to speak for her. 

“That was your poor excuse of an adopted brother? That was the reason you won’t come back home with me? I’m disappointed, sister.” The words were emotionless this time, but extremely problematic for Penelope.

“Sister?” Callisto whipped around to face Dion, back to Penelope. It was his turn to shield her from the murderer, she supposed. 

“Yes, the lady you are so kindly protecting is my sister. Real sister, not adopted.”

Penelope groaned. It wasn’t worth trying to hide at this point.

“Thank you Dion, really helpful.” She sniped, flashing him a glare as she stepped out from behind Callisto. 

“So this man is really your brother, Princess?” Callisto asked incredulously, looking back and forth between the two of them as if trying to see the resemblance.

“Half-brother. Your Majesty, meet Dion Agriche.”

Dion bared his teeth in a blood curdling smile at her introduction. Callisto, on the other hand, barked out a laugh.

“You’re telling me that you’re an Agriche, Princess? You never cease to amaze me.”

“I think you should be a little more concerned right now, your Highness.”

“So that blue haired man, he’s your brother too?”

“Yes, another half-brother of mine.”

“Then that white-haired man, is he another one of you?” 

Dion’s emotionless expression turned murderous at Callisto’s mention of the white-haired man. 

Did he truly not know Cassian was here?

“Ana, tell me he’s not talking about who I think he’s talking about.”

Penelope pressed her lips together in response.

“Is he the third one you were talking about?”

Penelope looked to the side in response.

“So I’m assuming he’s not one of you?” Callisto inquired, raising an eyebrow at the odd conversation going on.

“No, he is not.” Dion spit out, directing the words at Penelope. “Did you know he was coming? Have you two been in contact this whole time?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no and no. I’m as surprised as you.”

“Alright.” Shooting forwards to Penelope, Dion came just close enough to grab her wrist in a painful grip. “New plan. I bring his corpse to Father, and he lets you stay as my toy as reward.”

Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, Penelope did not like this new plan whatsoever.

In the instant that the words came out of his mouth, Callisto drew his sword and pointed it at the hand that was currently squeezing Penelope’s wrist.

“I suggest you take that hand off if you don’t wish to lose it.” His words came out cold and collected, but his eyes were burning with fire.

If he was threatening anybody else, they surely would have dropped everything and ran by now. But, being an Agriche, Dion simply increased his hold on her wrist.

“This is a family issue.”

“Sure as hell doesn’t sound like one.”

As they argued, Penelope noticed a glint of something in the tree adjacent to the balcony. It looked like… a pair of eyes?

The figure that the eyes belonged to creeped out of the shadows and quietly jumped onto the balcony, unnoticed by either of the men.

Penelope nearly screamed with relief to see Ecklies sneaking up behind Dion. It was a wonder that he wasn’t being caught, as Dion was trained in every sort of combat imaginable, but it seemed he was too distracted by the Crown Prince to pay attention. Taking note of the outstretched sword in her knight's hand, she gave him a small nod. 

Seeing the signal, Ecklies brought the butt of his sword up above Dion’s head and swung.

Chapter Text

Dion fell to the floor, knocked out by Ecklies’s sword. Penelope sighed in relief, raising a gloved hand to her hand to rub her eyes.

“Good timing, Ecklies.”

“ Another brother of yours I assume?” Callisto mocked, taking the opportunity to sheath his sword .

“My guard, actually.” Penelope answered as she stepped over Dion’s unconscious body to inspect Ecklies. “Are you alright, Ecklies?”

“I’m fine, master.” His expression didn’t change at all, unsurprisingly, even when Penelope pulled a leaf off of his uniform.

“Can I know who the white-haired bastard is no-” The Crown Prince started to say before yet another person burst onto the balcony.

“Roxy!” Jeremy beamed, throwing his arms out as if to offer a hug. “There you are!”

Well, not the worst person who could’ve walked in.

“Jeremy.” Penelope returned his smile, with much less enthusiasm, before remembering the situation at hand. It seemed Jeremy realized at the same time she did, taking in the scene in front of him: two strange men standing with his sister on a secluded balcony, with their older brother lying unconscious on the floor.

“Hey! You’re the guy from earlier!” Her half-brother exclaimed with a frown.

“Yes, the Crown Prince, Jeremy.” Penelope winced, hoping Callisto wouldn’t have him executed for speaking informally to the royal family.

“No, not him, the creepy one next to you. He was tied up in the garden for some reason.  Said he had to go save his ‘master’ from something, so I let him go.”

Ah, that was how he got free. She was a bit disappointed, to be honest, that Ecklies couldn’t hold his own, but that was to be expected when one goes against an Agriche. 

“Master, do you know these two?” Ecklies asked quietly, his voice much more scary than she would’ve expected. What was up with him?

“This is the Crown Prince,” she gestured to Callisto, who gave a menacing smile as introduction, “And Jeremy Agriche, my half-brother.”

“Aw, c’mon Roxy, just call me brother.” The man in question pouted, crossing his arms like a jealous toddler.

“Cute family reunion and all, but I would like to know who the man your psycho brother was talking about earlier is?” 

Hypocritical of you to call someone psycho, was what Penelope wanted to say, but she held back.

“An old friend of mine from when I lived in the Agriche house, your Majesty.” 

“Old friend?” Jeremy questioned, frowning again. “What friend? I don’t remember you having any male friends besides the ones Father made you seduce-”

“Jeremy!” She cut him off before he could say anything more. Highly aware of how red her face was getting, she quickly stole glances at both of the men. Callisto looked both amused and enraged, which wasn’t too far off from how he always looked; Ecklies looked… well, she didn’t know how to describe it. Way angrier than she had ever seen him before, almost like…

“No, go on. I want to hear about these ‘male friends’.” She shot an annoyed look at the Crown Prince, before turning to Jeremy, who looked like he had just figured something out.

“Unless… Dion was talking about the Pedelian dog?”

“Pedelian, that sounds right.” Callisto affirmed.

“Why were you guys talking about a dead bastard?”

“Dead?” Penelope could feel the Crown Prince’s eyes burn into the side of her face. “I just met that man not an hour ago, what do you mean dead?”

“He’s alive?” Jeremy yelled, making Penelope wince once again. Closing her eyes, she sent an apology to the original Penelope/Roxana for exposing her to nearly everybody. “Roxy, you helped him escape?!”

“Did master have another slave before me?” Ecklies’s voice was cold, but she could hear the upset that was just moments away from breaking through.

“It’s a tradition in Agriche to take enemies as… well, human toys. Father gave Cassian to me, and I helped him escape out of the kindness of my heart. He asked me for a dance to thank me for what I did back then, that’s all.”

“Since when have you done things out of the kindness of your heart, Princess?” Callisto scoffed, his eyes still full of doubt. 

“I was quite different back then, your Majesty.”

Not entirely a lie, Penelope was quite different back then, just not any better. Much, much, much worse, actually.

“Ecklies,” she spun around to look at her guard, who was a little more relaxed now. She’d deal with the damage to their relationship later, right now she needed to get out of here before she ran into any more of Penelope’s past-lovers/half-brothers. “Will you go fetch a carriage for me?”

He nodded, although reluctantly, and left the balcony through the tree.

“He’s charming.” Sarcasm practically dripping out of his voice, Callisto moved forward to the unconscious Dion. “Anyway, what are we going to do with him?”

Well, they certainly couldn’t kill him, unfortunate as that was. Penelope bit her lip trying to come up with a solution. If she sent him back with Jeremy right now, nothing would stop him from simply coming back. But he definitely couldn’t stay here, Penelope refused to suffer through constant paranoia of being kidnapped.

“Jeremy, do you remember that man I was with earlier?” She stepped over to whisper into his ear, not wanting the Crown Prince to hear. 

“The loud pink one?”

“No, the one with the white hair.” Seeing his expression darken, she corrected herself. “ Not Cassian, of course, the one with the purple eyes.”

Jeremy nodded, his expression clearly showing his confusion.

“Could you get him for me? Tell him that Lady Penelope requires his assistance.”

“Alright, sister.” He still looked confused, but left the balcony all the same. Good thing that Jeremy was so loyal to his sister, she surely would have been dragged back to Agriche otherwise.

“It’s just you and me again, Princess.” Callisto smiled threateningly, and Penelope resisted a shudder.

“Actually, I would like you to leave as well. If I’m going to deal with Dion, I can’t have you watching.”

“You really expect me to leave you here with this psychopath?”

“I am an Agriche, your highness. I believe I can handle one unconscious man, regardless of his state of sanity.”

Callisto barked out a laugh at that. Penelope felt her heart, traitor that it was, give a little flutter. Surely she was just startled by how intimidating he was while he laughed. There couldn’t  possibly be any other reason.

“Jeremy will be back in a second anyways. And I believe you have a ball to return to.”

“Good point, Princess. Alright, I’ll let you deal with your brother on your own. But if you get injured or murdered, you owe me a favor.”

If she was murdered, she couldn’t exactly return a favor, but she figured it was safer not to press the issue.

A few minutes after the Crown Prince left, Jeremy returned with Vinter trailing behind him. The magician’s eyes widened at the man passed out on the floor, before recognizing him.

“This must be that brother you were talking about.” Vinter cleared his throat, and met Penelope’s eyes. She nodded, and squared her shoulders.

“My guard knocked him out. He’s not dead, regrettably, but I’ll be in danger if he wakes up soon. Could you… erase some of his memories for me?”

Vinter froze, his faze flitting from Penelope to Jeremy in a second.

“Oh, he won’t tell. Right, brother?”

Jeremy shrugged indifferently. Magic was no big deal to somebody who witnessed/committed murder on the daily.

“What would you like me to erase?”

“Any memories of my new identity, and the past week.” 

Vinter nodded once, and stepped forward to Dion’s body. Crouching down, he closed his eyes and raised a hand to Dion’s forehead. A lavender fog seeped out of his outstretched hand and surrounded Dion’s head. After a minute or two, he stood and brushed his hands off on his coat.

“Done, Lady Penelope.”

Penelope gave him a warm smile, earning a glare from Jeremy, and thanked him. She felt a wave of relief crash into her. After all the worrying, all the stress, it was finally over. Her biggest threat had been neutralized. She felt like jumping up and down in joy, but figured that would seem odd to Vinter and Jeremy.

Finally, she could breathe again. 

Chapter Text

“Would you like me to escort you home, Lady Penelope?” Vinter offered, a concerned look stretched across his handsome face. 

“That would be…” she trailed off as she caught sight of Jeremy’s face, his lips curled up in barely contained rage and his left eye twitching, and changed her mind. “Unnecessary. My brother will happily escort me, Marquis.” 

Jeremy straightened up and relaxed his eye, but his irritation at the other man had yet to disappear completely. Vinter, on the other hand, was visibly disappointed, try as he might to hide it. Guilt overcame Penelope, he had just saved her life after all, and accompanied her to this ball, at barely any cost of her own. She gave him another smile and thanked him again for all his help, before taking Jeremy’s arm and leaving him alone on the balcony. 

“He looks too much like that Pedelian bastard.” Jeremy grumbled, shooting a childish glare behind him at the closing balcony door. Penelope giggled at that, much to her and Jeremy’s surprise. It had been a while since she’d been able to relax like this, even before any member of Penelope’s former family had appeared. What was it about Jeremy that made her so comfortable?

Ah, it must be the leftover feelings of the original Penelope. 

What would she say if she was here now, standing arm in arm with her beloved younger brother? 

“Roxy? Are you alright?” Jeremy was staring at her with worry that certainly didn’t suit him. It was understandable, she had been quiet for quite a while now.

“I’m alright. Just thinking. You will keep an eye on Dion for me, right brother?”

Jeremy’s face quickly broke into one of his crooked smiles.

“Of course, anything for you, Roxy. And… you’ll write me back, won’t you?”

“Yes.” Penelope replied, her mind wandering back to thoughts of the original owner of her body.

“And maybe I can even come to visit sometimes! You told everyone we were friends, after all.”

“Sure” was the absent-minded reply.

“I wish you could come back home with me, sister.”

That snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Me too.” Softness creeped into her voice, as she imagined what life would be like if Penelope had stayed in Agriche. Hell on Earth, obviously, but she would at least have Jeremy. The Dukedom was better than Agriche in many ways, but it was also much lonelier for Penelope. 

“Speaking of which, what was that man talking about with Cassis earlier?”

Penelope sighed internally, as they reached the carriage that Ecklies had procured, and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her free hand.

“I’ll explain on the way.”

True to her word, Penelope spent the entire carriage ride recounting all that she remembered about Cassis and Roxana from the game, about Penelope’s life before she had taken over her body, and everything that had happened since. Jeremy intercepted at point to curse various people out, Cassis, the Duke, the staff of the Dukedom, Reynold, Derrick, Vinter, Callisto and such, but he was a good listener nonetheless. 

It was comforting, actually, to talk to somebody about it all. By the time the carriage reached the Dukedome, Penelope felt like some weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She’d been carrying all of this alone for so long that it felt good to get it all out. 

“Goodbye, brother.” She said, exiting the carriage by herself. Jeremy’s eyes flashed with unspeakable loneliness at the word “brother” but he recovered quickly.

“Goodbye, sister.”

As Penelope walked up to the mansion’s entrance, she fought the urge to not turn back around. It was unfair, to lose such comfort as soon as it was gained, but it couldn’t be helped. If Dion was to be going back, Jeremy had to go with him.

But it sure was a damn shame.

Penelope entered the house, careful to be as quiet as possible. She didn’t want to alert the Duke to her return and risk starting up a conversation. It was early enough in the night that he wouldn’t expect her to have left the ball yet anyways. 

As she slipped off her heels and tip-toed up the stairs, she was hit by a strange sense of deja vu. All of a sudden, the heels were her tennis shoes, the ones with worn out soles, and the huge carpeted staircase was the narrow hallway to her room, and the rooms she was passing were her brothers’ bedrooms, her father’s office, and…

When she reached the door to her room, she snapped out of the trance. Blinking once, then twice, she reminded herself where she was and who she was, presently.

She was Penelope Eckhart, adopted daughter of Duke Eckhart, the mad villainess.

She was the former Roxana Agriche, biological daughter of Lant Agriche, the other mad villainess.

She was not Cha Siyeon, adopted daughter of ———, the pathetic loner.

Not right now, anyways.

“Oh, my lady! I didn’t expect you back for another hour or two!” Emily exclaimed as Penelope entered the room, clearly startled by her sudden return. She started towards the door Penelope had just closed. “I’ll go inform the Duke-”

“No!” She burst out, anxiety getting the best of her. Emily paused right in front of the door, giving her mistress a confused look. “Ah, no. That won’t be necessary, Emily. Could you run me a bath, instead?”

Emily seemed to understand something in her face, and immediately dropped the subject. Penelope marveled at the effects that blackmail produced, as she watched Emily hustle in and out of the bathroom. She was suddenly overcome with gratitude for the maid, strange as it was, considering their history. 

“My lady? The bath is ready.”

As Penelope sank into the warm water, she felt the tension in her shoulders melt away. She inhaled the sweet scent of the magnolia petals Emily had strewn and laid her head against the tub. 

She was, once again, reminded of her current situation. Cha Siyeon would never have experienced luxury like this back in Korea, not unless she saved money for months, but Penelope Eckhart was able to have it in just a few minutes with just a few words. 

Still, basking in the steam of wealth and affluence, she was overcome with longing for her life in Korea. She might not have had the same privilege to things like this, but she had freedom. 

Ah, freedom.

It was Penelope’s light at the end of the tunnel, and lately, it felt like it was moving farther and farther away from her. It was sand, slipping through her desperate fingers. But now, with Dion removed, she could finally focus again. 

And now there was the aftermath to think about.

There would be some backlash with Ecklies. He seemed particularly upset to hear about Cassis, so she would need to do some damage control. Another gift, maybe? Or another shopping trip? Honestly, sometimes it was hard to read the guy and figure out what he wanted.

Surely, she had earned some points with Vinter. He was an oddly sympathetic man, so surely seeing her messed up family had made her at least a little more pitiable in his eyes. 

And the Crown Prince… well, she didn’t really know what to think about him. If he kept inserting himself into her plans like this, it wouldn’t end well; as long as she did everything she could to avoid him, it would be alright.

Reynold would probably be fine. Maybe she should give him a protective pendant like the Duke? Although, would that make her intentions too obvious? In any case, some flattery should make Reynold forget about the whole thing.

The same couldn’t be said for Derrick, he would be a problem. He had surely lost all faith in her after the hunting festival, and vice versa. Penelope was no longer interested in raising his percentage, but she should make sure it doesn’t get low enough for death. She should avoid him like the Crown Prince, he wouldn’t want to see her anyway.

Penelope sighed again and opened her eyes, unable to relax.

Her mind just kept running and running.

And it was returning to one thing.

What did Cassis mean earlier?

When Penelope woke up that morning, she felt oddly sore. Lifting her body off the bed had suddenly become a laborious task overnight. When she finally got up and moved around a little, the feeling went away, but her mind felt as sluggish as her body had.

So when Emily burst into the room, even more excited than usual, it took Penelope a moment to process her words.

“I’m sorry?”

“There’s something for you, my lady!”

Dread bloomed in her stomach, an unusual reaction to receiving news about a surprise present. 

But Penelope had had enough surprises recently.

She quickly put on her slippers and a shawl, and hurried down the stairs. 

Was it from Dion? It couldn’t be, right? Vinter’s magic was strong, there’s no way he could have gotten his memories back, especially this fast.

Was it from Vinter then? But it wasn’t like him to send something this publicly. Surely he would have done it via creepy talking rabbit.

Oh God… the Crown Prince? Was it another dress? Was it another severed bear head?

The fear only spread throughout her body as she raced down, until she finally reached the foyer.

Where a bouquet of flowers was sitting on the little table in the middle.

Dark, blood-red roses.

“They were just sitting on the doorstep this morning apparently!” Emily squealed, trailing after Penelope with way too much enthusiasm. “

Penelope quickly picked them up, examining them for anything that would identify their sender.

“Was there a note?” She looked up to meet Reynold’s striking blue eyes, mouth slightly agape with confusion. 

In his hands was a small note. 

“Who the hell is 'Cass’?”

Chapter Text

“Give me that!” Penelope lunged for the note and snatched it out of Reynold’s hands before he could react. He made a sound of protest at her aggression, but she ignored it as she scoured the note.

Dear Miss Penelope,

I find that r oses o ften work as the best e x pression of gr a titude, which I offer to you after your ki n dness l a st night. In r eturn, w o uld you e x ercise that s a me ki n dness once a gain, and allow me to esco r t y o u to Lady Kno x ’s te a ba n quet in two d a ys?

Your admirer,

Cass

Mother.

Fucker.

The note nearly slipped out from Penelope’s shaking hands as the words echoed in her head. 

Roses. Escort. Tea banquet. 

Was he… blackmailing her? Into going to a tea party with him?

Jerking the note back up, she scanned the words once again. This time, she noticed something was a little off with the handwriting. Certain letters seemed to be slightly darker than others.

R… O… X…

Her blood ran cold as she realized what it was. Her eyes raced over the words again and again, making sure she wasn’t mistaken in her theory. 

He was spelling out her—Penelope’s—old name.

About three times.

What.

The.

Fuck.

“Penelope? What’s wrong?” Reynold’s brow was furrowed in deep concern, his eyes wide with confusion at her strange behavior. She snapped up to meet his gaze, her mouth still slightly agape in shock.

“N-nothing. It’s nothing. Just somebody I met at the ball.” Penelope glanced back down at the note, but she was no longer reading the words. Her mind was going a million miles an hour thinking of possible scenarios, possible reasons, combing back through what she remembered of Cassis from The Lady’s Love Project.  

“Is he harassing you?” Reynold pressed, his voice still filled with uncharacteristic worry. When no answer to his question came, he started towards the exit with his hand on the hilt of his sword, muttering under his breath. “I’ll teach him a lesson or two about ‘expressions of gratitude-” 

“No, no, Reynold stop!” Coming to her senses, Penelope grabbed his wrist in an attempt to dissuade him. She quickly let go upon seeing his expression, and tried to explain quickly. “He’s not harassing me, I was just shocked.” She put on her best convincing smile, which seemed to have no effect on her habitually-suspicious adoptive brother. 

Much to her relief, however, he drew his hand back from his sword and turned back from the exit. His eyes narrowed, he flicked his suspicious stare from her to the note in her hand to the roses on the table and back up to her. 

“Uh huh…” He murmured, running a hand through his shiny pink hair. 

“Emily, take the roses up to my room.” Penelope gestured to her maid, who complied a little too happily. She spun on her heels and headed back up the stairs, trying to ignore the burning glare that followed her. 

She had much bigger things to worry about, unfortunately. 

And worry about them she did.

Lying on her bed, with a hand crossed over her stomach, Penelope gazed up at the ceiling as she pondered escape plans.

Could she fake illness? Or would that be too suspicious? Surely Reynold would figure out she was avoiding the invitation and question her.

Could she get herself injured? Or simply find another partner, like she had done for the ball? Or would it be seen as too rude to turn down Cassis’s invitation?

She sighed in annoyance as she continued to scheme. It was only a day ago that she had finally rid herself of Dion, why must life throw another curveball her way? Was her life not hard enough already?

As if reading her thoughts, a system window popped up before her eyes.

A new scenario has started!

Attend Lady Knox’s tea party with Cassis Pedelian.

Reward: ???

Penalty: ???

Of course, leave it to the system to pop up at the literal worst time. And with the most cryptic quest ever. Before she even had a chance to process, the countdown timer on the accept button started.

5…

4…

Sitting up suddenly, Penelope weighed her options. Attending with Cassis would be risky, far riskier than she was willing to be in light of recent events, but refusing him was possibly even riskier.

2…

1…

Giving another sigh of annoyance, Penelope pushed the accept button. 

“My lady?” Emily’s voice immediately sounded from the other side of the door, making Penelope jump a little bit. “The Young Master is here to see you.”

Without waiting for a response, Derrick pushed through the doors. 

“How do you know Cassis Pedelian?” His words were angry, different from his usual frustration and annoyance at her. He sounded exactly like how he did last night when he was talking to Dion. 

She let out a bit of a sigh. 

“I met him last night. He asked for a dance.”

Derrick clenched a fist. Clearly, not the response he was looking for.

“And why is he sending you invitations to parties?”

“I do not know.” She kept her voice level, staring into his accusing dark eyes calmly.

“Penelope, you are a young lady in noble society. You have yet to debut, and as a lady of the Eckhart name you must be cautious of who you are seen with and your reputation. First the scandal with the Crown Prince and now this… you have to be aware of how people will talk.”

“Is there something wrong with Cassis Pedelian that I’m unaware of?” She was getting angry now. How dare Derrick tell her who she could and couldn’t go to tea parties with. It wasn’t like he had ever taken her to a fucking tea party, so why couldn’t she find her own partner?

Derrick let out an annoyed sigh and stepped closer to her bed. She swung her legs around to the edge of the bed and cocked her head mockingly. Her eyes stayed narrowed, betraying her frustration at his condescension.

“The Pedelian family is perfectly honorable, which is why it’s even more important that you don’t do anything to damage their reputation or ours.”

“Is it not also important for a young lady in noble society to find a potential marriage prospect, especially one from a perfectly honorable family?”

At the words ‘marriage prospect’ Derrick froze, his eyes going wide with shock. 

“Why are you talking about marriage prospects?”

“Well, it’s almost my birthday. Once I am introduced into society, it will be crucial for me to find a suitable husband and marry him. I cannot possibly rely on the generosity of the Eckhart family forever, can I?” She put on a fake smile with her words, finding great pleasure in the way Derrick’s jaw clenched angrily.

“Are you already planning to go ruin the household of another noble family with your schemes?”

“So what if I am? Is that not what you want, for me to be out of the way, unable to cause anymore damage to the precious Eckhart name?” 

Penelope was getting a sense of deja vu, looking at Derrick’s expression. This was exactly the same as it had been back in that prison cell. He was still treating her like a burden, something that always needed to be cleaned up after. But now, Penelope was no longer behind bars. Now, she had encountered things much more dangerous than the anger of Derrick Eckhart, and she no longer cared about his opinion of her, system be damned. 

Suddenly, Derrick surged forward and grabbed her shoulders aggressively.

“You are an Eckhart. You live in our house, you wear clothes we payed for, you eat our food, you sleep in a bed we provided. You will do what you are told.”

His fingers dug into her skin, his eyes poured into hers, his face was so close to hers that she could feel his uneven breathe. Penelope couldn’t hear anything except for her own heartbeat, pounding in her head. Panic ran cold in her blood, freezing any rational thought or movement. All she could feel was fear, the overwhelming urge to shove him off of her and run. 

Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. 

Derrick didn’t move either, staring into her eyes with a kind of anger she had never seen before.

Let go. Let go. Let go. Let go.

He still didn’t move.

Get off. Let go. Get off. Let go. 

The thoughts beat in unison with her heart. 

Get off get off get off GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF

“Penelope? I heard arguing…” As if he had psychically heard her desperate pleas, Reynold walked through the open doors and stopped in his tracks. “What the hell is going on here?” 

Penelope met his gaze, her eyes still wide with fear.

“Derrick? What are you doing?” Reynold stepped closer, flicking his eyes between her and Derrick with growing concern. 

Derrick, who had not taken his eyes off of Penelope for a second, finally released her shoulders and took a small step backward. 

“Nothing.” He glared at her in warning. 

There was an awkward moment of silence.

“Didn’t look like nothing.” Reynold mumbled, just quietly enough for both of them to hear.

“It was nothing.” Derrick repeated, turning his glare to Reynold now. “Everything is fine, so you can leave now.”

Reynold furrowed his brows and glanced at Penelope again. Sensing something was off, he stepped even closer to her. “No, I have something I need to talk to her about.”

That seemed to annoy Derrick even more, but thankfully, he realized that it was a losing battle. With one last long look at Penelope, he turned heel and stormed out. Reynold slowly shut the door behind him.

“Was that really… nothing?”

Penelope, still rather shaken, took a moment to process the question before nodding softly. 

Reynold didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push her further, which she was grateful for. She didn’t think she could put the whole situation into words.

“You can leave now, I’m quite alright.”

Reynold blinked.

“Oh, I actually do have something to tell you.” 

“Well?” Penelope brought her hands to her lap, fighting the urge to fidget.

“Uh, I forgot what it was.” Reynold admitted sheepishly. Penelope sighed with annoyance. “Sorry.”

He walked towards her, hesitating for a moment once he reached her bed, before sitting down a couple of inches away from her. She was caught off guard by the gesture, and they sat in silence for a few minutes. It was different from the tense silence that had hung in the air earlier, this silence was peaceful and almost… comforting.

Penelope was suddenly overcome with gratitude that she wasn’t alone.

“He can be such a bastard sometimes.” Reynold suddenly blurted, his eyes fixed on his hands. 

Taken aback by the statement, Penelope whipped her head around to look at him. When their eyes met, Penelope couldn’t help but giggle.

Surprised, Reynold stared at her for a moment, before he started to laugh as well.

“One time, I submitted an anonymous tip about him to a rumor newspaper because he had annoyed me. He got so mad, he bought every single copy he could find and burned them all.” Reynold admitted, sounding guilty even through his chuckles.

“What was the rumor?” Penelope managed to say between laughs.

“That he was, um, unable to…” Reynold gestured downwards, at which point Penelope doubled over in laughter. “I still have a copy of the article actually, hidden under my bed.” 

Struggling to breathe due to her laughter, Penelope covered her mouth with one hand.

“To this day he still won’t read that newspaper. The Underside . He gets mad if you even mention the name.” 

Unable to stop herself, Penelope erupted in cackles. Reynold joined her, completely erased of any guilt he might have felt earlier.

After a few more minutes of uncontrollable giggling, they both finally composed themselves. 

“I have training soon.” Reynold stood up from her bed, his voice filled with what sounded suspiciously like regret. Right as he put his hand on the door, Penelope spoke.

“Reynold?”

He turned, still smiling from their earlier jokes.

“Thank you.”

His smile grew bigger, and his face turned red quickly.

“Yeah.” Reynold replied a little too fast, his embarrassment clear as day.

Taking a single step out of the door, he suddenly stopped and turned around again. “Oh, I remembered what I was supposed to tell you!”

"Marquis Verdandi is here to see you."