Reincarnation of The Villainess: She Has The Duke's Baby!-Chapter 116: #-Just Give Me A Little Of Your Time

Isabella Lysander opened her eyes slowly.

The woman groaned softly and held her head. Then, she widened her eyes when she realized what had happened to her. Her Father ordered her to seduce the Crown Prince again and asked the Crown Prince to marry her immediately. Then, she said she loved Ethan and her Father immediately hit her until she couldn’t move. She had cried and begged but the man would not forgive her. Then, there was a commotion outside the mansion. She also saw that people were running toward her. Isabella immediately looked around and swallowed hard.

"Where is this...?" muttered Isabella. The woman did not recognize this room. Did... Her Father kept her in another mansion that she didn’t know about? Or, her Father had already sold him to Sebastian?! Isabella immediately looked at herself and breathed a sigh of relief that her dress was still attached to her body. When the door to the room was opened from the outside, Isabella widened her eyes and ran toward the table. Then, she picked up a flower vase and prepared to throw it at the person who was about to enter the room.

"What are you doing?"

Isabella blinked and took a second breath of relief. Her body felt weak from the relief that overtook her. The woman fell to her knees and almost let go of the vase in her hand.

Ethan Askary, who was going to check on Isabella Lysander’s condition, was surprised and pleased when he saw that the woman had regained consciousness. Then, the man widened his eyes and dashed toward Isabella, who fell to her knees. He immediately held Isabella’s hand that was holding the vase because it looked like the vase would slip from Isabella’s hand. If the vase fell near Isabella’s feet, Ethan was afraid that the shards of the vase would hurt Isabella’s feet.

"Hey, are you okay?" asked Ethan in a worried tone. The man also knelt in front of Isabella and took the vase. "Do you feel pain in your body or something?"

Isabella shook her head and took a deep breath. She looked into Ethan’s eyes with a serious look. "Where am I?"

"At Gerwyn’s mansion," Ethan answered. "Do you... remember what happened to you, Isabel?"

"Yes..." Isabella nodded. The woman took a deep breath and tried to stand up. When Isabella almost fell, Ethan immediately caught her body. He hugged her waist, bringing their faces so close. "I’m sorry, I... suddenly my body feels very weak."

"It’s fine." Isabella’s body was shaking violently and Ethan could feel it. Moreover, the woman gripped his clothes tightly. Then, Isabella started to sob. "Sorry... I didn’t mean to cry. It’s just... I remembered what happened earlier, and..." Isabella looked up. Seeing that beautiful face wet with tears made Ethan freeze. "Ethan, I’m scared. I am very scared. What if I was going to die from being killed by my own Father because I didn’t want to follow his orders? What if he tortures me again? I can’t go back to that horrible mansion, Ethan. I don’t want to die. What should I do?"

Ethan gritted his teeth and immediately hugged Isabella’s trembling body tightly. The woman cried loudly, shedding all her fears and suffering all this time.

"Calm down, Isabel," Ethan said, trying to keep his voice soft. That anger started to overwhelm him because he saw Isabella’s condition due to her trauma. "You can stay here. Or, you can also live in my family’s mansion. I don’t mean to be cocky but your Father won’t be able to stand against the Askarys or the Gerwyns. We are above him regarding our status. If he reports us to the Emperor, we have evidence against him that he can be punished. Not only for torturing you but also for other crimes."

Isabella flinched. The woman broke away from Ethan’s embrace and swallowed hard.

"Did you... already know about human sacrifice?"

Ethan was wide-eyed. "Did you know about that too?" The man approached Isabella and held both of her shoulders. "Why didn’t you tell me, Isabel?"

"I’m scared." Isabella bit her lips and lowered her head. "My Father will definitely torture me again if I report that! I can’t do anything about it, Ethan. He never loved me. He always beats me! Am I... not his biological daughter?"

Ethan froze. Then, the man immediately shook his head firmly.

"No, don’t think like that, Isabel. Calm down. There’s no way you’re not Marquess Lysander’s biological daughter."

"But, he never hesitated to kill me, Ethan!" cried Isabella. The woman covered her face with both hands. "I... I always felt threatened when I was in that mansion. No one saved me when my Father tortured me."

Suddenly, Isabella stopped crying. The woman looks confused. Her gaze seemed unfocused. Seeing that, Ethan felt something strange about Isabella. The man touched Isabella’s face which was starting to look pale and his other hand waved in front of the woman’s face.

"Isabel? Isabel, what’s wrong with you? Hey! Isabel, look at me! Are you okay?"

Isabella instantly inhaled as much oxygen as she wanted. Her body swayed forward, forcing Ethan to hold her back. The two of them knelt again and Isabella shot Ethan a glare.

"Penny... where is Penny?!"

"Huh?" Ethan blinked. "My little sister is out. She—"

"How about Duke Edmund?!"

"He... is going to the palace. He had something to discuss with His Highness the Emperor. One of them is about your Father." Ethan tried to calm down even though his heart was beating three times faster than usual because of Isabella’s current behavior. "Isabel, what exactly is going on?"

"I see it."

"What?" Ethan frowned. "What do you see?"

"Penny!" Isabella started hysterical. She shook Ethan’s body, who looked confused. "Penelope Askary is going to meet him! That man! That man will approach Penny and take Penny to a quiet place!" Isabella was crying. "He’s taking Penny with him, Ethan!"

Ethan immediately froze. "You mean with that man..."

"Philleo Aaron!" Isabella shouted. "Philleo Aaron will take Penny!"

###

Actually, Penelope didn’t want to leave Isabella alone in her mansion.

However, she could not delay this matter. Penelope wants to pay a visit to her family’s mansion. She missed her Father and Mother. Aside from the fact that she had planned this a few days ago, Penelope also couldn’t just sit idly by when she learned that Isabella was suffering because of her Father. She wanted to ask for help from her Father, who was a Duke, to report this incident to the Emperor. She will also tell Duke Askary about the alleged human sacrifices committed by Marquess Lysander.

"Chris," Penelope called. This time, the woman only brought Chris as her escort because Ren, Jellal, and Edgar came with Edmund to the palace. Ren and Jellal would testify about what they heard and Edgar always followed Edmund wherever he went. Previously, Edmund didn’t want to let Penelope go alone to the Askary mansion. However, the woman managed to convince him that she would be fine. "I’m going to go there for a while to buy some cake for my Mother and Father."

"I’ll buy it for you, Duchess," Chris said as he knelt in front of the Duchess. "You can stay on the carriage. I will be right back."

Penelope smiled and thanked him. She named the names of the cakes her Mother and Father liked and then decided to recall the details of all the events in the original novel. But, Penelope still couldn’t find a single detail about Marquess Lysander’s cult and human sacrifice. Was it because Goddess Oizys wanted to destroy De Louis’ empire that’s why she changed everything?

Penelope felt like her head would explode if she continued to force herself to think about this. The woman decided to get off the carriage to get some fresh air. The wind that blew made her smile and her feelings got better. Then, Penelope accidentally saw someone selling balloons. The color of the balloon is similar to the color of the twins’ eyes. Penelope smiled broadly and approached the person to buy the balloons for Raven and Ocean.

While selecting the balloons, Penelope didn’t notice someone in a black robe approaching her from behind. The person then touched Penelope’s back with something, making Penelope freeze. Then, she heard the person whisper, "Just give me a little of your time, my Penelope. If you don’t come with me or you shout for help to the knight that came with you, I will kill the people here using my magic."

Even though Penelope couldn’t see who the person who had threatened her was, from the way he called her name, Penelope knew it was Philleo Aaron.

"Go down the alley at the end there," Philleo pointed in the direction he wanted to go. "I will be waiting for you."

Penelope gulped and looked at Philleo, who was walking toward the alley first. She knew it was a trap, but Penelope wouldn’t be afraid. She had to confront Philleo so he wouldn’t do whatever he wanted with her and Edmund. She had to show Philleo that she wasn’t afraid of anything as long as she could protect her family. But, of course, Penelope would not give herself up willingly.

"Sir, do you know who I am?" Penelope asked with a smile.

The man selling the balloons, who was a commoner, opened his mouth wide. He pointed at himself. As long as he lived in this world, no one ever called him ’Sir’.

"I am Duchess Penelope. I am the wife of Duke Edmund Gerwyn."

The man was wide-eyed. He immediately knelt and rubbed his palms together. His face was pale.

"Forgive me for my impoliteness, Duchess! I don’t know if you are the most influential woman in this empire! I deserve to die!"

Penelope hastily knelt and smiled. "It’s fine. I don’t intend to scold you. I want to ask you a favor, Sir."

"Yes?" The man blinked. He gulped and his hands shook violently as Penelope handed him some gold coins. With these gold coins, he won’t have to sell balloons for a month and he can buy clothes and food for his younger siblings!

"Soon, my knight will return to the carriage," Penelope pointed toward the carriage belonging to the Gerwyn family. "When he returns, tell him that I, Duchess Penelope, followed a strange man, who threatened to kill everyone here if I didn’t follow him." Penelope took Edmund’s pocket watch which she carried with her wherever she went. "Give this to the knight as proof that you were indeed requested by me."

"But, what if he doesn’t believe me and thinks I stole it from the Duchess?" asked the man with a trembling tone.

"Tell him like this," Penelope took a deep breath and whispered something to the man selling the balloons. The man blinked and Penelope nodded. "I’m sure he’ll believe you right away. I entrust my life to you, Sir."

After saying this, Penelope stepped forward with her chin held high and her hands clenched tightly at her sides. Her golden eyes stared coldly and sharply.

"Now, let’s see what you will do with me and what you want to talk to me about, Philleo Aaron," Penelope muttered.