Reincarnation of The Villainess: She Has The Duke's Baby!-Chapter 12: #-The Crown Prince, Sebastian De Louis
Penelope Askary looked at the luxurious palace in front of her with a flat look.
At first, she was afraid of having to meet Crown Prince Sebastian De Louis, the male lead in the original novel. And now, that fear is soon replaced by annoyance. The man who was blinded by his love for Isabella Lysander will die in the future as a result of being killed by his best friend, Duke Edmund Gerwyn. Even though Penelope knew that Edmund did it because he was controlled by black magic, the woman still wanted to blame Sebastian. How could the man who was supposed to be the future emperor, who had won Isabella Lysander’s love and broken Edmund Gerwyn’s heart, couldn’t protect them both and this empire? Is all the Crown Prince can do is love a woman? It sucks, doesn’t it? Because of his incompetence, many innocent people would die in the future.
"The Crown Prince is waiting for you, Princess Penelope," said one of the palace servants as he bowed, making Penelope nod and smile. She followed the palace servants into the meeting room. Philleo Aaron faithfully followed Penelope because it was his duty as a knight. However, the man did not enter the meeting room because the Crown Prince had forbidden him.
When entering the room, Penelope immediately greeted Sebastian De Louis.
"Greetings to Crown Prince Sebastian De Louis. May Elleia’s light be with you." The blue-haired woman bent down and lowered her gaze.
"Welcome, Princess Penelope Askary," said Sebastian in a cold, sharp tone. The handsome man had red hair that looked akin to blood. His eyes were green, like a beautiful emerald. "You may raise your head."
Penelope obeyed Sebastian’s orders. The man crossed his right leg over his left, then drank the tea that had been served by the palace maid before Penelope arrived in the room. Then, Sebastian pointed at the sofa in front of him while glancing at Penelope.
"You may sit."
Penelope thanked him and sat across from Sebastian. When Sebastian invited Penelope to drink the tea in front of her, the golden-eyed woman shook her head.
"Thank you for the offer, but I’m not in the mood for tea, Your Majesty."
Sebastian’s eyebrow rose one. He put his cup on the table and rubbed his chin. His green eyes stared intently at the woman in front of him. Sebastian De Louis has to admit that Penelope Askary is a beautiful woman. She’s graceful. She’s elegant. Her blue hair reminded him of the beauty of the sea and her golden eyes shone so beautifully. Her skin was white as milk and smooth as silk. Unfortunately, Penelope’s character greatly ruined all her beauty.
However, recent rumors have circulated that Penelope has changed drastically. She was no longer an evil woman like she was in the past. She no longer bullied other noble ladies, including Isabella Lysander, the woman the Crown Prince loved. At first, Sebastian couldn’t believe it. He thought that it was just a scheme created by Penelope to get his attention. Everyone in the De Louis empire knew how Penelope loved Sebastian so much, even obsessed with him. Penelope was jealous of Isabella, who was loved by the Crown Prince, to the point of hurting her. However, when Sebastian received a report from Edmund Gerwyn that the rumor had indeed been proven true, that Penelope had turned from a selfish and evil woman into a timid and meek woman, Sebastian wanted to prove it himself. And the opportunity finally arrived.
Sebastian could see Penelope felt uncomfortable around him. The woman wouldn’t look at him. Penelope looked like she wanted to run away from him. Even though there were signs that Penelope was afraid of him, Sebastian also saw irritation in her golden eyes. If this was the old Penelope Askary, before that carriage accident happened to her, maybe right now Penelope was very happy to be invited to the palace by him and was trying to seduce him.
Wait a minute. Was Penelope Askary’s drastic change, to make her look like someone else, caused by the carriage accident that happened to her at that time? That is also the theory that Edmund Gerwyn once talked about.
"Penelope," Sebastian called. He no longer called Penelope ’princess’. All this time, Sebastian had always called her by her first name. If they were in a formal event, Sebastian would call the woman Princess Penelope. "Are you afraid of me?"
The question that was asked in a cold tone, but also had that hint of curiosity, made Penelope flinch. She looked into Sebastian’s green eyes, then lowered her gaze again.
"Of course, I fear Your Majesty. How could I possibly dare against the future emperor?"
Those words, if interpreted by Sebastian were: quickly, tell me what your purpose is for calling me here because I don’t want to see your face!
Penelope’s answer made Sebastian smile without realizing it. "You’ve changed a lot, Penelope. Are you sure this isn’t part of your plan to get my attention? I don’t want to get too confident, but I guess, everyone in this empire also knows that you love me. That you were always jealous of the closeness between me and Isabella."
Even though she was afraid because the man in front of her was the man who would cruelly and brutally kill her in the future together with Edmund, Penelope decided to be brave. She lifted her face and her blue eyes stared firmly at Sebastian. Seeing Penelope’s reaction, Sebastian froze. For some reason, Sebastian’s heart pounded so hard that the Crown Prince frowned.
"Self-confidence is what a Crown Prince like you requires, Your Highness. If you don’t have any confidence, how can you lead the people of this empire in the future? And you are right. I love you. More precisely, I once loved you. All that is only in the past. Right now, I no longer love you, Your Highness." Penelope touched her chest with her right hand. "I realized, I have forced my way to be loved by you, Your Highness. I’ve gotten in the way of your true love and Lady Isabella. But, you don’t need to worry anymore. From now onwards, you will no longer be bothered by my presence." Penelope smiled at Sebastian. An insincere smile, Sebastian could feel it. "So, is this all you wanted to talk to me about? Is this the reason you called me to come to the palace, Your Majesty?"
Sebastian was silent. The man cleared his throat and nodded.
"I just want to make sure you won’t bother and hurt the woman I love anymore, Isabella Lysander." The Crown Prince stood up from the couch, so Penelope did the same. "Since I’m satisfied with your answer, how about you have lunch with me at the palace? The palace chef had cooked a lot of food. You’re my guest. Shouldn’t I treat my guests with respect?"
Penelope smiled and bowed before Sebastian. "Pardon my impoliteness, Your Highness, but I must return home soon. I have a lunch appointment with my big brother at home."
Sebastian’s eyebrow rose one. Did Penelope Askary turn down his lunch invitation? "Do you mean Ethan Askary?"
"Yes."
"How is the little Duke doing? Has any noble lady managed to win his love yet?" Sebastian asked. The man didn’t know why, but he wanted to keep Penelope in the palace to continue to have a conversation with her.
"Ethan is doing fine. He has not thought of any plans of marriage yet, Your Highness." Penelope looked into Sebastian’s green eyes. "If nothing else is said, may I ask your permission to leave the palace?"
Sebastian De Louis clenched his jaw and nodded.
"You may go, Penelope. Thank you for coming to meet me at the palace. If you need my help, don’t hesitate to say so."
Penelope smiled faintly and nodded. "May Elleie’s light always be with you, Your Majesty."
Sebastian could only nod and let Penelope out of his sight.
###
"My Lady, are you alright?" asked Philleo Aaron in a worried tone.
Penelope smiled amusedly at Philleo while glancing at the knight. They walked slowly toward the carriage of the Askary’s family in front of the palace.
"I’m fine, Sir Philleo. The Crown Prince treats me very well. He wanted to ask me to have lunch with him, but I refused." Penelope looked at Philleo while hugging herself. "I can’t stand to stay any longer with the Crown Prince."
Philleo blinked and he looked down to hide his smile. Seeing that, Penelope laughed and touched Philleo’s arm.
"Sir Philleo, if you want to laugh, just laugh. I won’t get angry if you laugh at what I just said."
Philleo cleared his throat and looked away. "Forgive me, My Lady. How could I possibly dare to laugh at your words? And again, you have to be careful with your words. We are still in the palace."
"Oops. You are right." Penelope looked around and shrugged. "Fortunately, there’s no one around here, so no one heard my words just now."
When going down the palace stairs, Penelope slipped. The golden-eyed woman widened and screamed as her body swayed forward. Penelope closed her eyes, preparing herself to fall and get hurt. However, after waiting and nothing happened to her, Penelope opened her eyes slowly. She frowned as she realized she had fallen into someone’s arms. Then, when Penelope looked up to apologize to the person and thank him for catching her body, preventing her from falling and getting hurt, those golden eyes widened again.
"Have you taken up a new hobby of injuring yourself, Penelope?"
The question made Penelope swallow hard and freeze. She couldn’t look away at all. As if, Penelope was bewitched by the handsome face of the man before her.
"Duke Edmund—I mean, Ed..." Penelope muttered. The woman wanted to get away from Edmund’s arms so that he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable, but Edmund just carried her until Penelope screamed again. "Kyaa! Ed! What are you doing? Put me down! We’re in the palace!"
"And what about it?" challenged Edmund Gerwyn. His blue eyes stared intently at Penelope’s pretty face. "No one will be able to stop me from doing whatever I want, Penelope." The man then looked at Philleo Aaron who was looking down. "Isn’t that right, Sir Philleo?"
Philleo Aaron looked up and met Edmund Gerwyn’s deep blue eyes. Seeing Philleo’s reaction, Edmund felt angry and wanted to teach that lowly knight a lesson for daring to challenge him.
"Of course, Duke Edmund," answered Philleo. "You can do whatever you want."
Philleo’s hands clenched tightly at his sides and he looked down again.
"Did you hear that, Penelope?" Edmund looked at Penelope. "Even your knight agrees with my words. So—"
"But not to Lady Penelope, Duke."
Edmund Gerwyn froze and looked at Philleo Aaron who was looking back at him. The blue-eyed man growled at Philleo.
"Philleo Aaron, did you just give an order for me not to do what I want?"
