Reincarnation of The Villainess: She Has The Duke's Baby!-Chapter 165: #-The Signs Are Reappearing

Even though she had received permission from her husband and older brother, Penelope Askary still had not carried out her plan to seduce Gabriel Brown.

The woman still had to rest until her body recovered. That was the condition given to her by Edmund Gerwyn. That’s why, since yesterday, Penelope has only been in the room. She eats, sleeps, plays with her children, and continues like that.

"If it continues like this, I won’t be able to help them capture Philleo Aaron, Gabriel Brown, and Marquess Lysander," Penelope muttered. She was holding a very healthy Raven and Ocean in her arms. "Hey, Raven, Ocean, does your Father want to make me a fat woman?"

The bedroom door opened and Edmund Gerwyn entered the room. The Duke smiled gently at Penelope then kissed her forehead. Then, Edmund sat beside Penelope and took over Ocean from his wife. As usual, Ocean showed her annoyed face at Edmund. Her little hands and feet were directed towards her Father’s handsome face, making Edmund take a deep breath.

"Penny, isn’t Ocean getting mad at me again?" whined Edmund. "I’m not ready to be hated by my own daughter, Penny."

"Don’t even think about that," snorted Penelope. "Rather than that, are you trying to make me fat so you can have an affair with another woman behind my back, Edmund Gerwyn?"

"Why do you think like that?" Edmund asked back. "Didn’t I tell you that no matter what happens, no matter how you look, I will still love you and will not betray you?"

Penelope was silent. She pouted. "Then, why do you tell me to just eat and sleep without doing anything else? I enjoy playing with Raven and Ocean but I also get bored if I just stay in the room. Let me take a walk in the square. Or, let me meet my parents. Whatever it is, as long as I can get out of this mansion."

Edmund sighed and laid Ocean carefully on the bed. Then, he also did the same thing to Raven. After that, Edmund held Penelope’s hand and caressed her cheek lovingly.

"This is my condition when you ask permission to trap Gabriel Brown by seducing him," said Edmund. "And it hasn’t been three days yet. I ask you to stay in the mansion and do nothing for a week, Penny." The Duke hugged Penelope and kissed her forehead. "Be patient, hm? A week is not a long time."

"And I’ll turn into a granny if I keep being locked in the room like this," Penelope grumbled. She broke free from Edmund’s arms and frowned even more in her place. Her sullen face is very similar to Ocean’s. Now, Edmund has to face the two women he loves most in the world sulking at him. Then, when Edmund accidentally glanced at Raven, his son smiled mockingly at him. Edmund was shocked and his mouth opened wide.

"Didn’t you see it?" asked Edmund in disbelief. When Penelope looked at him with a lazy look, as did Ocean, Edmund groaned and rubbed his face with both of his hands. "My son was making fun of me just now, Penny!"

"Are you crazy?" Penelope snorted. "How can a baby who is only a few months old mock you?"

"But, just now—"

"You better get back to work, Ed," Penelope grumbled. "I’m too lazy to see your face. I want to sleep with my children."

"I can’t believe it," laughed Edmund. Of course, the man laughed at himself. "Am I being ostracized by my own wife and children?"

"It’s your own fault that you’re too possessive and protective," Penelope snorted again. The woman then lay her body between Raven and Ocean. She immediately closed her eyes, making Edmund blink and laugh. Then, the Duke bent down to kiss Penelope, Raven, and Ocean’s foreheads.

"Rest, my wife, my children. If something happens, scream as loud as you can. I’ll put Jellal in front of the door to this room."

After saying that, Edmund left the room. When Penelope was sure that Edmund had left the room, the woman opened her eyes. She looked at the ceiling of her room with an annoyed look.

"This is strange," Penelope muttered. "Why am I so annoyed when I talk to or face my own husband? I felt like I wanted to slap him or pull his hair."

After muttering, Penelope stood up. She intended to leave the room when the woman felt very nauseous. Penelope widened her eyes and covered her mouth with both of her hands. Then, Penelope ran into the bathroom and tried to throw up in the sink. But, she didn’t spit out anything. Her head felt dizzy and she felt as if her stomach was being squeezed by an invisible hand.

"Jellal!"

Penelope’s exclamation made Jellal appear in the room. He froze when he saw Penelope sitting on the floor and immediately approached her. Jellal immediately knelt in front of Penelope and apologized first because he touched her body.

"Duchess, what’s wrong with you?!" Jellal exclaimed in panic. "Oh my God, you’re so pale! Are you sick?"

"I don’t know," shook Penelope. "But, I feel very nauseous and I’m also very dizzy. My body is so weak. But, I was fine when Edmund was by my side earlier."

"Then, I will take you to bed and after that I will report it to Duke Edmund and will call a doctor."

"Don’t!"

Jellal blinked. "Yes?"

"I don’t want Edmund to know about this. If he finds out I’m sick, he’ll lock me up in this room even more. I’m bored, Jellal. I want to go out. Maybe I’m sick because Edmund locked me up since yesterday. So, you don’t need to call a doctor."

Jellal looked confused and didn’t know what to do. On the one hand, he is Edmund Gerwyn’s shadow knight. All of the man’s orders were absolute. He was assigned to report on all matters relating to Penelope Askary. On the other hand, he really enjoyed working to protect Penelope Askary and being close to the Duchess. The Duchess’s request was very important to her.

After carefully helping Penelope to sit down, Jellal stood in front of the Duchess.

"Duchess, are you sure you are okay?"

Penelope smiled faintly and nodded.

"Do you want something?"

"Lemon cake."

"Yes?"

"I really want to eat lemon cake." Penelope bit her index finger. "A very sour lemon cake topped with white sugar and strawberries." Penelope’s eyes lit up when she looked at Jellal. "Then, I want to drink ice chocolate. A very cold one. Sir Jellal, can you buy it for me?"

"Huh? Err, yeah. Of course, I will buy it for the Duchess." Jellal nodded. "Is there anything else you want?"

"Hm. Let’s see." Penelope thought hard. She tapped her chin with her index finger. "Sir Jellal, can I pull my husband’s hair until he goes bald?"

"Yes?" Jellal blinked.

"He’s so annoying and I really want to make him scream in pain." Penelope snorted. Then, she smiled broadly. "Can I do it?"

Jellal felt like he wanted to disappear from this earth because he didn’t know how to react.

###

Recently, Penelope Askary’s behavior has been very strange.

Edmund Gerwyn tried to find out what happened to his wife through the people closest to him. But, be it Edgar, Chris, and Evan, none of them knew the strangeness of Penelope’s attitude. Even Sarah, who was very close to Penelope, didn’t know about it. There was only one person who had not been questioned by Edmund and Edmund had a feeling that this person was deliberately avoiding him.

"Chris," called Edmund. The man appeared in his study and knelt in front of Edmund. "I want you to catch Jellal."

"Yes?"

"Jellal, your co-worker who is your fellow shadow knight," explained Edmund. He stopped his activity of checking all the documents on the table and looked firmly at Chris. "That kid always avoids me. He never appeared in front of me even though I called him repeatedly. I gave him orders to look after and protect my wife but since my wife was acting so strangely, Jellal seemed to want to cover it up."

"Err... forgive my impudence, Your Grace, but... has the Duchess ever behaved strangely like this before?"

Edmund frowned and shook his head. He took a deep breath and massaged his temples.

"Penny used to act strangely but not like this. At that time, she was acting strange because..." Edmund was silent. The man froze. Seeing Edmund’s reaction, Chris tensed. "Because that woman hid her pregnancy from me."

"Then, were there any strange things about the Duchess when the Duchess was pregnant?" Chris asked again.

"The woman wants to eat sweet food," answered Edmund. "She will definitely buy all the cakes and eat them."

"Cake?" Chris rubbed his chin. "Your Grace, these few days, I always see Jellal buying a lot of cakes which he brings to the Duchess’s room. Then, from a distance, I also saw that the Duchess looked very pale. Isn’t this suspicious, Your Grace? How about we ask Sarah for her opinion?"

Edmund nodded and told Chris to call Sarah. When the woman was standing in front of him while smiling, Edmund immediately told everything to Penelope’s most loyal maid.

"Could the Duchess be pregnant again, Your Grace?" Sarah snapped her fingers. "Because, everything Your Grace said to me just now about the Duchess is very similar to the Duchess’ behavior when she was pregnant with Prince Raven and Princess Ocean."