Reincarnation of The Villainess: She Has The Duke's Baby!-Chapter 174: #-Penelope Askary, The Dark Duchess!

Killing the woman he loved more than himself?

Edmund clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth. How could he possibly do it even though Penelope Askary herself asked him to do such an unreasonable thing? Edmund would never hurt Penelope. In his first life, he had killed Penelope Askary because he was under the influence of the black magic of Isabella Lysander and Goddess Oizys. Just knowing that, Edmund was in a lot of pain and wanted to hurt himself. And now, Penelope wanted him to do the same thing to that woman while he was fully conscious?

"Kill me, Edmund Gerwyn!" Penelope shouted again while crying. The woman was no longer able to endure the pain inside her. The darkness inside her heart also grew bigger and started to take over her mind. "Arrgh!"

"My Lady!" Sarah shouted. The woman ran towards Penelope but was thrown away when her hand wanted to hold the Duchess. Edgar, who suddenly came because he heard screams from inside his master’s room, immediately caught Sarah’s body. Both of them were thrown and Edgar’s back hit the wall while he hugged Sarah tightly so that she wouldn’t get hurt.

The black light now completely drowned Penelope. Then, when the black light finally disappeared, a strong wind blew in the room. The twins cried even more when the windows and mirrors in the room broke and shattered into pieces. The pink light immediately protected Raven and Ocean from being hit by the shards.

Edmund groaned and froze. He widened his eyes when he saw Penelope Askary standing straight while staring at him with a murderous gaze. Currently, the woman is wearing a black dress. A very sexy dress that showed off both of her arms, her white chest and neck, as well as one of her legs and thighs. Her blue hair was still in a ponytail. Her golden eyes turned black and her lips were black too. The black magic circle was still under Penelope’s feet. The woman was still Penelope Askary but the aura around her had changed greatly.

"Penny...?"

Penelope snorted. She played with her hair and looked at Edmund with a mocking look.

"Penny? Don’t ever call me with a cheap name like that, Duke Edmund," Penelope growled. "I am no longer your wife! I am a free woman! I will spread terror and suffering in this empire. I will destroy all of you and I will do it all for Goddess Oizys!"

"Penny, open your eyes!" exclaimed Edmund. He couldn’t lose his wife. Whatever it takes, he must return Penelope Askary to normal. "You are a strong woman. You can’t possibly lose just because of Goddess Oizys’ magic! Fight the influence of black magic in your head, Penny. Please!"

"Shut up!" Penelope Askary opened her palm and the black light immediately attacked Edmund. The Duke’s eyes widened as his body was thrown and hit the wall. He coughed up blood. Seeing that, Edgar and Sarah immediately approached Edmund to help him. "How dare you say the name of Goddess Oizys with your dirty mouth!"

"My Lady, please open your eyes!" Sarah started crying. "You remember me, don’t you? It’s me, Sarah. I, the maid who is always loyal to you, My Lady!"

Penelope snorted and raised an eyebrow when she heard the very disturbing sound of children crying. She turned her head and looked at Raven and Ocean who were crying on the bed. The woman grinned eerily and approached the twins.

"Ah, what handsome and beautiful children," Penelope praised. "It’s a shame that I have to kill you because Goddess Oizys doesn’t like your presence. You will thwart all the plans of the Goddess."

When Penelope prepared to attack the twins with her black magic, Edmund immediately ran towards his wife and lunged at her. They fell to the floor and Edmund growled because Penelope attacked him with black magic as he tried to restrain the woman.

"Penny...," said Edmund in a choked tone. His heart felt like it was on fire and it hurt so much! In fact, all Penelope did was struggle in Edmund’s arms and hold his left chest. Because of that, Edmund coughed up blood again. "Penny, dammit! It’s me, Edmund Gerwyn! Can’t you recognize me? Can’t you feel my warmth and my love? I love you, Penelope Askary! Come back to me! Haven’t you thought about the twins? They need you, Penny!"

"Arrgh, shut up! Let me go, you damn Duke!" Penelope shouted. "If you don’t let me go, I will kill you right now!"

Edmund chuckled. "Fine, that doesn’t matter to me. We’ll kill each other if that’s what you want. We will die together like our wedding vows at that time. You and me. Isn’t that romantic?"

"You’re crazy!"

"Yes, I’m crazy," nodded Edmund. "I’m crazy because of you. I’m crazy because I love you. I was crazy because I wanted to protect you!"

"Enough of your nonsense, traitor!"

Penelope immediately produced a small dagger in her right hand and stabbed Edmund in the chest using the dagger. The Duke coughed up blood again and let go of Penelope. Fresh blood came out of his chest, making Sarah scream and Edgar immediately approached his master. Penelope did not waste this opportunity. She took a step back and snapped her fingers. The black magic circle appeared again and her body slowly disappeared.

"After making everyone suffer, killing them, and destroying this damn empire, I will return to you to send you to hell, Edmund Gerwyn." Penelope grinned and laughed mockingly. "Therefore, fight to stay alive until I come to take your life!"

###

Ethan Askary ran from the front gate of Gerwyn’s mansion to the Duke’s room.

He had just received information from Ren, Edmund’s shadow knight, who was always by his side to protect him, that Edmund Gerwyn was attacked by Penelope Askary. At first, Ethan didn’t believe it, neither did his parents and Isabella Lysander. Then, Ren said that something strange had happened to the Duchess. Penelope Askary was controlled by dark power, by black magic, and has changed completely. Ethan immediately calmed his parents and asked Isabella to look after them while he checked the conditions at Gerwyn’s mansion.

"Greetings to Prince Ethan—"

Ethan immediately stopped Edgar and Sarah from greeting him and walked quickly towards the bed. Edmund Gerwyn lay helpless on the bed. His face was pale and his chest was bandaged.

"How is his condition?" Ethan asked. "What really happened?"

Edgar and Sarah tell what they know. Sarah even cried again.

"How could you lose to a woman, Edmund Gerwyn?" Ethan growled. The man rubbed his face with both of his hands and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"It’s impossible for Duke Edmund to fight and attack the Duchess, Prince," said Ethan. "Because of that, the Duke allowed himself to be attacked and hurt by the Duchess."

"I know." Ethan sighed. "All men are fools when it comes to the women they love." The man bit his lip and tried to find a way out. This cannot be tolerated. He couldn’t possibly let the little sister he loved so much destroy this empire and kill everyone. "Edgar, tell whoever has free time to go get Claude Sylvester. Chris, are you here?" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Chris immediately appeared and knelt in front of Ethan.

"I don’t know where His Highness Helios is currently, whether he is still in the De Louis empire or has returned to the Abelavish empire to help his people there," said Ethan as soon as he saw Chris appear. "Find him and say I really need his help. Say this is very important because it concerns Duchess Penelope."

Chris nodded and disappeared again. After that, Ethan checked the twins’ condition. Raven and Ocean looked tired and still had tear marks on their faces. He kissed the twins’ forehead and looked at Sarah.

"Sarah, please look after them. And you Edgar, show me where Duke Edmund imprisoned Philleo Aaron."

"What?"

"I have to meet him," Ethan said. He walked out of the twins’ room and Edgar followed. Suddenly, Jellal appeared beside Edgar, making Edgar almost curse out loud because he was shocked.

"For what, Prince?" Jellal asked. "There’s no point wasting your time talking to a bastard like Philleo Aaron."

"I will make a deal with him." Ethan stopped walking and looked firmly at Edgar and Jellal. "It’s fine. I will be fine. You can watch me and Phil from a distance. If anything happens, I will call you guys immediately."

Of course, Edgar and Jellal disagree with this. If anything happened to Ethan Askary, Edmund Gerwyn would definitely kill them. However, the two men also knew they couldn’t stop Ethan.

After escorting Ethan Askary to the dungeon, Jellal and Edgar walked away but kept watch. Ethan stared into the prison. There, Philleo Aaron sat with his back against the wall. The man crossed his arms.

"I know you didn’t sleep."

That sentence made Philleo smile and open his eyes.

"You know me very well, Ethan. I’m so flattered. So, what honor do I have that you come here to visit me?"

"I need your help."

"What?" Philleo laughed and clapped his hands. "You need my help? I think you hate me so much that you have a desire to kill me, my friend."

"This concerns Penelope Askary."

Hearing this, Philleo froze. The man stood up and approached Ethan. He gripped the metal bar in front of him and his purple eyes stared intently at Ethan.

"What do you mean?" he asked in a cold tone. "What happened to my Penelope?"

Ethan really wanted to beat up Philleo for daring to call his little sister ’my Penelope’. But, Ethan held back. Her safety is much more important than Philleo Aaron’s death for now.

"She changes. She’s controlled by the darkness inside her heart," Ethan answered. "And I need a lot of people who can use magic power to make my little sister back to normal again."

"And you want me to help you?"

"You love her, don’t you?" Ethan asked. "You definitely don’t want anything bad to happen to the woman you love. Let’s just say that you are repaying the debt to me and my family for our kindness all this time. If it weren’t for us, you wouldn’t have become the talented and outstanding knight you are now. If it weren’t for us, you would just be an ordinary man."

Philleo was silent. He couldn’t reply to Ethan’s words because everything Ethan said was true.

"Think carefully but I won’t give you much time. I will also help you escape the death penalty even though I am sure you will still receive a very severe punishment. That’s better than the death penalty, isn’t it?"

When Ethan intended to leave to give Philleo time to think, the silver-haired man called Ethan. Ethan stopped but didn’t look back.

"I don’t need to think twice if it concerns Penelope Askary’s safety," said Philleo. "Just tell me what to do."

Ethan leaves Philleo and meets Edgar and Jellal again. The man clenched his fists at his sides and closed his eyes.

"Get Philleo Aaron out of prison," said Ethan. "That man will help us."