Reincarnation of The Villainess: She Has The Duke's Baby!-Chapter 28: #-Purification And Regret

Edmund Gerwyn was back in this dark place again.

The man walked with hesitant steps. The last time he was in this dark place, he met the bloodied Penelope Askary. The woman with golden eyes who always managed to fascinate him said that she had been killed by him. Edmund’s hands clenched very tightly. His whole body felt cold and trembled. He didn’t want to see Penelope Askary in that bloodied condition again.

"Edmund Gerwyn."

The call made Edmund flinch and stop in his tracks. The blue-eyed man glanced around, trying to find out who had called him just now with such a frightening voice. The voice that seemed to awaken all the negative feelings inside him. It was then, a white smoke appeared in front of Edmund. Then, the smoke formed a shape and Edmund frowned as a red-haired woman appeared in front of him. A beautiful woman, but her eyes filled with hatred. There was a dark aura surrounding the woman, making Edmund uncomfortable.

"Edmund Gerwyn, you have to kill Penelope Askary," the woman growled. Her red eyes glared coldly and sharply at Edmund, making him freeze. "That woman is fated to die at your hands, Edmund! Kill him and you will rule this empire!"

"How dare you order me to do such a lowly thing?!" shouted Edmund. "I will never kill Penelope Askary! I will protect her as long as I am still breathing in this world! No one can touch my little bunny let alone hurt her! If you dare to do bad things to Penelope Askary, I will kill you!"

The red-haired woman laughed loudly. A laugh that mocked Edmund. She approached Edmund, making Edmund want to take a step back. However, the man was surprised to find himself unable to move at all. His blue eyes glared at the red-haired woman as she hugged his neck from the back.

"You won’t be able to kill me, but I can control you to kill Penelope Askary and everyone I don’t like, Edmund Gerwyn," she whispered in a sharp voice. "Like what you’re doing right now with Penelope Askary."

"What?" Edmund clenched his jaw. "What do you mean?! I’m here and there’s no way I’m trying to hurt Penelope! You can’t trick me!"

"Should I show it to you?"

The woman snapped her fingers and suddenly, a screen appeared before Edmud. There, Edmund could see himself going berserk. Many of the Gerwyn family knights were injured and fainted. Philleo Aaron, who was recognized for his prowess by the empire, was helpless with his face and body covered in wounds. Then... Edmund’s blue eyes widened as he saw how Penelope Askary was trying to calm him down.

"Penelope!" shouted Edmund. The man shook his head frantically. Even though he didn’t understand why he could see himself, Edmund knew that he, who was being approached by Penelope, was a monster. "Penelope! Get away from me! Dammit! Why can I be there when I’m right here?!"

The woman who hugged Edmund’s neck from behind laughed again. She caressed Edmund’s cheek, then whispered in his ear.

"Because you are only a soul here, Edmund Gerwyn. I kidnapped your soul, your consciousness. And you who are there, who will soon hurt and kill Penelope Askary, are you who have been controlled by darkness."

"Penelope!" shouted Edmund. "Get away from me! Penelope!"

###

Penelope was afraid, but the woman knew she had to face her fears if she was to save Edmund.

The woman opened her arms, motioning for Edmund to come to her and hug her. However, Edmund really didn’t recognize her. The man growled and immediately slapped Penelope using the back of his hand until Penelope’s tiny body was thrown and hit the wall. The woman coughed and blood came out of her mouth from the strong impact on her back.

"My Lady!" shouted Philleo in a panicked tone. He tried to approach Penelope, but she shot him a sharp look and shook her head firmly.

"No! Don’t come here! Right now, Edmund Gerwyn doesn’t recognize any of us! I will try to get Edmund back to normal as I did in the imperial palace’s prison that time!" Penelope shouted. The woman tried to stand up and winced in pain. She wiped the blood at the corner of her lips. She smiled mockingly at Edmund. "You’re an asshole, Edmund Gerywn. I deserve to hate you!"

Penelope took off her high heels and threw them at Edmund. Luckily, the shoe hit Edmund right in the face. When Edmund was surprised because he didn’t expect to be thrown with high heels, Penelope ran as fast as she could toward the man. Then, Penelope lunged at Edmund’s body until both of them fell to the floor. Edmund was beneath Penelope, groaning in pain as his back hit the floor hard, while Penelope sat atop the man’s athletic body.

"I must teach you a lesson, Edmund Gerwyn! You—ugh!" Penelope couldn’t finish her words because suddenly Edmund’s hands were on her neck. The man was choking her so hard that Penelope found it hard to breathe. She tried to keep Edmund’s hands away from her neck, but it didn’t work.

"My Lady!" Philleo tries to save Penelope. However, as the man approached Penelope, Edmund turned to look at him. He removed one of his hands from Penelope’s neck and pointed it at Philleo. Then, suddenly Philleo was thrown so far that the man hit the wall and finally fainted.

"Magic?" Penelope muttered in a choked tone. "You can use magic apparently. This is not explained in the original novel. However, I should have guessed that you could use magic." Penelope stretched out her trembling hands to Edmund’s left chest. Her eyes started to get out of focus. She started to feel dizzy. If Penelope didn’t act soon, she would surely pass out from Edmund’s strangulation or might die this very second. "You owe me your life, Edmund Gerwyn!" she shouted.

Penelope closed her eyes and pleaded earnestly in her heart for the darkness in Edmund’s heart to dissipate. From the woman’s body appeared a dazzling pink light. The pink light flowed into Penelope’s hand and then entered Edmund’s body through his left chest. The man widened and shouted. Edmund is struggling. He hit Penelope’s body, tried to push her to fall off of him, and tore Penelope’s dress, whatever it was to keep Penelope away from him.

However, Penelope held on with all her might. She was in great pain, but she held on. The woman clenched her jaw and bit her lip until it bled so as not to scream from the pain Edmund gave her. The woman kept concentrating on purifying the darkness that was in Edmund’s body. Then, the man calmed down. Penelope opened her eyes and tried to catch her breath. It wasn’t just her neck that ached from Edmund’s strong stranglehold, but her whole body.

"Ed?" Penelope called in a hesitant tone. "Ed, can you recognize me? Are you okay?"

Slowly, Edmund opened his eyes and groaned. The man held his aching head, then widened his eyes when he saw Penelope’s injured and bleeding condition. Even her dress was torn in several places.

"Penelope?! What the—" The man then looked around him. He froze. Everyone fainted and got injured. This dining room turned into hell in an instant. Is this all his doing? His blue eyes returned to Penelope who looked tired but still managed to smile at him. Edmund stretched out a trembling hand and rubbed Penelope’s pale face. "I... what have I done to you? I... Did I hurt you? Did I almost kill you...? Forgive me. I’m so sorry... I’m really sorry."

Penelope laughed softly and wiped away the tears that had suddenly streamed down Edmund’s handsome face.

"You are innocent. You are only being controlled by the darkness within yourself." Penelope groaned softly and held her head. "Ed, I’m glad you’re okay. But, I’m very tired and I want to rest. Allow me to sleep even if only for a while."

After saying this, Penelope passed out on top of Edmund’s body.

Edmund screamed in panic and kept calling Penelope’s name.

###

Upon hearing the information provided by his aide, Sebastian De Louis immediately ordered the imperial palace’s magician to teleport himself to Gerwyn’s mansion.

The Crown Prince’s green eyes widened when he saw a lot of knights being treated in Edmund Gerwyn’s mansion. He walked briskly toward one of the rooms in the mansion. According to Evan the butler, Edmund was being treated in the room along with Penelope Askary and Philleo Aaron. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

As soon as Sebastian opened the door to the room, the man froze. Edmund, Penelope, and Philleo were in a complete mess. All three of them were injured. Penelope was even still passed out on the bed. Sebastian immediately approached Edmund who was sitting on a chair beside the bed and was holding Penelope’s hand tightly, while Philleo was being treated in a corner of the room.

"Ed, what happened?" asked Sebastian urgently. "Is Penelope alright?"

When Edmund just kept quiet and didn’t answer, Sebastian felt very annoyed. The man grabbed Edmund by the collar and pulled him to his feet.

"I asked you what happened, Edmund Gerwyn! And how did Penelope get to that?!" growled Sebastian.

However, Edmund’s blue eyes only stared blankly at Sebastian. This made Sebastian freeze. Edmund had never reacted like this. He was a man of high self-esteem and was never shaken by anything. Edmund’s reaction made Sebastian unconsciously release his grip on Edmund’s collar and take a step back.

"Greetings to His Highness the Crown Prince. May Elleia’s light always be with you," said Philleo. The man hobbled over to Sebastian De Louis and bowed. His eyes glanced at Edmund who had returned to his seat while holding Penelope’s hand tightly. The man looks like a human who has no soul. "Can I explain everything?"

Sebastian rubbed his face with both hands and looked at Philleo firmly. "Explain it to me right now!"

Philleo Aaron explained what he knew. Starting from Penelope who claimed to hear a mysterious voice calling her name, Penelope who suddenly disappeared, and Edmund who went berserk because of Penelope’s disappearance until Penelope finally reappeared and succeeded in calming Edmund.

"Penelope Askary just disappeared?" asked Sebastian in disbelief.

Phileo nodded. "I am also as surprised as Duke Edmund. We searched all over the mansion for Lady Penelope but couldn’t find her. It was then, Duke Edmund lost control of himself and started to go berserk."

Sebastian sighed heavily and massaged the bridge of his nose. His green eyes glanced at Edmund. Then, Sebastian’s eyes widened when he saw Edmund, who had been sitting up straight, now just fallen on the bed. The man along with Philleo and Gerwyn’s family’s doctor immediately approached Edmund.

"Ed?! Ed, what’s wrong with you?!" Sebastian shouted.

However, Edmund did not answer.

The man fainted. However, his hand still tightly gripped Penelope’s hand. It was as if, he didn’t want to be separated from her even though he was in an unconscious state.