Reincarnation of The Villainess: She Has The Duke's Baby!-Chapter 33: #-Aren’t You The Crown Prince’s Concubine?
Penelope Askary hissed and winced in pain from being dragged away by her kidnapper, as soon as the kidnapper was satisfied to jump up and down the tree like a ninja.
"Hey! Can’t you be a little gentler with me?" Penelope asked coldly. "I am a noblewoman! I’m a Duke’s daughter! Do you want me to cut off your hands?" Penelope threatened. Even though she felt confused and scared because she was suddenly kidnapped by an unknown person, Penelope decided she had to fight this kidnapper and show her courage.
"Can you cut off my hands if I kill you first and send your corpse to the Askary mansion?" the kidnapper who covered his face with the cloth turned around, making Penelope frown.
"How did you know that I am a daughter in the Askary family?"
"Is there anyone in the De Louis empire who doesn’t recognize you, Princess Penelope Askary?" The man dragged Penelope into a rather suspicious-looking house, then brought her down the stairs once they were inside. Most likely, he will take Penelope to the dungeons. "You are known as a very evil woman and very obsessed with the Crown Prince. Then, you are also a woman who is unique in this empire because of the combination of your hair color and eye color."
Penelope is just silent. She tried to remember all the details of this house. Where is the exit, what items can be used as weapons in an emergency, what clues can she get to catch these people, and much more. Penelope does not have great physical strength. Fighting this man who had kidnapped her, who Penelope said must have partners to help him, was a bad choice. Penelope also couldn’t use the powers given to her by Goddess Elleia because they were purification and healing powers. It didn’t fit the situation she was in right now.
The wooden door in front of her made Penelope swallow hard. She tried to run away, but the result was making her wrist hurt. The grip of the kidnapper’s hand was so strong, it made Penelope’s white skin turn red. When the kidnapper opened the wooden door in front of them, Penelope was left speechless when the man pushed her roughly and hard causing her to fall. Her knee hurt and her temple hit the wall when she fell.
"Ouch!" The woman turned and glared at her kidnapper. "You’re going to get in trouble for treating me like this!"
"You are only a concubine, yet you dare to be arrogant and speak harshly. Do you know that the concubine is completely useless, Princess Penelope?"
"Concubine?! What do you mean?!" Penelope exclaimed. Her anger started to rise and she felt like she wanted to find something in this room that she could use to kill that bastard kidnapper.
The man laughed mockingly, then snorted. He crossed his arms. "You’re still pretending you don’t understand what I’m saying. Aren’t you the Crown Prince’s concubine? Meanwhile, the woman beside you right now, Isabella Lysander, is the Crown Prince’s Empress in the future, right?"
Penelope blinked. Her mouth was wide open. She turned her head and Isabella Lysander smiled awkwardly at her while waving. Even though she was surprised that Isabella was also kidnapped like her, Penelope’s anger was much higher than her shock. The woman looked back at the man who kidnapped her just now and stood up. Even though she limped a little because her knee hurt, Penelope still forced herself.
"Watch your mouth, you damn kidnapper!" Penelope shouted. She pointed at his face. "I am not the concubine of the Crown Prince and I will never be the concubine of that son of a bitch! I’ll teach you a lesson for having the guts to say anything about me! The only woman the Crown Prince loves and will become the mother of this empire is Isabella Lysander!"
When Penelope was about to punch him in the face, the man caught Penelope’s wrist easily. He gripped her tightly, causing Penelope to scream in pain.
"You are a very annoying woman, Princess Penelope. You should act sweet and gentle, like Isabella Lysander. That way, I’ll treat you more kindly and carefully, as if you were such a fragile piece of cotton! Blame the Crown Prince. We kidnapped you and Isabella on orders from people who wanted justice. That person should be the Crown Prince, not Sebastian De Louis. Since you and Isabella are women related to the Crown Prince, we used the two of you as bait to kill that man!"
Penelope was pushed back with great force and her body hit the wall again. Her chest even hit a wooden table, making Penelope groan in pain and cough up blood. Seeing that, Isabella gasped and hurriedly helped Penelope.
"Penny, are you all right?" asked Isabella in a worried tone. "You’re bleeding, Penny. Just stop, there’s nothing we can do for now other than wait for help to arrive." Isabella looked at the kidnapper who was currently laughing, then went out and closed the door with a slam. "The Crown Prince should be fine. He was protected by many people."
To be honest, I wasn’t too worried about him because there was Edmund and the others around that guy, Penelope said inside her heart. The woman smiled at Isabella and nodded. She had to endure the pain in her body because Ethan said no one should know about her having healing and purifying powers.
"I’m fine. Isabel, how did you get here?"
"I was going to the bookstore when these people stopped my carriage." Isabella looked down sadly. "My knights and maids, they all got injured trying to protect me. I was afraid that their lives would be in danger, so I decided to follow them."
The knights in the Lysander family were indeed not as good as the knights in the Askary family, the Gerwyn family, and the imperial family. Penelope smiled reassuringly at Isabella and ruffled her hair. "You are a very good woman, Isabel. I’m sure, Goddess Elleia will save your people if you pray and ask in your heart earnestly."
Isabella nodded. The woman cried and hugged Penelope. Penelope wanted to scream because her whole body really hurt. But, she held back because she didn’t want to make Isabella feel guilty and panicked. After all, right now Isabella was worried about the condition of her people and needed someone to comfort her. Because of that, Penelope returned Isabella’s hug and rubbed her back gently.
"Isabel, we have to get out of here before help arrives," Penelope said in a firm tone. "Because I’m sure they will hurt and kill us."
###
"YOU SAY YOU CAN PROTECT MY LADY BETTER THAN ME!"
Philleo Aaron’s scream was followed by a sword swinging at Edmund Gerwyn. Growling and clenching his jaw, Edmund blocked Philleo’s sword with his own. Then, using his strength, Edmund succeeded in pushing Philleo backward and the man’s sword slipped from his hand, then was thrown far away. Edmund immediately pointed his sword at Philleo’s neck who clenched his fists at his sides.
"I’ll kill you right now, Philleo Aaron," growled Edmund.
"Stop!" Sebastian shouted. The man stood in the middle of Edmund and Philleo and looked at the two of them with a sharp gaze. "This is not the time to be fighting over personal matters! Right now, our priority is finding Penelope. Do you want me to report this incident to Penelope when that woman gets back to us, huh?!" Sebastian looked at Edmund. "Put down your sword!"
"But—"
"Edmund Gerwyn," Sebastian growled. "I speak as the Crown Prince, not as your best friend and brother. Put down your sword!"
Edmund growled loudly and forced his sword down. The man tried to calm down. But, it’s so difficult. Edmund could feel the darkness slowly taking control of him because of the anger and panic that had started to emerge from Penelope Askary’s kidnapping. What is the woman’s current condition? Is she hurt? Dammit! What should he do now?
"Your Grace!"
The exclamation made Edmund flinch and turn his head. Chris appears with Tristan. The two men had been assigned by him and the Crown Prince to track Penelope’s whereabouts. Edmund immediately approached Chris and gripped both of his shoulders tightly. It made Chris wince in pain and swallowed hard.
"Where’s Penelope Askary?" Edmund asked in a low, dangerous tone. "Is she all right?"
"Princess Penelope was taken to a house not far from here, Your Grace," said Chris, looking down.
"And there is Lady Isabella Lysander too over there, Your Highness," Tristan said to Sebastian. This made Sebastian widen his eyes and hurriedly approached his shadow knight.
"Isabella is there too?! So, they also kidnapped Isabella?!" Sebastian looked at everyone. "I believe all of this has something to do with my assassination plot! They must have used Isabella and Penelope as bait to catch me!"
"Why did they have to kidnap Penelope?" asked Edmund coldly. "What? Do you mean they think Penelope is your woman?"
"Ed, this isn’t the time to be jealous or anything like that," Sebastian grumbled. "You also know that everyone in this empire knows that Penelope loves me and is obsessed with me."
"I will announce the empire later that Penelope Askary has no feelings for you anymore, once all this is over," growled Edmund. He looked at Chris again. "Take me to that place right now!"
Everyone immediately gets ready to go to the house. Edmund ran ahead. His jaw clenched and his teeth gritted. He would not allow a single person to escape his blade. Anyone who dared to touch his Penelope, he will send them to hell that very second!
Arriving at the house, Edmund and the others started to keep an eye on the situation. No one was on guard in front of the house. This was to their advantage, but also feels suspicious.
"This could be a trap," said Sebastian.
Edmund looked at him with a straight face. "Do you think I would care if this was a trap or not? My main goal is to save my little bunny from that house. If this is a trap, I just need to get past all of them!"
Edmund ran first toward the house. When he opened the door, something attacked him from the darkness, causing the man to immediately draw his sword and fend off anything that tried to attack him. It was a sword pointed at him by a man who covered his face with a cloth.
"You’re wrong if you think you can kill me with child’s play like this," growled Edmund.
Edmund and the man were attacking each other. Of course, Edmund came out victorious. He ran, leaving behind the others who were trying to attack him. Edmund knew Chris, Edgar, and the others were behind and would take care of those bastard kidnappers. They will also protect the Crown Prince. Edmund knew he should be the sword and the shield for Sebastian, but right now, all he wanted was Penelope Askary’s safety.
The sound of a woman’s scream made Edmund stop running. The man froze and widened his eyes. That voice was Penelope’s. Edmund could recognize Penelope’s voice wherever she was. With his heart beating fast, Edmund started running again. He opened every door he came across. He searched every corner of the house. However, he could not find the woman either. Then, Edmund ran upstairs. There, by the stairs on the third floor, Isabella Lysander was crying. Edmund approached the woman and knelt before her.
"Isabella, where is Penelope?!"
But, Isabella could not answer. Her body trembled with fear. The woman immediately hugged Edmund, making Edmund widen his eyes. With a growl, Edmund pulled Isabella away from him.
"Where’s Penelope, Isabella Lysander?!" shouted Edmund again.
"Your Grace... I’m scared..." Isabella sobbed. "Please, take me away from here. I don’t want to be here. I—"
"Are you deaf?! I asked you where Penelope Askary was! I don’t care if you’re scared or not! I only care about Penelope!"
"It turns out that your reputation as the coldest and cruelest Duke in the De Louis empire has never changed."
The words made Edmund freeze. He stood and turned his head. There, on a balcony where the wind was blowing, a man stood pointing a sword at Penelope’s neck. Penelope’s beautiful face was injured, as well as her knees and wrists. Edmund knew it because he could see Penelope’s pants were torn at the knees and her wrists were red. There was blood at the corner of Penelope’s lips. The woman tried to escape from the kidnapper, but the sword at her neck prevented Penelope from doing much. Seeing that, the anger inside Edmund was getting out of control.
"You...!" growled Edmund. He approached Penelope and the man. The man now grinned broadly and mocked Edmund. "I will kill you!"
"Duke Edmund, do you love this wicked woman? This woman, who is obsessed with the Crown Prince?" chuckled the man. "Then, what will you do if I throw her down there? Are you going to kill me first, or am I going to make this woman die first after I throw her down there? What do you think will happen first, Duke?" the man threatened.
Penelope gulped.
This is really bad!
