Reincarnation of The Villainess: She Has The Duke's Baby!-Chapter 65: #-You Are A Very Annoying Woman, Isabella Lysander!
Isaac Abraham stared at Penelope Askary, who hid her face in Edmund Gerwyn’s neck with a confused look.
The man raised one eyebrow. It looks like the rumor that Penelope has changed drastically since having a carriage accident is true. The proof was, she didn’t pick a fight or argue with him like the last time they did around four to five years ago. To be honest, Isaac really hated Penelope. Just because she was the daughter of a Duke, Penelope felt she could look down on him. Isaac had to hold back his embarrassment and anger when he confronted Penelope because he didn’t want her to report him to Duke Askary. He didn’t want his family to be destroyed because his noble status was indeed below the Askary family.
But now Isaac didn’t need to be afraid anymore. Penelope’s changes allowed him to destroy her. Penelope looks like a woman, who wouldn’t dare to go against anyone. All Isaac needed to do was bully her without both her family and Duke Edmund knowing.
"Forgive my impudence, Princess Penelope, Duke Edmund," said Isaac apologetically. "I have done impolite things to you. I promise I won’t do something like this again." Isaac bowed apologetically. However, his eyes were on Penelope. When the woman accidentally glanced at him, Isaac gave Penelope a mysterious grin.
’This woman is back to being the coward she was when she was a child,’ Isaac thought.
Meanwhile, Penelope, who saw Isaac’s mysterious grin, immediately gasped. Her body stiffened again in Edmund’s arms. She averted her face and tightened her grip on the Duke’s neck even more.
"Ed, I want to go home," Penelope whispered in a trembling voice. "I... don’t like being here when he is near me."
Edmund clenched his jaw when he heard the fear in Penelope’s voice. His goal in taking the woman to the festival at night was to make her happy. However, that happiness was ruined by the appearance of Isaac Abraham. The man, who had bullied Penelope when she was little and hurt her until Penelope developed amnesia and had scars on her waist. Isaac Abraham is also the man, who will kidnap Penelope and torture her in the woods soon according to the vision Penelope has.
"Then, please continue your walk and enjoy the festival tonight, Duke Edmund and Princess Penelope," said Isaac, smiling and bowing. "I’m leaving and I won’t bother you. Princess Penelope, see you soon. I miss talking to you and Prince Ethan too. I hope you can spare your time to chat with me to reminisce about our childhood."
Hearing that, Penelope bit her lip. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. She had promised herself to be a strong woman, who dared to fight against her enemies. She would not be a burden to her family and Edmund. She must not be afraid to face her enemies in the future, including Isaac Abraham, who most likely has evil and bad intentions toward her.
As Isaac left whistling happily, Edgar and Jellal both lowered their swords. Both of them stared at Penelope, who was trembling in Edmund’s arms. Sarah, who had been standing behind Edmund so she could be close to Penelope, immediately stroked her Lady’s arm gently and looked at her with worried eyes.
"I want that man under close surveillance," growled Edmund. "Send some knights to help Chris keep an eye on Isaac Abraham! I don’t want that man to come near my Duchess anymore. Do you understand?!"
Edgar and Jellal bowed before Edmund.
"Understood, Your Grace."
Edmund took a deep breath and tried to look Penelope in the face. However, the woman would not look at him. She prefers to hide her beautiful face.
"Penny, I’m sorry I ruined our date tonight," said Edmund apologetically. "I should have paid attention to the safety around you first. I should have found out beforehand whether there would be people who could potentially hurt you or make you scared and uncomfortable. Forgive me."
On Edmund’s neck and shoulders, Penelope shook her head.
"You didn’t do anything wrong, Ed," Penelope whispered. "I want to go home. I want to rest. I’m tired, Ed."
"Yeah, we’re going home." Edmund looked at Edgar and Jellal. "One of you, buy me all the balloons and bring them to my mansion."
Edgar nodded and immediately carried out Edmund’s order. The Duke slowly walked away, leaving the crowd of the festival along with Penelope, who was silent even when they arrived at Gerwyn’s mansion.
###
Tonight, Ethan Askary has to guard the area around the festival along with several knights from the Askary family and several knights belonging to the De Louis empire.
"Young Master, don’t you want to rest first?" Callix asked. The man always walked by Ethan’s side to help the man guard the festival area and also protect his master. "Would you like me to buy you some food or some drinks? You’ve worked hard since earlier, Young Master. I was afraid you would be exhausted and get sick."
Ethan chuckled and shook his head. "Do you think I’m a weak man, Callix? I’ve hardly ever been sick since I was little. I am different from my little sister."
"Still..." Callix took a deep breath and looked down. He knew Ethan would not listen to his words because his master was very responsible for his work. "Speaking of which, is Lady Penelope not coming to this festival, Young Master?"
"I don’t know," Ethan shook his head. The man shrugged. "Penny doesn’t really like festivals, Call. At least, when she started obsessing over the Crown Prince. That little sister of mine only cares about the Crown Prince. However, when she was little, she loved festivals just like me. We always buy all the food and drinks that are sold at the festival. Hopefully, Penny will love festivals again like she used to and is enjoying this festival with Duke Edmund." Ethan raised an eyebrow as he stared off into the distance. "Callix, there seems to be some commotion over there. Let’s check it out."
Ethan and Callix immediately ran toward the commotion that occurred at one of the food stalls. Behind the food seller’s place, there is a hill that doesn’t go down too much and isn’t dangerous. The hill was overgrown with grass so if someone fell they wouldn’t feel hurt.
"What’s going on here?" asked Ethan when the man arrived. He glanced sharply at several men, who were cornering someone. The person was wearing a black robe and, judging from his or her posture, Ethan guessed that the person in the black robe was a woman.
"Oh, another noble is coming," snorted one of the men. He was the one who grabbed the black-robed person’s wrist. "This person seems to be from a noble family judging from the clothes, My Lord. But, this person is very arrogant and annoying. This person won’t apologize even though this person has done something wrong! Did My Lord see the food and drink down there?" He pointed at the asphalt. " This person suddenly ran and dropped everything but won’t take responsibility!"
"I didn’t do it on purpose because I was being chased by strangers, who wanted to rob me! Why do you make a big deal out of a small thing like this?!" yelled the black-robed person. Now, Ethan was sure she was a woman because of her voice. "I said I would pay for everything but not now! I don’t have enough money with me. I came to this festival just to see the fireworks! If you don’t believe me, just come to Lysander’s mansion. My Father will pay you!"
Ethan frowned. "Lysander’s mansion you say?" he asked in a doubtful tone. The black-robed person gasped and looked up. It was only then that Ethan could find out the identity of the black-robed person. "Isabella Lysander?"
"Tsk! You again, Ethan Askary," Isabella grumbled. "Why should I see you again?"
"Did you think I wanted to see you?" snorted Ethan. He stared at Isabella’s wrist which was gripped very tightly by the man in front of him and immediately jerked the man’s hand away from Isabella’s wrist.
"And you... don’t you realize that she’s a woman? You can tell that this woman is a noble from her clothes but you still dare to hurt her? Aren’t you afraid that her family will punish you?"
The man clicked his tongue and scratched his head. "Forgive me, My Lord. I couldn’t control my anger because of this woman’s arrogance."
"You’re right about that," Ethan nodded. "I can’t stand her either."
"Hey!" Isabella lowered her hood and looked at Ethan with an irritated look. "I don’t want to face you either! Am I done here? I will go home and order my servants to bring some money here to pay for this food and drink!"
"Isabella Lysander, you really are a very annoying woman," Ethan snorted. "This is the second time you have gone without a knight or maid with you. Aren’t you scared if something bad happens just like at that time?"
"There wouldn’t be a single person in the De Louis empire, who would dare to touch me or hurt me if they knew I was the Crown Prince’s woman!"
"Oh yeah?" Ethan waved a hand. "Just so you know, Isabella. Not everyone likes the Crown Prince. Many wanted to kill the man. They wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you if they found out you have a special relationship with the Crown Prince." Ethan looked at Callix. "Call, pay for all the food and drink that this woman has destroyed."
"I can pay for everything, Ethan Askary! I don’t need your money and your help!"
"I’m not doing this because of you, Isabella Lysander. I’m doing this because these people need money right now to buy food for their families so they can eat tonight. Don’t you know that they depend on selling food and drink for their life?"
Isabella snorted. "Why do I care?" She muttered as she crossed her arms. The muttering can still be heard by the people around her including Ethan Askary. Then, a woman walked up to Isabella and gave her a sharp gaze.
"You really are an evil-hearted woman! Just because you are more fortunate than us, because you are a noble, you feel you can insult us! You are very different from Lady Penelope! The lady is so friendly and kind. She buys a lot of food and drink around here and distributes it to other people. Rumor has it that Lady Penelope is a cruel woman but in fact, she has a very kind heart. Not like you!"
Ethan raised an eyebrow and exchanged glances with Callix. A proud smile crossed Ethan’s lips.
’So, Penny was coming here?’ Ethan muttered to himself. He wished his little sister had not left the festival so he could meet her. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮
"Go away you evil woman!" the woman shouted at Isabella, making Ethan blink and widen his eyes when he saw Isabella being pushed so hard that her body fell from the hill behind her.
Seeing that and hearing Isabella scream, Ethan immediately moved. The man ran to Isabella and grabbed her hand. Isabella’s body did land in Ethan’s arms but Ethan couldn’t control his body balance. Finally, Ethan fell with Isabella while hugging the woman’s tiny body tightly. The two of them tumbled down the hill and landed in the grass below.
"Young Master! Lady Isabella!" Callix shouted. He ran down the hill and immediately helped Ethan, who groaned while holding his head. "Young Master, are you all right?!"
"Yeah, I’m fine," Ethan replied. He turned his head and clicked his tongue in annoyance when he saw Isabella Lysander pass out. "Dammit. Now we have to take this woman back to her mansion and explain to Marquess Lysander why his daughter came home unconscious. This woman is really troublesome."
