Reincarnation of The Villainess: She Has The Duke's Baby!-Chapter 83: #-Isabella Lysander’s Apology

Penelope was enjoying her birthday cake when someone cleared his throat behind her.

The woman turned her head and blinked. She swallowed her cake and drank her orange juice, and then smiled broadly at the handsome man in front of her. Penelope never thought that this man would come to her birthday party. She had invited the man but Penelope wasn’t sure if he would come because Penelope knew it would not be easy for him to come from the Abelavish empire to the De Louis empire.

"Your Highness Helios!" Penelope exclaimed happily. "I’m so glad you could spare your time to come to my birthday party. I’m sorry that I was late greeting you. I didn’t know you would come."

Helios Rune Abelavish laughed and took Penelope’s hand, and then kissed the back of her hand. Behind Helios, Jeremy bowed and greeted Penelope. The man also wished Penelope a happy birthday.

"How could I not come to my beautiful friend’s birthday party?" asked Helios. He brought his face closer to Penelope’s and whispered, "I still like you, Duchess. Even though you are married, if you are not happy with Duke Edmund or feel bored with Duke Edmund, you can come to the Abelavish empire. I will welcome you with all of my heart."

Penelope blinked and blushed. The woman laughed, causing Helios to smile and take a deep breath. She is his first love and first broken heart.

"Sorry, His Highness Crown Prince Helios," someone said in an irritated tone. Penelope and Helios turned their heads. While Penelope looked pleased with Edmund’s appearance, Helios paled on the spot. "Could you please repeat what you just said?"

"Oops! Looks like I’ve made a mistake. Ha ha." Helios rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. He pointed into the distance. "Oh! Isn’t that Crown Prince Sebastian? I will meet him to say hello. You two, have fun. Jeremy, come on! You always seduce women who already have husbands!"

Jeremy could only snort and follow Helios, who was walking at a fast pace toward where Sebastian was.

Meanwhile, Penelope hugged Edmund’s arm. Since earlier, she could feel Sebastian’s gaze on her. But, Penelope didn’t want to make a fuss at her birthday party where many invited guests were present. The nobles would have said some strange things if there had been an argument between her and Sebastian or between Edmund and Sebastian if Penelope had decided to report this to her husband. However, right now Penelope couldn’t take it anymore. Sebastian’s gaze made her very uncomfortable. The man seemed to lock her up with his gaze. Actually, Penelope didn’t want to invite Sebastian. However, since that man was the Crown Prince of this empire, Penelope had no other choice but to invite him. After all, Penelope didn’t want to be seen as a coward by Sebastian. She would show him that she wasn’t afraid of him at all.

"Are you all right, Honey?" asked Edmund. He watched Penelope and caressed her cheek gently and affectionately. "You look a little pale. Are you sick?"

Penelope smiled and shook her head. "I’m fine. I just... I feel uncomfortable."

Edmund wrapped his arms around Penelope’s waist and took her tiny body in his arms. He rubbed Penelope’s back. His blue eyes stared straight ahead, specifically at Sebastian De Louis. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Why?" whispered Edmund.

"The Crown Prince," Penelope replied in a whisper as well. The woman hugged Edmund’s waist tightly. She rested her face on the Duke’s warm chest. "He’s been looking at me ever since. I felt like I was being watched by him. Wherever I go, the Crown Prince never takes his eyes off of me."

"Should I make a scene here?" asked Edmund. He closed his eyes and tightened his embrace. Edmund kissed Penelope’s temple.

Penelope chuckled when she heard that. "No need. I just have to hold on until this party is over. I don’t want people to think of you as a man who doesn’t know etiquette. Moreover, I’m sure the Crown Prince will use that opportunity to embarrass you if you go up to him and challenge him. I’m sure the Crown Prince won’t dare to do anything bad to me when there are many nobles in this room."

"Then, all you need to do right now is stay by my side," whispered Edmund. The man bit Penelope’s ear, causing the woman to flinch and stare at Edmund in disbelief. The woman’s face turned red and she held her ear. Edmund just smiled with satisfaction when he saw his wife’s adorable expression. "Why? I have the right to do so because you are my wife. There will not be a single person in this world who can forbid me to do what I want to my own wife. After all, no one in this room saw me do it."

"You damn perverted Duke," Penelope grumbled. The woman snorted and turned her head when she heard her name being called. Likewise Edmund. Both of them raised an eyebrow when they saw Isabella Lysander. The beautiful woman smiled awkwardly at Penelope and Edmund.

"Did you invite her to the party, Honey?" asked Edmund. The man didn’t even care if Isabella could hear him.

"Err..." Penelope scratched her cheek that didn’t itch. "Since I was forced to invite the Crown Prince, I guess the Crown Prince also told her to come as his partner."

"You do know that I can hear the conversation between the two of you, right?" Isabella asked. Her face turned red and the woman cleared her throat. "Duchess, can I speak to you alone?"

"Listen, Isabella Lysander," growled Edmund. "If you intend to—"

"I promise I won’t do bad things or things that can hurt Duchess Penelope’s heart," said Isabella, interrupting Edmund’s sentence. "You can place several knights at once to watch over me if you are afraid that I will hurt your Duchess."

Penelope felt that something had changed in Isabella. Hence, the woman looked up to look at Edmund and nodded with a smile while rubbing his arm.

"I’m fine," Penelope said. "I’ll talk to Isabella on the balcony. You can get Sir Edgar and Sir Philleo to keep an eye on us."

"All right," said Edmund. He could never win against Penelope Askary. The man kissed Penelope on the cheek and almost touched her lips. "I will have the two of them watch over you. I’m going to talk to Marquess Brandon about the mining business in the East, over there," Edmund pointed at an old man, who still looked handsome. The man smiled at Penelope, making Penelope nod and smile back. "If anything happens, you know where to find me."

After Edgar and Philleo came to Penelope, Penelope and Isabella walked toward the balcony. The two handsome knights waited outside the balcony, letting Penelope and Isabella talk privately. The night wind that blew made Penelope and Isabella’s feelings calmer. The two women looked up at the stars in the night sky without either one starting to speak.

"I..." After waiting for a while, Isabella decided to speak. The woman was so nervous that her hands became very cold and trembled. She swallowed hard and looked down. "I... want to apologize to you for everything I’ve done to you, Duchess Penelope. I have hurt you, I have also threatened to kill your child, I slapped you, and I intend to take Duke Edmund away from you. I realized that what I did was very evil and completely unethical." Isabella turned her head and smiled faintly at Penelope. "If you can’t forgive me, I won’t force you. I can understand. I will also hate the woman, who has tried to seduce my husband and hurt me if something like that happens to me."

Penelope was silent. The woman took a deep breath and could see the honesty in Isabella’s eyes. Isabella Lysander seems to really want to apologize to her and regret all her past actions. It would be a lie if Penelope said she wasn’t angry and didn’t hate Isabella’s attitude at that time. Several times Isabella tried to seduce Edmund. But... Penelope couldn’t help but forgive Isabella either. Moreover, Isabella looked very nervous and seemed to want to cry.

"Before that, I want to ask you something," Penelope said. She glanced at Isabella, who didn’t want to meet her eyes. "Are you apologizing to me because of your own will, because you sincerely want to apologize to me and regret everything, or... because you know I’m Ethan Askary’s little sister and you’re starting to fall in love with him?"

Isabella blinked and looked up. Her mouth was wide open and her face was blushing violently. "Wha—" The woman shook her head in panic. "Of course not! I mean, I do want to apologize to you and want to mend my relationship with you. I... I don’t know what happened to me at that time. Somehow, I easily accepted the request of the Crown Prince, who wanted to destroy your and Duke Edmund’s marriage. Then, I also always hear voices that—"

"Wait a minute," Penelope immediately stopped Isabella. She frowned. "What do you mean you heard voices?"

"Err..." Isabella scratched her cheek. "I don’t know how to explain it and I know this is going to sound really crazy. However, several times I heard a woman’s voice inside my head. She said that I am the female lead in this world and Duke Edmund as well as the Crown Prince are mine. I have to get rid of you because you have taken everything that should be mine. Then, suddenly I was overcome with feelings of jealousy and anger. I understand if you don’t believe me, Duchess."

"No, I believe you," Penelope said. The woman took a deep breath and massaged the bridge of her nose. "I also heard that voice inside my head. She told me to die. She wanted me to die because she wanted you to shine in this world." Penelope grimaced at Isabella, who looked shocked and paled on the spot. "She wanted me to die at the hands of Edmund and the Crown Prince."

The two women fell silent and the both of them lost in their own thoughts. After that, Penelope smiled and held Isabella’s hand. This made Isabella gasp and freeze.

"I have forgiven you, Isabel," Penelope said in a gentle tone. The woman had even called Isabella by her nickname like she used to when the two of them were still friends. "I also apologize for ever being rude to you."

Isabella looked at Penelope with a touched look. The woman laughed and nodded repeatedly. She too was crying. Somehow, she feels so relieved and happy to be able to make up and be friends with Penelope again. Seeing that, Penelope laughed and hugged Isabella tightly, who was crying like a child.

"I promise to always be nice to you, Duchess," Isabella sobbed. "And I promise to be a good sister-in-law for you in the future."

Penelope blinked.

"Huh?"