Chapter 23

“Little, Miss!”

It was dawn when I returned to the mansion with Ikris.

As soon as they saw me, the butler and Emily rushed towards me.

“Miss Penelope! You in the end ……!”

“Where on earth did you go in the middle of the night last night!” Emily followed up the sentence that the butler couldn’t finish by asking loudly.

Judging from their expressions, sneaking Ikris into the mansion was out of the question.

“…… Father knows about it too?”

“Of course! The entire mansion was in chaos! The two young masters took the knights out to look for you for the whole night until a slaver came running in the middle of the night!”

After hearing Emily’s words, I slapped my forehead.

That damned slaver actually came to the mansion to collect gold coins before the sun had fully risen because he suspected my identity. Even before me.

It’s too late to hide it Derrick and Leonard are still in an uproar ……

”Damn it …… I should have known better than to bring them along. .

Not wasting any bit of time, Emily pushed open the door before saying, “Missy quickly go inside.”

“Missy, may I ask who this is?”

The butler stepped forward and blocked Ikris who wanted to follow Penelope into the mansion

“From now on, he is my exclusive knight. Arrange a room for him to rest.”

“Little, miss! This ……!”

The butler looked up and down at the bruised and ragged Ikris in disgust.

“Miss! You cannot be like this! How can we allow an unknown person into the mansion ……!”

I interrupted him, “Butler. It’s only been a few days, and it seems you’re taking my words as a joke again?”

I was tired, and certainly not in the best of moods. After staying up all night at the slave market I was very tired and ready.

The only thing I want to do right now is to lie down on my bed, but there’s still a small mountain of things in front of me waiting to be dealt with. Arguing with the servants would only waste my time.

“Be prepared and be comfortable for Ikris.”

“…… Understood, my lady.”

The butler inexorably bows to me and retreats.

The words that came out of my mouth after “Be prepared” were all threats. But it was so close that I did not need to speak them.

As I stepped into the doorway of the mansion

“Hey! You ……!”

Leonard, who was pacing anxiously back and forth in the hallway, was the first to notice me.

The Duke, who was seated in his chair, jerked up when he heard Leonard’s shout.

“Penelope!”

“…… Father.”

Under the gaze of his sharp eyes, I couldn’t help but stop in my tracks.

The Duke who looked like he was about to yell at me like Leonard swallowed back the words that had reached his mouth. Changing his words, he said, “…… Now immediately go to my office.”

While looking at the Duke’s departing back, a heavy sigh exhaled from my lips.

‘Ahhhhh. What must I say to pray for forgiveness this time.”

Spending so much effort just to bring Ikris back.

Slightly huffing, he turned to look at Ikris, but after seeing the favorability on his head, that anger disappeared.

[Favorability 18%]

I have to control myself. He’s my only hope now.

Just then, Leonard noticed Ikris behind me he muttered out in abhorrence.

“What’s a beggar like that doing over here?”

“Follow the steward, Ikris.”

I urged him, fearful that this would become a big deal.

“Where are you going to follow the steward! Where do you think this place is!”

The look on Leonard’s face was as if he had much to say.

But he didn’t say much because he knew I had to go to the Duke’s office right away.

It seemed Ikris had the same idea. His lips parted slightly.

“Be good and follow.”

Although he seemed like he wanted to say something, I firmly stopped him. There was no time for that right now.

I handed the mask I was holding in my hand to Emily and followed the Duke who had just left.

I don’t have time for Ikris right now.

There was a click, and the moment I stepped into the office, a cold, sharp voice reached my ears.

“Penelope Eckhardt.”

“Yes, Father.”

The Duke sat in his black leather office chair, his back to me. And I remained politely standing behind him.

“Explain all of this, from beginning to end.” The Duke spoke in an icy, grave tone.

From where he stood, the Duke’s heavy voice emboldened me.

I couldn’t see the look on his face. As a result I felt even more unsure about whether or not I would be able to get through this successfully.

It doesn’t matter if my relationship with the duke turns sour and my reputation is ruined.

But I was worried that he would affect the precarious favorability of the two brothers.

After thinking hard for a while, I decided to try the method I’ve always used.

“…… I apologize for running out without reporting to you. I’m sorry, father.”

“Those are the words I’ve heard you say most often lately.”

It may have worked the first and second time, but not the third.

I couldn’t get the words out.

“Even though you say that every time, it seems to me that you haven’t remembered the lesson yet. What do you say?”

“This ……”

Biting her lower lip, she said what the Duke would have wanted to hear Penelope say.

“I swear I have done nothing that would dishonor the family.”

“I didn’t stay up all night to hear you say that!” After hearing my response, he pounded the table with his fist.

“Hiss ……,” I took a deep breath.

In the past, he was indifferent to anything about Penelope. As such, this was the first time I had seen him get so angry, making me speechless from the unexpected reaction.

‘What should I do!’

My mind went blank.

Of course, I knew that a simple apology wouldn’t get it done. The last time the Crown Prince’s riot was like that, I thought I could muddle through by roughly corresponding this time as well, and I was the one who miscalculated.

“I’ll be straightforward. Penelope Eckhardt. Why did you run into an alleyway alone in the middle of the night, unescorted!”

After seeing that I was too frightened to speak because of his harsh attitude, he sighed and asked in a more moderate tone instead, “And what about that slaver early this morning? What exactly happened last night?”

Unintentionally I sighed softly. With the Duke speaking at this point, it seems there is no need to continue apologizing.

“…… I wanted to sneak off to the festival.”

“With so many time slots, why did you pick the middle of the night? Also, why don’t you just ask me if you want to go out?”

“Because I didn’t think you would agree. ”

“What?”

“You’ve never let me go out except for formal events.”

That was true. That’s why I’ve been searching for secret passages where I can sneak out for the past few days.

Penelope in the game always appeared within the confines of the ducal residence or at some party.

At first, it wasn’t quite sure though. But judging by the crowd’s reaction on his return, it is.

Penelope never left in her life.

Except for events where Penelope was specifically invited, she had never left the ducal mansion.

That was why, Penelope did not have an exclusive knight.

Because there was no need for one.

“…….”

The Duke was silent for a while.

Ergo, he opened his mouth in a low voice, allowing me to continue.

“…… And then?”

“I bumped into my two elder brothers. Although they initially tried to stop me, after hearing my plea, they decided to travel with me to the festival. That’s why I didn’t call for a bodyguard later on also because I was accompanied by my two elder brothers.”

“. ……”

“We were all moving together, but a huge crowd clustered around the procession swept us apart. When I looked back I had gotten tangled up with a nonsensical nobleman in a dark and odd alley.”

“What …… what!”

The Duke rose violently from his chair, “Who …… dared to”

“I was too flustered and confused and forgot to look at his appearance.”

I was shocked by his overreaction. It was as if something bad would happen if I didn’t tell him who that person was.

“I only vaguely heard him say Cruy ……”

“Cruy, did you say Cruy?”

I was going to remember this person forever by being a fat pig, however the Duke recited his name over and over again as if he wanted to burn this person into his memory.

Seeing the Duke, who had been reciting his name even when he sat back down in his chair, my heart tightened.

Afraid that he might do something, I hurriedly added, “Irix, who happened to be passing by, saved me.”

“Irix? Is that the one you brought back today?”

“Yes, he had just escaped from the slave market at that time.”

Hearing the word ‘slave’, the duke immediately frowned.

I quickly added, “He was a noble from a certain defeated country.”

The duke’s frown immediately eased, and his disappointment was swept away. But for the change in his expression, somehow I felt a bit of bitter warmth.

“While helping me, Ikris was also recaptured by the slavers. So with the check you gave me, and Derrick’s elder brother’s cufflinks, I bought him as a sign of gratitude.”

“With a hundred million gold?”

“I can’t just leave my savior behind.”

What I told him was a bit different from the truth, but the point was that Ikris was indeed my ‘savior’.

To be precise, it’s my future.

“I didn’t give you that check so you could buy slaves.” He said coldly, not hiding the anger in his heart at all.

A child, just how many clothes do you need to buy before you need to ask me for a check.

The memory of him smiling and handing me the check was vivid in my mind.

But if I’m honest, there’s nothing else to do.

“He was taken back for saving me. ”

“How could I just sit back and let my savior get taken back? Not to mention the fact that he was taken because of me…bet my Eckhardt family’s name on it, too ……”

There was a clank! The door of the office was heavily pushed open.

It was no other than Derrick who pushed the door open.

“You ……!” A sweaty Derrick spoke with a pale face, “Where did you run off to.”

He strides into the room, staring straight at me with that terrible expression of his.

“Brother, brother.”

Inwardly flustered, I stole a glance at the duke to observe his reaction to this.

But he just sat there without any reaction.

“We rummaged through the entire capital. Looked everywhere, even went to the red light district to look for you! We thought you had been kidnapped by some human trafficker!”

“To think that you could have been…” he grabbed my shoulder and kept shaking it

I’ve never seen the look on his face at this moment.

The look on his face was enough to shock me, but just as I looked towards the top of his head a

[Favorability 13%]

‘What the hell is going on.’

I remembered the look on Derrick’s face before the festival would be dispersed.

A Penelope!

The desperate look in his eyes as he tried to grab my hand before we were dispersed by the crowd.

Derrick abhorred Penelope.

I can tell by the fact that in the game, Penelope’s favorability drops every time she calls him ‘brother’.

This is why I never had to go the Derek route.

Because of that I didn’t think twice about the look in Derrick’s eyes at that time, the kind of look that wasn’t like his own.

‘But why.’

My eyes darted between Derrick’s favor bar as well as him, even forgetting about the Duke being on the sidelines.

Why, you’re showing such desperate eyes.