Chapter 180

The office instantly fell silent following my request. The duke, who’d been in a rage moments before, turned white as a sheet.

“D-did you just ask me to disown you, Penelope?” He asked incredulously.

“Yes,” I replied simply. “You called me here to accuse me, didn’t you?”

“Not at all! That is not why I called you here!” the duke protested, eyes wide. “I told you that this is so we can prevent something like this from happening ever again! I was worried that someone might have tried to harm our family—”

“There was no outsider involvement,” I said quickly. Things were not going the way I’d expected. I’d thought the duke would be quick to send me away if I spoke like this since his lost daughter was back. Apparently, the female protagonist hadn’t attempted to brainwash the duke yet. This wasn’t going to be easy. “I was behind it all, I told you. There’s nothing more to investigate. It’s all my fault, so I’ll take responsibility.”

“I don’t—”

“Your adoption can’t be reversed,” Derrick said curtly, in place of the duke who seemed to be lost for words. I turned and found him glaring at me. His eyes were bloodshot.

“Why?” I asked. I’d expected him to welcome my request. Unable to understand, I asked him, “It’s the perfect solution, isn’t it? You can pin it on me like you always do. I can leave this household—”

“You are not going anywhere!” Derrick screamed suddenly, almost as loudly as the duke had earlier.

Sheesh, why are you screaming at me? I thought, gaping at him in shock.

“If you were behind this, all the more reason to cover this matter up! If you are sent away from the family, what will happen to our reputation? And what of yours?” Derrick rambled, sweating profusely. Then he stopped. He seemed to realize that he was reacting with far too much agitation. Brushing his hair back, he continued in a softer tone, “We can’t protect you if you leave the manor.”

“Since when did you care about my reputation so much?” I asked.

“Damn it, you—” Derrick began, a scowl twisting his face.

I couldn’t understand why he was so upset. I was beginning to grow as irritated with this situation as he was.

“Derrick is right, Penelope,” the duke quickly interrupted the vicious atmosphere brewing between us. “My child, you need to calm down. Even if this was all your doing, we would not try to blame you for it. Hmm?” he said, sweat beading on his brow as he cajoled me like I was a baby.

Ivonne had stopped her crying as the situation unfolded and was instead staring up at Derrick with an odd look on her face. It gave me the creeps. All this was a sham. I still had no idea what Ivonne had been after, coming to the manor so early. Whatever the reason might be, I had no confidence I could defeat the Laila b*tch wearing the female protagonist’s face.

Now that I’d failed to escape, my only goal was to stay alive. Unaware of my desperate need to escape, however, these damned Eckharts were impeding my plans.

I sighed deeply and said in a fatigued tone, “So you won’t get rid of me and won’t blame me, either. What the hell am I supposed to do, then?”

“You...” said another voice. It was Reynold, who’d been silent thus far. “You just told us you didn’t want to give up your place as Father’s daughter. So why is it that you’re now asking to be disowned from the family?”

When our eyes met, his face twisted strangely, his expression similar to the one he’d worn when we’d had our fight in the attic. Reynold was wont to interpret my words however he pleased, yelling at me without hesitation, but today he seemed unable to accept anything I was saying. It was surprising, but also to be expected— I was just saying anything and everything that came to mind, all in the service of being sent away.

“I nearly died, remember? I’m tired of all this,” I said, repeating the same words I’d said to him once before. I had no more excuses.

Another question was aimed at me, from Derrick this time. “Tired of what?”

“Everything,” I said. Then I gave the answer I’d prepared as drily as if I were reading from a textbook. “I’m sick of pretending to be the duke’s daughter, of being treated like an idiot—I’m fed up with living in this manor!”

“Penelope.”

“Ivonne’s back now. What need is there for me to stay? Disown me.”

“Don’t be absurd!” the duke hollered despite my pleading. Then he softened, trying to persuade me. “Penelope, my child. You are my daughter, no matter what others may say. You’ve been acting like this since before the coming-of-age ceremony even began. What is the matter, hmm?”

My head was beginning to ache. Things were not going according to plan. With a short sigh, I rose to my feet. “I don’t think there’s anything more to discuss.”

“We’re not done here. Sit down,” Derrick demanded.

“I’m still quite ill, Father,” I said, ignoring him and addressing the duke. I knew I was being quite rude, contrary to the way I’d behaved up until now, but manners didn’t mean much to me anymore after my close shave with death. And I really was ill. I groaned, pressing a hand to my forehead as my headache grew worse.

“All right, enough of this, then... Go up to your room.” The duke allowed reluctantly.

“But—” Derrick began.

“Enough! Can’t you see she’s not well?” the duke shouted.

He would have been in a truly terrible situation if his adopted daughter had died, poisoned. In light of this, claiming that I felt ill was a very effective tactic. I left the stifling office immediately, glancing at the people sitting around the table on my way out.

Derrick was still glowering at me. Reynold looked weary, as did Winter. And finally, there was Ivonne, wearing an odd expression. There, are you satisfied? I have no interest in taking your place, so please just leave me alone, yes?

Praying that she would get the message, I strode out of the office.

* * *

The duke spoke as soon as the door shut behind Penelope. “Reynold, cover this up for now.”

“Father!” Reynold protested, eyes wide.

Winter, who’d been silent for the duration of the family’s conversation, also looked concerned by this request.

Derrick scowled and protested, “You’re just going to let this slide after hearing her confess?”

“Didn’t you hear? She’ll be keeping to her room. Cease the investigation for now, until Penelope is fully recovered.”

“We still have many things that need looking into,” Derrick protested through clenched teeth. “As the marquis said, we haven’t searched Ivonne’s room yet.”

“D-Derrick!” Ivonne stuttered, her eyes huge as she watched the situation unfold. “But h-how could you think...” she stuttered, gaping incredulously at him.

To the people gathered at the table, she simply seemed shocked. Derrick ignored her, “We can’t preclude the possibility that some outside party incited the maid’s actions. We need to conduct a full investigation—”

“Do you think I’m such an idiot that I can’t handle the investigation?” Reynold suddenly shouted. “I worked together with the marquis and left no stone unturned in our probe of the dead maid. We found nothing! Nothing at all! You aren’t allowed to involve yourself in this, anyway. Father is right. This is enough. You’ll just anger her more.”

“Why are you telling me to stop? Nothing has been solved yet—” Derrick growled.

“Penelope doesn’t want this!” Reynold raged in return. “You know, something goes wrong every time you open your mouth! What if you upset her so much that she tries drinking poison again? What will you do then? As Father said, just leave her be for now. This is better than hearing her demand to be disowned from the family again.”

By the time Reynold was finished yelling, he was panting. He recalled the look on Penelope’s face only moments ago. It had been identical to when they’d argued before after he’d caught her eating rotten food because her personal maid had been harassing her.

“But you expected all this, didn’t you? Ever since you put that necklace in my room?”

He’d never suspected that she’d known about his involvement. He’d been shocked, but she hadn’t been angry at him or run to the duke to tattle. She’d just looked at him with disgust, as though she’d expected nothing less from him.

“But I’m tired of all that now.”

The same had been true of their argument in the attic. He’d picked a fight with her, but instead of cursing him out, she’d said calmly,

“You always make me feel beneath you, like some kind of disgusting street urchin that ranks lower than a slave.”

He hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that she hadn’t just been talking about him. He was reminded of the chill that had gone down his spine then and shuddered, muttering,

“Do you know how many times she’s said things like this recently? What will you do if she really packs up and leaves one day? And if someone really were to assassinate her after that, we’ll have no way of finding the culprit...”

She was more than capable of actually leaving the manor if she was provoked any further.

“Watch what you say, all of you, until she’s recovered,” the duke ordered, worried that she might do something extreme again.

The mood grew solemn.

“If you want...” Ivonne spoke up, voice trembling. “You can search my room... I don’t mind,” said the girl with teary blue eyes, glancing around at them plaintively.

Derrick’s expression grew dark.

“Keep your mouth shut,” Reynold spat at the tactless girl, who gasped as if terrified.

For some reason, Derrick wasn’t taking her side this time.

After Reynold’s snapped response, the silence returned. They were all so lost in their own thoughts that no one noticed the female protagonist’s frail hands quivering as she gripped the folds of her dress.

Finally, Winter spoke. “I’m sorry, but I have to take my leave now.” He got to his feet, wearing a troubled expression.

“All right, Marquis. On your way,” the duke said quickly, suddenly realizing the marquis had just witnessed quite the shameful scene.

Winter hurried from the office and ran down the corridor. Thankfully, he was able to catch up to the small figure slowly climbing the central staircase. She hadn’t been able to walk very fast since she was still recovering. He quickly called after her.

“Lady Penelope.”