Chapter 51

Chapter 51

The butler, who’d already visited my room once that day, came again in the afternoon with a summons from the duke.

“My father?”

“Yes.”

I was momentarily overcome with anxiety. Not because I didn’t know why he was asking to see me—I’d made so much trouble recently that I wasn’t sure which grievance I needed to prepare myself to deal with. My fight with Reynold? Or the scene I made on the training grounds? Or...buying a bunch of weapons for Eckles with the blank check? The second was the most likely candidate. I couldn’t imagine someone of Reynold's age tattling to his father after a fight with his younger sister. And as for the check, he’d given it to me to use as I liked. Surely he wouldn’t care what I’d spent it on.

“He... did not look to be in a bad mood,” the butler informed me quietly, no doubt reading my silence as concern.

“Let’s go, then,” I said, his attempt to comfort me helping me to put aside my worries

*       *       *

“Father. You wanted to see me?” I greeted him upon entering his office. By now, I was only slightly nervous.

The duke was sitting on the sofa lost in thought when I arrived and welcomed me easily. “Yes. Come sit,” he said, pointing to the seat opposite him.

One very noticeable change that had occurred after my arrival in this world was that the duke no longer ignored me. This meant my default reaction was no longer falling on my knees and begging for forgiveness whenever we met. I didn’t hesitate to go to the sofa and take a seat as the older man ground the cigar he’d been smoking into a nearby ashtray to put it out.

“Some tea?”

“Yes, please.”

The duke rang a bell, and it wasn’t long before a maid arrived with refreshments including some tea that emitted soft, lazy trails of steam.

“That is all. You may leave now,” the duke said.

The maid, who’d been poised to fill two teacups from the kettle, bowed politely and left. An uncomfortable silence settled over the office once more.

Come to think of it, this is my first time having tea with any of the characters of this world. I’d always had a very clear objective when I’d visited this office previously: Beg for forgiveness, ensure my survival, and get out as soon as possible. But despite how desperate and scared I often felt in this game world, nobody had ever really given me the time of day. Now that people were finally treating me better I felt relieved, but it also left a bitter taste in my mouth. As I mused on my awful circumstances, the owner of the manor poured some tea.

“Thank you...” I mumbled but didn’t take the cup.

The duke took a sip of the fragrant peppermint tea and savored the taste a moment before speaking. “Penelope.”

“Yes, Father.”

“I hear there was an incident at the training grounds.”

The mess with the knights was the reason he’d wanted to see me, as I’d expected. Perhaps I should’ve been relieved that this wasn’t about my fight with Reynold.

“Yes... I had a confrontation with the knights. I apologize,” I said, nodding docilely and asking for forgiveness, following the now long familiar pattern.

The duke’s cup clinked loudly as he placed it down, eyes glinting. “Explain to me what happened.”

“It no doubt happened exactly as you heard it,” I said, not wanting to waste my breath describing small details when they didn’t concern my survival.

The duke’s eyebrows twitched, however, indicating he was displeased with my answer. “How do you know what I heard?”

“They probably told you that I came to the training grounds without warning and instructed Eckles to choke one of the knights,” I said carelessly.

It was obvious to me they had left out any mention of their own misbehavior when describing what had happened to the duke. Why wouldn’t they? I might have been adopted, but they wouldn’t dare confess to the duke that they’d been caught badmouthing me.

“If you called me here to confirm if it’s true, I’m afraid it is,” I said confidently, maintaining eye contact with the duke. “If you wish to confine me to my room for failing to behave in the manner of a dignified lady, I’ll accept that judgment. I’ll also abstain from attending the hunting tournament.”

I didn’t admit to doing anything wrong like I usually did, since I had no regrets for the way I’d acted and honestly didn’t believe I’d done anything wrong. Instead of apologizing, I was subtly revealing my future intentions. If it’s possible, I want to avoid going to the hunting tournament.

Having decided for certain that Eckles was my choice, I would follow the example set by the female protagonist in normal mode and not attend the hunting tournament. Instead, I’d focus on my knight’s affection score. Thanks to the unpleasant circumstances of our family lunch, it hadn’t occurred to me when we’d discussed it, but all self-respecting noblemen took part in the hunting tournament. Which meant all my potential love interests would be there—with the exception of Eckles, who was denied entry because of his slave status.

No matter how careful I was, entering the forest for the hunt was much too dangerous. That situation is perfect for getting myself murdered, no one the wiser. And because it was being held by the palace, there was a good chance I’d end up meeting the crown prince again. I’d sparked his curiosity enough to warrant a special invitation. If I went, even just to spectate, and happened to catch his interest after I’d only barely managed to escape from him...

No! I shuddered internally.

“However, I don’t think I actually did anything wrong, Father!”

Silence swept through the office like a cold breeze. The duke’s voice was cold and low when he replied. “You nearly murdered a knight charged with protecting our house. And yet you say you did nothing wrong?”

“Yes,” I replied without hesitation.

The duke exhaled. “All right. Why was it that you ordered your slave to attack him?”

Why is he being so persistent about this? I wondered. The duke trusted the knights deeply and held them in great esteem. Slighting a knight of Eckhart was akin to slighting the house itself. I was fully expecting to be punished since I’d nearly had one of them choked to death. I thought he’d be livid if I insisted I’d done nothing wrong. Since I was counting on him confining me to my room, his reaction was puzzling to me.

“But surely you find your knights more trustworthy than I?”

“Penelope Eckhart,” the duke warned sharply. “I am asking you why you behaved in this manner as a member of the House of Eckhart. Consider your next words carefully.”

“...”

“You aren’t going to tell me that you had no special reason to visit the training grounds? You were just bored, is that it? You’ve never bothered with going down there before.”

I understood why the duke was so suspicious. After all, even a crazy villain like Penelope wouldn’t pick a fight at random with the knights while they were in the middle of training.

“And before you went out, you interrogated the butler regarding how your slave was being treated.”

“W-well...” My head shot up in surprise. I almost asked how he knew, but I caught myself just in time. The butler had been the one I’d had that conversation with so of course he’d informed the duke.

Ugh, that old bigmouth... The butler was to blame for making this a bigger deal than it had to be.

Seeing my hesitation, the duke struck, “Do you have anything you wish to tell me now?”

“It’s all my fault, Father. I was just walking by the training grounds on a whim. I didn’t like the way they greeted me, and one thing led to another...”

“The knights said the whole thing was related to your slave being punished.”

“...”

“If you refuse to tell me the truth, I’ll have him demoted from apprentice knight for disrupting the peace on the grounds!”

The duke’s rising anger depressed me. He clearly didn’t believe I’d visited the knights on an impulse and had somehow guessed that there was a reason for my being there.

“Tell me everything that happened that day, or I’ll hold your slave responsible for the entire incident.”

Since it had come to threatening Eckles, I had no choice but to confess. “I wanted to leave the grounds, so... I went to the training grounds to collect my personal knight.”

“...”

“There was a knight, Mark I believe his name was, who was punishing Eckles excessively for an absurd reason—because he broke his wooden sword.”

I knew it sounded like a childish complaint. The duke seemed to agree, his face falling into a fierce scowl. Assuming that was all there was to it, he shouted, “It is common for knights to be punished severely by their superiors. It’s standard military discipline. Surely you’re old enough to know that by now.”

“The knight insulted me, Eckles’ mistress.”

“Wh-what?” The duke froze, eyes wide, mouth open to continue scolding me. Of course, the knights had left this part out when sharing their version of events.

“My knight got angry and snapped back, so Mark rallied the others and tried to beat him.”

“...”

“I ordered Eckles to duel the man who dared slight me.”

I’d actually told Eckles to kill him, but that was semantics. I wasn’t stupid enough to admit as such in front of the duke. The duke was silent for a long moment, and I stared at my cup still sitting untouched on the table. The formerly steaming tea had quickly gone cold.

Neither I nor the duke moved to pour a fresh serving. I’m tired of this. The thought suddenly occurred to me, as I threw a sidelong glance at where the duke sat rigidly. How many times would this situation repeat itself before I could finally escape this world?

“The knight...” said the duke after what felt like an eternity, his voice subdued. “The knights. What did they say about you?”

“That I was a fake, and that I would be abandoned.”

“...”

“They told Eckles that he had no idea my days are numbered and I’m unable to support him in any way.”

I recited what they’d said without exaggeration. I didn’t feel the need to exact revenge on the knights for intentionally omitting their own wrong-doing—I just wanted the duke to pay my affairs no further attention. What I wasn’t expecting, however, was the way his face slowly contorted with emotion.

“Why did you not come to me or Derrick right away?” he demanded, breathing slowly as if trying to remain calm.

The Penelope of old would have run to the duke’s office right away, screaming that the knights had snubbed her. I thought for a moment, then decided to just tell the truth.

“I punished the knight, Mark, right away. After that, I didn’t think it was worth any further thought.”

“Not worth any further thought?” hollered the duke.