The shining Emerald among shattered Sapphires.

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/38394904.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: Gen
Fandom: 악역의 엔딩은 죽음뿐 - 권겨을 | Death Is The Only Ending For The
Villain - Kwon Gyeoeul
Character: Penelope Eckart, Duke Eckart, Derrick Eckart, Reynold Eckart, Callisto
Regulus, Callisto is only mentioned!!, OG Penelope Eckhart, Yvonne
Eckart, mentioned - Character
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Timeline What Timeline, Canon Universe, Canon
Era, Canon Related, Dysfunctional Family, Family Issues, Family
Dynamics, Family, Adopted Children, Nobility, Regret, Heavy Angst,
Angst and Feels, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt, Talking, Implied/Referenced
Child Abuse, Past Abuse, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Verbal
Abuse, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Bullying, Adopted Sibling
Relationship, Childhood Memories, Memories, Memory Related,
Abandonment, Rain, Character Study
Language: English
Collections: I promise to reread you ❤️
Stats: Published: 2022-04-26 Completed: 2022-10-20 Chapters: 6/6 Words:
12000

The shining Emerald among shattered Sapphires.

by AliceHatter

Summary

Penelope will never look back again, for regrets were not something she should hold onto
anymore.

It should be them and them alone who regret.

 The Eckharts.
Chapter Notes

My first ever fic in this fandom on ao3!! *sighs dramatically* Welcome to angst-
heaven~! (or so I say, prove me wrong lmao)

CW: there is a slight mention of Derrick having cough feelings cough for Penelope
that are more than what they should be as siblings, please be aware that I DO NOT
ship them, it is a canon detail! Thank you! You can go read this now if you're ok with
seeing that!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The duke stares in silence at Penelope who tosses her hair back with a flick of her wrist and the two
brothers have only just begun to say, "Penelope-!" and without giving a single glance back, walks
right out the door.

The mansion is quiet, save for the birds outside the window as rain begins to pour down the glass.
The duke's hand trembles on the desk as he brings it up to his forehead, leaning on it as his
shoulders begin to shake.

What did she mean by saying she wasn't Penelope? To never appear in front of her again? Was she
so angry at their actions that she's decided to go on leave? That she wasn't...

The duke was mindlessly flipping through Penelope's actions from the day he brought her to the
Eckhart mansion and the day she suddenly said she repented for her ways.

She had been different since then, he admitted to himself. He had just pretended that it was because
she was making a turn for the better at last, that she was finally becoming a lady worthy of the
Eckhart name.

But to think it was a different person altogether?

Then...when she said she wasn't Penelope, but her body was of course the original then...the duke
swallowed hard.

Penelope, the Penelope he had brought home and cared for under his roof for so many years, was
gone.

Whether she had died without him realizing or whether she had decided to go into a deep sleep
forever, all that he knew was the Penelope who had walked away from them today, was not the
Penelope he knew.

And now that she had declared that she didn't want to see any of them for the rest of her life? It
could only mean that she obviously held the memories of Penelope, engrained into her bones,
never to trust them again.

The duke rushes to his feet and dashes out the door, and all he can think about was how sorry he
was for not doing the utmost he could do. Not as a noble. Not as Duke Eckhart.
But as a father.

The duke stumbles out into the pouring rain and just manages to catch Penelope getting into her
carriage and she looks down at him with the green eyes he once mistook for blue, her vibrant pink
hair that once was a lighter shade than now.

She was never Yvonne... and never filled in as Yvonne's replacement.

But he realized this too late, and when Penelope had been suffering from the outside world's dark
gazes and snake-like words, he had thought she would get over it like she always did. Because she
was Penelope.

He looks up at the girl who wasn't Penelope and desperately asks, "Please, please wait a moment!"
He doesn't know what he could accomplish from doing this act and the soldiers escorting her seem
to gauge her reaction to him before telling him to move aside.

That the young lady was going to the Imperial Palace. That the venerable crown prince was
waiting for his crown princess.

So the duke could only let his hands be ripped from the side of the carriage, watching Penelope
turn her head away from him, and he's reminded by all the times he's done the same reaction when
she asked him if she had done a good job on her homework.

When she had asked if she could call him father. When she asked for anything.

The rain soaks into his jacket and his hair covers his vision as the sound of the wheels fades into
the distance and no one could tell whether the duke had rain on his face or if it was tears.

She had learned from him it seemed.

He wished...wished they could have been a better family together. Wished he had given her
comfort in her times of pain, excitement in her times of growth, encouragement in her new steps
into the new, foreign world she had stepped into.

He could give her wealth that would be enough to fill carriages. Could give her the true backing
and power of the Eckhart name. Could give her the blue diamond his blood-related children had so
it would shine on her neck.

What would that do now though?

But all he had given her was pain and insurmountable loneliness for over a decade, and nothing he
could say or do now could ever remake those memories into something of happiness. He had
brought this upon himself.

And now?

He would have to endure it, all by himself.

Just as she had.

The two brothers standing off to the side in the study seemed to have come to the same conclusion
as he and Reynold stumble in place, Reynold holding a shaking hand to his mouth in an attempt to
stop the yell from leaking out.

He couldn't run after her. What could he do? Forcibly bring her back to the place that was nothing
but a hellscape for her?

A place filled with rotten memories and years of loneliness, suffocated by her very surroundings
and the people that had taken her in, only to hate her without giving her a single word of affection
towards her efforts?

Reynold...everyone knew that Penelope had tried to fit in during the very beginning.

Wanting to repay the ducal family with perfect etiquette, noble mannerisms, and high grades from
her studies. But they all turned a blind eye to those achievements because she wasn't Yvonne.

That she didn't have their blood running through her veins. That she would always be a filthy
commoner to them.

They didn't think about how she would feel being brought into this huge house to be spit on by the
people who brought her here, how she would have been confused and hurt because she was just a
young child who didn't know why they hated her so much.

But then, she would keep on growing. As the years went by, Penelope adapts to the huge house
that held nothing but malice for her.

Adapted to the life of a duke's daughter and no one could tell that she was a commoner turned
nobility with her manner and speech.

She had perfected it all while they weren't looking. Just because they didn't care didn't mean she
had slacked off during those years, oh no.

She had made herself into the most perfect lady, bedecked in lavish gowns and accessories, for
material possessions became her love and pride and only source of joy.

So what point was it to keep trying to gain their affections when there were none to gain in the first
place? Only when she tossed wine onto another lady at a party or spent money like it was water did
they turn on Penelope to scream at her.

How disappointed, how reckless, how...how annoying it was for them to keep hearing about the
black stain on their family.

Reynold crumbles to the ground as their father leaves and he rubs at his knees like he was asking
for forgiveness. He couldn't give any of that to her now.

He should have defended her more when situations arose, but he only opened his mouth when he
wanted to when he should have stood by her side no matter what. She was his sister. She was his
family.

But he hadn't been able to accept that, nor admit such a fact to himself until now. When there was
no chance of hope. Only loss.

Just as she felt.

Derrick, stoic face and all, gazed off into the distance and mumbles something too low to hear, but
it was only his mind that wants to tear the world apart so he can bring her back to him.

He knew for a while now that he had looked at her differently than the other women that
frequently tried to grab his attention. Just by standing in his vision did his eyes naturally go to
follow her bright hair, her sharp eyes, her figure that he wanted to enclose in his arms.
 He grips the desk and feels his stomach roil in protest as he thinks back to when Penelope had
begun to change. How he watched her, thinking he could finally ask his father for permission for
her hand because she was finally acting like a lady of her last name.

But he doesn't think about how he had glared at her in disgust when she first came to the house.
How he talked with his brother about how they had to live together with a commoner under their
roof.

How their father was clearly making a mistake, that they should keep searching for Yvonne so they
could kick out the fake.

They only wanted to live a happy family with their real sister, the one who they remembered was
soft at heart and had soft cotton candy pink hair and kind laughter.

But they were encased in rage at Penelope. Always at Penelope.

They both remember how they harassed her for living and breathing. How they said she would
never be Yvonne. That she could never be even as half as good as Yvonne was as their sister.

How they thought that she should just go...die.

Regret engulfed the Eckhart Duchy that day and many years after that. Even after the wedding of
the newly crowned Emperor and Empress, for they had no invitation to speak of.

They could only continue to regret and regret and regret their painful words and actions until the
day they died. Alone. Wallowing in a sadness that could never be forgotten in their hearts.

Just as Penelope Eckhart had.

Chapter End Notes

I can hear the screaming already, "Why is your first fic for this fandom just angst!!!?"
cause uh Derrick and the Duke need some waking up to do, and I decided to stone
them to death. Reynold....is not as bad but still.

Anyways!! Thanks so much for giving this fic a chance, hope it was worth your
while~! ^^
 Duke Eckhart
Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Duke Eckhart held the family name with the grip of ten suns, and he wielded it like the blade of a
knight.

When he made the choice to bring Penelope into the household and give her the last name,
Eckhart, he had begun the cycle he didn't know existed.

But it did.

And when Penelope sobbed quietly in a darkened room, the duke ignored her for all the time to
come.

He remembers when she first brought him her papers from the tutors he had brought for her, how
they weren't so low that they were bad, but he thinks, at that moment, they could have been better.

They should have been perfect as a duke's daughter.

Most nobles who adopt are adopting their siblings' children, or maybe adopting their son or
daughter's future partner. Whatever the matter, it's usually nobles adopting nobles of notable
bloodline, ones that could be traced back generations.

But commoners? They were rare adopters within noble society who chose exceptionally intelligent
commoners to be adopted into their household but it was usually to invest in their futures.

If they could see they had the possibility of becoming a great scholar or a professor, something of
worth that would make their family name rise in the ranks, they would be happy for it, but they
would still have a child or more from the legitimate line, those pure of blood.

Like Penelope. Had Derrick and Reynold not been born and Yvonne his only child, what surety
could he have had in adopting Penelope who was but a street urchin?

Would he have left the house to ruins and searched for Yvonne more desperately with all his
wealth to help him in the search?

Would he have married someone else in order to have another child? Would he have... whatever he
would have done, adopting a commoner would have been low on his list.

But he doesn't think of how Penelope, with no formal studies under her belt nor the freedom or
money to buy books whenever she wished to read or paper whenever she wished to write, had just
begun a noble's education.

He doesn't think of how impressive it is for a commoner with no educational background to have
improved in such a short amount of time, or about the natural talent, she must have had to do so
well for her age.

He only compares her to his sons and his real daughter, Yvonne, and how they did- how Yvonne
would have done- at her age. He doesn't think too much about the crestfallen face Penelope wears
when he tears the papers in front of her, "What are you so proud of?"
That had repeated just one more time before he turned away from her, like he always did, and spat
out, "Just don't appear in front of me with things as imperfect as these. In fact, don't appear in front
of me unless I say so."

But if it was now...he would have hugged her close and patted her head with a sincere smile from
his heart because he was so very proud of her.

She never brings him her papers again.

The years pass by and he still gets monthly reports on her growth, but rather than growth it was
more that she was losing sight of her place in the Eckhart household.

She was using money like it was nothing, waving around the blue diamond around her neck with
gloating pride.

But was it truly pride, or did that flaunting grin hide a haunted face of woe? For
everything that she had lost and nothing she had gained. It was only in name not in
heart.

How dare she? Did she think those assets were hers to covet, to swing around like a shining axe,
the handle, the Eckhart name and the blade, the wealth and power of the house?

But he doesn't think of how she is really his daughter, bringing her in and giving her the Eckhart
name, she was not of his blood, yes, but she was his daughter, and he should have respected that
face, at least just a little.

Outside during banquets and balls and hunting parties, he's reported to by a guard every so often
that Penelope was being ignored or made fun of by the other noble daughters.

Orphan.

Adoptee.

...Commoner.

Duke Eckhart tells the guards to stop reporting useless things and to tell him when there's a real
emergency. He turns back to the other nobles and smiles a rather business smile, continuing to chat
about the recent political advancements the crown prince had made.

A month after she had changed overnight, he saw her walking dazedly to the carriage and it set off
in a hurry like she was impatient.

He had frowned, thinking it was uncharacteristic of her, having changed so drastically, was she
about to go back to her old ways because keeping up such an appearance was too tiring?

He sends a few knights, perhaps somewhere in his mind he was thinking, it was to protect her, he
would have said so, had it been a public appearance in the presence of other nobles trying to smear
mud on the Eckhart name.

However, when he lays down his order, it comes out as quite the opposite.

"Monitor where she goes, who she meets with, which stores she stops by, the amount of money she
uses, everything is to be reported to me. Stay out of sight. Understood?"

The knights salute before trooping out after her disappearing carriage, and hours later, they return a
few minutes after Penelope does.

But when Penelope exits the carriage and stumbles her way to the main entrance, the driver doesn't
unpack dozens of packages or even a single package.

The driver simply drives the horse back to the stables, and the door closes behind an unsteady
Penelope. She hadn't bought anything? Impossible for someone of her personality.

When the knights file into the duke's room, they somewhat hesitate to report most of the things
they saw, but everything was odd, peculiar even.

"The young lady didn't meet anyone along the way, not even when she was in front of the stores-"

The duke raises a hand at that sentence, a grimace overtaking his face. "In front of, you say? You
didn't mistake it for her leaving them?"

"Yes, your grace. The young lady only stepped off the carriage to peer into the windows and
waved off shop owners when they came out to greet her after seeing the Eckhart emblem on the
carriage. She never bought anything."

It was strange. That Penelope didn't buy anything of monetary value? Did she only window-shop
the entire day?

The duke waved his hand. "Continue."

"The young lady also stopped by a flower shop and got to the point where she held a few stems in
her hand before putting them back when the owner approached her. She also made the driver circle
the busy shopping district a few times before coming back to the mansion."

At the end of the surprisingly monotonous report, the Duke tells the knights they've done well and
to rest before he turns back to the window, his hand bracing against the cold glass.

He hadn't moved from his place behind the window when he had seen Penelope stumbling over her
shoes as she made her way to the entrance. Even as she waited at the door for a short period of time
so someone could open it, he didn't go out of his office to sneak a peek.

To see if she was alright. To ask why- no.

He shouldn't use such phrasing. It should just start and end with, "I'm worried for you." and
nothing more. The duke listens for any signs of the maids screaming out because of Penelope's
nefarious deeds.

The mansion was quiet. Too quiet.

It had always been filled with the sounds of Penelope running about, screaming of how she had
been framed, had been looked down upon at a party or other, had pleaded for the duke to look into
it all. But...he hadn't.

He never had.

He'd always just assumed she was the cause, she was the reason everyone avoided her and said
terrible things to her face but how dare they do that to a duke's daughter?
He calls the children down for dinner that night. He was still the head of the household, they had to
abide by his rules while under his roof so they had best do as he ordered.

He doesn't wait, instead, telling the staff to set the table while he wrote up some last-minute
documents before heading down.

He raises his head as he goes down the steps, turning the corner as the doors to the dining room are
opened for him and he finds Penelope sitting furthest down on one side and Derrick and Reynold
on the other side nearest to his chair.

He thinks it odd, knowing Penelope always vyed for the seat nearest to him, seeing her so far away
made him pause on his way to his chair and he coughs into his hand. "..."

Penelope doesn't move up like he wanted her to, instead, pulling out her chair and standing as she
hears him cough, giving him a formal curtsy.

His insides roil uncomfortably as he looks at the child that never bowed her head to anyone, and at
his side, his fist clenches.

"Penelope, you may sit further up the table like your brothers."

Penelope rises from the curtsy and her reply is slower than usual, her tone calm and quiet. "I
am...satisfied with my seat here, Duke Eckhart."

The room's atmosphere chills at her formal address instead of the usual, "Father" she pressed onto
him.

He hadn't liked her saying that but had accepted it under certain circumstances like when they were
outside as a family, but not hearing her say it made his chest... tight.

Why was she so different?

He doesn't pay it too deep a thought, instead, diving into noble society bragging about his "only"
daughter who had suddenly become much more polite and demure, giving him gifts and such
instead of spending money on herself.

He should have realized back then. He should have realized.

But it's only when he's staring at the carriage rolling away into the foggy distance, rain making his
vision blurrier as he desperately blinks to keep her last image in the back of his mind.

Pebbles digging into the heels of his feet with how he had ran to catch up with her, rain soaking
into his clothes and clinging to his skin like rags as he watched his breath cloud the space in front
of him as he exhaled.

It took every noble bit of him not to keel over onto the pavement for ironically, none of his actions
had ever truly been noble in front of her. Always selfish. Undeserving. Relentlessly avoidant.

...Regretful.

Penelope Eckhart was gone. And with her? The Eckhart name.

She had thrown it away without abandon for a far nobler last name would take its place for the rest
of life's passing.
 For only Penelope Regulus was here to stay, having made Eckhart pay.

Chapter End Notes

Happy ch 2!! I'm so grateful for all the love ch 1's gotten!!! Hope you've enjoyed this
chapter too!! <333
 Derrick.
Chapter Notes

CW: Derrick is mentioned quite often to have feelings for Penelope in this
chapter!!!! Again, this is canon and I, in no way, ship them!!

Thank you!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Derrick remembers when he first witnessed the coming of a young girl named: Penelope.

A name that meant, "the weaver." Interesting, seeing as how she looked nothing like her namesake
from the old tales.

And she also didn't look anything like Yvonne, one whose name meant, "the archer."

Where "the weaver's" hair was long and wavy whereas Yvonne's was straight.

Her hair was a dark pink compared to Yvonne's light shade and her eyes seemed to be a faint blue
that was faintly similar to their eyes, but with time, they grew green like emeralds sparkling in the
night.

Yvonne was the perfect epitome of the Eckhart name, with the straight hair and bright blue eyes
that came with such a title as Duke Eckhart's legitimate daughter.

But Penelope was loud, and annoying when she grew older, but her appearance...was outstanding.

No one could possibly retort that she was not of a noble bloodline with looks like hers, but
everyone knew of her adopted status, and with that label, she immediately became the lesser to
everyone that surrounded her.

Especially the people that worked for the Eckhart family.

When he watched the maids torment her with things like giving her rotten food slid under the slim
opening under the door instead of knocking and giving it to her on a silver platter, or locking her in
the attic and tittering afterward.

"Oh, it was just an accident! Know your place, you lowly adoptee!"

"You're not even part of the Eckhart bloodline!"

"Are you trying to be the young lady's replacement!? You can never be her! You're not worthy!"

"How could the duke, our wise master bring something like you into the prestigious Eckhart
family registry when you weren't even a noble in the first place?!"

"I would have understood it if you maybe looked like her, but you don't! So what exactly are you
still doing here besides wasting valuable space and air!?"
How they laughed as they tripped her when going down the stairs.

Or ripped up her dresses so the only choice she had was to wear old-fashioned dresses that were
years out of style and hide in her room all alone and tired of the systematic abuse that went on and
on and on.

She bore the wrath of servants and "family" alike just for living under the roof of the name of Duke
Eckhart.

It's only when she's grown older that she starts to talk back.

And that was when Derrick thinks none of that fits a beauty like Penelope.

She should be able to hold jewels in both hands and sparkle under the lights because then, no one
would dare to undermine her as the next...

Derrick pauses in his steps and he rubs his bottom lip with his thumb as he contemplates.

Yes.

As the next Duchess Eckhart.

He was busy with heir studies, so he barely gave her the time of day, only walking past her in the
halls sometimes where she used to call out, "Older brother Derrick, good day."

But even those greetings grew less and less until one day, they disappeared altogether.

Derrick remembers the boisterous Penelope suddenly growing quiet. Too quiet.

He thinks, she's finally learning that she can't act that way anymore. What he doesn't remember is
the way she used to act when she first came to their house.

If she had been cared for and treated properly, wouldn't she have grown into a beautifully kind-
hearted lady that was the envy of everyone?

She still could be the envy of everyone, but of a lesser degree now, with the black-hearted deeds of
hers that circled society's ears every so often, for nobility used sidling insults that poked at
weakness rather than crass vulgarity.

Even with the Eckhart name, it was hard to kill those rumors.

Especially since their household wasn't putting in much effort or manpower to do so.

Why should they, when she squandered away money and didn't do much of anything but go out
and shop before coming back to eat and sleep?

He doesn't think of it as her spoiling herself when no one else bothered to do much affection giving
in her earliest years and the years after that.

He remembers when she was accused of stealing and she had screamed and pleaded for them to
believe her.

They did not.

Her eyes had spilled over with tears and she eventually got up from the floor, nails, broken from
where she had raked them across the wooden floorboards.
She grew quieter when she saw their annoyed expressions and the hem of her dress swept the floor
as she fled the gloomy room, the carriage leaving the duchy.

She doesn't come back until nightfall and the servants groan under the weight of the many boxes
she had bought as they struggle to carry them all into the house, up the stairs to her room.

As if she was showing off the wealth that she had- that was given to her.

As if proclaiming to the world, why would she steal- when she could go and buy as much as she
wished without a worry in the world?

She's calmer these days.

Doesn't go out too much, not even to the parties that dare to invite her, knowing of her terrible
attitude. She's stopped stringing jewels over every spare inch of bare skin and now she's more
elegant.

Like a true noble.

But what was a true noble when some nobles were dragged to the dungeons for human trafficking?
Or committing adultery on the daily?

Or having nothing better to do than jump into gambling pits slack-jawed just to get their limbs
hacked off because they had no money or property to pay off the debts they've already racked up?

Penelope...Penelope Eckhart was adopted because their father had seen her in passing on the street,
thought she looked like Yvonne and had offered her a home.

Because of that, Penelope with no surname was adopted into one of the most wealthy and
prestigious noble families in the empire.

Luck.

But was it that same luck that gave that Penelope a way out of the hellhole she had been pushed
into a long time ago?

Enough so that she was able to free herself of the chains that wrapped around her and tied her to the
Eckhart name?

To the point where Penelope was no longer Penelope but was a different person altogether?

What did he wish for from her? To be thrown away from the Eckhart ducal family and be adopted
by a different noble family to get ready for their future engagement?

Did he want her to cling to him with teary eyes and call him, "Derrick?"

Hope for her to whine for him to bring down punishment against those who dared to be rude to
her?

Did he want her to snatch her hand away from his grasp and glare at him with furious eyes as she
snapped at his inaction?

Did he want her to be meek and humble, bowing her head to show off the nape of her thin neck?

The Penelope Eckhart now was none of those things.

She was a gracious deer at some points, holding her head up high and even when curtsying, her
head's angle is at the bare minimum just as someone of her rank should.

Other times, she's as stealthy as a wolf, keeping her fangs hidden until they're close enough for the
kill.

He doesn't know whether to be pleased or to be shaken at the change she's brought upon the
Eckhart duchy, and he keeps watch over her, just to see how far she would go in this new facade of
hers.

It was an act...right?

When he realizes it wasn't an act, it's already too late. She had already left the Eckhart mansion,
family, and name behind without so much as a glance behind her or a word.

He grits his teeth as he stares out the window, the glass showing small cracks under his fist from
where he had struck it with an untamable fury because she...she was no Eckhart of theirs.

Certainly not of his.

Just like when he had said that he would temporarily take away the Eckhart name from her, how
her eyes had looked empty as they stared not at his face but somewhere above him- as if she could
not bear to look straight at him.

So why did it all hurt so much? Almost too much to bear?

He's crumbling apart, burning alive and yet she never turns to look at him because he finally sees
what he had been missing all this time. She would never look at him the way he wished for her to.

She would never forgive him for all the loneliness he had pressed down upon her, all the hate and
misfortune he had her hold to her chest from such a young age.

She who should have lived the way children her age should have- never was able to in the end.

And the fact that he would not be the one to give her true happiness by being by her side made him
twist his fingers into his cravat and wrestle it off his throat, tears wetting the dark fabric with the
green brooch in the middle.

Once, he had worn the blue diamond of his pride and effort, the Eckhart symbol in the middle, on
his chest, his lapel, his cufflinks, everywhere- blue. Like the Eckhart signature trait. Their sapphire
eyes.

Their vanity, yes. It was true.

But one day...he had selected green gems to decorate himself, an unconscious choice on his part.

Everything that sparkled to him was green. Like her eyes.

Now he would never see those same eyes from up close ever again. He had wasted all that time and
he was disgusted with how selfish he continued to be. Still wanting to whisk her away, to chain her
up where no one would ever find her.

Goodbye, Penelope Eck-...no. His grimace makes faint lines appear on his forehead as if he had
aged in the short time he had begun to think all of this through. The gears were still turning.

Goodbye, Penelope.
 The gem clutched in his hand as the sharp edges cut into his flesh, blood dribbling down his front
as he holds it to his chest, hunching in on himself like he was protecting someone from being hurt.

He had done the opposite of that for many long years when he shouldn't have.

He had been cruel. Obnoxious. Painfully quiet. Had avoided her at all costs. Blamed her at every,
single, goddamn corner. He was Derrick Eckhart, heir to the Eckhart duchy.

He has it all, people chatter around him with fluttering eyelashes and pouty lips, glasses clinking
against each other with every stiff handshake against gloves of inferior material with the glint of
gold teeth shining against monocles.

Derrick Eckhart had it all, yet he has nothing.

Nothing at all.

..But Penelope Regulus finally has everything. Everything she's ever wanted. It is a bright twist of
fate, indeed.

Chapter End Notes

Thanks for coming to see chapter 3!!! How has it already gotten up to here?! Anyways,
much love to y'all~! <333

Hope you enjoyed ch 3!!! ^^

 Reynold
Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Reynold Eckhart hated Penelope.

He teased and bullied her relentlessly under the supervision of his older brother, both remembering
Yvonne and not being happy about having another sister- since that sister was a fake. How could
their father do this to them?

They didn't need a replacement for Yvonne. All they had to do was go out and look for her! They
could find her if they poured in more resources and cavalry, who would dare underestimate the
power and might of the wealthy Eckharts?

With such specific Eckhart family traits of light blue eyes and soft cotton candy pink hair, it was
only a matter of time before they found her.

But his father seemed to be absent more often and Reynold felt uneasy for weeks before the
inevitable happened.

Penelope came into the Eckhart household, clutching the sides of a newly bought dress that both fit
her perfectly, yet did not at the same time.

Her eyes wandered around the wide foyer, and when she saw Reynold, perhaps she felt a
connection by seeing the pink hair he sported and she gave a weak smile.

He returns her smile with a dark scowl that makes her smile drop off her face and she lowers her
head, staring at the ground as he turns away and runs up the staircase in a huff. Not even adopting
a lower-tier noble child but a commoner urchin off the streets?

Even if it had been the noble child instead, he would have hated it all the same, for it meant the
family that sold its child was trying to gain some ground with the prestigious ducal family.

Would think they're of the same standing. How infuriating.

But one thing was clear. Father had clearly lost his mind when they lost Yvonne.

Yvonne.

They had to find her- fast.

So they could chase the fake away from here. They had to.

Reynold Eckhart disliked Penelope.

He hated having to sit near her at the dining table when she first came to their house. How she
didn't have any of the same elegance or mannerisms that high nobility often hung over the heads of
lower ranked ones.

How the scent of money dripped off their clothes, their jewelry, even a single wave of their hand to
dismiss a servant, but something never felt right with that girl named Penelope. She was never one
of them.
And she realized that very soon after coming into their house.

She had tried to make herself at home, their father being somewhat welcoming with how he
dropped so much money on her for new clothes and tutors, but he never deigned to check on her
much.

He found that quite pleasing, knowing that their father abandoned her after bringing her here. But
why did he keep her as an Eckhart? Was it really so important to have a daughter in the Eckhart
family?

So important that they needed a fake until they found Yvonne?

It didn't make sense. His eyes tracked her as she avoided his gaze and slipped away to the staircase,
speedily making her way to her room.

This adoption, the way she looked somewhat similar to the Eckharts in her coloring, nothing made
sense.

Absolutely nothing.

He knew she was a low-born when she was caught stealing his sister's necklace from the third floor
that day. Their most trusted butler had given his witness statement, how could they not believe
him?

Of course, they would believe him over her, a street urchin who was given everything in the span
of a day- and even after she was caught stealing, their father had even told the servants to call for
jewelers to come to their house.

Why didn't their father punish her for her misdeeds? Why did he reward her instead?

He stalked towards her small figure and shoved her out of the way with his shoulder, "That's why
you should have left this house when we spoke nicely to you."

He sneered as he passed by, hearing his brother say something else but walks off quickly with his
nose in the air.

He felt a bit better that she was going to be left alone in the house with no one to care for her. His
smile soon drops though.

If only she would leave already. What was she still doing here anyways?

He shrugged away the fact that he was the one who placed the necklace in her room to frame her.
What did it matter when it didn't get rid of her, his main objective in the first place? He would try
again.

It was all for Yvonne. So he said.

He didn't realize how much he had disliked her until he found himself dropping cockroaches under
her door and hearing faint screams to his muffled guffaws, passing maids not even bothering to
hide their laughter.

He laughs aloud, bright and cheery as the door bursts open and she runs away screaming, tears
running down her face and he thinks it's because of him. He's gleeful at the thought, letting it
permeate through his being as he skips away.
But when he finds her sinking to the bottom of one of their deeper fountains, he doesn't think of
kicking off his shoes before jumping in- grabbing her by the scruff of her neck and dragging her up
and out, spitting out water.

He shouted in the same tone he always did, but with a bit of waver that he hopes can be hidden
with his anger.

"Die somewhere else, you trash!"

Reynold didn't want to save Penelope. He really didn't. He just thought it would be bad for her
body to float up to the surface where he would have to see it, and then have to explain what
happened to his father.

But he does think that his father and brother both wouldn't care what happened, as long as it
happened outside of their household's jurisdiction. Somewhere where they wouldn't have to
physically see her die.

He thinks that would be enough.

Reynold didn't learn of the harassment and its extent until after Penelope had left, and he thinks of
all the accusations he had hurled at her face, watching her expression become withdrawn, and how
he had told her to go die somewhere else.

The moldy food. The child utensils. The needle marks on her arms. The bruises. Her too-small
shoes.

He had been a little kid back then but it didn't excuse his foul words. How could he have said
something so cruel?

Reynold Eckhart didn't know what to think of Penelope.

When he thought of what she had gone through from such a young age, losing her mother and
being transported to a noble's world and mansion with strangers that hated whatever she did, if it
had been him who had gone through that, he doesn't know if he would have been able to stay so
quiet.

He couldn't properly face her, turning away from those venomous eyes that glared at him as she
told him of how she lived on the streets before his father knelt before her and said, "You're my
daughter now."

How he had thought she had somehow made Duke Eckhart into a sniveling father before her and
took Yvonne's place as her own because she had wanted to get rid of his sister.

But he had been wrong. He was so, so very wrong.

She had been a commoner who had been gifted an armful of bounty that she had never before
experienced in her short twelve years of life and he, who had grown up with all the finest things as
a duke's child, had framed her- the penniless commoner who didn't even really know how to read.

Reynold Eckhart who hadn't turned his head to look at Penelope until she had disappeared...until
she was no longer the Penelope he knew and hated because of how she had stuck herself into their
family register when it wasn't even her choice to begin with.

Penelope, who had grown up on the streets.

Penelope, who had laughed mocking laughter at noble ladies whom she deemed lesser than her.

Penelope, who had asked countless times, why- why they didn't even try to trust her words over
someone else's.

That Penelope...had died.

Penelope who had practically grown up with them, the Penelope he had hated but thought he knew,
had disappeared. And out came a new Penelope in her place.

This Penelope who was unafraid to speak out and even gained something more important than
finding her place in the Eckhart family. Because that place meant nothing to her now.

And with all the threats, teasing, and torment she had faced and experienced at their hands over the
many years- it was no wonder she didn't look back.

She had gained a crown upon her head, a person who loved her dearly and would never let her face
such treatment ever again- he would do everything for her, more than they could ever do for her.

She was the Empress.

Empress Penelope Regulus.

With no hint of the Eckhart name, no letters, nothing to suggest that she would ever even give
them the chance to grovel at her feet beside the next time they would meet at an extravagant ball
where instead of her kneeling at their feet- they would do what they never would have imagined
when she first came to their home.

They, the proud, elegant, powerful Eckhart Ducal family members, would bow before the Empress
who is the highest ranking woman in the Empire.

They would no longer be able to yell at her behind closed doors or sneer at her, or send bugs
crawling under her doors, or allow servants to give her moldy food and old-fashioned clothes while
pocketing the money for themselves.

Penelope Regulus who had once been active in high society under the name of Penelope Eckhart
was a girl who had died once.

"Didn't you want this from the very beginning?"

Her lips curled up into a mocking smile. It was as if looking into a mirror that
reflected all of his ugly deeds.

He wished he could let the real Penelope know that Penelope Regulus had been able to gift her
name and body, a life that was revered above anyone else's. He wished he could tell that little girl
who had appeared in their house that day something different.

He wished he could tell Penelope Eckhart that he was...

"...sorry. I'm sorry, Penelope..."

He had said he would believe her. Because he was not like his brother, he was not like Derrick
Eckhart who made swift judgment to minimize the damage to the Eckhart name.

He believed her.
 But that wasn't going to be enough.

Even when she had turned to grace him with a beautiful smile framed by the sun instead of him, he
knew he couldn't cross the line she had drawn between them.

If only I had welcomed you that day and been a sibling you could lean on and trust. If only I wasn't
so judgemental and prejudiced.

If only I had tried to see your circumstances and emphasized with you, that you too, were also
having as hard a time as we were.

He unfolds the newspaper and looks at the photo of Penelope and the Emperor, and rubs his
forehead, eyes somewhat blurry as he blinks rapidly to clear his vision.

Clear drops fall onto the paper and the ink stains his skin as he furiously dabs at the paper with his
sleeve to save the photo.

Everything is too late.

Ruined beyond saving.

Reynold's shoulders slump, and he lays his head on his arms, casting the newspaper aside with a
thrash as the sun outside lowers itself gently into the lake as the quiet sound of sobbing fills the
room.

There was nothing left for them.

If only they could turn back time.

Back to when Penelope first took on the name: Eckhart.

Chapter End Notes

SEE i was gonna make this the last chapter but then I realized I wrote in Penelope's
pov into Reynold's chapter and I was like HELL NO that's UNFAIR TO MY PENNY
so I decided to make this work longer FGLHFKA SMH and I FINALLY READ AND
CAUGHT UP TO OG MANHWA I....was furious most of the time...also
anxious...terrible, anyways, hope you enjoyed this!!!!

<333
 Penelope.
Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

When Penelope saw Duke Eckhart for the first time, she was suspicious- having learned that from
years of living on the streets with her mother and watching nobles like him trample on kids like
her.

But she still took his hand.

She wanted to believe.

Penelope was always afraid.

Afraid that she might be thrown out onto the streets before the sun rose. Afraid that she would no
longer have the money to use as freely as she did.

Afraid that she would no longer have a father- would no longer have a family to name when asked
her origin.

Penelope Eckhart was always very frightened and lonely, so she crammed her surroundings with
precious jewels and gold coins, custom-made dresses, and only the best of everything that money
could buy.

Money would not lie. Could not lie.

Money was the only trustworthy thing in the world between the poor and the rich, the slums and
the capital.

Penelope could handle the sneers, the giggles, the barely hidden insults behind spread fans that
only showed the glaring eyes of nobles that thought of her as a thorn in their side.

She was supposed to be a rose. An Eckhart.

But she wasn't.

Had Yvonne Eckhart never disappeared, she would have never gotten this chance to be amongst
the shining jewels of high society, even if their bright lights were rotten inside and out.

So she had to...adapt.

Survive.

What if she had to go back to the time when she was stuck hoping for rain to fall near her, right
next to her mother's rotting corpse? Even if that was something Siyeon had made up- who knew if it
were true.

What if she had to beg on the streets again for stale bread or barely rotting food to stuff herself so
she could beg again the next day and the next and the next? That much was true, how else would a
pretty child survive?

What if she was callously stripped of everything they had given her and with her new looks that
were best described as a noble lady- would have to sell her body to earn her next meal? She hoped
this wouldn't be true, but she wouldn't be surprised if it was the only way.

"We've given you everything. Everything you could possibly desire. So why do you still leap
around like a mad dog?!"

They had given her everything. But they had also given her nothing.

Her attempts at trying not to get ignored and stepped on by the noble ladies had backfired in her
face. The Duke didn't care about her. The Duke only cared about the face of the Eckhart duchy. So
did Derrick.

Reynold...Reynold was simpler because he just didn't like her being in the house with him and
sharing his last name when she didn't have anything of her bloodline that he could possibly say
gave benefits to accepting her into the Eckhart register.

They didn't care that she was being abused by the maids and the lowly servants of the house.
Perhaps in their eyes, she was the same as them- even if she wore the finest of pearls and the most
expensive of clothes.

She only loved material things because they could at least give her some sort of comfort in the fact
that they existed. If she had been accepted into the Eckhart family with affection...she wouldn't
have clung to such replaceable things with that much fervor.

She wasn't really part of their household.

She understood that now. It took much too long for her to realize.

So she would disappear. Not for them.

...For herself.

She is eighteen when a new world opens up before her.

As Siyeon inhabits Penelope's body, choices are given to her- hearts floating above capture targets'
heads.

For the very first time, instead of in the game she desperately played for a good ending, and in a
reality where her brothers mentally abused her before saying, "Oh, I beat them up for you. You
don't have to worry anymore."

She wanted to scream that it was their fault it had happened in the first place. If they had just
accepted her, really accepted her into the family- then no one would have dared to look down at
her.

But even as Penelope Eckhart, her position in the household was precarious.

So she acted.

She acted for her damn life.

Reynold only took her side instead of the maid because of the Eckhart name. If she had chosen any
other choice, she would have been at the end of his sword- or fork.

"That low-born dared to look down on a member of the Eckhart Duchy! Be angry! It was better
when you threw things around instead of just accepting things the way they are!"

Different.

That facial expression was too different from any scene she had seen before.

She could make this work. She had to.

When she first heard the Duke call her, "My one and only daughter," she had covered her mouth to
hide a hiccup before sipping her tea, her hand shaking nervously on the porcelain handle.

That Duke had called her what?

But Yvonne? Yvonne was still out there.

She would return with the help of the Marquis during Penelope's birthday celebration.

What would happen then?

Her whole body shook with tremors that she could not stop- as if she had been doused in ice water,
her fingertips grew cold and her teeth chattered.

She was scared- so scared, she was going to be looked at with those eyes and she was going to be
the commoner, the adoptee again- she was going to be-

Going to be given the worst humiliation of her life by getting thrown out and disowned right then
and there.

The Duke and the brothers hadn't given up on finding her, not by a long shot- so they must think
that Yvonne is still alive somewhere but here he was, calling her his one and only?

She might have believed it if he had called her, "My daughter" or even, "One of my daughters" but
calling her that loud and proud?

It was a first.

There was a first for everything it seemed.

But there was also the awful thought of a first where a fake daughter, adopted into the family,
would watch as the real daughter returned into the tearful embraces of her family and retrieve her
rightful spot as the only daughter of the only Duke of the empire.

That Penelope would watch as Yvonne smiled at their tears, being held in their arms- given love
that was never truly given to Penelope, no matter how much gold was shoved at her face to
appease her.

She would be forgotten in such chaos. What birthday celebration for a fake would be as welcomed
as the real duke's daughter returning and giving them the best gift of all?

If she wished, she could probably sneak away into the night with her winnings as the Queen of the
Hunt, and never look back at their joyful reunion, sure to splash across newspapers and spread by
word of mouth- that Duke Eckhart's real, only daughter, had come back home where she belonged.

And the fake would be forgotten.

As she always was.

An outcast. A fake. An adoptee. A commoner.

Reynold doesn't know that she wouldn't have given him such satisfaction, from living in the slums
on the outskirts of the capital, she was used to bugs and critters near her while she slept, and again
when she woke, begging for money on the streets before her mother died.

Bugs weren't something to be afraid of when there were worse things to be scared of. Humans, for
example.

The maids had dropped powder down her back when she had made it back from the kitchens to
scavenge for stale bread, and it had made her back erupt into a red, scaly mess of a rash, until it felt
like needles were digging into her skin at every second.

She couldn't sleep. Couldn't keep food down.

When Reynold let the bug in, she used it as an excuse to run, and she leapt into one of the garden's
many fountains, uncaring if the gardeners came to shout at her.

There was yelling above the water and she sank deeper, seeking relief from the powder as it melted
into the water's cold depths, and bubbles float up from her mouth.

This wasn't bad.

Then she's grabbed by her dress collar and flung out of the fountain, Reynold standing before her,
his face pale and waned, water dripping from his entire body, knees reddened.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?!"

Penelope blinks, and she wants to laugh at how awful Reynold looked, but with his next words,
such laughter bubbled up to her throat before dying there.

"Die somewhere else, you trash! Don't die in my house! You'll ruin it!" After screaming such
things at her, he leaves with angry steps, probably to the training ground, and she sits there on the
ground, sopping wet.

What else had she expected?

Penelope who took the abuse she had gotten from their family and the servants who couldn't bear
to see such a child being elevated to a higher position than they, when once they would have had
the same social status as commoners.

Being surrounded by what-ifs, Penelope had to receive glares from maids who had different shades
of hair, but none even close to pink.

How they sneered at her for snatching away something that perhaps they too could have
achieved if they had been at the right place at the right time.

She was just a commoner's child who had been lucky enough to have caught Duke Eckhart's eye
because of the similar shading of the signature Eckhart family colors, and perhaps the bullying
might not have been so relentless, had she continued to maintain the same shade of hair and eyes.

But alas, her hair grew a bright magenta and her eyes darkened to a green that only held a sliver of
blue, and nothing of her resembled a present-era Eckhart, save, except perhaps, her mien.
No one from her original background could exactly imitate the posture and speech of high nobility,
but she took it all in stride as she grew up in the fabulously extravagant society that laughed at her
every appearance.

She pursed her lips with dissatisfaction, hatred gleaming in her eyes as she spilled wine onto yet
another dress and another elaborately made hairstyle but still, she never backed down as she spat
venomous words towards the cowards who tried to tear her down.

Nothing could feel worse than feeling as unwanted as the time she stumbled upon a room with
peculiar golden handles and saw the stacks of beautifully wrapped presents with elegantly written
labels on each of the boxes and boxes that just seemed to keep on going.

She had spotted one off in the corner, and thinks- just a little peek wouldn't hurt, right?

She crouched down, lifting off the box's slightly dented lid and her eyes grew round at the sight of
pretty pink shoes with silken bows on the top. They were so pretty.

Her hand rubs at the shoes she was currently wearing and she notices they're quite small. A bit too
small.

The worn label said: Imperial year 253, seven years.

She stiffened.

Her trembling hand lifts the lid again and places it onto the box so gently, one might have mistaken
the strength for a feather falling onto the cardboard. She stands, her eyes slowly moving over the
labels she hadn't put into her gaze.

Imperial year 254, eight years.

Imperial year 255, nine years.

Imperial year 256, ten years.

Imperial year 257, eleven years.

Imperial year 258, twelve years.

Years...years old.

Shoes, necklaces, dresses, winter jackets, summer shawls, parasols, all the like of what a noble girl
would enjoy.

Nothing for her sparkled there. Nothing was hers. Nothing at all.

She stopped by that room every so often as the years went by, and every year, more boxes were
added to that room. Sometimes locked, sometimes not, but it was always clean and tidy, someone
making sure that it was always spick and span.

They were waiting for their rightful owner to come and claim them.

For it was never going to be Penelope; a weed in a family of flowers.

Servants that used to be of the same rank as her, commoners, didn't want to give her the same
treatment as a noble-born child, and so they ignored and spat at her feet.
 Cold water in her washbasin. Knocking but not caring to hear a, "Come in," reply and simply
swooshing in like they were the owner and not she.

How they were disgusted with how she used the Eckhart money to buy such extravagance when in
fact, she wouldn't have been so easy with her spending money if they had not all gathered to hate
on her and fling mud on her name.

Penelope who once lived without a surname, lived instead, in despair as an Eckhart.

What material things could comfort her when all she wanted was a kind word, a warm hug, a pat
on the head for a job well done?

She surrounded herself in gold coins and iridescent jewels that made her stand out at every possible
party she went to and still.

Still, nothing was good enough. Nothing was nice enough.

The Marquis she thought she had good ties with betrayed her without a single thought to what he
would subject her to.

The heir to the Duchy who had given her a bracelet as a gift and calmly reprimanded her and
Reynold turned his back on her the moment Yvonne came back into the picture.

The boy who was once a noble grew up well, but he too could take that gifted magic sword and run
her through for all the shame he had been through since being bought at her hands.

The duke and second son who gave her second glances after Yvonne came back but didn't go
running after her, it told her all she needed to know.

The Crown Prince who became an Emperor took her hand and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead,
running his fingers through her hair, whispering into her ear, "Penelope. My Penelope. My
Empress. My only."

His hands were warm, his lips- even more so.

When she looks down on the countless citizens of the Empire that came to celebrate their wedding
she sees familiar faces amongst the crowd and doesn't give them a parting word as she lifts her
hand to regally wave.

She is Penelope Regulus.

And she will not be sorrowful about lost time, for she finally had the dreams...and the love she had
always longed for.

To you, Eckhart, the name that gave me everything yet nothing at the same time, I cast you off into
the void.

Farewell and good riddance to your rotten Duchy.

Chapter End Notes

AHHHH MY DARLING PENELOPE WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MUCH TERROR
IN YOUR EYES DW ALICE WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY QAQ

Here's to chapter 5 my darlings!!!! Hope you enjoyed(and I know, you're like, wdym
'enjoyed', alice- she suffered!!! yes but well she was happy in the end, right???)
 Looking in.
Chapter Notes

Big news!!! This ch is the first time I'm writing an outsider's pov!!!? Anyways, onto
the final chapterrrrr!!!!!!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

People wonder about the vast wealth of the Eckhart ducal family. With their prestige and honor,
who would dare to look down upon them in any social circle within and outside of the empire?

But an adoptee to such a prestigious line was different.

...Right?

Someone not of the bloodline, instead- someone who only masqueraded as a noble but did not have
the qualifications to be a person of their superior rank.

Was that really how they thought though?

Even if noble blood ran in their veins, what did that say of their character? Sure, the possibility of
rarer characteristics like the enviable Eckhart eyes or the Imperial blonde hair.

Magic wasn't welcomed as it may have been hundreds of years ago and concubines were permitted
out of sight but not outright, yet, simply existing- wasn't it an admittance that they were more
greedy and lesser than peasants who were till death did them part?

They watch Penelope Eckhart weave her way through the crowd, black heels on the marble floor
with nary a sound, her gaze never falling off the crown prince- his imperial highness, Callisto
Regulus.

When she had stepped into the ballroom, perhaps she didn't realize it, but mixed into the annoyed
glares, there were admiring eyes that appraised her and her elegant dress that was so different from
her usual flashy appearance.

For a young lady who was yet to have had her coming-of-age celebration, she was always wearing
clothes that were on the more revealing side, all the more reason for men to slobber after her.

Her vibrant pink hair, her eyes that were a mix of green and blue, the straight back that never
stooped- her mouth that was foul was still appreciated, lips gently dabbed with a shining pink
gloss.

Jewels that graced her neck and hair shone off the lights and gave off a glow that made eyes
swivel, and delicate hands covered in lace gloves with the pattern of roses all the way up to her
wrists, but the pink nail lacquer still sparkled between the gaps.

Her sillage reminded those nearest as she passed to think of elegance personified.

With hints of rose that brought up images of her hair and a spritz of lemon in the mix, like her often
dour expression, but combined, it was a refreshing wave, unlike the powdery musk that so-often
filled noble parlors.

She was a stunner, there was no doubt in anyone's mind.

Who could have imagined that she wasn't really an Eckhart, if not for the obvious characteristics
one could see? Although she was called the Mad Dog of Eckhart, she was, as of currently, the only
daughter of a duke in the Empire.

She held the highest rank of all the noble ladies except for the royal concubine and if she decided
to go through with her apparent fascination with the crown prince, she would eventually become
the highest-ranking noble lady in the entire Empire as Empress.

Now if only the crown prince could get rid of all the assassins the second prince's faction kept
sending after him- only then would his power rise and his influence increase over even the most
minor of nobility.

The party passes by slowly and by mingling with other guests of similar rank, the chatter has
simmered down until a ruckus fires up somewhere near the door.

It was Penelope Eckhart.

She's collapsed onto the floor and there's a small crowd forming around her, probably interested in
witnessing her moment of weakness- when Derrick Eckhart, the heir to the Eckhart Duchy, drops
his glass and rushes to her side.

She appears...small now. Fragile. Words that were never used to describe the princess of the
Eckhart Duchy. Not this princess anyways.

The true epitome of a rose that's just about to fall off its bush and onto the ground where it would
rot until the next season came again.

"Penelope!"

The Derrick Eckhart, down on his knees for someone other than the emperor- and even then, he
would be unwilling, for even the imperial family is nervous at making such a family kneel before
them.

In front of all the rabble, he's ignoring everything.

He's shaking her now, and surprised murmurs sound as he holds his handkerchief to her neck,
blood soaking the luxurious fabric before he lifts her up in his arms, fear painting itself onto his
features with broad, efficient strokes that one wouldn't be able to think was the young man- and
dashes to the open doors.

All is quiet for a short moment before the Duke and younger brother, Reynold, appear looking
confused.

The Duke grabs a passerby and not a minute passes before his face grows ashen, the second son,
Reynold, already running for the door just like his brother, tearing his cravat from his neck and
shouting for the carriage.

That was an interesting night indeed.

At the imperial hunt, when the princess of Eckhart shoots down the monsters that their enemy had
summoned, they are amazed at the accuracy and sheer will that she displayed in front of all those
people.

Who would have thought that she would use those skills for good?

Her eyes gleamed in the night- bluer now- her slender figure illuminated by the lamps for the
evening party, and when all the monsters had been dealt with, a hush settles down amongst the
bedraggled crowd.

She was actually as skilled as she had claimed and she had indeed brought glory to the Eckhart
name by safeguarding not only herself but those in the immediate vicinity through her quick
actions.

Her hair was up in a ponytail for once, showing off her nape, her pricey hunting outfit quite well
fitted onto her body, though it was obvious it had been fashioned from a man's.

That too was something the Empire should work on, like neighboring countries that had women
actively hunting alongside their male counterparts, allowing women to take the helm of their
families more commonly, and taking on more roles in government- wearing things they wish as
they did so.

But tragedy is known to strike soon after a great victory, and they hear through the grapevine that
Penelope Eckhart had been harassed by the ladies that had invited her. Petty things those ladies
were, they scoffed.

They had been saved by Penelope Eckhart and they turn their backs on her when they could have
died the night before? And she was Eckhart's princess to boot? Had they all collectively lost their
goddamn minds?

Then, an uproar came swooping about like a hawk with its talons outstretched for its prey.

She's been taken? No.

She's been killed, then? No.

She's disappeared. Okay.

Wait, with who now!? The Crown Prince?!

Sure, she'd been known to be getting closer to the Crown Prince as of late- but still!

It wasn't something they could dare to care about but an Eckhart disappearing was something
different altogether.

The Eckhart family members gathered themselves, the youngest son running into the rapidly
darkening forest with a pack of hunting dogs and quite a few of the ducal family's knights.

It was well known that the Eckhart family's knights numbered in the thousands but they didn't care
for the Eckhart princess- a rotten bit of rope, they called her.

Why did Reynold Eckhart dismiss that and take them along anyway? Even an outsider like them
could realize quite quickly that those knights of theirs would not do their due diligence in trying to
find her.

If they didn't think of her as their real owner, then there was no hope in really searching for hints or
even the faintest clues in finding her whereabouts.

Reynold Eckhart should have just taken the dogs instead. At least they were loyal to the Eckhart
name.

They scoff before they down the rest of their champagne, swiping their mouth with a handkerchief
and kicking off their shoes to slump onto a navy chaise.

Godspeed, Penelope Eckhart.

Then there's a flurry of news from the Eckhart Duchy not too long after. It's Penelope Eckhart's
coming of age ceremony and at such a fabulous event that was supposed to be meant only for her,
the missing Yvonne Eckhart had reappeared holding the hand of the Marquis.

Their eyebrow jumps up as they read the papers, bold headlines splashing across the paper like
sugar cubes into tea.

Surprisingly, unlike what most had thought, Penelope Eckhart was not disowned by the Eckhart
family. Rather, they had continued with her party, although no one had seemed in the mood to
continue it- having swarmed Yvonne Eckhart to suck up to the real princess of Eckhart.

What should have been the perfect coming of age had turned into a nightmare, and her emotionless
face had probably melted into something writers would slobber over.

Penelope Eckhart had vanished that day, taking with her the gold she had won from being named
Queen of the Hunt and with both her disappearance and the reappearance of Yvonne Eckhart, the
Duchy- as well as the Empire- crackled with nervous energy.

What would happen next?

Just a month or so later and Yvonne Eckhart is found to be a fake. A witch had created a perfect
shell to inhabit and had fooled the young duke-to-be of Eckhart into taking her side at whatever the
occasion.

The Eckhart Duchy is flipped upside down once more, this time- to finally and officially hold
Yvonne Eckhart's funeral.

Behind the scenes of course, they're also sending their knights around the Empire to try and find
Penelope Eckhart.

Nothing of her whereabouts have yet to be discovered, and people are finding it interesting that the
Duchy's extensive resources are having trouble finding a single person.

As it was, they did have trouble finding Yvonne Eckhart- as in the end, they were unable to find
her.

Weeks continue to pass without news until the crown prince becomes the new emperor in a bloody
massacre, bringing with him a cloaked person into the emperor's palace.

Rumors swirl around the cesspool that was nobility until the cloaked person was revealed by none
other than the new emperor himself.

Penelope Eckhart. In the flesh.

 She's settled quite splendidly into the palace and it's known that she's been turning away the
Eckhart family ever since they found out she had taken the emperor's hand. Their marriage is set
for a cool spring.

She's wearing a gorgeous white gown with gold accents and ruby jewelry, her lacy veil studded
with diamonds delicately framing her face as the wind gently blows her magenta waves back.

The vows are sworn and Penelope Eckhart becomes Penelope Regulus, Empress of the Empire.

Surprisingly, the Eckhart family are in attendance, and they think to themselves it wouldn't be so
hard for the emperor to block them from coming to the wedding, so it must have been the Empress'
doing.

They, along with everyone else, watch as the Emperor and Empress walk down the aisle greeting
guests and finally stop in front of the Eckhart family members.

The Empress looks at them and looks up at the Emperor who gives her a smile. The emperor? That
Callisto Regulus? Smiling? Hell had frozen over, no doubt.

Like something out of an oil painting.

She lifts her free hand and offers it to the Duke who seems to bite something back before
respectfully bowing his head, "...I greet your majesty, the Empire's Moon."

He gently pressed her hand to his forehead before stepping back and she turns to Reynold Eckhart
who opens his mouth before silently lowering his head to her. Ah.

People were beginning to realize why the Empress had allowed them to join the ceremony.

Derrick Eckhart hesitates before bowing his head at an acute angle that was more of a nod than a
bow before straightening back up again. The Empress doesn't move from her place and the
Emperor stares at the young ducal heir.

The birds have stopped chirping.

Derrick Eckhart swivels his head to blink at the frozen, silent nobles and at the Duke who
practically shoves him before he lowers his head, this time- at a satisfactory angle for a noble to
greet a member of the Imperial family.

So that was why.

Penelope Regulus smiles a gleeful smile down at Derrick Eckhart's head before moving on with an
arrogant cock of her chin, grasping the Emperor's arm with a tight grip, ruby red on her nails
glistening- her steps somewhat lighter than before.

She had wanted to see them bow before her- to let them know- yes, she was above them now.

Now and forever, as a Regulus.

Chapter End Notes

 Here's to the end of my VADTD's journey!!! I originally planned for this to be 4
chapters but then my last chapter had Penelope mixed in with Reynold's and I thought
that deffo wasn't fair, so I made another ch for our lovely Penny and then I had 5
which was annoying so I made this chapter to make it a complete 6!

I really do hope you enjoyed all the povs and the angsty mess that was this story and
here's to the end of a great ride!!! <333

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