When Penelope opens her eyes again, it is already dark outside her window. A familiar yet distant memory of the pink ceiling decorated with colorful jewels welcomes her view. Turning her body around, she cannot describe in words the softness of her bed and pillows. Lifting her head, Penelope can see a familiar bedroom lit with hundreds of glowing stones that she had been using until she was six.
Penelope closed her eyes and pondered for a while. While on it, she turn her body around again and lay flat on her bed. Putting a hand on her chest, she starts doing breathing exercises.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
'How odd.'
Penelope still doesn't want to believe it. Everything feels like a dream for her. She also feels odd that breathing doesn't hurt her throat anymore. When she touched her cheek, Penelope cannot feel the huge scar on it that used to make people scream in fear.
Sitting on the bed, Penelope stares at her small hands that have no scars or small cuts and scabs on them. It looks so fair and smooth that she wants to believe those hands do not belong to her. Removing the blanket around her body, Penelope drags her feet off the bed and walks towards a huge mirror that reflects her small image.
A small body and delicate body, a long ocean wavy hair, skin so smooth and fair, a pair of bright sapphire eyes, and thin lips that have a natural pink color.
This is an image of a very cute and pampered little girl. Something that Penelope possessed a long time ago before her disappearance. She used to be a pampered little princess of her family before someone planned her abduction and make her suffer until she died.
Penelope touches her smooth face and feels the softness of her cheek. In an instant, she pinches her cheek making her feel an immediate stinging pain on it. Her cheek instantly becomes red as if it will burst once she decides to pinch it again.
'This is not really a dream. I really came back to the past.'
When she woke up earlier this afternoon, Penelope thought she finally lost her mind because of hunger and was just imagining her previous life. She even saw Nanny Lisa who already died on the day she was separated from her family. But the things she felt earlier were too realistic to be considered a simple dream. But her silly self thought that if she sleep again, she will wake up again in the dark, dirty and cold alley.
Surprisingly, Penelope is still in her small and healthy little body.
Penelope squinted her eyes while staring at her reflection in the mirror. The last time Penelope saw herself, she was in a dreadful state. She was dressed in torn clothes, her hair was chopped and can be compared to the coarse and rough hair of a pig, her body was too skinny and malnourished, and there was a huge slanted scar on her face that makes her ugly and unrecognizable in public's eyes. Many people were scared because of her appearance. She was treated like a person that carries a deadly disease and was avoided at all costs.
The last memory that Penelope had in the past was her aching stomach because of hunger, the bitter cold of snow that covered her thin body, and the stinging pain of her throat after eating a wild grass she randomly found in hopes to fill her empty stomach. She probably fell asleep in a dark alley because of the cold. At that time, Penelope knew that she was on the verge of dying. She was only counting her remaining time before closing her eyes.
And yet, Penelope woke up in this state—Her body is in perfect shape. She looks younger and healthy too. She looks exactly the same little girl that Young Duke Clementine pampers a lot.
'Dad...'
Before Penelope can think more of her sad and miserable experiences in the past, the door slowly opens revealing the person she wanted to see the most before dying. He looks around the room first before a pair of eyes similar to hers stares at her. Penelope feels like she is about to cry as she looks at his gentle and handsome face.
"Loupie?"
When was the last time someone called her name with love and affection in their voice?
"Why are you standing there?" Her father, Young Duke Clementine, asked.
"...Dad?" Penelope carefully called him.
"What happened, my princess? Why do you look so sad?"
Young Duke Clementine Dresvil.
The youngest son of Duke Harrison Dresvil and the person who was supposed to inherit the Dresvil Territory. But an accident happened and the young duke died at the age of twenty-nine. At that time, Penelope was already missing and that accident forever stole the chance to meet her father again.
Clementine quickly approaches his daughter and lowers himself to stare at his daughter's face. He gets a little worried seeing her in a daze while staring at him. Lisa mentioned to him that Penelope was acting a little strange this afternoon so he quickly ran to her bedroom and check up on her.
"Dad..." Penelope calls him again and raises both of her arms. "Hug?"
How can he refuse her simple request? Clementine rolls his sleeves first up to his elbows before lifting his daughter and carefully hugging her small body. He feels Penelope rubbing her face at the crook of his neck.
"Did something happen?" Clementine asked again and gently pats her back.
Penelope did not answer him immediately. The little girl is still savoring this precious time where she can finally hug her father again. For the young duke, he's probably thinking that the last time he hugged her was just this morning before going to his work. But for Penelope, it's been nine years since she saw her father.
'Thank you... Whoever or whatever did this... Thank you for giving me a chance to meet my father again...'
Penelope tightens her arms around her father's neck. The warmth he's providing is what she's missing the most. Ever since she went missing and got her face ruined, no one dared to touch or go near her. Penelope is always craving for this kind of physical touch, especially her father's hug.
"Loupie, what happened? Can you tell daddy about it?" Clementine asked again in a worried voice.
"...Bad dreams." Penelope murmured late on his neck. "A bad monster brought me to a dark place and I cannot see my daddy anymore."
"Oh, dear. That will never happen. I will not let a monster steal my lovely Loupie." Clementine coos before leaving a kiss on her temple.
"...Really?"
"Of course, my princess." Clementine said before gently pulling Penelope away from his shoulder so he can see her face. "I will never let anything hurt my dear child."
"...Promise?"
"That's a promise."
Penelope cannot bring herself to tell her dad the truth. That she already knows what is going to happen in the future. In the future that she experienced, her dad died in an accident while looking for her. The Dresvil Duchy has slowly lost its power. And it all started when Penelope was abducted.
And the mastermind? That person is currently living with them.
"Clementine? The maid said that you are here."
When Penelope heard that voice, she suddenly balled her hands into tight fists. Turning her head around, she sees a woman in her mid-twenties wearing an expensive dress decorated with fresh pearls and diamonds. That woman looks so gentle and everyone in this mansion respects her a lot. But Penelope had already seen the real face of that woman.
"Amanda, you're back." Clementine said with a small smile on his lips. "You didn't tell me that your schedule has changed."
"I just want to surprise you. And I cannot bear to be separated from my husband and my lovely daughter for so long."
That woman smiles softly at them before she starts walking towards them. She kissed Clementine's cheek first before turning her attention to Penelope. That woman smiles sweetly before touching her cheek.
"I'm back now, my lovely daughter."
This woman is Amanda Reallo. She is a woman that came from a count family who is known for their coal business. She is also Young Duke Clementine Dresvil's second wife and Penelope's stepmother. And most importantly, she is the mastermind of her abduction in her first life.