Duke and Duchess Askary, and also Ethan Askary, had already gathered in Penelope Askary's room.
They all looked at Penelope with teary eyes. The Askary couple hugged each other and held hands as if giving strength to each other. Meanwhile, Ethan Askary stretched out his hand to hold his little sister's hand tightly. That made Penelope look up and meet Ethan's red eyes. Between Ethan and Penelope, only Penelope had inherited their mother's golden eyes. While both take more genes from their father.
"Penny, are you feeling better?" asked Duchess Askary in a worried tone. "If you are still unwell, you can rest again. We can talk tomorrow, daughter."
Penelope shook her head and smiled reassuringly. She held Ethan's hand back and looked at the three people in front of her. "I'm fine, Mother."
The Duke, Duchess, and Ethan looked at each other. Then, the Duke said, "It's a good thing that you're feeling better already. What do you want to talk to us about, daughter?"
Penelope took a deep breath, then looked down. "I... want to apologize for my behavior so far, Father, Mother. And when I woke up and was hysterical in front of all of you. Maybe, because of the accident that I had, I was still a little shaken when I woke up and did not recognize my father, mother, and big brother. I regret all my past actions, which have embarrassed you and gotten you into trouble. Forgive me."
Ethan hastily switches places and sits beside Penelope. He hugged his little sister from her side, as well as Duchess Askary who also hugged Penelope from the other side. Meanwhile, Duke Askary hugged them all from above.
"It's okay, Penny," said the Duchess in a gentle tone. "Everything is in the past. Mom is happy, you are fine. Mom is happy, you regret everything and want to change. Mom, Dad, and Ethan will always support you and protect you, Penny. No matter what you do, you are still an honorable member of the Askary family. You are still our family. You are still Mom and Dad's favorite child."
"And also my lovely little sister," Ethan added.
Penelope, who in her previous life had no family because she was an orphan, cried loudly. She had never had or known affection so deep and warm as this. She doesn't know what was in the mind of the real Penelope Askary, that this woman had the heart to waste her family's affection.
"Forgive me. I'm so sorry, Mom, Dad, Brother," Penelope sobbed as she returned the warm hug from her family.
Yes, this is her new life. Sienna was dead and now, she lives on as Penelope Askary.
And she will be the new Penelope Askary.
###
The first thing Penelope had to do was write down all the important events from the novel 'Entangled in the Love of Two Men'.
This was her second day in the novel world. Penelope can adapt well thanks to her knowledge of having read the entire contents of the novel. Several important events will occur soon. The closest is the kidnapping of the female lead, Isabella Lysander.
The sound of a knock on her bedroom door made Penelope, who was writing all the important events in the novel, turn her head.
"Come in."
When the door opened, a maid entered pushing a food cart. On it, there are various kinds of cakes and also tea with a very fragrant aroma. Penelope smiled at the orange-haired maid named Sarah. In the novel, Sarah is a very loyal maid to Penelope. Even until the end of her life, when Penelope had to die at the hands of Duke Edmund Gerwyn and the crown prince Sebastian De Louis for her actions that always hurt Isabella Lysander and even dared to poison her, Sarah remained by Penelope's side and was willing to die for Penelope.
"Lady Penelope, I brought you your favorite pastries and some tea for you." Sarah smiled and bowed in greeting, then immediately set all the cakes and tea on the table. "What are you doing, My Lady?"
"Hmm? I'm writing something. My memory still hasn't come back completely, Sarah. I'm still a little traumatized by the accident. Hence, I wrote down whatever I could remember." Penelope changed chairs and took one of the cakes. It's so sweet and delicious. She looked at Sarah who was pouring tea into a cup. "Sarah, come sit here with me."
"What?!" Sarah gasped and shook her head while waving her hands. "My Lady, how could I dare to sit with you? A lowly maid like me doesn't deserve to be treated like that, My Lady."
"Haha. You are my maid, right? So, you must obey all my orders. Come on, sit with me and help me finish these cakes." Penelope tilted her head and smiled. "Or, you don't want to sit together with an evil woman like me?"
"What? An evil woman? Who dares to say that My Lady is an evil woman? I will fight them and scold them!"
Seeing Sarah who was angry to defend her, a warm feeling immediately appeared in Penelope's heart. Again, she told Sarah to sit on the chair across from her and while bowing and apologizing repeatedly for her rudeness, Sarah finally sat down as Penelope ordered.
"Hey, Sarah."
"Yes, My Lady?" Sarah, who was chewing the cake, looked at her employer quickly. "Is there anything I should do?"
"I just wanted to know." Penelope drank the tea from her cup. She already knows the two main male characters in this novel. But, there's no harm in asking the people who are here, right? "What kind of person do you think Crown Prince Sebastian De Louis and Duke Edmund Gerwyn are?"
"Hmm. As far as I know, the crown prince is a very kind and friendly person, My Lady. As for Duke Edmund, he was a cold and notorious man. Just looking at him from afar, it feels like I'm already very scared. Don't you remember fighting with him?"
Penelope raised an eyebrow. She had no recollection of any scene where Penelope and Edmund Gerwyn bickered in the original novel. Or did she forget about that fact?
"Yeah? Because of what?" Penelope asked curiously. "As I said, my memory hasn't fully returned yet, Sarah."
Sarah nodded and tapped her chin. "If I'm not mistaken, because of the jewelry."
Penelope blinked. "Huh?"
"My Lady wants to buy a piece of jewelry. You met him by chance at the jewelry store. And coincidentally, Duke Edmund also wanted to buy the same jewelry as My Lady. In the end, you two got into a fight and the jewelry was bought by another noble who happened to be there."
Wait a minute.
It wasn't in the original novel. Did this incident occur before the original novel began?
"And Duke Edmund threatened to kill My Lady. He even pointed his sword at My Lady's neck, because My Lady managed to make him angry. Luckily, young master Ethan, who accidentally passed by the jewelry store and saw the commotion between My Lady and Duke Edmund, immediately intervened and protected My Lady. Young master even almost killed Duke Edmund because he dared to threaten My Lady."
Penelope ate her cake in peace and decided to come up with a plan to avoid her tragic death!