Chapter Text
Penelope ignored the Prince’s letter. Her mind going to the upcoming festival. The Duke had so graciously given her a blank cheque as a sign of his gratitude for the leverage that her injury had given them over the Crown Prince, as though it was a calculated political move and not her having been within an inch of death at the hands of the psycho. Now she had the money to buy Eckles but she was without the means to actually get to where he was. She had no idea where the auction was going to take place only that it would happen during the first night of the festival.
It was as she was about to take another walk around to look for a way out that Emily called her in for lunch. That had been the norm these days, everyone was always hovering over her shoulder and making sure she didn’t over exert herself after her near death from metal poisoning. If she had been the real Penelope, she would’ve been touched and even happy at the attention, but she wasn’t. Cha Siyeon had long ago learned not to hope or rely on such inconsistent attentions and fleeting feelings given to her.
She sighed as she turned away from the walls and headed back inside, her mind going through the mental checklist of how to get in touch with Winter and Eckles. The Crown Prince had been a definite no from the start and the confrontation at the maze had just cemented that thought. As she walked into the manor, the cooler air hit her and made her realize how lightheaded she felt now. Really, Penelope Eckhart had a weak body from the constant starvation and confinement she’d been put through inside the duchy.
“Emily, I’d like something cold and sweet to drink.” She said. A phantom taste that she couldn’t quite remember entered her mind and left her with a weird craving.
As Emily opened her mouth to say something, Penelope felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand before the rest of it followed, and even Emily and Pennel’s hairs were affected, the static charge built. She saw the two look confused but her eyes glanced around in alarm. A metal suit would act as a conductor for it, acting like a faraday cage. Her mind supplied as she grabbed the metal tray from Pennel and threw it to the side just as she pulled Emily back.
“Step back.” She ordered Pennel who had frowned at her. She glared at the others to follow her orders. Just as she had pulled Emily far enough away, a bolt of lightning struck the tray temporarily blinding them and letting out an ear splitting blast.
As she blinked the spots away and her hearing returned, she was sure she had died because standing in front of her was the Crown Prince and herself only older and with a small child held protectively in the Crown Prince’s arms. The Crown Prince stared around and focused on her the moment his eyes landed on her, his mouth stretching into a smile of amusement.
“I forgot how adorable you looked when you were seventeen, Empress.”
Did he just? Penelope blinked in confusion that changed into mounting horror. There were gasps and murmurs that followed his proclamation. She knew this would spread soon, and she had no trouble believing that her family would come bursting in at any moment.
“Will you please focus, Your Majesty.” The older her had said. “I didn’t think a simple trip to visit my family would end with time travel.”
“Be honest, this isn’t even the weirdest thing that’s happened to us since we met.” The supposed Emperor said as he shifted the child in his arms, her golden hair pushed back and eyes closed.
The Empress rolled her eyes. “Yes, but all of those should’ve ended when we got married. I didn’t expect that our daughter would sneeze, in her sleep might I add, and send us back in time.” She paused. “I blame you for how much trouble she gets into. She definitely didn’t get it from me.”
“Lies!” The Emperor cried out in defence and mock indignation. “At least half of the trouble we got into were because of you. The lizard monsters and the Kraken were definitely you, I just arrived to save you.”
“Then my ending up in the battlefield was definitely because of you.” The Empress pointed out as she moved to take the sleeping child into her arms. The emeralds on her green dress sparkled as the light caught it with her movements.
The Emperor grinned down at her. “That was Porter, I wanted us teleported away from the battlefield so you’d be safe within our encampment and heavily guarded.”
Penelope watched in stupefied fascination as the two bickered and teased one another, unheeding of the growing crowd. Before anything else could be said, a sharp voice cut in.
“Penelope Eckhart, explain!” Derrick barked out. The Imperial couple stopped their bickering (flirtation) and turned to him, as did every spectator. He seemed out of breath, he was at the stairs with the Duke. The door slammed open and revealed a sweaty Reynold with a sword in his hands.
The Empress shushed him loudly and glared and that was when the Eckharts took note of the Imperial family. Their eyes going between Penelope herself and the Empress who was soothing the sleeping child and lulling her back to sleep.
“You…” Reynold spluttered.
“Wh…what?” The Duke asked as his eyes fell on the child with a look horror as he took note of the golden hair and the man standing beside her older counterpart. Derrick was as still as a statue as he stared at the scene.
Wanting to see what would happen, Penelope turned her head to the Empress to see what she would do.
The Empress smiled charmingly. “Hello Father, it seems we ran into some magical trouble on our way to visit you. May we trouble you with some lunch, you could take that chance to meet your granddaughter.”
The Duke whimpered at her words, still staring at the family in horror, his hand reaching out to the railings to steady himself as he cleared his throat. “Pennel, have the greenhouse prepared.” There was still a small squeak in his voice as he said it.
“Yes, My Lord, at once.” His voice woke the other servants and they sprang into action.
The Duke shook himself again. “If you’ll uhh… follow me.” He still seemed to be in a daze as he walked down the stairs and began to make his way to the green house.
“Wait.” The Empress said. “I think we need to call the Crown Prince here.”
That froze everyone on the spot as they glanced back at the man’s older counterpart. “But… that would be presumptuous. He might be irritated and may even refuse to come.” Penelope sputtered out excuse after excuse.
The Emperor snorted. “If you wrote to me and asked me to come, I would drop what I was doing and rush to your side.” He told her lazily. “I know myself enough to know that at this point, even now, I was intrigued enough to do that.
“Is it truly important that he be here?” The Duke asked seriously, his composure regained. Penelope looked at her father’s salt and pepper hair and then took in the face that was usually a stoic mask before she turned to the imperial couple.
They glanced at one another. “We’ll definitely need his cooperation if we want to change certain things.” The Empress frowned. “And perhaps inviting Marquis Verdandi would help as well.”
“Tch.” The Emperor interrupted. “Why do we need that…” The Empress’ hand reached out and covered his mouth before she stomped on his foot with her low heeled shoe. Everyone stared at her in horror while the Emperor merely glared before submitting to her fierce look. “Fine. Invite the Marquis.” He said painfully.
She held the child out to him and he took her carefully. “I’ll go help my younger self write that letter. You take Judith and follow my family to the greenhouse.” She said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“You truly are a heartless woman, throwing me in front of my unsuspecting in-laws.”
“You can handle it.” She said confidently.
“Oh, it’s not me I’m worried about.” He said with a ferocious grin as he turned and gestured to the Duke to lead the way while the Empress linked arms with her and led her up to her/their(?) room.
As soon as they had finished writing a letter to Winter and Callisto, Penelope turned to her wardrobe, pulling out a pink dress and a scarf that she was sure Derrick had given her. It was nostalgic seeing her old room. It had been nearly a decade since she had last stepped foot in this room.
She waited as Emily changed her younger counterpart into the clothes she had chosen before dismissing her loyal maid with a warm smile. Emily was the only maid she brought with her to the Imperial Palace after her engagement to Callisto. Her maid had stayed there whenever she was away at an archaeological site and was the most eager, after Callisto, to see her whenever she returned.
Once they were alone, she gave her younger self an encouraging smile. “You have questions.”
“Why him?” She asked in bewilderment and not the least bit of horror in the tone.
“Because he’s the best of the lot and because I love him.” She answered sincerely.
“But… but what about getting out of this game and becoming an archaeologist?” She demanded. “He tried to kill us and this whole thing is…” Her hands clenched.
Penelope smiled. “I remember what it was like. That suffocating feeling of fear and paranoia. It definitely led us to some very bad decisions. I know what you’re thinking… why wouldn’t I take it? Why would you stay with a psychopath? Why give up everything?”
“…”
“Let me ask you a question, if you remove archaeology, what would we have in Korea?”
She watched as the younger woman thought it through. “Our freedom and safety.”
“We have that.” She assured. “Callisto never tried to stop me, well he did once and he learned quite quickly that I would leave him if he ever tried to keep me locked up. He encouraged me to return to Korea when the opportunity presented itself. But by then, I knew I wanted to stay with him. Come hell or high water, I’d faced too much with him to live without him.”
Her hand went to her wedding ring. She saw the younger Penelope’s eyes land on it. “We were engaged for five years before we got married because he supported my decision to become an archaeologist. We have love, our degree, money, a family that we’ve always dreamed of, and our health. Which is honestly more than we have in Korea.”
“The rest I understand but our health?”
Penelope smiled. “You’re here because you have stomach cancer, you’re currently in a coma. If you chose to return… who knows what your quality of like would be like.”
She saw the widening of eyes and she smiled, even if she omitted certain facts. “Callisto… once we got to know one another, he became my biggest supporter and defender. He… he never once doubted me. He believed in everything I said, even when I told him about the other world and my life as Cha Siyeon. He was the first person after mom to tell me he loves me and he still tells me that everyday. My and our daughter’s happiness and well being are the most important things to him. He makes me feel safe, just by being beside him. It’s something I haven’t felt since…”
“Since mom died.”
Her smile turned indulgent. “Exactly.”
“But… what about Eckles? Or Winter?” The other her had asked, a bit defiant.
“Winter is a friend. He works as an imperial wizard in order to help bring reforms since wizards and magic are pretty much outlawed unless under contract with noble families. Otherwise they’re persecuted and hunted down.” She told her gently. Tried to impart the seriousness of the conversation, she saw the moment she understood what she had said.
Then her thoughts turned to Eckles and her face darkened even as her stomach tightened in guilt. “As for Eckles, disregard whatever your plans are for him. I’ll have father buy him during the auction but keep your distance, treat him as a human being but don’t shower him with gifts. If he falls in love with you, it’ll turn into an obsession that nearly destroys you both, and the Empire with it. I ruined his life with my selfishness.”
Penelope was quiet at the Empress’ words. She swallowed thickly wondering what could’ve happened for her to way such words. Then she asked the question that she had been pondering on for awhile.
“What about the real Penelope? We don’t belong here. This is a game.”
She felt the weighty stare that was placed upon her. “But you are Penelope, we belong in this world, probably more than Cha Siyeon belonged in Korea. And this isn’t a game despite the prompt boxes.”
“What?” She asked.
“This is all a time loop. We’ve died so many times because of the Laila, an evil goddess that we’ll discuss later. Every time we died, time reset itself because the Empire burned and the continent was reduced to ashes. We died so many times that our souls shattered. Cha Siyeon was reincarnated once the last remnant of her soul had grown into its own.” The tapping of the Empress’ fingers on the chair’s arm set a rhythm to her words. “The game system is due to our ancestors, the ancient wizards trying to help us out. And it pulled us back into this body.”
“I… the.. what?” Penelope felt the metaphorical rug pulled from under her.
She felt the warm hands reach out to her. “It’s a lot to think on, and I’ll give you some time. But think on what I said, especially about Callisto. He’s someone who’ll understand you far more than you can imagine, and you have far more in common with him than you think. You just have to have an actual conversation with him, even if he makes you want to wring his neck.” And with that, she stood up and walked away.
Cedric glanced at the letter in his hands. “Your Highness, you have a letter from Lady Eckhart.” He said as he handed him the letter.
The Crown Prince’s head snapped up and grabbed it immediately. The envelope was immediately torn open and the Prince read the letter. A strange look came on to his face as he smirked. “Cedric, prepare the carriage. I have a lady to meet.”
And with that he strode off, leaving Cedric behind in confusion. The last he heard, the Eckharts were furious at the injury the Crown Prince had inflicted on the Lady, the same one who was said to have fallen ill as a result of the injury. So why was he now being invited to the Duchy to meet the Lady who had been ignoring his letters?
And why was the Prince so eager to see her. What had happened in that maze? Cedric shook his head, resisting the urge to read the letter and set off to call for a carriage.
Penelope walked into the greenhouse to see her husband smirking at her adoptive family who were silently stewing on the other side while still trying to remain polite. She sighed. Her husband held on to grudges just as much as she had, but it was during her pregnancy that she learned to move on and give her forgiveness. That didn’t mean she forgot. If she ever saw any signs of mistreatment towards Judith or the child that was currently within her, she wouldn’t hesitate to cut ties with them again.
Her husband though, knew of her mistreatment and couldn’t find it in himself to forgive. His tolerance of them was merely for the sake of his wife and daughter. No matter how much time had passed, she didn’t think his anger would ever abate. But Penelope was tired of the anger and the bitterness that had dictated her earlier years. She now had what she wanted. And if a part of her still held some resentment, well, she couldn’t be blamed for it.
She sat beside her husband, the others staring intently at the door waiting for her younger self. “She’ll come when she’s ready. She had a lot to think about.” She explained casually as she helped herself to some of the fruit infusion. Given the amount of revelations she had given, she figured her counterpart would be down in about half an hour, around the time the younger Callisto should be arriving.
Her invitation to Winter was set for three hours from now. Her message would’ve tipped the man off that something was wrong and he would come expecting a trap, the way his justifiably paranoid mind would jump to this conclusion was what would make him come. Armed and ready, but he would be here. It would give them time to acquaint themselves with one another. And if she had anything she needed to say to her husband in private, she would just use Korean since there would only be four people who could speak it. And even then, Judith was too young to understand some of those words or what was happening. And she didn’t think her younger self would just spill the beans.
The conversation was stilted and awkward as the Ducal family was still trying to adjust to the picture of marital happiness that she and her husband portrayed as they fussed over and cooed at the sleeping little girl.
Callisto met the Princess of the Eckharts as she descended from the stairs. He frowned at the impropriety of not having been greeted at the door but let it go seeing her dazed and pale, thinner then what he remembered, her neck wrapped in bandages that were just barely peeking out from under the scarf. It certainly lent credence to her illness and made him wonder if all women were that fragile or if it was just this particular one.
“I greet the small sun of the Empire.” The Princess said with a bow. “Thank you for coming right away.”
Callisto gave a smug smile. “I was curious as to what the Princess had to say that was so urgent, an answer to my question perhaps?” He asked teasingly.
“No.” She said immediately. “Something more urgent. Please follow me.”
Curiouser and curiouser. The Princess’ voice was strong but there was something strained on her face despite the smile she gave him, as though she would rather be anywhere but with him. He obliged and followed her to the greenhouse.
When he walked in, he stopped as he stared at the sight of the man who had his face. His temper spiked. “My, if you were planning to have me killed and replaced, you Eckharts should have at least made it accurate rather than making me look like some old man.” He growled out. The Princess’ eyes widened and she quickly moved away to protest even as his mouth spewed some expletives.
His older counterpart glared at him, his hands going up and covering… the ears of a small child with the golden hair and ruby eyes of the imperial family. The child blinked as though newly awakened.
“Papa!” The child cried out cutting off his expletives as she raised her hand to reach out to him before pausing and glancing at the man that held her. “Papa?”
She glanced at them in confusion, going back and forth. Before… “Fuck you trash?” She parroted back in an almost questioning tone. Repeating the first expletive he had uttered before her ears had been blocked.
The temperature dropped as the older man roared, getting to his feet immediately. “YOU!” That was definitely his voice.
“ENOUGH!” A woman’s voice cut in sharply and his twin backed down immediately. Callisto found his eyes drawn to the older version of the Princess standing beside him. Her glare was venomous. “Judy, I see you wriggling.” She said sweetly as she motioned to the man to set the child down on the floor. He did so obediently. “Why don’t you go to the potty with Emily?”
The child nodded enthusiastically and bounced to the maid that was standing beside the Princess. “Em-em!” She called out, arms held up and hands opening and closing. “Judy needs to go potty, gotta pee.” She said. Callisto saw the maid practically swoon at the sight as she rushed to pick up the child. He blinked as he saw something he had failed to notice earlier. The child’s dress had little golden wings on them.
“Are those wings on her dress?” He asked.
“No. Those are wings attached to her back.” The child’s father said, his voice still filled with anger. “She was born with them, and as such is known as the golden dragon’s second coming.”
He gazed at the man and could see the anger that was still within the couple, even if his wife, for who else could it be that could calm him so effectively, was holding him back. “I wonder…” The man said. “If I killed you now, would that be murder or suicide?” He said in a light tone as though it were just pondering whether he wanted steak or chicken for lunch. “We’ve avoided letting her hear such words until now, never did I imagine my younger self would teach her such a crude thing. I’ve spent almost four years censoring my words, such curses had been banned from the Imperial Palace and within the Duchy since the Empress’ pregnancy was announced and now…”
“Are you sure we end up married to him?” The Princess’ voice asked from beside him. Her eyes looked imploringly at her older counterpart.
The man immediately calmed further as his eyes landed on her. He laughed. “I’d forgotten how hard you tried to run away from me after the incident in the maze. You certainly gave me a run for my money, Princess.” His voice was gentle and sweet now, and completely unknown to him. He didn’t even know that he could sound like that.
“Yes, we do end up married to him. Though getting there was certainly a journey.” The woman said as she finally sat down and motioned for them to come closer. “It didn’t help that he was so horrible at flirting and even the letters he sent me which he insists were romantic were in fact not taken as such.”
The man looked offended. “I’m wonderful at flirting and what do you mean they weren’t taken for romantic?”
“The letters that I kept and didn’t burn I’ve shown to Cedric. Even he agrees that he read those letters and thought you were threatening me.” She pointed out. “And multiple times when we had first gotten together, he had asked me to give him a sign if you were threatening me or coercing me. And that didn’t even count the amount of rumours about you stalking me.”
“That treasonous little rat.”
The woman rolled her eyes. “I noticed you didn’t even bother to address the stalking claim. And you keep calling him that but he’s done nothing wrong.”
“He dared get married before his Emperor!” Callisto startled at the title. “He didn’t even have a lover when we got engaged and he got married and had four children before we even said our vows.”
“Again, that’s not against the law.”
As the two began to bicker, Callisto watched in fascination as the couple became lost in their own world. There was no heat in their words, and their eyes were drawn only to one another. Even as one hand flew up while the Empress ranted, the other hand remained firmly entwined with that of her husband’s. A smile peeking from his older self’s face, his body relaxed, the picture of a man content with his lot in life. It was such a foreign and unusual sight. He was used to looking in the mirror and seeing nothing but the anger and tense anticipation that burned in him at every moment… not this.
He glanced at the Princess beside him and saw that she was just as enthralled by the sight as he was. As the little girl ran inside the greenhouse and into the waiting arms of her parents, Callisto decided that the future being portrayed in front of him wasn’t so bad. Even if he had meant to tease the Princess, he could admit that a part of him was waiting rather impatiently for her answer to his question and then was willing to let her go but now… seeing this, his plans had changed.
He could tell how apprehensive the Princess now was as she glanced shyly at him before looking away, a flash of fear appearing in her eyes as her hand went to her neck. Right. That would have to be addressed. He turned to the rest of the Eckhart family and saw that they were just gaping at the sight in front of them. It occurred to him that they hadn’t even greeted him upon entering but given what had transpired earlier, he sought to forgive his future in-laws and to pacify them as well.
“Ah, I know!” The child called out. “That’s pink mama, and that’s green mama!” She said as she pointed between the princess and the Empress respectively, her naming was completely based on the colour of each woman’s clothes.
Neither women had anything to say to that and merely nodded. “And what about me, Princess?” The Emperor asked as he pointed at himself.
“That’s Papa.” She said pointing at him, then she pointed at the Emperor. “And you’re Servant Emperor.”
Reynold Eckhart choked even as the rest of the group stared stupefied. The Emperor sighed. “Just call me father.” He said.
“No, Servant Emperor.” She said imperiously.
“That name is never going away, is it?” He turned to the Empress imploringly. “It’s been nearly a month. I blame your brother.”
“Why are you blaming this on Reynold?” The Empress asked as she began to reach for the food.
“He’s the reason for at least half of her mischief. Even you admit that he sometimes seems to share the brain cell as our daughter.”
The Empress smiled. “Then do you admit to the other half of her mischief coming from you?” She asked sweetly.
As the Emperor opened his mouth to protest, she quickly shoved a piece of steak into his mouth. The Duke’s cutlery clanged loudly as he took in the scene. This grabbed the child’s attention and she let herself down from her father’s lap and ran to the Duke.
“Grandpa! Up! Up!” She said as she raised her arms. When the Duke did nothing but stare at her mystified, she huffed and pulled herself up on his lap, climbing haphazardly until she was kneeling in front of him. She threw her arms around the man’s neck. “Judy missed Grandpa. I got lotsa stories to tell you and Unca Rey Rey and Unca Ricky!” The child babbled.
The Duke’s arms automatically went around the child. The look of conflict and horror that had been on his face since Callisto had entered (and probably since this had all began) had disappeared. The man was practically melting into a puddle as the child rained kisses on his cheek.
Callisto sipped on his wine to hide his smile. At the very least, the Duke would now likely agree to a marriage between him and the Princess, if only for the sake of his beloved granddaughter’s existence.
When the servants brought out another course, duck this time, the Emperor immediately had it sent away. The Empress’ face was now tinged slightly green. A grimace on her face.
“Are you alright Penelope?” The Duke asked in concern.
The Empress smiled weakly. “Yes Father. It’s just that Duck and other avian dishes make me nauseous right now.”
Nearly everyone looked at her with concern, even Callisto stared at his wife from the future in worry. She shook her head. “It’s nothing. I went through the same thing when I was pregnant with Judy. Actually the list of foods that made me nauseous was slightly longer and my symptoms were more severe. Callisto had to ban them from the Imperial Palace for the first part of my pregnancy.”
“Wait…” Derrick Eckhart frowned. “The way you’re speaking… are you pregnant right now?” The young Duke stared at the Empress hard, his tone bordering impudence.
The Emperor and Callisto both bristled at his tone but the Empress maintained her composure. “Yes, I am.”
“Then please let me know what other things make you I’ll.” The Duke said.
Reynold didn’t know how to react to anything right now. A part of him, the part that resented Penelope for taking Ivonne’s place and for the wish she had uttered so maliciously all those years ago, was raging at the thought of being close to the vicious and uncouth girl that was his supposed sister. But the other part of him was strangely happy at the thought that he was still a part of his sister’s life even when she had married and had a family of her own, one that stood apart from his family’s influence.
And then there was the predicament of his brother-in-law and his niece. One was the man that had nearly killed Penelope and therefore had his enmity, and the other was an innocent child who was the child of said two people. He felt bereft and angry at the thought of his sister being stolen away even as he struggled to think of her as such. And her words about hating him still rang loudly in his ears.
Half delirious, she had uttered those words even as he worried himself at her bedside and they had stuck by him ever since. Even when he told himself he didn’t care.
There was a small tugging on his sleeve and he glanced at the little face that looked up at him with those wide ruby eyes. “Unca Rey Rey, I got the spectr!” She said. “I ran at Servant Emperor and beat him with a stick just like you said then stole it. Judy tried to bury it and start my hoard like good dragons do but Mama stopped me. She took it back and gave it back to him, Judy was sad, it was so shiny and pretty like Servant’s hair!”
His mind tried to connect the dots as he puzzled on what she had just said. “You mean a sceptre, right?” He clarified.
“Yes, a spectr.” She said. “Judy is the dragon knight who gotta beat the bad dragon emperor who stole the princess!”
Oh, well, context wise, he suddenly figured out what she was saying. “Oh?” He leaned closer, a grin stretching across his face at the sound of mischief. “Tell me more.”
It seemed that all of his pranks were delivered to the Emperor via his niece who the Emperor seemed unable to punish. He looked at the child fondly.
Father and his older brother both coughed and clucked their tongue disapprovingly as the child told more stories. He tried to think of more things to make Judy do when Penelope, the older one, stopped him.
“Don’t even think about it.” She warned. “This is how you got banned from the Imperial Palace for three months… and was sent into a temporary exile because Father wanted Judy to come visit but she couldn’t if you were there. So an extended training session it was.” She deadpanned.
“Father!” He said, voice close to but not quite a whine.
“If you insist on pulling my granddaughter into trouble, than you will be punished as well.” His Father said heartlessly. Unbelievable, not even two hours in and the child had already wrapped his Father around her little fingers.
Then again… “Unca Rey Rey?” He didn’t think he could turn her down either.
Derrick kept his face as neutral as possible, even as he resisted the urge to growl at the couple in front of him. Something dark and bitter gnawed within him as he watched this older version of Penelope in the arms of the Crown… no… the Emperor. He convinced himself that it was merely because he didn’t believe she would make a good Empress, and that the man who became Emperor was someone so crude and cruel and who had hurt her before. Deep down, he knew it wasn’t true.
The child transferred into his arms now, he sat still, unknowing of what to do. The last child he had held was Ivonne, he had been nine when she was three, and she was a sweet docile child. Nothing like this rambunctious tike. Her hands went into his pocket.
“What are you doing?” He asked, tense.
The child looked up at him through golden hair and ruby eyes that he hated so. A frown on her face.
“Looking for candy.” She said. “Unca Ricky, why you no have candy today?”
“Yes, Uncle Ricky,” The Emperor drawled. “Why don’t you have candy in your pockets so that the Princess can play digging for treasure there?”
He really hated that man. He looked to his father and brother for help but they were both just grinning at him, then finally he turned to the Empress. She shook her head.
“Uncle Derrick didn’t think you’d be here today. He didn’t have time to prepare your favourite candies.” She told the child who pouted and buried her face in his shoulder.
“Then Unca Ricky gotta give me more candy next time.” She demanded.
He thought pacifying her was the best way to go. “Very well.”
The child stuck her little finger out. “Promise?” She asked.
“I promise.” Derrick said as he stuck out then wrapped his own little finger around hers. It brought back so many memories of Ivonne at that age that he couldn’t resist the smile on his face. His heart felt somehow lighter as brighter memories of his sister dug itself out of his mind.
Callisto watched as his older counterpart began to utter something in a foreign language that he had never heard of. At first he thought he was speaking in tongues until the Princess let out a strangled yelp. He turned to the woman in worry.
“Are you alright, Princess?” He asked.
She removed her hands from her face to let him see the blush that was rapidly darkening. She glanced at the Emperor before she stared accusingly at him. Right on time, as he glanced at the Emperor, the Empress struck him in the back of his head.
“Your Highness, you’re completely shameless.” She accused. What did he do? He blinked, confused. Before he turned back to the Emperor who was grinning and rubbing the back of his head.
“You understood what he said? What did he say? What language was that?” He asked.
The Princess ignored him. “You taught him Korean?” She accused her older counterpart.
“Nine years together and you don’t think I wouldn’t teach him or our daughter? It’s become the Imperial Family’s secret language.” She said with a wink.
“What’s Korean?” Derrick Eckhart asked. The Princess paled but the Empress was composed as she turned to her husband who merely shrugged. The child in the young Duke’s arms still continued to play with his dark hair, tugging it gently and laughing.
“Korean is a language in another world where we spent our past life in. A past life that we’ve only started remembering.” The Empress said smoothly.
Well. Callisto definitely hadn’t been expecting that. The Princess buried her face in her hands again as though it would hide her from all of the stares being thrown her way.
The child, Judith, moved away from the Young Duke and finally made her way to him. Callisto picked up this future daughter immediately. She grasped his face and planted a big kiss on his lips. “Hi Papa!”
Hah. The child was smart, endearing herself to everyone to make sure she would be born. He didn’t know if the child had truly thought this through or if she was merely this tactile with the people around her. But even now, Callisto knew he wanted her and that he would feel her loss when she returned to her time. The child’s mother was surprisingly the only one who was still a bit unsure about this future but he was certain it would soon change.
“Pink Mama, Judy hungry!” She said. And there it was. The interaction was about to be had. The Princess was hesitant at first, but gradually began to relax the longer their interactions lasted. She saw most of the Princess’ resistance fall and her arguments shatter in the face of the precious child in his arms. Such a cunning little dragon.
Callisto held Judith as she went down for another short nap. He stood with the Emperor, the group had broken away to stretch their legs for awhile and to do some work before the Marquis arrived. The child’s scent reminded him of spring. Of freshly bloomed flowers and new life, innocence and peace.
“You’ve got your work cut out for you.” The Emperor said as his eyes were on the Empress and the Princess talking to the side. The hints he was able to hear told him that they were speaking in that language, Korean, and that what they were talking about was both private and serious in nature.
“Do I?” Callisto asked. “I’m usually good at getting what I want.”
The Emperor snorted. “I thought so too. That was until I had to deal with Penelope Eckhart. Trust me, the only woman I know who would turn down a proposal from the Crown Prince, multiple times at that. Threaten to leave me and run away and actually follow through. And she’s just generally good at giving us a heart attack.”
“And you still married her?” He asked with a raised brow.
“Best decision I ever made. And the rejections were justified. Do yourself a favour, if she ever asks you if you love her, answer yes and save yourself the heartbreak because by the time she asks that, you really will be in love with her. And her rejection was pretty brutal too.” The Emperor grimaced. “I might have been beside her during the toast and maybe would have been able to stop her from drinking the wine the Laila poisoned.”
“WHAT?” He asked in alarm, voice a little bit louder. His eyes immediately sought out the two Penelopes who glanced up at them curiously.
“That’ll be for later.” The Emperor reminded him. “But trust me, I realized I loved her the moment I saw her fall. Right now, all you feel is nervousness whenever she didn’t reply to your letters, something we never felt in the battlefield, but after that and even now, my greatest fear is that she would just one day disappear. I still count her breaths and listen to her heart beats just to make sure she’s still alive. By the time our birthday happens, she’ll be all we can think of. Everything we see we want to give her.”
It was a frightening thought, to be so tied up to a woman that it seemed his very existence depended on hers. “It’s worth it. I’ve never known peace or happiness like this. To go to sleep and wake up with her in my arms, sometimes our daughter would be in between us. My wife who makes cakes by herself for my birthday and who does her best to take care of our family, who worries over every little thing about our daughter and whose greatest wish for me before our marriage was that I become the perfect Emperor in a safe world where I could find my own happiness.”
“Tell me, do you know what it’s like, to trust your whole self to a person and know that they’ll still love you no matter what. To have someone who isn’t afraid to look you in the eye and scold you when needed or hold you in your darkest moments and tell you that they were here and that you weren’t alone. Because I do.” The Emperor said with a wistful smile. “I had to work hard for it but I have it now. And I have an adorable daughter and another child on the way. Even if sometimes the amount of paperwork and the irritating nobles makes me want to just burn it all to the ground, I remind myself that this is all for their happiness.”
He patted the head of the little girl who leaned in closer to the familiar hand. “Papa Servant?” The child called out in a mumble.
“Go back to sleep.” The Emperor said.
Judith buried her face into his shoulder and fell back to sleep.
“A little tip. Promise her you won’t kill her, no matter what and encourage her to speak her mind. Tease her a little. It works wonders for your relationship, and don’t be afraid to talk openly about your past and your thoughts. You’ll be surprised by how receptive and similar you two are.” The Emperor said before he left to head for the Empress. She smiled and stood up as he approached and they headed out of the greenhouse leaving their daughter in his arms and with the Princess.
He approached the Princess who grimaced, her eyes widening as she looked around. She clutched her neck even as she smiled tremulously. “Princess, how are you feeling?” He asked as he sat down beside her.
“I’m much better, Your Highness.” Her hand sneaked out to to brush the baby soft strands of gold. Her body relaxing with the contact, as though the child’s mere presence erased all her fears.
He thought back to what his older self had said. “Would it help if I swore that I wouldn’t kill you, not now or ever?”
“You would do that?” She asked in astonishment. “Yes, yes. It might be awhile before I feel completely comfortable but I think that will help a lot.”
“Then I swear, upon my name. That I, Callisto Regulus, won’t kill you for whatever reason.” He swore as he took her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. Grinning at her as she blushed. “All I ask is that you speak your mind, no matter how outrageous what you say may be. I’ll believe you, you can trust me.”
“Th…thank you.” She stuttered out.
“Now, tell me the answer to my question. What made you fall in love with me?”
The Princess paused, and glanced up at him, taking a moment to herself. He waited patiently, the calming feeling of their daughter’s little heartbeat and the puffs of her breaths soothing his anxiety. “Your hair is very pretty.” She began. “It was at the banquet to celebrate your return. Your hair was shining because it reflected the chandelier’s light, it seemed like flecks of golden powder floating around. And your eyes looked like rubies set into your handsome face.” She said contemplatively.
“In short…” She paused as she glanced at him with a smile. “You looked filthy rich.”
“What?” He asked blinking. The mood completely ruined. “Is that why you fell in love with me at first sight?” He asked in astonishment.
“Rich people are nice to look at, at least I thought so even during my time as a child of the streets. I like shiny things, gold and rubies especially.” She assured him. “I like that Judith has your hair and eyes. Though from what my older self said, Father was practically frothing mad when he realized she took after you instead of me when he first saw her.”
That… he didn’t know how to respond to that. Somehow, he felt warm at the thought that she was delighted their daughter took after him in looks. That she was happy that she would look at their child and see him.
The Princess became silent. “I didn’t know what to think about my future here so I was always prepared.” She confessed silently.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m known as the fake daughter who has extravagant tastes but… jewelry and gems, they’re wonderful since they don’t lose their value.” She said and the way she spoke… it almost sounded like she wanted to run away.
He ventured out carefully. “Princess, are you perhaps, planning on leaving?”
“Your highness said that you would believe me and that I can trust you.” She said as a reminder to his promise from just minutes earlier. He nodded.
“If I told you that I’ve lived this year more times than I can count and that my life as Cha Siyeon is a consequence of a human soul unable to bear the countless deaths it’s been put through during the time loop. What would you say?” She asked softly. Her hands were away from Judith, and her head was down.
He was silent as he felt the dread that rose up at her words. “How?”
“I don’t know. But I… I keep dying sometime this year. Most of it happens around my coming of age or just after it. But sometimes it happens sooner. The nightmares that I’ve been having… they’re memories of my deaths.” She told him, white knuckled.
“Who would…” He trailed off, anger rising. He had decided that she would be his wife, that he wanted this future that had been presented to him, and he would kill anyone who harmed her and threatened that life that was promised.
“You.” She said, stunning him. “Usually at the maze, I don’t know why you stopped this time. Maybe because I blurted out the first thing that came to mind whenever I saw you? Usually I was too scared to speak. It’s usually a quick death that way but then if the Laila’s host had gotten a hold of you and I tried to stop her with poison then it would be that you would force me to drink all of the poisons I tried to use on her. Sometimes it was Derrick with a punishment that went too far, confinement for a set number of days without food or water in my room for acting out at an event.” She said. “Sometimes he would just strike me down because I tried calling him older brother.”
He kept his mouth shut even when he wanted her to stop. His hands went to their daughter, still asleep, one hand going to cover her ears. “Reynold’s are usually just accidents. I would be arguing with him while standing too close to an open window, it would get too heated and he would push me a little too hard and I would stumble. He would usually try to grab my hand but it’s usually too late, our hands just barely miss each other. Or he’s trying to pull me off someone I was fighting with, the cutlery would be scattered around and I’d fall on one.” Her hands trembled.
“Marquis Verdandi would be under the thrall of the Laila and would kill me to protect her, the same goes for the slave that my older self would ask father to buy later today to keep him out of the Laila’s grasp. But then if I try to get too close to the slave he becomes obsessed and it’s terrifying, or at least that’s what the Empress said.”
“The last few weeks, I’ve been afraid of everything and so confused because the memories of Cha Siyeon over power me or the visions of my death, there are times when I don’t know who I am or what happened just a few day ago. And I know that I have no allies here except for my maid, Emily. No one else wants the fake daughter here, they’ve made it pretty clear. Father sometimes makes it seem like he does but he doesn’t even notice…” Tears began to fall down. “And I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.” She said.
‘Because you want someone to trust.’ Callisto thought even as he panicked. He had no idea how to comfort someone, let alone a woman but he still pulled her close. He felt a sort of kinship with her. “You’ve been through a lot.” He said awkwardly. “But you can trust me, I’ll help you. And I promise I won’t hurt you…er… anymore than what happened in the maze.” He added lamely.
Judith stirred and they both held their breaths but she remained sleeping. “We’ll figure it out. We’ve already seen what comes out at the end when we stop Laila.” He frowned. “Who is the current host of the Laila?”
He knew that the Laila had the ability to brainwash. The question was, how did his older counterpart avoid it or break free from it. And why did the Laila go out its way to have the Princess killed rather than just brainwashing her?
“Ivonne Eckhart.” Ahh. That explained certain things. “That’s why they were never able to find her. She returns during my coming of age celebration.”
He winced. But he remembered what the Emperor said about the Laila giving her poisoned wine. Then that was something they would have to plan for.
“Why didn’t she use her abilities on you?”
“Apparently, I have a natural aversion against her due to my lineage. The Empress said she would explain it later but… she said that I’m able to use the full extent of my gifts now because of my time as Cha Siyeon. Anyway, the aversion means that the brainwashing won’t take.”
They talked some more, and Penelope found herself relaxing with the Crown Prince, she found herself leaning into him, her head on his other shoulder as she stared at their daughter. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought, even if she felt her breath stolen whenever she saw the beautiful little girl in his arms.
The thought that everything would turn out well, that she wouldn’t die… it eased the knot in her. And more and more, she felt more settled in her future counterpart’s decision to stay. She listened as the Crown Prince told her stories about his crappy childhood, the bear, the assassination attempts, all of it. At one point he stared at her incredulous.
“Even my men cry when I tell them about the bear.”
Penelope rolled her eyes. “Your Highness, your still here. It isn’t a tragedy unless you die. As long as you survive you have the potential to turn it into a different genre. Be it romance, comedy, an epic where you triumph over the evil step-mother and half-brother. You can make it into any type of story as long as you survive.”
“Haa… you truly are a weird woman.”
She stuck her tongue out childishly. “You’re the weird one.” She shot back, a smile teasing it’s way onto her face that she was barely holding back.
“Given everything we’ve seen and heard today. I would like to officially court you.” The Crown Prince said.
Penelope blinked her eyes. “What?”
“I want to court you.” He repeated. “I want to get to know you. Just because we know we end up together, it doesn’t mean we have to be lax about it. I want to put in the effort and see if we can truly have what they have.”
“I…” Penelope hesitated. She glanced up at his score. Throughout the day, his affection score had been rising. Not just from their interactions but from being around their daughter and the Imperial couple. She had already decided to stay and she had decided that she wanted Judith. “Alright.”
He grinned down at her. She held her hand up. “But you have to know. Cha Siyeon isn’t dead yet. According to the Empress, there will be three incidents where I’m offered the chance to go back. The first is after Laila’s defeat, the second is the day we found out we were expecting, and the last one was just a month ago when she personally killed Cha Siyeon by destroying the machines that kept her alive despite her body practically withering away.”
He stared at her stupefied. “I don’t intend to take those choices. Just… make sure I don’t regret my decision to stay.”
“I’ll make sure you never do.” He promised.
Judith chose that moment to wake up, so they separated and let her down. Their gazes followed her as she ran around the greenhouse with the familiarity that Penelope lacked. Slowly, people started to trickle back in. Reynold came in first, a glare on his face as he stared at them and at their joined hands before it softened as he was pulled into a game with Judith.
Then the Imperial Couple returned, arms wrapped around one another, Penelope blushed when she noticed that the Emperor’s hair was slightly mussed and the Empress’ lipstick had been reapplied, the Emperor’s lips were slightly tinged with the same shade as the Empress’. She hoped they didn’t use her room with the excuse of for old time’s sake.
Then the Duke came in with Derrick coming in last with their newest visitor.