Chapter Text
She wakes up and the first thing she knows is pain. Scratchy, parched throat. Aching, aching everything. Burning lungs. Throbbing head, everything hurt.
Breathing shallow, but substantial breaths, she cracked her eyes open. She was momentarily blinded by the little light filtering through the curtains but readjusted relatively quickly.
She was able to turn her head a little to see someone wringing a towel over a bowl near her.
"Em'ly?" she scratched out.
Her maid stilled, then whirled around to look at her in shock before jumping up and calling for a doctor.
Her ears rang at the shrill noise. Emily's calls quieted down as soon as she heard her groans of pain and was frantic in grabbing something off to her side. Something cool pressed against her lips and she instinctively opened her mouth to allow refreshing water to soothe her parched throat.
She greedily took the drops that Emily offered her until they were interrupted by the appearance of the doctor, who looked awed and relieved when he saw her.
“Lady Eckhart! I am relieved to see you awake,” the doctor said. “I understand this is sudden, but might I ask how you feel and what you remember?”
What she remembered? Her head throbbed and all that filled her mind was herself, her real self in that mirror that she was blocked out of due to that damned event she was forced to accept.
Her eyes shot open and she turned her head to see the white game window flash next to her.
You paid [500 million gold] to enter Hidden Route!
From now on, you will not be able to check the level of favorability other than the color of the gauge bar, and if you follow the quest, you will receive a hidden ending and reward!
An unexpected quest has been created! Keep [the piece of ancient magic mirror] in a safe place.
Damn it all.
She must have been silent for too long as she read and despaired at her continuing situation because the doctor spoke, “There is a meeting to investigate your poisoning, however we've alerted the meeting to your awakening. Your family and the Marquis should be coming in soon to see you, and maybe see if you could share some information with them.”
Penelope's eyes were unfocused to the rest of the doctor's ramblings, latching onto the topic of the Marquis. Why was she suddenly filled with strong feelings of hurt and anger to hearing ‘the Marquis’?
The door burst open and her family rushed in, and with them, memories from the banquet came flooding in. The Duke threw himself to the edge of her bed and went to go hug her when he was stopped by the doctor, commenting something about her still being too fragile.
But all Penelope could see was the white hair and blue eyes of the Marquis.
Vinter.
All the feelings of betrayal and anguish erupted from her at once. With a strength unknown to her, she flung herself at the Marquis' chest, practically feral in the way she swore she was frothing from the mouth.
Vinter lost his balance and fell to the floor, Penelope pounding at his chest all the way.
"Penelope!" The Duke screamed.
Reynold ran forward to pull her off Vinter but flinched back at the despaired shriek that erupted from his hysterical sister.
"How could you?!"
"Wha..." Vinter muttered, eyes wide in shock and too confused to do anything more.
Penelope's shoulders began to shake and she weakly grabbed Vinter's shirt when she couldn't find the strength to feebly punch at his chest anymore. "Why did you save me? Why didn't you just let me die?! I was so close... so close! I..." Big, fat tears rolled down her cheeks. "I want to go home."
And like a dam had broken, heart wrenching sobs tore out of her. She didn't care about this stupid game anymore, she didn't care about what all anyone thought of her or how they reacted. She couldn’t even see the damned Affection Scores anymore, but it didn’t matter. All that she knew was that she was lonely and afraid and so tired, and she wanted, desperately, to go home.
Back to her body in Korea that was still asleep on her bed with her phone by her head. Back to a place where she could make her life without constantly fearing death, where she was just getting her life started without the hell of living with her family.
She just wanted to go home.
The Marquis couldn't do anything but stare up, too alarmed to disturb the haunting wails from the girl on top of him.
The rest of the room were in a similar state of shock and distress, wanting to help but unable to do anything but watch and process the grief they somehow overlooked from their most prized family member.
"I- I want to g-go home. I don't want to be h-here any- any more," she hiccuped and sobbed out. "I... I miss my mom, I want my mom. I want to go home. Please let me go back. Let me go back!"
"Oh, my lady..." Emily felt her heart breaking as she instinctively covered her mouth as she cried with Penelope. She had never seen her lady so distraught, and hearing her plead for her mother and her home only shattered her heart further.
Without realizing what she was doing, she ran to Penelope and enveloped her in a hug, shushing her while she gently pulled her off the Marquis and onto her lap. Penelope weakly fought against the restraint but gave into soft reassurances and warmth her maid offered.
"When, when will this n-nightmare end? I'm so tired, when will it stop? I want to go home, please send me home!" She continued to beg and plea, unseeing or uncaring of the world around her, only stuck in the swirling anguish that had welled up and overflowed inside her.
She wasn’t sure how long she laid there wailing and sobbing in Emily’s arms before she was finally too tired to do more than the occasional hiccup and sniffle. She gave up trying to keep her eyes open and leaned bonelessly against Emily. She remembered the vague impression of being lifted, then nothing but numbing darkness that swallowed her.