the cold duke : derrick eckhart

one

The young lady stepped out of the carriage, she was welcomed by two young gentleman one that had the brightest pink hair while the other had black each with the signature blue eyes. She looked at them in confusion, she was expecting to see the youngest daughter of the family.

She bowed at the two, that did the same back. "Lady Rose we welcome you to the Eckhart family" the young duke coldly says taking her hand leading her to the home. She didn't know how to reply to that, was the duke always so cold.

The inside of the home was lavish, she glanced around looking for the missing princess. "Penelope is ill you'll see her later" the pink haired boy says. Soon the three were greeted by the duke he smiled at his son and back at her. "Lady Rose I hope your travels were comfortable, dinner will be ready soon" the young lady nods following the maids to her new room.

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Elianna Rose POV

You stepped into the clean furnished bedroom. The Eckhart dukedom wasn't as terrible as you imagined.

The princess concerned you, you've heard so many things about her most of which were bad. Despite hearing all that you weren't going to let that nonsense get to your head. You knew rumors all too well and how they are never true.

The maid stepped inside your room, "Lady Rose dinner is ready" you nodded heading towards the door to see the magenta haired princess. She did a slight bow and proceeded along, her eyes looked tired she looked unhealthy. "Penelope you've met lady Rose?" The girl named Penelope gave you a shocked look but remained her composure. You sat across the princess who poked at her food.

That's when you noticed her food and the utensils. Her food looked like plastic while her utensils looked like they were for children. You placed your things down, "how can I eat like this!" Penelope announces getting the Duke's attention. Uproar of anger soon exploded when Penelope left the room.

It reminded you, the Rose family was no different than the Eckhart family. "My apologies my Lady" your fiancée Derrick says before excusing himself to join his father. Quietly you took your plate and utensils and made your way to the princess.

Pennel who worked for the family stopped you before you could enter the room. "Lady Rose are you lost?" Your eyes were locked on the door, "I need to speak to the princess" he seemed rather surprised by the sudden request but he moved aside for you and opened the door. Penelope was laying on the bed, "Princess?" There was no reply, "please look at me" the girl turned around she had tears in her eyes.

"I brought you my food," she doesn't say anything. "My brother will kill me" that was nonsense, her brother will never do that. You take the fork with food and feed it to her, she was surprised by the sudden action but soon continued to eat. "I've been waiting for you to come to me" you didn't know what she meant by that but you shrugged it off.

After a few hours you learned so much about the young girl. As you stepped out of the room you were met with Derrick. His bright eyes were searching yours for answers, "Penelope is nothing but a brat don't bother," he coldly says taking the plate from you. To you Penelope was a young girl who is crying in agony for help.

Next Morning

You joined the family at the table, except for the young princess. "Lady Elianna did Penelope eat last night?" The second son Reynold asks, followed by "not that I care" before you answered Penelope sat next to you, which is Derrick's seat. Reynold looked at her in surprise, "that's not your seat" the girl gave him an icy glare. "It's fine it's just a seat" the duke announces while Derrick takes the seat in front of you. You took a glance at her food to make sure it's edible, "Don't worry Lady Rose we fired all the staff to make sure this doesn't happen again" a sigh of relief overcame you as you watched Penelope eat. "As the head of the Eckhart family I must apologize, I can assure you that Penelope is well taken care of" you we're finding it hard to believe that.

When breakfast ended you were left alone with Derrick. "There's a ball coming up, the prince will be there so we must go," he begins to explain. "We will go as a family, I'll try my best to keep you and my sister comfortable" you couldn't help but worry as this was going to be your debut into the Eckhart family. The prince was said to be one of the scariest people on the land as he was ruthless and wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who was in his way.

But what could go wrong you wondered, the Eckhart family was on good terms with the tyrant prince.

Penelope's thoughts

She came into the story at lot earlier than expected. In normal mode she arrives during the hunting festival as the woman Derrick loves. But this is different, there's no love between the two. They are total strangers right now, simply engaged with each other. If I'm going to survive I need her to be my ally. In normal mode Derrick killed her but they never went into detail, most likely for something Penelope did. After that he fell into deep depression only for Yvonne to help him recover. In normal mode she was kind to Yvonne and Penelope never choosing sides. Even Penelope was saddened to hear of her death.

That jerk Derrick doesn't deserve her, but it's the only way to keep her by my side. I'll make sure she doesn't die at the hands of the man she loves.

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Thank you for reading.