Penelope’s rants had another interesting result

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/34873285.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: Gen
Fandom: - | Death Is The Only Ending For The Villain - Kwon
Gyeoeul
Character: Duke Eckart, Penelope Eckart, Reynold Eckart (mentioned), Derrick
Eckart (mentioned)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Not Canon Compliant, Canon
Universe, Canon Rewrite, Wishful Thinking, Father-Daughter
Relationship, Bad Parenting, He tried and failed but wants to fix it,
Penelope Eckart is Tired, Out of Character, In Character, Past Abuse,
Past Child Abuse, Past Neglect, Dark Past, Implied/Referenced Child
Abuse, Child Neglect, Sad, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy
Ending, Hopeful Ending, Feelings, Introspection, fuck the family, fuck
the Eckarts, Duke Eckart's A+ Parenting, No Spoilers
Series: Part 2 of Penelope's rants have interesting results
Stats: Published: 2021-11-01 Words: 1694

Penelope’s rants had another interesting result

by SimpleSoul_Shipper

Summary

This can be read as a follow on from my last fic, but can be read as a stand-alone, the only
background information you need is that Penelope had a hidden book where she wrote
every frustration she had at the Eckart’s general behaviour, attitude and every abuse they
committed towards her (and the original Penelope) in it; this book was promptly stolen by
her brothers (of fucking course) who read it. Giving them a good kick in the (metaphorical,
I wish it was their real ones, but we all know they don’t have any) balls as a wakeup call.
In this fic, it’s the Duke’s turn to understand just how majorly he fucked up.
This fic is obviously no longer canon complacent, as the Duke isn't actually this self-aware,
but it's nice to have an imagination.

Notes

This is a sequel, I guess it can be read as stand-alone, I may write a third follow up with the
actual talk, maybe even the prince understanding her childhood. We'll see, let me know if
you'd be interested in that.
The Duke stared in horror at the small book in his hands. Eyes wide in shame and anguish, as years
and years of his mistakes stared up at him from the worn pages.

When his sons had brought him the book, he hadn’t thought much of it. When they’d told him that
the writings were by Penelope, he became a little curious. And when they told him that the book
held her every inner thought about the family, he had initially been incensed that his sons had
taken it from her.

After all, the personal writings of a young lady, a Nobel lady at that are a special and private thing,
especially when written by their sister, it was unacceptable that they should breach her privacy like
this.

But when they practically forced it into his hands and watched him read the first page. He
understood why they did this.

Every page. Every line. It all detailed the utter horror that had been Penelope’s life.

The horror that he’d had no knowledge about but had clearly contributed to.

The criminal levels of neglect, by him, his sons and by the entirety of the Eckart staff. He could
recall to his memory one of the last few conversations he’d had with his daughter, in which she’d
informed him of the attitudes of the Knights, and it made him incensed.

The book detailed how the staff would not clean her room for weeks, instead making the young
lady of the house even clear up after them at times when they were supposed to be cleaning her
room, how they would feed her sub-par food and then even rotten food, his mind was cast back to
the incident with the young maid who had served spoiled food, and how the other servants had
made it out to be an accident, how they would insult and belittle her, her appearance and her
personality, and finally… how some had physically harmed her, leading to her waking up with pain
that she couldn’t explain.

Then there was the abuse by his sons; how they would insult her at every turn, point out every
fault of hers and not let the matter rest even years later, how they had turned blind eyes to some of
the staff’s actions, how Reynold had planted that necklace in her bedroom in order for her to feel
punished.

All this pain, injury and indignity.

All of this happening under his roof, his authority, to the girl he’d promised to treat as his own
daughter.

He’d just assumed that he’d been doing the right thing by Penelope.

Hadn’t he given her every monetary thing she’d ever coveted?

Hadn’t he protected her from the scandals that she created in noble society?

Hadn’t he taken her from her life on the streets and made her a princess?

And yet…

To find that his very actions that he assumed were kind, were actually fanning the flames of his
daughter’s mistreatment.

He had no one to blame but himself.

The duke placed his head in his hands, shoulders bowed, and stared into nothing with wide eyes.

How could he have let it get like this?

How could he have missed all the signs over the years?

Was he too busy training Derrick as the next head of the family?

Too focused on Reynold and his knight training?

Too centered around his missing daughter?

He… he really didn’t have any excuse.

Wasn’t he supposed to be training her too? As the daughter of the family.

Wasn’t he supposed to be overseeing all of her education like he had with the others?

Wasn’t he supposed to watch over her? As the new edition to his household when the atmosphere
was already hostile.

He truly had no excuse, it was as if he’d gone out and just bought the nearest child who resembled
his late daughter, and then callously tossed her into the estate in order to keep up appearances.

And he had, hadn’t he?

He’d brought her home, and then promptly ignored her, and look where left her.

His daughter, his Penelope, utterly despised the name Eckart and everything it stands for, and he
refused to begrudge her that.

Reading Penelope’s inner thoughts, he might not understand but he will acknowledge them and
allow her to keep her distrust and hatred.

These servants had acted out against the lady of the house, Penelope was every bit entitled to any
feeling or revenge she desired.

He remembered their last family meal, how she had sat their quietly, and at the end seemed to
break, exposing the servant for her unacceptable actions.

He hadn’t known how to deal with the situation, aside from punishing the servant and opening up
the room she’d liked, he didn’t even remember why it was closed in the first place.

He looked back to the book, oh, it was Reynold.

Reading of Penelope’s account of that night, he could understand that. He could understand that for
someone who came from nothing, the possibility that their new life might come to an end would be
terrifying, and they would pray for it not to.

But Reynold hadn’t understood that, and instead caused an incident that would cause Penelope
even more pain and humiliation. And cause himself to distrust her words over his staff.

Oh god, not a single member of his staff was trustworthy!

They had all participated in some way, whether actively or watching it happen without reporting or
even attempting to stop it or report it!
He didn’t know what to do.

He had a few options available to him, but they would all take time to implement.

He could replace all the staff, but he would have to do it in sections so they learned, and the time it
took them to learn the ways of the manor they might pick up on the old staff’s abusive nature
towards his daughter.

And he remembered how Penelope acted recently to the maid who had hurt her, while he was
proud that she’d managed to make the maid hers, he understood that replacing the staff would not
replace the actions they did.

Replacement wouldn’t work for the knights; he wouldn’t be able to refill their slots quick enough.
And he knew his daughter didn’t care for the knights or have any use for them. The best he could
do in that regard it to find a way for her slave to legally wield a sword in her defence or be allowed
a weapon, so she could use him as her escort safely.

There wasn’t anything he could do for his foolish sons. He would take them aside after this and
have a grave talk with them, he intended to document everything they’d done to their sister and he
fully intended to punish them, perhaps in a similar way to how Penelope had been punished,
limited meals and having to clean up after themselves might teach them a little respect for their
sister.

The duke pulled out a piece of paper and began to draft a small plan on how he could start to
attempt amends for his daughter.

Solutions:

Find a way to punish all the servants – ask the butler for information on who had done what – no,
ask her maid, that way he can punish the butler as well.

Find a way for the slave to use a weapon for her defence – see about hiring a few professionals as
her own personal guard for when she needs one.

The knights pay would need to be punished too, he’d need to speak to the slave to find which ones
had insulted his daughter, those would be let go, the rest would have their pay reduced.

Discipline the boys – document their wrongdoings, restrict their traveling to work only, limit their
meals sizes (he wouldn’t starve them, or he’d be no better than the servants), restrict the servants
cleaning their rooms so they learn how to clean up after themselves.

The duke paused, that was all he could think of for the others actions. But now he needed to think
of a way for him to atone for his misdeeds.

He needed to take Penelope aside, talk to her, get her to tell him these things herself.

He couldn’t push her, and he couldn’t let her walk away from this talk.

This talk should take place in the garden, a secluded area away from the knights, he’d remove any
servants, but he would set up a tea service for them, Penelope should be able to discover a dessert
as her favourite then. He frowned when remembering the family dinner.

He’d need to stay calm during their talk, he’d need to watch his words and make sure his daughter
knows that he knows she didn’t deserve any of this, that he will attempt to make things right, and
that he would follow her lead on the matter.
Yes, he’d implement his punishment, and then he would implement any extra punishment she saw
fit, even if she didn’t want them punished, he would hire a few new servants that would take over
her tasks themselves, these ones would be under close watch, she could even pick them out.

The duke looked at the paper that held his plan.

He hoped that it would be enough.

But he thought back to the last page of the book, a page his sons hadn’t even read, where his
daughter had written, “Just wait until your 18, then this will be over”.

His daughter planned to leave the family after her 18th birthday, and if she still wanted to, after all
his attempts to make things right for her, he wouldn’t stand in her way.

He wrote down one last line on his plan before standing up and calling for the butler, it was time to
implement a few of the new changes, starting with a list of new servants for his daughter.

If Penelope wished to leave the family - gather Penelope’s inheritance, buy her a property
(large/small her preference) outside of the kingdom, send the new servants, new knights, and her
slave with her

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