Penelope’s POV

Attraction?

The moment I saw his fiercely ice blue eyes, they did not simply look at me; they pierced straight through my soul. In that single heartbeat, I knew I had felt something I had never experienced before.

Crush?

Perhaps... I still cannot say for certain.

I do not understand why I am drawn to him like this. Is it merely the surface, something physical, or is it something deeper?

I could not make sense of it, yet every time I saw him, the entire day softened into something gentle and bright, as if the world itself had decided to be kinder for a while.

Everything felt overwhelming, like warmth bubbling and rising inside my stomach, light and restless, refusing to settle.

I could not understand why I was feeling this way, why my thoughts kept circling back to him without permission.

Was it because I wanted to be saved, like some foolish damsel clinging to a fantasy?

Even after everything, after the last two who toyed with my heart as if it meant nothing, I still found myself standing here again, feeling the same fragile emotions I once swore I would never allow back in.

No... this felt different, and... somehow worse.

Before, I had known their faces, had seen the charm that made my heart flutter so easily. But this man... he hides himself, keeps his face away from the world, and still, my heart reacts even more violently, as if mystery itself had become a temptation.

Shit! It was almost laughable.

A thirty-one-year-old woman, standing here with a racing heart over a man who looked no older than twenty-two, perhaps twenty-nine (I hope).

And yet, seeing him again... that alone had been enough.

More than enough.

Happiness had bloomed so suddenly that I had not even questioned it, and then, as if fate had decided to indulge me further, we ended up eating together during our next meeting.

Even now, it felt unreal.

I had never expected something like that to happen. My mind had been a storm before meeting him, scary as seeing favour cholacate getting burned, but the moment I sat across from him, everything melted away, leaving only the quiet rhythm of sharing a meal together.

He spoke mostly about work, about the company, about Madam Rosavere, and yet, even those simple conversations felt meaningful, because they were ours, something that existed only between the two of us in that fleeting moment.

For that short time, it felt precious.

And I told myself... that was enough.

I had never cared much about appearances before.

Makeup had always been unnecessary to me, and heels felt like something meant for another life, another woman.

Yet that day, I tried. I stood in front of the mirror longer than I ever had, adjusting, hesitating, wondering if there was something in me worth seeing.

Something gentle... Something feminine?

I do not even know if he noticed my changes.

But it did not matter.

As long as we spoke, as long as I could sit there and exist in that moment with him, it was enough for someone like me.

Because I knew... this would not happen again.

We might never share another meal. He might forget me entirely.

And why would he not? To him, I am no one, just another passing ugly face in a world far larger than mine.

Still... that day stayed with me.

The memory of his fingers brushing against mine lingered longer than it should have.

For a brief second, panic had gripped me, fear tightening in my chest that he would notice the roughness of my hands, the callouses that spoke of a life far from delicate.

I had tried to pull away, quietly, instinctively.

But he held on.

Firmly. Without hesitation.

As if none of it mattered.

Or perhaps... I did not matter at all.

The thought made me smile in a way that felt both bitter and soft. And yet, despite everything, I wanted to see him again.

Just once more.

Just enough to let him truly look at me, to see me, even if only for a moment.

Even if I was no one.

My heart had been relentless that day, beating so wildly I had been certain he would hear it, that the sound alone would betray everything I was trying to hide.

And yet, the world did not stop.

Because the restaurant belonged to Madam, the others had seen us together.

"Look at her, she really knows how to suck up to people above her, doesn’t she?"

"Hah... first Madam’s fiancé, and now that mysterious man. Tell me, what does she even have? I am better than her in... every way, yet she is the one standing there. Do the gods really enjoy watching people like me suffer?"

"Did you see her earlier? Smiling to herself in the restroom, carefully putting on makeup... it was almost painful to watch. Trying that hard just to crawl into someone’s pants."

"Maybe he has terrible taste. Or maybe he is just as ugly as she is, hiding behind that mystery. Hahaha"

Their laughter followed, sharp and careless, filling the employee room as I stood there changing,

And the worst part...

They were not entirely wrong.

From the outside, I must have looked exactly like that.

For a moment, my vision blurred, tears threatening to spill, but I forced them back, swallowing them before they could fall.

I knew... I knew my worth, even if it felt small, even if it trembled under the weight of their words.

Because even then...

Just seeing him, just speaking to him, had been enough.

The days passed quietly after that, slipping by without disturbance, and before I realised it, I had been appointed as Madam’s secretary. I did not question it.

Perhaps she saw something in me, or perhaps it was simply convenience.

Either way, I accepted.

And the salary...

It was more than I had ever imagined. Enough to rebuild everything I had lost, enough to give my family a home again, to bring warmth back into a life that had once felt broken beyond repair.

Somewhere deep within, a small, fragile thought began to grow.

Maybe... just maybe... I had a chance with him?

I do not know where that courage came from. It felt misplaced, almost foolish, yet it refused to disappear.

If I kept moving forward, if I kept becoming better... perhaps one day, I might stand beside him without feeling like I did not belong.

The thought alone made my chest tighten, a soft, breathless sound escaping me before I could stop it.

Was this... love?

I had believed that part of me was gone, lost somewhere in the past, buried beneath disappointment, fear and regret.

And yet here I was, feeling it again, for someone whose face I had never even seen, someone I had met only a handful of times.

It made no sense, right?

Sometimes, I wondered if I was simply too easy?

But then I remembered the way he held me, that moment when everything around me had felt like it was collapsing, where I pushed to the corner, losing everything and yet his presence had steadied me, pulling back from the horror in a single hand!

That memory itched in my mind.

Why was I holding onto it so tightly?

He had only pitied me... Nothing more.

So why did it feel like so much more?

"Dear?"

The voice broke through my thoughts, pulling me back into the present. I looked up to see my parents watching me, their faces lined with time yet softened by warmth, their eyes carrying a quiet understanding that made my heart skip.

"W-What is it?" I asked, my voice lighter than I expected, my cheeks warming under their gaze.

My mother set her fork down slowly, her smile calm but knowing, as if she had already read the answer written across my face.

"My dear," she said softly, "don’t you think... it might be time for you to start thinking about your own family?"

"M-Mother! It’s not like that... I didn’t know him very well to begin with, so please stop assuming everything," I shouted, my face burning red as heat rushed to my cheeks.

At thirty-one, reacting like this felt almost ridiculous.

A part of me wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and disappear into it forever.

"So you are seeing someone then... good~" my mother said, a playful whistle escaping her lips.

My face grew even hotter, the warmth spreading uncontrollably. Damn it... I let it slip!!!

"Even so..." my father stepped in, straightening slightly with a haughty expression that did not quite match the fragility of his ageing frame.

"I will only give my daughter’s hand after he defeats me in a duel."

I stared at him, utterly speechless.... ’Dad... you look like you are two inches away from death, you know!!’

Shaking my head quickly, I tried to pull the conversation back before it spiralled any further. "Anyway, i-it’s not like that... I am not interested in those things anymore. Right now, I just want to rebuild our bakery first. After that... I will think about everything else."

Silence fell over the table.

Both my mother and father opened their mouths, ready to argue as they always did, ready to convince me otherwise. But before a single word could leave them, I cut through it.

"I have already decided."

They exchanged a glance, then smiled wryly, shaking their heads as if they had expected nothing less.

My father sighed softly before placing a gentle hand on my shoulder,

"Well then... how about inviting that young man to dinner—"

BOOM!!!!!

...

....

"Are you alright, miss?"

A soft voice reached me through the ringing in my ears, distant yet persistent.

I groaned, forcing my eyes open as the world swam back into fragments of colour and shape.

Above me stood a figure unlike anything I had ever seen before.

A beautiful dark blue-skinned elf, her features delicate yet striking, her presence almost otherworldly. Tiny blue butterflies rested gently upon her head, their wings shimmering faintly as if touched by magic itself.

For a fleeting second, my thoughts drifted.

So... cute...

But reality returned just as quickly, crashing into me with brutal force. I shook my head, trying to clear the haze.

"W-What happened? I was eating with my parents—"

And then I saw it.

Their bodies.

Crushed beneath debris... Broken beyond recognition.

"..."

Everything inside me stopped.

My hands trembled uncontrollably as something cold spread through my chest, hollowing me out from within.

My eyes fixed on them, unable to look away, unable to accept what I was seeing.

The stench of death filled the air, thick and suffocating, forcing its way into my lungs. I turned slowly, my gaze dragging across the ruins around me.

Blood.

Bodies.

Fragments of what used to be people.

Everyone... was gone?

W-What is going on?

Are we under attack?

My mind tried to form thoughts, tried to understand, but nothing came together. Everything broke apart before it could make sense.

All I could see...

Was them.

Why?

Why am I... alive?

Why?

"WHY AM I STILL ALIVE?!!!!!"

The scream tore out of me, louder than anything I had ever uttered before.

If they were going to kill... why not take me too?

Why leave me here... alone?

Why?

Why did the world want me to suffer?

J-Just... let me die with them... at least... please...

I... I want to be with them even in death... p-please...

Something inside me shattered completely, leaving nothing behind but emptiness.

...

....

The next morning, the Empire held a mass funeral. Ceremonies stretched across the city, mourning layered upon mourning, grief echoing in every corner.

The Emperor ordered temporary relief, providing food, shelter, and money to those who survived.

But none of it reached me.

Every time I looked at anything, a single thought consumed me.

I want to die.

Was there any point in living anymore?

Did my life even have any value now?

What was I supposed to do?

For a moment, I truly considered ending it right there.

Ending everything.

Freeing myself from this hollow, suffocating existence.

But before I could act...

She came.

My Madam arrived as she grabbed me and pulled me back into the world I no longer wanted.

"If you are going to die, then work yourself to death instead!" she snapped, her voice loud, fierce... yet beneath it, there was something else.

Something that almost sounded like grief.

She... cared?

That single thought lingered.

And so, I worked.

I threw myself into it without restraint, burying everything else beneath endless tasks.

I stopped thinking.

I stopped feeling.

I barely slept.

I barely ate.

There was only work.

Work... Work... Work!

Maybe... if I died like this...

Maybe it would mean something.

And then, from somewhere deep within the emptiness, another thought surfaced.

Him.

The man who had unknowingly given me something I thought I had lost forever.

For a brief second, everything froze.

A painful possibility formed in my mind.

What if... he was gone too?

The thought alone made everything worse.

Clutching onto the faintest thread of hope, I closed my eyes and prayed.

I prayed to Lord Aether, the god who had once saved us all, the only one I could still turn to.

"P-Please... keep him safe..."

My voice trembled as his name slipped past my lips, fragile and aching.

"Please be safe... Mr. Lackey..."