Okay, hear me out on this AU where instead of OG Penelope's soul shattering, a piece of it just got 'chipped off' (kind of like how Siyeon is a fragment of Penelope) and that chip got regressed into childhood when her mother was STILL ill. (So it's NOT FULLY Penelope, but a fragment like Siyeon.)
It was only when she got a fresh start did she give up on that household, deciding to dedicate herself into standing up on her own feet. To save her mother this time, and make sure the Leila cult doesn't rise again.
She originally decided to start working on getting a cure for her mother first, thinking that surely there must be a way, if not as a descendant of mages from elder days, then as a diligent daughter.
Only after that will she look for Yvonne, who had already went missing by this time, and as much as Penelope wished to go look for her, it wasn't her business to when her own mama was on the brink of death. She can’t lose her mother again. She can't.
But then, she couldn't exactly just leave the girl alone when the latter was so pathetically crying in the alleys of the streets after having accidentally found her cannibalising some man.
So, after a quick clean-up, she guided Yvonne back to the Eckarts, justifying it to herself as a means to stop the Laila from completely taking over.
Penelope still has an amalgamation of mixed feelings, considering that technically, a lifetime ago, Yvonne was the 'reason' she was treated so badly and adopted in the first place, so she wouldn't want to be around the Eckart duchy for long, ignoring the other girl's admiring and grateful eyes.
"Just medicine for my mother," Penelope answered when asked what she wished her reward will be, tense under the Duke's eyes - who was younger than she remembered, less eyebags and hair uncharacteristically unkempt from grieving for a daughter that was now back to him.
She didn't expect to be rewarded, but she certainly wasn't turning it down.
"Medicine?" The duke inquired with surprise in his eyes.
"Yes, my mother is sick."
"..." The middle-aged man thought for a moment, taking a good look at the scrawny girl who brought his only daughter back to him, catching the mix of determination and desperation that mirrored his own when his late wife was bedridden after childbirth.
Ans so, he decided, "Then I shall provide her with the best physicians. In the meantime, you can stay here."
"That- that's not necessary," she denied reflexively, hands waving around, dreading the idea of prolonged contact with the same family and faces that treated her so horribly before.
But those Eckarts from her memories were not the same from the ones standing before her, were they?
That much is true, Penelope could tell from the father and children's puzzled expressions that didn't understand why their aid was being turned away when she clearly needed it.
The duke seemed to have just assumed she was simply afraid, as many children from the streets were when it came to nobles. So he assured her that he'll save her mother, and both of them will be properly cared for under the duchy.
Unbeknownst to them, Penelope's mind was reliving the abuse she faced after believing a similar promise from the same person in another life.
She was about to decline again, to insist that just the medicine was fine, and that she had to go back to her mother to...
To... what, exactly? Sit next to the ragged blanket her mother was under, telling stories of her day while keeping her voice from breaking, mind wondering if she was even listening - still alive?
How difficult it was already to stay alive by doing random jobs like sewing, or fishing and hunting her own food, much less get medicine when she didn’t even know what her mother's illness was - no one was willing to work without pay, after all, especially not to foreigners clearly not of Eorkan blood.
To deny this offer would be to deny her mother a chance at healing. A chance at life.
Besides, things weren't the same as before. Maybe since she was the one who brought Yvonne back, they wouldn't be as harsh.
Though, she can handle it even if that's not true, even if they get somehow worse. She already endured it for her own survival and foolish dream of being loved long ago, so why wouldn't she when it was also for her mother?
Left with no choice once again, she told herself it was for survival. And perhaps more nobly, with how the Laila was still lying dormant in Yvonne's body, she still needs to keep an eye on the elder girl.
Yes, this was for the best, she told herself.
On the other hand, Yvonne sagged in relief that the other didn't tell her father and brothers of the full story of their encounter. Finally, she was able to eat the food on the table without worry of 'her previous meals' being shed to light, though the apprehension of a certain voice potentially coming back and taking control once more kept her on guard.
A shared look between Penelope and Yvonne was accompanied by a silent understanding that they need to talk later.
Hopefully, it will go smoothly.
