The Duke's Masked Wife 2: The Prince's Outcast Bride-Chapter 74: Offer (3)

Penelope didn’t make any other attempt to stop Tyrion from going to the carriage. She shook her head at his behaviour. "Why must men act this way?"

"It is their possessiveness. I am surprised it is so hard to find where this Cassius lives. Have we been speaking to a ghost?" Lily wondered.

Lily found it strange how Cassius showed up around them, but no one else seemed to know much about him. Their father had always been so efficient at gathering news about someone, yet it seemed Cassius had been prepared to hide.

Tyrion inspected the carriage, which was made of fine quality materials. Since the stranger could afford to have it built, they should not concern themselves with what happens to the carriage.

Edgar also took a look at the carriage. He wasn’t pleased to hear Penelope had two carriages sitting on his estate. He was quite close to picking them down and sending the parts back to the owners, but he was curious about what Tyrion would do.

"Burn it," Edgar said, agreeing with Tyrion’s plans.

Keeping it would only allow the fool who sent it to think he held some place in Penelope’s heart.

Penelope palmed her face. It would not be well for her to have these two getting along. "Can you not send it to the town guards and have them find the owner?"

"I prefer to burn it. Damien," Tyrion said, holding out his hand. "I need to start a fire."

"Don’t," Penelope said, stopping Damien. "Place it outside the gates or on some other road. It will not look good to have it here while I am married, and if you ruin it, others will speak of your jealousy."

"I don’t care about chatter like you do," Tyrion said, still interested in burning it. "Take it outside. If it somehow catches fire outside our gates, it is not our concern."

Penelope knew Tyrion intended to burn it when she was not looking, but rather than give the carriage much more attention, Penelope went to greet her father.

"Thank you for our home," Penelope said once more.

"You have thanked me enough," Edgar replied. "Thank your mother since she is the one who stayed up all night making arrangements for it to be furnished to your liking."

Penelope chuckled at the grumpiness in her father’s voice. "I am sorry I took her attention from you. I’ve never seen her so happy to decorate. She has always left it to Gerald."

Penelope was grateful for her mother stepping in since she didn’t know the first place to start to turn this home into her liking.

Edgar lifted Penelope’s hand to see the ring on her finger. "Where did you get married?"

"At a priest’s home. You must promise me that you will not go searching for them when I tell you who it is," Penelope said, eager to share about Peter.

"No," Edgar replied.

Penelope pouted. "You will scare him if you show up at his door."

"I don’t have time to go visit anyone when my children are running off at night to get married," said Edgar.

"Fine. It is a priest named Peter. He doesn’t want to see you because he is afraid he will be stabbed again," Penelope shared.

Edgar was intrigued by Peter still being alive. "Well, that changes things. I should visit him."

"Father!"

"Peter tried to scam me when I was younger. Peter turning to a church to change his ways is not enough. He is lucky to still have his fingers. I will not stab him, but I am quite tempted to show up unannounced," said Edgar, plotting his visit.

Peter was so easy to scare that he might die from being surprised.

"Now, I understand why he nearly fainted when he saw me. I would give anything to see you two speaking in your younger days. You must forgive him now that he has wed me to Tyrion," Penelope said, thinking it was only fair.

"Did he at least do it right?" Edgar asked, remembering how his wedding went.

"He did. He is a very scared man, but he did our wedding well. Why did Kate’s husband stab him?" Penelope asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"I don’t remember it well, but I would bet it had something to do with him not shutting up. Do you care for him this much?" Edgar asked, glancing at Tyrion.

"I do love him. I wouldn’t have gone through all of this trouble if I hadn’t. I apologise that this wasn’t what you had planned for me. For me to run away with a prince and you weren’t present for the wedding," Penelope apologised.

"You don’t need to be sorry. It must be some kind of punishment for what I did with your mother," said Edgar.

"I hope it is not. You killed my grandfather, after all. I wouldn’t like it if Tyrion tried to harm you."

Edgar chuckled, amused by what Penelope said. Even at this age, Edgar wasn’t afraid of Tyrion holding a sword to him to get Penelope. He would have been impressed but not afraid.

"Go inside with your mother and siblings. I want to have a word with your husband," Edgar said, letting go of Penelope’s hand.

Edgar stuck his left hand out, daring Tyrion to go past it.

Tyrion looked down at the hand before him. He knew in time the act would drop, and Edgar would seek to speak with him. "You should show your siblings around," he said.

"I don’t want to be a widow when it has only been one day," Penelope told the two.

Penelope walked away since they would need to talk eventually, but she intended to inform her mother.

Tyrion’s smile vanished once Penelope was well inside. "Is this the talk of how you will kill me if I hurt her? If it is, you may keep it. Let us not waste our time."

Edgar lowered his hand as he walked to the right to lead Tyrion away from the door. "I won’t waste my breath warning you when I simply kill you."

Tyrion followed Edgar.

"I am going to protect her," Tyrion promised.

"Of course you are. You displayed the lengths you would go to shield her last night. Still, the few knights you have won’t be enough, and you’ve lost a lot of support from the palace. You must find a way to stand by yourself and not run to your father for help," said Edgar.

From what Edgar saw so far, Tyrion needed a lot more men loyal to him should there ever be more conflict with the palace.

"Penelope has inherited a great deal of money, but even then, I will still spoil her. Eventually, the court will push to cut off offering you support. Prepare yourself for it," Edgar advised Tyrion.

Tyrion was pleasantly surprised. He expected to be shown a hole where Edgar would bury him.

"I am helping you to prepare for what will come. Alongside Penelope, I shall offer you some wealth and a small portion of my army," Edgar said, surprising Tyrion with the offer. "Use it well to protect yourself and to take care of my daughter."