Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 157

Revenge Has Interest 157

157. The Collapsed Terrun

2024.01.04.

Terrun didn’t leave his bedroom for a while. He read and reread the letter left by Leah.

It was more like a memo than a letter.

That’s what hurt the most. He would have preferred her arguing and getting angry at him.

Was this the only way she could leave, as if running away?

She must have known better than anyone that he would never allow her to leave under any circumstances, so there was no other way.

“How could you do this to me?”

Was she smiling so brightly to try to run away like this? To reassure him?

All the while, she was filled with resentment and anger, plotting to escape from him. Just imagining it made his stomach churn.

It was strange how sunny the weather was today.

‘You should curse and criticize me!’

That way, he could beg for forgiveness or explain himself.

She didn’t give him any chance, suffering and judging alone, and even running away like this.

‘A trip? She doesn’t even know when she’ll be back, and she tells me not to worry?’

She was a woman who knew exactly what was most cruel to him.

Knowing full well that he hated such vague promises, if she was trying to cause him pain, she succeeded spectacularly.

‘I was just trying to protect you, is that wrong?’

Terrun wanted to ask instead. How could a woman who had to overcome a life-threatening crisis even with a cold possibly handle pregnancy and childbirth?

‘I only thought of you.’

He loved her so much that he only wanted to protect her, but he didn’t know if that was such a great sin to deserve such cruel punishment.

Even if he went back to the past, if that was the only way he could protect her, he would have made the same choice.

“Hah…!”

Terrun gasped, clutching the letter.

The fact that Leah had left him felt like a heavy punishment, pressing down on his body.

His vision spun, and a feeling of nausea washed over him as if someone was roughly rummaging through his head.

“I have to go find her…”

He staggered to his feet.

‘I just need to bring you back.’

The problem he faced was simple. But all the strength had left his body, making it difficult to move even a finger.

He should be striding forward, kicking the door open, but his body was as if bound by iron chains, unable to move.

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, he felt nauseous, the ceiling moved, and his vision blurred. Just then, he heard a voice calling him urgently.

“Your Grace!”

Thud! Terrun collapsed to the floor.

Only James’s urgent cries and busy footsteps could be heard.

It seemed that his brain and heart had broken down.

Soon, a pitch-black darkness covered his body like a curtain, and he could no longer hear people’s voices.

* * *

The news that Leah had disappeared reached Vivian and Theresa in a few days.

The fact that Terrun had collapsed from shock and was unconscious was a shock that was hard to accept.

Vivian and Theresa appeared at the Courtois mansion as if by appointment.

James and the other employees were seized with tension at the appearance of the two.

“Sister, it’s perfect.”

Vivian admired Theresa’s face.

“Congratulations, I heard you had a healthy prince? How about I become a godmother?”

“That would be great.”

The two were surprisingly not serious. Then, Alicia, who was next to Theresa, said to herself.

“The Young Lady’s place was very big. This large mansion feels empty.”

Although Grace was a small and frail woman, her presence was by no means insignificant.

“Why is the Duke bedridden? Didn’t they say he never collapsed even on the battlefield?”

Theresa’s brow furrowed.

“The mental shock must be great. My doctor is treating him, so he will come to his senses soon.”

“I know, why do you decide other people’s lives as you please?”

Theresa stared at Vivian head-on and criticized her.

Then Vivian just looked at Theresa with a dumbfounded face and didn’t make any excuses.

No, she didn’t want to.

“Do you know what your and the Duke’s biggest mistake is?”

“What is it?”

“The arrogance that others will never know.”

“I know, Grace is a smart person, so she suspected and was left behind. But sister, you didn’t come all the way to Lubeck to criticize me, did you?”

“Yes, I came to criticize, scold, and reprimand you.”

“What’s the point at this point? I made the best choice for Grace too.”

Vivian didn’t feel good even while speaking.

She couldn’t say that Theresa’s words were all wrong, but she also felt wronged to be criticized for her judgment being arrogant.

People who didn’t see Grace’s urgent situation can easily say that, but at the time, her physical condition was so serious that her life was hanging by a thread.

Just then, the doctor who treated Terrun came to find the two.

“How is the Duke?”

Vivian asked urgently.

“He will recover soon.”

It was just fainting due to severe shock. Theresa burst into laughter at the doctor’s words.

“He even fainted because she said she was going on a trip. His fiancée isn’t a child, tsk tsk.”

“He’s worried because she’s weak.”

“It’s just control disguised as protection. The Young Lady is an adult and a strong person who can do very difficult things. In my opinion, it seems like a tragedy created by the Duke’s possessiveness.”

“It’s extreme love. People who haven’t experienced it will never know. It’s the desperation of not wanting to lose someone more precious than life.”

Vivian didn’t stay still either.

There are parts that people who haven’t experienced true love like Theresa can never understand.

Terrun regained consciousness and went to the front of the drawing room. But he had many thoughts at the two women’s argument.

Because Vivian and Theresa’s words were all right.

It was true that he was afraid of losing his woman, and the words that it was control disguised as protection were not wrong.

In the end, it was all his fault. So Terrun asked the two women.

“What should I do from now on?”

It was the first time in his life that he had asked someone else for advice when making a decision.

When Terrun appeared in a haggard state, Theresa and Vivian stopped arguing.

This time, their advice was needed. He shouldn’t hurt Leah anymore.

“What else can you do but go find her.”

“She said she was going on a trip, right? Then waiting leisurely is respect.”

The two gave conflicting opinions. Then Chaner ran into the drawing room.

“Hello? Empress, Your Majesty.”

“Oh! Chaner.”

When Vivian called her kindly, Theresa took out a beautifully wrapped candy from her arms.

But the side Chaner headed to was the Duke.

“Mister, Sister can’t come back.”

“What?”

Not that she’s not coming back, but that she can’t come back.

“Chaner, tell me in detail.”

“The ship Sister took will sink into the sea.”

Terrun urgently called Luke.

He ordered him to find out immediately what ship Leah had taken and where she had gone.

“It wasn’t Freuden.”

As Theresa muttered, Terrun remembered the question Leah had asked before.

She was curious about which country had the most developed medicine.

‘Freuden doesn’t need to take a ship. Then she went to the New World, Lomerica [a fictionalized version of America].’

But Chaner said there would be a ship accident. Terrun roughly grabbed his head.

* * *

Leah started to suffer from severe seasickness shortly after boarding the ship.

She had booked the best cabin, but she still got seasick.

“Ugh!”

When she showed signs of vomiting, Sarah quickly held out a basin.

“What should we do? You can’t eat anything and just keep vomiting.”

“It’s… strange. I don’t get seasick.”

“That’s right. Miss, you’ve been to the New World with the Master before.”

“Yeah. But it’s not my body.”

“Ah! That’s right.”

At that time, it was the healthy Leah Hamilton’s body, so she didn’t get seasick.

Sarah thought that Leah wouldn’t be able to endure until she arrived in Lomerica like this.

“Miss, lie down. I’ll go find a doctor.”

“What doctor for seasickness.”

“Still. There might be medicine to stop the seasickness.”

Sarah headed to the restaurant where the upper class people gathered.

Of course, there was a doctor on the cruise ship, but she didn’t trust him for some reason.

There were so many people asking him to see them that he treated them perfunctorily and quickly disappeared.

Sarah went around to each table looking for a doctor.

But as if they were pretending not to know, no one claimed to be a doctor. Well, they wouldn’t want to bother taking care of patients while traveling.

Just as Sarah was about to give up and go back, she heard a voice calling her from behind.

“I’m a doctor.”

Sarah turned around urgently and saw a noblewoman.

“You’re a doctor? How can a woman be a doctor?”

She had never seen a female doctor in Galdenia or Lubeck.

They could go to school, but she had never actually seen a woman working in a professional job such as a lawyer, doctor, or scientist.

“In Lomerica, women can be doctors too. I’m a surgeon, Elizabeth Hunt.”

“Ah, I see. Then please take a look at our Miss. She hasn’t stopped getting seasick for days.”

Sarah took the female doctor to the cabin.

How fortunate that she had a good impression and readily helped. She couldn’t afford to distinguish between men and women right now.

Finally, when she opened the cabin door and went inside, Leah was vomiting with her face buried in a basin.

“Miss, the doctor is here.”