Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 106

Revenge Comes with Interest 106. The Scenery Without Channer (106/200)

106. The Scenery Without Channer

2023.11.14.

Just as Terran was about to firmly decline the Grand Duke’s proposal, someone stepped forward.

“I’m sorry, Channer is with me.”

It was Luke. He looked at the Grand Duke with a displeased expression and said,

“She’s involved with someone?”

“Yes, she is.”

The Grand Duke was visibly disappointed by his firm answer. Alicia, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief.

With that, their business at Duke Vianchan’s mansion concluded.

Leah was a little bitter about leaving empty-handed, but she didn’t dwell on it.

Terran had Grace ride ahead of him. But the immediate issue was Channer.

“Who gets to ride with me? Guess who! Ding-dong-daeng!”

Channer looked back and forth between Luke and Louis, wiggling her fingers playfully.

Then, Luke suddenly picked up Channer and placed her in front of him on his horse.

“Luke, you’re not even asking for Channer’s opinion! That’s quite discourteous to a lady!” Louis protested.

Luke paid no attention to Louis’s complaint.

“Channer, you can get off if you don’t want to ride with me.”

Luke gave Channer one last chance.

“But, why am I ‘your woman’? You have a fiancée, don’t you?”

Channer was genuinely curious.

“It’s not right for you to be riding with another man when I’m here.”

“I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to go down to my family’s territory to tell my parents.”

“Tell them what?”

“That I’m going to break off the engagement. And I’m going to ask—no, tell them that I’m going to marry you, Channer.”

“Huh?”

Channer was so shocked that she shouted loudly, making everyone turn to look.

When Terran and Leah approached, Channer stammered.

“Luke is going to dump his fiancée and marry me! He’s going to marry me whether his parents like it or not!”

“Channer, when did I say all that….”

Luke shook his head, holding his forehead in exasperation.

“Channer, congratulations! Your love has come true?” Leah said with a smile.

Channer still looked dazed at Leah’s congratulations.

Then her chin trembled, and she burst into tears. ‘Waaah—’

Channer cried sadly, as if she had endured immense hardship. Even Leah, who was watching her, teared up.

“Luke, are you sure about this?”

Terran asked him in a cold tone.

“I’ve thought about it a lot. My mind will never change now.”

“Then that’s good. Be a man and keep your promise.”

“I will.”

Then Louis came to Channer and asked.

“Channer, didn’t you like me? I thought I was very kind?”

“I like Luke *oppa* [older brother/male friend] this much more than Louis!”

Channer answered, drawing a large circle with both arms. Only then did Louis give up and laugh helplessly.

“Let’s get going now,” Terran said.

At Terran’s words, everyone turned their horses. It would take at least two days to get to Rubek from here, even traveling quickly.

The plan was to spend the night at the Galdenia mansion and leave for Rubek the next day.

By now, James and the other employees would have arrived in Rubek.

“I want to go back to Rubek soon,” Leah said, turning her head to Terran.

Rubek had become a haven, not a foreign country. She never knew she would miss the Duke’s mansion so much.

“Let’s go, Terran.”

Just as Terran was about to urge his horse forward, a boy rushed out in front of them.

“Whoa, whoa!”

Terran barely managed to control his horse, which was startled and jumping around because of the boy.

“Excuse me…! Miss, I have something to tell you.”

He looked about twelve years old, carrying a bag bigger than himself.

Looking at his worn hat, clothes, and shoes that were too small for him, his situation didn’t seem very good.

“Who are you?”

Terran was displeased with the boy who had rudely blocked their way.

“I used to work at the Grand Duke’s mansion. But not anymore.”

The boy kept looking around as he answered. He seemed worried that someone might see him.

Leah thought she should talk to the boy in detail.

“Let me down.”

“Ignore him. He’ll leave if you throw him a coin.” Terran assumed the boy was begging.

But Leah saw desperation in the boy’s face.

“It’ll only take a moment.”

Leah gently placed her hand on Terran’s hand and asked to be let down from the horse, and he obliged.

“Well, tell me what you need. Ah! Tell me your name first.”

“I’m Oliver Young.”

“Oliver Young?”

It was the first time she had heard the name, but why did it feel so familiar?

“I made all of Lady Alicia’s cosmetics.”

“What? You made them? How?”

Leah was startled.

“My parents were herbalists, and my mother was good at making cosmetics with herbs, flowers, and grains. They always sold out when they were put on the market. We always got a lot of orders.”

“Did you learn it from your mother?”

“Yes, both of my parents died of an infectious disease, so Lady Alicia brought me here.”

Leah quickly noticed the boy’s rough face and skinny body.

He had not been properly protected and cared for under Alicia.

“I eavesdropped. You asked the Lady to tell you how to make cosmetics. But the Lady doesn’t know anything. I made it all.”

It was surprising, but Leah was conflicted. She wondered if she could take the boy with her.

If Alicia had bought him as a slave, it would be like stealing someone else’s property.

So she asked the boy a few questions about that.

“I came to the Grand Duke’s mansion when I was ten years old, but I was locked in the basement and only made cosmetics, only eating three meals….”

“Oliver, do you owe Alicia anything?”

“No! There’s nothing like that. I just followed her because the Lady said she would send me to school and let me earn money.”

Leah briefly consulted with Terran.

Terran couldn’t ignore the boy’s situation after hearing about it.

How desperate must he have been to jump in front of a running horse?

“Louis!”

“Yes.”

“Put that kid on a horse! We’re taking him.”

Leah thought she had made a wasted trip to Landes. She hadn’t expected to meet someone new like this.

The moment she saw Oliver, she was reminded of the first time she met Channer.

‘In the end, I came to Landes to meet Oliver.’

It seems that inevitable encounters always happen at unexpected moments.

That was the case with Channer, and the same with Sonya and Adolf. This time it was Oliver.

Leah was excited to leave Landes. For some reason, she felt like things would go well in the future.

* * *

Channer kept glancing at Luke’s face as she rode with him.

“Why?”

“I can’t believe it.”

“That I said I’d marry you?”

“Yes.”

Then Luke suddenly slowed down and stopped his horse. The group had already ridden ahead, and it was just the two of them there.

Luke looked at Channer silently and smiled.

“Don’t you want to marry me?”

“No, no! I do. But I’ve become a bad woman who stole you from your fiancée.”

“Hah! Channer, it’s not like that. My engagement had nothing to do with you. So you don’t have to worry about it. I’ll take care of everything.”

“Yes.”

When Duke Vianchan asked Luke to give Channer to him as a mistress, Luke realized the truth as if he had been struck by lightning.

He decided not to hide his feelings anymore.

Furthermore, he couldn’t bring himself to reject Channer, who had already deeply entered his heart.

To be honest, he didn’t have the courage because he didn’t think he could handle Channer, but he hated it even more when other men coveted her.

Above all, the scenery without Channer in his life was like an unfinished painting.

“I like you too, Channer.”

“Me too.”

Luke supported Channer’s head with his hand and brought it to his lips.

He gave her a grown-up kiss, not on her forehead or cheek. After the affectionate kiss, the two looked at each other and smiled.

“*Oppa*, are you coming to my room tonight?”

“Huh?”

It would be difficult if she wanted to move forward so quickly.

“Tom goes into Pauline’s room every night. The Duke also secretly took Grace away while she was sleeping with me. So are you going to sleep with me too?”

“Do you even know what it means for a man and a woman to sleep together?”

Luke sighed as he looked at the innocent Channer.

It hadn’t been that long since she had made a fuss about having a baby after just one kiss on the forehead.

“Ah…! Ah…! It’s about making noises.”

Channer imitated a seductive voice.

“What? Who taught you that?”

Luke’s eyes widened in embarrassment.

“I just heard it; I can hear everything from Pauline’s room to my room.”

“Channer, let’s go.”

Luke said weakly, giving up on explaining.

Soon he hurried his horse. He felt the need to have a serious conversation with several people when he arrived in Rubek.

* * *

Sarah became impatient.

The reason she deliberately gave Allen the key was that she wanted to laugh at him for foolishly searching for a lost item.

If he couldn’t find it, she thought Allen would desperately realize his need for her.

However, due to Touazo’s corruption, Allen seemed too busy trying to erase his own stains to remember the key.

Moreover, she felt her life was threatened because strangers had been following her.

‘Allen cares more about his own safety than the Hamilton Merchant Guild’s memorandum.’

Sarah realized that suspicious people were following her wherever she went.

So she deliberately walked only on streets with gaslights on. Even so, the thugs were pressing her from the front and back.

‘Allen, you inhuman bastard! How can you try to kill even me!’

Now that Touazo had been arrested, he must be out of his mind. He must be quickly eliminating anyone who could cause trouble later.

‘I have to leave here. It’s only a matter of time before they catch me.’

Staying in Brasel, the capital of Galdenia, was like committing suicide.

No matter how much she thought about it, she felt that she could only save her life by running away to a place where Allen’s hands couldn’t easily reach.

‘Where could that be?’

As Sarah pondered, one person came to her mind. She grabbed a carriage and headed to Brasel Station.

Sarah was so nervous that the blood drained from the back of her hand holding the bag handle.

‘I’ll never let them take it.’

As the station approached, Sarah took out a rifle from her arms. Surely the thugs would have followed her.

Sarah hurriedly got out of the carriage and ran into the station.

She ran towards the ticket gate without even having time to buy a ticket.

Then a rough hand grabbed Sarah’s arm, and she pulled the trigger.

Bang-

‘Damn it! I missed.’

When the man who grabbed her arm wouldn’t let go, Bang, bang—she shot at the man’s legs.

The station quickly became a scene of chaos as people screamed and ran away in confusion.

Just then, a train arrived and people poured out of the exit.

Sarah didn’t miss the opportunity and ran towards the platform.