Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 13

Revenge Has Interest 13 (13/200)

2023.08.13.

Terrence was in turmoil as he watched Grace sleeping. He knew she was only pretending, likely so Grace could relax and sleep soundly herself.

But he could vividly feel her gaze.

The light purplish eyes looking at his face, the pink lips, the golden hair brushing against his skin and tickling him.

Especially her baby-like breathing made his heart flutter like pigeon wings.

‘I should commend my patience.’

Because he hadn’t given in to his baser instincts, hadn’t acted like a beast in gentleman’s clothing.

If he kept his eyes open any longer, he felt like he would devour the small, delicate rabbit in an instant, so he pretended to be asleep.

When was the last time he felt lust for a woman?

It was the first time since he secretly looked at magazines with Aiden, magazines featuring only adult men, during his boyhood.

No, the nature of his desire was different now. Back then, it was simply eye candy, a purely instinctual response.

Looking at the woman sleeping comfortably close to him, he felt a burning sensation in his chest.

Suddenly, he imagined a world without Grace by his side. Then Terrence shook his head roughly and stared at her sleeping form.

‘Am I desiring you?’

Before he knew it, he couldn’t even imagine the Duke’s mansion without Grace. The mere thought of it left him feeling empty, as if a large hole had been punched in his lungs.

He raised a finger and caressed Grace’s lips.

‘Since when has my heart been filled with you?’

It was time to be honest with his feelings. He didn’t want to be huddled in the darkness like a wounded beast, wary of others and wallowing in self-pity.

He didn’t even realize that he had already escaped from the dark swamp.

‘It’s you, the person who pulled me out of the swamp.’

Terrence carefully got out of bed and stared intently at the sleeping Grace.

In the past, he thought the dark swamp was where he belonged. But now, he hated it terribly.

Then he remembered Grace walking across the meadow in the distance. Her face smiling innocently as she said she had found a horse. In the end, he had been saved long ago.

‘I like you, Grace.’

He wasn’t sure if it had reached the point of love yet, but it was true that his heart was full of her and overflowing. He had never been afraid of someone else’s death, no matter when it came. Now, he didn’t want his side to be empty.

Terrence lay down facing Grace.

Her breathing brought a sense of relief, and his pounding heart began to stabilize. He should breathe with her in rhythm and fall asleep.

Terrence’s arm wrapped around Grace’s body.

‘It would be a problem if you fell to the floor.’

Terrence also closed his eyes tightly. He knew how precious this peace given to him was, so he didn’t want to waste it in the slightest.

And he fell into a deep sleep for the first time in a long time. The peace seemed to last for a long time.

* * *

“Ugh… Don’t kill me!”

Leah was reliving her wedding day. Inside the empty church, the wedding aisle was stained red with the blood of her father, who had been shot.

“Father!”

‘If you just disappear, the Hamilton Trading Company will be mine!’

Allen’s large hands mercilessly strangled Leah’s neck. The blond, handsome man had the face of a devil as he tried to break Leah’s slender neck.

“Sa, save me!”

How much she had loved him; she was even prepared to give up everything for Allen.

But he shot her father and even tried to kill her, who was wearing a white wedding dress.

“I don’t want to die… ah!”

Not only was she deceived by false love, but she also lost everything.

Allen’s eyes, filled with greed, were reflected in Leah’s eyes.

“You are a de…mon!”

She was resentful to die so easily according to his will. Leah grabbed his hands, which were strangling her neck, with all her might.

“I… won’t forgive you!”

Leah shook him off with all her might, and Allen disappeared into smoke. But Leah’s pain remained.

Just then, a man’s voice was heard in the distance.

“Grace, wake up!”

Terrence woke up at dawn. When he opened his eyes, he saw Grace strangling herself with her own hands.

She was screaming and suffering, yelling at someone. He quickly knocked Grace’s hands away from her neck.

“Open your eyes! Grace!”

Terrence hugged Grace and lifted her up. Then Grace looked at Terrence with tearful eyes.

He didn’t know if she was still asleep, but she wasn’t in a clear state of mind. Terrence tapped her face lightly with the back of his hand. Only then did her hazy pupils return to normal.

“Duke Courtois.”

Grace’s weak voice.

“Yes, it’s me.”

Leah was relieved to know that someone was by her side. She cried and hugged Terrence tightly.

“I… I was scared.”

“It’s okay now, it’s all a dream.”

Terrence stroked Grace’s back and comforted her repeatedly.

Leah was sincerely grateful to Terrence.

She was terrified of Allen, that son of a bitch, coming to her in her dreams and trying to kill her. But it was a secret she could never tell him.

Still, at this moment, she desperately needed Terrence’s warm embrace. Because he was the only place to escape.

* * *

Allen took down the sign of the Hamilton Trading Company and put up the sign of the ‘McDowell Trading Company.’

He hadn’t completely erased the remnants of Richard Hamilton yet.

But soon this trading company would be reborn as the McDowell Trading Company, and people would not remember the old Hamilton Trading Company.

“Sir, the sales documents are ready.”

Allen’s secretary came with a stack of documents. That meant there were many documents to be approved soon.

“Are you going to sell all the Hamilton general stores across the country?”

The secretary asked Allen with a slightly worried voice.

“I’m going to sell them. What good is that little general store? The world has changed. You have to invest in ships, weapons, and railroads to make big money.”

“But the Hamilton general store is…”

The secretary, who was trying to dissuade Allen, stopped when his brow furrowed.

In fact, the Hamilton general store was the foundation of the trading company.

Even when other countries were at war, the general stores spread throughout Gardencia steadily made money, though not a lot.

People from neighboring countries came to buy food and necessities.

Why bother selling a general store that makes money on its own?

“Is there a letter from Lübeck [a major port city in Germany]?”

Allen asked his secretary the same question for days.

“No, there isn’t.”

“Really? Okay, go out.”

When the secretary left, Allen got up from his seat and approached the window. He sent a letter to Grace Bizac, whom he had met in Lübeck, saying he wanted to meet her once.

‘She would be perfect as my partner for the court banquet in the fall.’

It wasn’t that he hadn’t looked at the young ladies of Gardencia’s nobility.

However, due to the unpleasant incident with Leah, it was impossible to take a woman from this country to the imperial banquet as a partner for the time being.

Of course, it could be an excuse.

‘Grace Bizac, from the family of a war hero, a baron family with a long history and reputation, even if they don’t have much wealth.’

In addition, Grace was beautiful and intelligent. He had only seen her once at Leah’s funeral, but she wouldn’t leave his mind.

‘I heard that her relationship with Duke Terrence Courtois is not good, and they are on the verge of breaking off their engagement… I think I should go to Lübeck myself.’

There were also rumors that Terrence hated women.

If so, he was the only man who could have her. He had a personality that he had to get what he wanted by any means, so he couldn’t give up.

* * *

It had been a few days since they came up from Bern. Terrence was busy with his backlog of work, and Leah was living her usual life.

“Miss, the Duke wants to see you in the back garden.”

Leah, who was cutting out Allen’s article from the newspaper, hurried to the back garden.

She hadn’t had time to talk to him personally since returning from Bern. But why was her heart pounding so much at his words?

‘Don’t get excited. You shouldn’t.’

Leah tried to control her uncontrollably wavering heart. Finally, Leah arrived at the back garden and saw Terrence reading a newspaper under a white awning.

“Miss, I’ll come back later.”

“Okay, Pauline.”

Leah remembered the night she had a nightmare.

She ended up revealing the wounds she wanted to hide from Terrence. But the comfort and warmth he gave her still remained.

Her face flushed just thinking about how she had been comforted in his arms all night.

“Duke Courtois.”

“Did you come?”

“You were reading the newspaper.”

“Grace, now call me by my name like before.”

“Yes…? I will.”

“I’ve finished reading the newspaper, so take it later.”

“Thank you.”

When Leah smiled shyly, Terrence smiled back at her.

“Why did you want to see me?”

Why was it? It wasn’t that he had anything to say, but rather, he wanted to see Grace.

Once he acknowledged the feelings that were sprouting in his heart and growing vigorously, he felt at ease. But he was still embarrassed to say it honestly.

“Ah, that’s… um. I don’t think I properly thanked you for writing a letter to the Sultan of Turkey.”

‘Now?’

“It’s only natural. Um, I want to thank you too.”

“What…”

“I don’t know what kind of nightmare I had, but you helped me.”

But Terrence’s expression was ambiguous. He didn’t seem to want to receive her thanks.

‘Would it have been as powerful as your comfort?’

It was then. Terrence felt a thrill all over his body and his eyes widened.

He didn’t know why he had only realized it now, even though he had been with Grace for several years. She herself was his only cure.

Terrence didn’t breathe. He couldn’t move an inch, feeling as if Grace had entered his eyes and heart and was embedded there.

Since when had he thought of Grace even while working? He looked at the clock and longed for the time to meet her. In addition, his heart reacted naturally.

When the blues clung to his wounds like leeches and sucked his blood, he thought of Grace.

Then, like magic, he escaped from bad feelings and felt as if he had teleported to a place where light stayed.

‘I want to have you completely.’

The awakening came in a very trivial moment.