Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 135

Revenge Comes with Interest Episode 135 (135/200)

Episode 135

2023.12.13.

Theresa didn’t speak at length, considering how long she had known Luke.

“Live well with Chaner.”

“Yes…? I will.”

It was a truly Theresa-like blessing.

“Luke and I will excuse ourselves, so you ladies can have some quality time together.”

Terran tactfully rescued Luke.

He had been pale even before meeting Theresa, and it was almost pitiful to watch.

In any case, Theresa didn’t talk much, so she wouldn’t even think of grilling Luke.

Thus, only the women remained in the drawing room.

“Chaner, that name sounds familiar. Are you perhaps Chaner Lace?”

One of the maids pretended to recognize the name, and Leah nodded with a smile.

“So you’re the one who makes that lace. I thought you’d be much older.”

“Excuse me, but how old are you?”

This time, another maid asked Chaner.

“Twenty.”

“Chaner, you’re twenty-one now.”

“Ah, that’s right. Twenty-one.”

“How can you make lace if you don’t even know your own age? It’s so complicated and difficult.”

It seemed Chaner had rubbed the maids the wrong way.

It was understandable; they must have gone through fierce competition to be by the Emperor’s side.

But then, a strange woman they didn’t know where she came from appeared and acted freely in front of the Emperor, so they must have been jealous.

“Please take good care of our Chaner.”

Leah didn’t want to explain about Chaner to them. She didn’t feel the need to.

Chaner didn’t come to Galdensia to impress Theresa’s maids.

“I called Chaner because she needs to help me with my work.”

Theresa explained the reason for calling Chaner.

The task was that she would attend the final interview to select a maid who could learn makeup from Alicia.

Chaner nodded to Theresa in response.

“How many passed the practical exam, Alicia?”

Leah thought it was time to get to work since Chaner had come. That way, she could return to the Duke’s mansion sooner.

She had been worried the whole time because she seemed to have been away from home and work for too long.

“About ten passed.”

“What about their status?”

“We decided not to look at it.”

Theresa answered instead. Leah also thought it was a wise decision.

Strictly speaking, those who were not nobles could not become maids.

Of course, even if they were not nobles, they could become lower-ranking maids who did odd jobs in the Imperial Palace in principle. However, the Emperor’s exclusive maids had to be nobles.

It was right to be careful in selecting the Emperor’s maids.

However, not all nobles were excellent, so she agreed with Theresa’s intention to select only based on skill and character.

“Everyone had good skills.”

Alicia must have looked very carefully. If she made a mistake, she would have to take all the responsibility.

Alicia said she would select only three out of ten.

That way, they could flexibly work in pairs, including herself.

“There’s a man too.”

Chaner said casually, crunching on a cookie.

“Young lady, there are no men among the ten. How can there be a man when it’s a job to serve His Majesty right by his side?”

Alicia jumped up.

She had checked several times. She didn’t know their status because it wasn’t recorded, but she had selected all women.

“Alicia Ajumma [Korean term for ‘aunt’ or ‘middle-aged woman’] saw it wrong. The best one there is a man.”

“Oh my! How creepy! Young lady, are you a fortune teller?”

“I guess you can’t help your roots even if your status changes.”

“I heard there are women among the gypsies who communicate with the dead like mediums.”

The maids made a fuss.

They moved far away from Chaner and openly expressed their disgust.

Leah was about to say something sternly because she didn’t want to put up with them anymore. But Chaner spoke first.

“I’m not lowly. My sister said I’m a genius. And I’m Baroness Chaner Bizak, you know?”

“If Chaner is lowly, then I shouldn’t be here. Maids.”

Alicia also spoke in an agitated tone, as if she was angry.

“I was a courtesan.”

“A courtesan is someone who gets paid by royalty or nobles to be their lover… Oh my goodness!”

The maids made a fuss as if they had heard something they shouldn’t have.

Meanwhile, Theresa watched the scene with interest. Her face was full of enjoyment, as if watching a fight.

“Are you all surprised now, maids?”

Leah calmly wrapped up the situation.

At that moment, one of the maids took off the lace muffler around her neck and threw it to the servant standing at the door, saying.

“Burn this. Or throw it away.”

The muffler that the maid had taken off was lace made by Chaner.

Leah got up from her seat and took the lace muffler back from the servant’s hand.

“If you’re going to throw it away, I’ll buy it.”

“Lady Grace, you’re being rude. You’re treating me like a mere merchant. I’m going to throw that muffler away. Give it to me.”

“Wait, now that I think about it, you’ve already thrown it away, so it doesn’t have an owner. Then there’s no problem if I pick it up, right?”

Leah didn’t back down either. At that moment, Chaner shook the cookie crumbs on her hands towards the maids.

Chaner looked at the maids and said.

“You accursed, plague-ridden, lightning-struck bitches!”

She rattled off a string of vulgar curses and slapped the maid’s forehead hard with her palm.

“Eek!”

The maid screamed and fell backward, and Chaner took off a mosquito stuck to her palm and smiled brightly.

“I caught a plague-ridden, lightning-struck mosquito sucking blood on your forehead.”

The maid looked at Theresa in disbelief at Chaner’s actions, and Leah and Alicia struggled to hold back their laughter.

Then Theresa laughed loudly. She laughed so much that she even shed tears.

The maids’ expressions hardened as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have when they saw Theresa laughing.

Theresa had never laughed so loudly before.

She had chuckled or laughed sarcastically when she was self-deprecating or criticizing others, but she had never laughed so loudly and freely as if she was watching a funny scene.

Theresa laughed like that for a while, then suddenly said with a straight face.

“You are to pack your bags and return to your respective territories immediately.”

Theresa ordered her three maids to return home.

That was a notice that they were being stripped of their maid positions.

“Your Majesty! You can’t do this.”

“Won’t I have three new maids tomorrow? So I don’t need you.”

“Have you forgotten? We are the best noble ladies in Galdensia.”

“What good are noble ladies? You are of no help to me. And to the Emperor, maids are just beings to be replaced when they get boring. So you shouldn’t delude yourselves into thinking that you are making me shine.”

The maids couldn’t say anything, as if they had been hit where it hurt by Theresa’s words.

The reason they had applied for the Emperor’s maid position in the first place was precisely because of that taste. They coveted the title of noble maids who made the Emperor shine.

Moreover, Theresa was always wearing a veil, so people’s attention was entirely on the maids.

“Still, how can you abandon us and keep those people?”

“If you say one more word, I will punish you with the death penalty.”

The maids disappeared like a receding tide at Theresa’s roar.

An awkward atmosphere flowed in the quiet drawing room.

“Thanks to you, I had a good laugh.”

“The most exciting thing in the world is watching a fight.”

Leah finally drank her tea leisurely.

Theresa complained about why she had kept those maids by her side. She said it was a kind of compensation.

She couldn’t show the Emperor’s face, so she wore beautiful and well-born ladies like accessories.

She regretted her past vanity.

“It’s not easy to get true subjects, so don’t criticize me too much.”

“Yes!”

The atmosphere in the drawing room brightened again with Chaner’s cheerful answer.

Leah was proud of Chaner. She was impressed by her ability to respond confidently without getting hurt.

‘She will have a very good married life too.’

She didn’t have to worry about Chaner anymore.

* * *

Leah and Terran bathed together.

The bathroom in the Galdensia mansion wasn’t big enough to hold a swimming competition, but it was big enough to show Terran her swimming skills.

“It wasn’t a bluff.”

Terran was surprised by Leah’s swimming skills.

Before, she had sunk as soon as she entered the water, but this time she swam well like a mermaid living in the water.

Especially when she swam with her waist swaying flexibly, it was enough to fall in love.

“Let’s have a rematch when we get back to the Duke’s mansion.”

“Anytime.”

‘Terran, you will never see the real Grace again.’

What Leah regretted was that Grace had not met Terran.

She wanted her to meet Terran at least once. But her soul was too weak to come out.

‘Don’t forget that there is one more woman who truly loved you.’

She couldn’t say it out loud, but she wanted Terran to know.

That way, Grace’s love for Terran would not be in vain.

“Grace, can we go back tomorrow if we just pick the Emperor’s maid?”

“Yes, I want to go back to our house as soon as possible.”

“Our house…”

Terran liked that Leah called the Duke’s mansion that.

Even he had never thought of the Duke’s mansion as our house.

“Grace, do you know that?”

“What?”

“It’s our house when Grace is at the Duke’s mansion.”

“Do you know that?”

“Copycat.”

“It’s our house when Terran is at the Duke’s mansion. Chaner, Pauline, Sonia, Adolf, Luke, Louis, Sarah, James, Oliver, and all the employees have to be there too.”

He brushed Leah’s fallen hair back and looked at her affectionately.

“Amazing. You’re doing that hard work again.”

Leah’s face flushed at his compliment.

She couldn’t have done any of it without Terran’s help. Only the person involved didn’t know.

“Tomorrow, just bear with it for one more day.”

“Yes, we have to go to where our family is waiting.”

The moment Terran said those words, Leah felt both happiness and anxiety at the same time.

She hoped that this life given to her would continue smoothly.