Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 26

Revenge Has Interest 26. Unhealed Wound (26/200)

Unhealed Wound

2023.08.26.

“Open the box.”

At Allen’s command, his men struggled to unpack the box, revealing a sealed letter on top.

The men who finished opening the box were horrified by the contents.

“Ugh! What is this?”

It was soaked in blood and smelled terribly fishy.

“It’s a wild boar.”

Someone had carefully packaged and sent a hunted wild boar.

“Sir, there’s a letter.”

Allen received the letter with trembling hands.

Why was the Courtois family crest stamped on the wax sealing the letter? He had a bad feeling. But he tore open the wax without hesitation.

“Damn it!”

Allen roared and crumpled the letter in his hand.

Things had gone very wrong.

Ha! He was angry that Terrence kept blocking his way.

Everything he had planned had gone perfectly, except when it came to Terrence.

With this, Terrence of Lubeck had become his greatest enemy.

Those damn gypsies had messed things up properly, so Terrence wouldn’t let it go. But he wasn’t afraid.

‘But he’s going to run the Hamilton General Store? It’s a small profit compared to the Duke’s family’s wealth? Could it be that he was friends with Leah’s father?’

As far as he knew, the two had no contact.

‘I’m not going to be tied down to a general store. What can you do with a hole-in-the-wall shop like that?’

Allen’s lips twisted grotesquely.

‘Okay, let’s see who wins. I’ve been through thick and thin. I’ll never lose.’

Allen felt the flames engulfing his soul were chilling rather than hot.

On the other hand, he was thrilled that Terrence’s existence aroused his competitive spirit.

‘You don’t know how thrilling it is to trample on someone and stand on top of them.’

Now that things had come to this, he decided to think of it as a game for competition.

Every fight needs a rival to increase the chances of success. To do that, he needed to gain power.

Then, a clever idea came to his mind.

‘Soon, the selection order for the Crown Princess of Galdenia will be issued. Somehow, our family must produce the Crown Princess.’

That was the only way he could receive the title of Duke. And he had a sister who was as beautiful as he was.

‘If Rivette becomes the Crown Princess, I’ll be the same status as Terrence.’

In addition, his family’s status and power in Galdenia would be greatly increased.

Putting aside taking Grace for a while, he had to focus on making his sister the Crown Princess and becoming a Duke from a Baron.

‘Just you wait, the next time we meet, I’ll be the Duke of McDowell.’

Allen gritted his teeth as he looked at the letter in his hand.

* * *

Rafa, who had been barely released, took Chenelle and came to the Duke’s residence. Of course, not all members of the organization were acquitted.

Maddux and his men, who were directly involved in Grace’s kidnapping, were sentenced to one year in prison. Still, it was a relief that they escaped the death penalty.

“Wow! The sisters lived in a palace!”

The innocent Chenelle’s eyes widened as she looked at the Duke’s residence.

But Rafa still remembered Terrence’s warning.

[I’m going to take your granddaughter hostage. So, you better not do anything stupid.]

[Yes? Chenelle as a hostage?]

[Grace likes your granddaughter, but I don’t. If you guys do something stupid again in the future…]

He said Chenelle’s life could not be guaranteed.

Not only that, but the Hamilton General Store, which he had managed to buy, was taken away by Terrence.

Of course, it wasn’t free. He received the same amount from the Duke that he had paid Allen for it.

[Smuggling, violence, selling opium, etc. If you do anything that violates the laws of the Lubeck Empire, you and your granddaughter will die.]

[I’ll keep that in mind.]

[You said with your own mouth that you would be my dog, so keep your promise.]

[Don’t worry.]

It might be a good thing. This was an opportunity to completely wash his hands of dirty work. But the Duke didn’t just threaten him.

Even though he called Chenelle a hostage, he allowed her to live with Grace.

‘What kind of threat is he going to make today?’

He was very worried, but he came this far trusting only Grace. Soon, Rafa and Chenelle were led to the drawing-room by the butler.

“Grandpa! This place is so cool!”

The immature Chenelle was happy without even knowing that she was going to be separated from her grandfather.

As they entered the drawing-room, Grace rose from her seat to greet Chenelle.

“Sister!”

“Chenelle, you’re here?”

The two were as happy as sisters who had been separated for a long time.

On the other hand, Rafa couldn’t even lift his head because he was too ashamed to see Grace. Above all, he was conscious of Terrence, who was sitting on a large sofa and reading a newspaper.

“Greetings to the young lady and the Duke.”

He bowed to Terrence, who was not looking at him.

“Please sit down, Grandfather.”

Rafa didn’t know what to do and fidgeted before finally sitting down. Just in time, Pauline appeared in the drawing-room with refreshments.

“Pauline, sister!”

“Chenelle, you’re finally here.”

At that moment, Terrence folded his newspaper, put it on the table, and looked at Grace.

“I’ll leave you alone, so you can talk comfortably, okay?”

“You can stay with us.”

Grace tried to hold Terrence back, but he smirked at Rafa, who had turned pale because of him.

“It’ll be more comfortable without me.”

“Then, I’ll tell you separately.”

“Okay.”

Only after Terrence left with a cold air did Rafa’s tense face relax somewhat.

Pauline prepared warm tea and refreshments to help him relax.

“I’ll forget that you kidnapped me.”

“I-I’m sorry, young lady.”

“Pauline and I will take good care of Chenelle. We’ll send her home once a week.”

At Leah’s words, Chenelle, who was eating a cookie, shouted loudly.

“Really? Can I live with you sisters, too?”

“Yes.”

“Yay!”

“Chenelle, shall we go on a tour of the Duke’s residence with me?”

“Yes, sister!”

Pauline took Chenelle out of the drawing-room.

It seemed better for Chenelle to leave for a while if the two of them were going to have a serious business discussion.

“Take a look at this.”

Leah slid a pile of letters sent by noble ladies in front of Rafa. Rafa just blinked his eyes and said nothing.

“These are letters from the noble ladies of Lubeck who want to order Chenelle’s lace.”

“Yes? Is that true?”

“Even the Empress sent a letter. She wants to own the lace made by Chenelle.”

“Huh… !”

Rafa’s face turned red, as if he was greatly shocked.

He couldn’t believe that it was just his granddaughter’s handiwork, but it was a skill that made money. Moreover, the Empress herself sent a letter.

“Grandfather, shall we start talking about business in earnest now?”

The smile disappeared from Leah’s face. She had a determined look on her face and handed Rafa several documents.

* * *

Before dinner, Leah urgently looked for James.

“James, please send this letter to Aiden, brother.”

“You… wrote a letter?”

“Yes? Why is that strange?”

“It’s never happened before.”

‘Grace had never written a letter to her brother before.’

“He’s my only brother, so I should say hello to him from time to time.”

Leah was not flustered. Just because she hadn’t done it before didn’t mean she couldn’t do it in the future.

“Yes, that’s right. I’ll send it right away.”

Leah had also written about Chenelle in the letter. She thought Aiden should know if they were going to do business.

He might object to a noble young lady becoming a so-called merchant. In addition, she wanted to hear answers to various questions.

“Where is Terrence? It’s almost dinner time.”

“He must be in his office.”

“I’ll go see him.”

Leah kept knocking on the office door, but there was no response. It seemed that Terrence was not in his office.

Or maybe he was so engrossed in his work that he couldn’t hear the knocking. She carefully opened the door.

‘It’s dark. Why isn’t the light on?’

Leah entered the dark office and turned on the light first. But Terrence was lying on his mahogany desk.

“Terrence, are you tired?”

He must have fallen asleep because he was tired from work.

Leah slowly approached him. But she froze at the sight of Terrence sweating and in pain.

“Ugh… ! Don’t retreat… !”

He was suffering from a nightmare of war.

“I… didn’t kill him!”

Like when he was in pain in the cabin, Terrence’s painful ego was revived and brutally stirred him.

“Sa, save… me!”

Terrence had always shown only a strong side, so she thought he had overcome the wounds of war. She didn’t know that he was still suffering.

‘It wasn’t an easy wound to heal.’

She was foolish to think so simply. This must be the difference between someone who has experienced war and someone who hasn’t.

“Grace, don’t go… !”

“!?”

Leah decided that she couldn’t leave him in hell any longer. She quickly approached Terrence and woke him up.

“Wake up, Terrence!”

“Ugh.”

“I’m here!”

Leah forcibly lifted Terrence up and held his face in both hands. To open his eyes and face reality.

“Open your eyes! Quickly!”

As she shouted loudly, Terrence’s eyelids fluttered like butterfly wings. Soon, his black eyes, stained with pain, stared at Leah.

“Grace?”

“Yes, I’m not going anywhere.”

Only then did Terrence feel relieved as if he had escaped from hell, and he pulled her into his arms.

Leah thought it was urgent to comfort Terrence, who was trembling. So, she kept patting his shoulder and stroking his head with her hands.

“I thought you were dead.”

Terrence, who had been wandering on the battlefield, was greatly devastated by the news that Grace had been kidnapped and killed. All of that was a dream, but it was as vivid as reality.

“I’m not dead. I’m here with Terrence.”

Leah’s heart ached. Whenever Terrence revealed his battered wounds like this, she was overwhelmed with the urge to love him.