Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 27

Revenge Comes with Interest 27. I’m Going to Marry Oppa (27/200)

I’m Going to Marry Oppa

2023.08.27.

A pitiful beast endlessly craving affection. He was as pitiable as a cat licking its wounded leg and crying.

‘If I were my old self, I could love you to my heart’s content.’

Now, she couldn’t easily love just because she wanted to. Her soul was tattered and torn by Allen. How could she love anyone in that state?

To be more honest, she was afraid of being hurt again. She had paid too harsh a price.

‘Instead of love, I’ll comfort you.’

Leah barely managed to steady her wavering heart. She waited for Terrence’s rough breathing to subside. She was willing to comfort him as much as needed for him to regain his composure.

After about thirty minutes, Terrence was no longer struggling.

“Terrence, let’s have dinner together. It’s our first day living with Chanele.”

“Alright.”

Leah helped Terrence up from his seat and subtly released his hand. But his large hand grabbed her wrist.

“Grace, can’t you… give me a kiss?”

“!?”

Terrence spoke shyly, like a teenage boy.

Leah struggled countless times in that instant. But she didn’t want to give him a kiss out of pity. She kissed the back of Terrence’s hand.

“Let’s go.”

He initially looked disappointed but soon laughed it off, looking dejected.

‘Is this what they call a harsh price?’

It used to be the complete opposite. Grace would crave her love, begging her to hold her and kiss her.

Each time, she was too busy trying to avoid the situation.

Even if others praised Grace’s appearance as goddess-like, she looked like a naive child in her eyes.

More than anything, seeing Grace reminded her of herself, only to a different degree, which made her uncomfortable.

‘I’m grateful she even kissed my hand.’

She, as a person, wouldn’t even hold Grace’s hand, so compared to that, she was very generous now.

Leah took Terrence’s hand and headed to the dining room. Even this was uncomfortable, but she needed to take care of him, at least for today.

“Terrence, I don’t hate you.”

Leah said without looking at him.

“!?”

Terrence also looked quite surprised.

“I just need time. So…”

“I understand.”

His voice was much brighter. Since Grace would be by his side forever anyway, he wouldn’t be impatient.

* * *

It was a rare occasion for everyone to gather. Leah wanted to introduce Chanele to Terrence, as well as Luke and James.

So, they decided to sit down and have a meal together, regardless of their status.

Of course, the perceptive Pauline bathed Chanele and dressed her in clothes befitting someone from the Duke’s family.

She also neatly combed and tied up her tangled red hair, which she hadn’t brushed well. After that, she became a completely different person.

“I didn’t know Chanele was this pretty.”

Indeed, it all depended on how you dressed up a person. There was no trace of the gypsy in Chanele.

“Sister, am I pretty?”

Chanele asked for confirmation again, seemingly pleased with Grace’s compliment.

“Very pretty.”

Especially the freckles scattered on her nose were cute.

On the other hand, Terrence roughly knew about Chanele from what Grace had told him.

‘Twenty years old, but her mind hasn’t matured?’

However, he felt a mystical aura from Chanele.

Although her speech was awkward and she acted foolish, it was as if she was contemplating people’s souls. Of course, this was purely his subjective opinion.

“Chanele, you should greet Duke Terrence Courtois.”

“Terrence Kuoituoa? Difficult. Hello? Mister!”

Chanele greeted Terrence loudly.

An awkward silence filled the dining room in an instant. Terrence’s face, in particular, looked very unpleasant. He picked at his ear with his finger.

‘What did I just hear?’

Luke and James were stifling their laughter, chuckling.

“Chanele, say ‘Hello, Duke.’”

Pauline, with a pale face, told Chanele again.

“Du… Duke? Ah! I don’t know, hello? Mister!”

At Chanele’s greeting, a slight twitch appeared on one side of Terrence’s face.

‘Mi.ster?’

The word became a throwing star, flying and embedding itself one by one in his chest.

Pauline bit her lip, suppressing her laughter.

Then Luke, unable to bear it any longer, burst out laughing. Soon, James also turned his head and laughed.

Then Chanele said to Luke,

“Why are you laughing, oppa [Korean term for older brother or a term of endearment for a close male friend]?”

“Oppa?”

“Yes, oppa. Next to him is grandpa.”

“Ah, the Duke is mister, I am oppa, and James is grandpa?”

Soon, the smiles disappeared from Terrence and James’ faces. Instead, only Luke laughed, clutching his stomach as if he was about to die.

Clang! Terrence struck the plate with his fork, and Luke, who had been laughing without a care, stopped laughing abruptly. Soon, the servants came in with the food.

“Well, Chanele will be living with me from now on. Um, as you can see, she is a friend whose mind hasn’t fully matured, so her speech may be awkward and frustrating. Please embrace her with open hearts.”

Everyone nodded at Leah’s words. But Luke said in an excited tone,

“Chanele seems to have a very accurate eye for people.”

“Shut up and eat your food!”

Terrence glared at Luke fiercely.

“How can I eat my food with my mouth shut?”

“Mi….”

Terrence almost cursed at the annoying Luke.

‘Mi.ster? Is that how I look?’

He must have aged faster because he had suffered so much lately. Terrence ate his food silently.

“I will go to the barber shop tomorrow to shave and dye my hair, please understand even if I am not here in the morning, Duke.”

James said, chewing on the meat. It seemed that growing a mustache and sideburns was the cause.

“Yes, dye it and come back looking very young.”

‘Should I go with him? But I’m only twenty-five years old.’

Leah was restless, finding the cold mealtime difficult. She should refrain from eating together in the future.

‘I need to ease Terrence’s mind.’

At this rate, a lump of meat would get stuck in her chest.

“Still, in my eyes, you are the youngest and most handsome, Chanele.”

Leah said loudly, as if for Terrence to hear.

She hoped that her words would ease his upset feelings.

In fact, Terrence was young but exuded a completely different atmosphere from the immature men of the same age. He was always serious and mature.

So, there was no way he would look like an oppa to Chanele. Terrence’s lips twitched at her compliment.

‘Thank goodness.’

“Sister is right, that mister is the most handsome.”

“Huh?”

‘She could have left out the mister part.’

In that instant, Pauline, who had been holding back well, couldn’t suppress her laughter any longer and ran out of the dining room. It looked like she was leaving to laugh to her heart’s content.

But Chanele didn’t stop there.

“Mister, don’t worry. Grace sister will like mister a lot in the future.”

Everyone was surprised. Leah thought that Chanele’s prediction had come out again.

This time, Leah couldn’t raise her head, looking embarrassed. Only then did Terrence’s face, which had been as cold as ice, begin to soften.

“Sister, you need to make a lot of money. That way, you can meet your dad later.”

Chanele said casually, putting a piece of meat in her mouth.

‘Was this it?’

Terrence carefully examined Chanele, who was chewing meat with her mouth full.

The mystical aura he felt from her. He had heard that gypsies had been doing astrology since ancient times, and some had the ability to see the future.

‘A strange object has entered my house.’

Terrence chuckled as he looked at Chanele. If Grace liked him, he couldn’t ask for anything more.

“Chanele, what kind of woman will oppa marry?”

Luke asked in a gentle voice.

“Oppa… um, will marry me.”

“What?”

“Pfft!”

Terrence and James simultaneously spat out the water they had in their mouths.

He hurriedly wiped his mouth with a napkin and smiled very contentedly. He finally felt relieved and in a good mood.

‘It’s noisy, like a house where people live.’

Terrence was experiencing this atmosphere for the first time. But he quite liked it.

He had always sat alone at a long table to eat, but eating with such commotion wasn’t bad either.

* * *

Chanele completed all the ordered lace in just one month. The orders had very diverse requests. Scarves, clothes, shawls, bonnets, etc., the types of items they wanted were also diverse.

Yet, Chanele made them very easily, and Leah and Pauline neatly packaged them in boxes and even delivered them by messenger.

As Pauline said, they stamped a trademark on the front of the box that contained the meaning of Chanele’s items.

“Chanele, the profits are divided into 70% and 30%, and I’ve put them in your bank account. Of course, you get 70%.”

“Okay, sister.”

Chanele didn’t seem very interested in money. She would soon earn more money. Because Chanele’s lace would be sold at Hamilton’s General Store.

The management of the general store would be handled by Rapa and his brothers, as well as his subordinates.

And they decided to give a portion of the profits from the general store.

‘Soon, the whole of Lebon will hear about it. Then, orders will come in from Galdenia as well.’

She used the highest quality thread and knitted the lace with her own unique technique. So, Chanele’s lace would soon become a luxury item.

‘The social season is coming soon in Galdenia.’

That meant it was peak season. Before that, she first had to make Chanele’s lace the dream of all women in Rubec, not just the noble ladies.

Chanele’s lace had to become an item that every woman wanted to own.

‘Should I bother getting a store in Lebon?’

More than anything, it was better to keep the seller unknown. Nobles bought precious items for money, but they looked down on handicrafts themselves.

It was an essential virtue and hobby for noble ladies to embroider and knit lace in their spare time, but they denigrated those who made money from it as merchants.

‘I’m okay, but Grace and Terrence’s reputation will be tarnished.’

No, she had already taken over Hamilton’s General Store in Galdenia, so she had to open the first branch in Lebon as well. That way, she could scratch Allen’s itch a little.

She needed someone who could do the dirty and difficult work without hesitation. In that moment, one person came to Leah’s mind.

‘There’s Grandpa Rapa!’