Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 34

34. Love Requires Effort (34/200)

September 3, 2023

When Leah woke up, she was in Terrence’s arms. She was surprised by her own calmness, having slept in his arms until morning.

‘Shouldn’t my heart be pounding, keeping me awake in a situation like this?’ she wondered.

“Are you awake?”

Terrence’s deep, husky voice was pleasant to hear.

“Did you sleep well…?”

Leah felt embarrassed as she spoke. Dark shadows were clearly visible under his eyes. It seemed he had been the one tossing and turning instead of her.

“Grace, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Do you think I’m a man to Grace?”

“Of… course.”

She knew all too well what he meant by that question.

‘How could she sleep so peacefully in the same bed with a man?’

“I don’t think so?”

“How can that be?”

She might have thought he was impotent once, but now that she knew he was a perfectly healthy man, the fact that she was so indifferent might mean she was a bit dense.

“You were grinding your teeth, snoring, and talking in your sleep in my arms.”

“Pardon?”

Leah jumped up in surprise.

“Lies!”

“I didn’t get a wink of sleep.”

“Oh, my! How absurd! I sleep so quietly, not even making a peep, like a baby bird!”

“You were quite the baby bird? More like an eagle.”

Leah was flustered by Terrence’s words and could only stammer. What lady grinds her teeth, snores, and talks in her sleep?

‘If it were true, it would be utterly mortifying,’ she thought.

“I’m leaving.”

As Leah was on the verge of tears, Terrence grabbed her hand.

“I’m just kidding.”

He shouldn’t make such jokes so carelessly.

She didn’t know Terrence had such a mischievous side. Didn’t he know it was a very damaging prank to play on a lady?

‘Ugh! I want to punch him,’ she thought.

Leah’s fists trembled. Then, she quietly reflected on her sleeping habits. Perhaps Terrence was right.

‘If it’s true, I’ll be too ashamed to live. I’d rather die.’

“Grace, you should respect me from now on.”

‘What is he talking about?’

He smiled, using his arms as a pillow, as Leah gave him a bewildered look.

“It takes extraordinary patience for a predator not to devour a rabbit he keeps by his side.”

Terrence looked at Grace with a burning gaze. Did she know how much he had endured all night?

She was a fatal woman who was pretty when she smiled, pitiful when she cried, and alluring when disheveled. She didn’t realize it and acted without hesitation, which only stimulated a man’s desire even more.

“Was I really that bad in my sleep?”

Leah asked cautiously.

Perhaps he was just saying it as a courtesy. Then Terrence got up, touched Grace’s cheek, and whispered.

“You were lovely. Like a baby bird.”

How adorable she was, curled up in his arms, never leaving his side.

Her breathing was so faint that he had to put his finger to her nose several times. He was also annoyed that she was just sleeping.

However, on the other hand, he felt good that Grace wasn’t wary of him.

Even though they hadn’t done anything all night, he somehow felt certain. It was clear that they had developed a sense of intimacy.

“I’ll wait until Grace is ready. But…”

His lips lightly touched Leah’s.

“Don’t refuse to hold hands or kiss.”

“Yes.”

“But don’t leave me as a starving beast either. Men don’t have much patience, you know.”

Leah’s heart was racing as if it were broken. She had never heard such words from Allen.

‘So this is what a man says when he really wants a woman,’ she thought.

Allen often said she was beautiful and lovely, but all he did was kiss her.

He didn’t come any closer, so she thought he was trying to protect her until they got married.

She was even touched that he was the only man who hadn’t been corrupted, not knowing that he was having wild nights with Sarah behind her back.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“I’ll try.”

‘Love seems to require effort too,’ she mused.

For now, that was all she could say to him.

She also hoped that she could completely shake off the hurt and fear that Allen had given her.

So she wanted to love Terrence without any fear.

It was just frustrating that it wasn’t as easy as she wanted it to be.

Terrence felt a surge of desire at her hesitant, girlish appearance. He needed to calm down so she would be safe with him.

‘I deserve to be punished,’ he thought.

Terrence considered it the price for his past indifference to Grace. But he didn’t know Grace’s true worth back then.

He was surprised himself. She was the same woman, but he felt a thrill that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Or it was like a brooch he had always worn on his chest, but he realized its value late and cherished it more.

To Terrence, Grace, who was standing in front of him now, was someone he wanted to see even though he was already seeing her. Like an unfulfilled hunger, he felt a thirst for her.

“The next time Grace comes to my bedroom, it will be different from last night…”

Leah quickly reached out and stopped his lips with her finger.

“I know, I’ll try to only keep Terrence in my heart.”

She was sincere. She knew Terrence’s impatience to keep checking. She had experienced it too.

The old Leah had been like that with Allen. Once her complicated feelings were sorted out, she wouldn’t back down anymore.

“We’re engaged. So, don’t be anxious.”

Terrence flinched as if Grace had hit him right on the mark. He seemed to have been caught being impatient to possess everything about her.

“I’ll go back to my room now.”

Leah kissed the back of Terrence’s hand and moved away from the bed.

‘You said you’d try?’

Then shouldn’t she at least kiss him on the lips? Terrence quickly reached out, but only clenched his empty hand towards Grace’s retreating figure as she skipped away.

* * *

Chanel was playing on the swing in the garden. She wanted to knit more lace, but Pauline wouldn’t let her work, saying she needed to play sometimes.

Not only that, but she would take her to the general store whenever she wanted to see her grandfather, which was so great.

Just then, a maid she had never seen before approached from across the way.

“Hello, are you having fun on the swing?”

She was a woman with black hair and a pointed chin.

“Yes, it’s fun.”

“Um, do you want to eat this?”

The maid took out a lollipop from her apron pocket and handed it to Chanel.

“Pauline told me not to take things from strangers. She said I’d be a fool if I did.”

“My name is Nancy. I’m an employee working at the estate. We live in the same house, so I’m not a stranger.”

“Ah, okay!”

Chanel readily took the lollipop Nancy gave her and put it in her mouth.

“How old are you?”

“I’m twenty.”

‘I heard the child was a bit slow, and it’s true. Her speech is slurred too,’ Nancy thought.

“I heard you’re really good at knitting lace, is that right?”

“Yes.”

“Did you knit Miss Grace’s clothes too?”

“I knitted them.”

Nancy kept grilling Chanel. She had heard roughly that there was a skilled lace maker at the estate.

But a while ago, her uncle came and gave her silver coins, telling her to find out about Chanel. He said he would give her a generous reward the more information she found out.

‘[Uncle, what are you going to do with that information?]’ Nancy had asked.

‘[Well, I’m just curious that there’s a craftsman who knits such high-quality lace. If my daughter learns that skill, she can make a living,]’ he’d replied.

Her uncle’s situation wasn’t good either, but she didn’t like that he was paying attention to Chanel, even giving her silver coins.

But it made sense. If she learned how to knit lace from Chanel, she wouldn’t have to worry about money for the rest of her life.

“Chanel, where are you from?”

Nancy asked the most important question. Judging by her appearance, she wasn’t a noble, but a commoner or had worked in a lace workshop for a long time.

“I came from Grandpa Rapa’s house?”

‘Rapa is that gypsy group that smuggles and commits violence?’ Nancy wondered.

“Chanel, are you a gypsy?”

“Yes.”

Nancy hadn’t expected that. For a noble lady to keep a gypsy by her side. If the rumors spread, she would be the talk of the town.

She had gotten a great piece of information. Nancy smiled contentedly and got up from her seat. She could get a few more silver coins from her uncle with this.

Nancy was about to turn around after finishing her business.

“Sister, we’re in trouble?”

Nancy didn’t realize she was talking to her, but turned to Chanel just in case.

“Are you talking to me?”

“Yes. You’re unlucky.”

“What?”

Her eyes, smeared with red candy water around her mouth, seemed to see right through her, giving her goosebumps.

‘Gypsies are ominous after all. Ugh! I feel bad,’ Nancy thought.

Nancy turned around as she was.

* * *

Allen cheered as he read the letter from Lübeck. It was a bigger harvest than he had expected.

That the woman who knitted that amazing lace was a gypsy. And he couldn’t have imagined that she was the granddaughter of that damn old man.

‘She’s really rock bottom. A vulgar and base gypsy mocked the nobles?’ he thought.

There were plenty of ways to ruin the Lübeck general store without having to pay more money to bring her in.

It was also a golden opportunity to plummet Terrence’s reputation.

‘And she’s a gypsy who’s not even mentally sound. Tsk, tsk,’ he mused.

The lace made by Rapa’s granddaughter was no different from the goods they smuggled.

Luxury goods, my foot! The noble ladies would be horrified if they knew this.

‘Did the Empress of Lübeck buy the lace too?’

Everyone was being deceived by Terrence’s trickery without even knowing it. He had to bring them down in one fell swoop.

In a few days, everyone would be shocked when the article appeared in the newspaper.

‘They even sold it to the provinces by mail, so the general store will be ruined if they have to give refunds,’ he thought.

But whoever came up with the idea of mail order was brilliant.

And the newspaper ads too. Even if consumers were reluctant at first, they would know that there was no easier way to buy things than if the items they received were good.

Moreover, people could buy trendy items from the capital even if they lived in remote rural areas, so it was easy for people to open their wallets.

‘First, I need to destroy Hamilton’s general store, and then I need to recover it,’ he planned.

He had to change the name and do mail order properly.

Then suddenly, Grace came to Allen’s mind. When he thought of the lace, he wondered if it was her choice.

‘She looked like a complete airhead, but did she have that kind of brain?’

It was something Leah would have done if she were alive. She was very clever, just like her father.

Moreover, she had been watching business since she was a child, so she had a very keen eye for good products.

It was not easy to have such business acumen unless you had experienced it firsthand since childhood like Leah.

‘Leah is dead.’

Allen shuddered at the thought of Leah even for a moment.

‘A beautiful noble woman with a good family like Grace suits me,’ he thought.

He had to take Grace from Terrence Courtois, that arrogant bastard, and make her his woman.