Revenge Costs Interest [EN]: Chapter 42

42. Something Not Mine

2023.09.11.

Leah rushed to Terrence’s bedroom.

‘Terrence sick, too?’

She had always thought of him as steadfast, different from ordinary people. She believed he wouldn’t get sick easily, wouldn’t collapse.

But to be so ill that he couldn’t eat and had a high fever.

It was clear he was still struggling with the wounds of war. Leah burst into the room without even knocking, shouting.

“Terrence!”

When she opened the door, Luke was nursing Terrence. Having only heard about his condition, actually seeing him lying in bed was a great shock.

“Are you… in pain?”

His face was pale from suffering.

“Grace.”

Terrence called her in a weak voice. Leah immediately unleashed a torrent of nagging at Luke.

“Luke, how long has Terrence been like this? Did you call Dr. Wilson? No, if someone is in this condition, shouldn’t you have taken him to the hospital? Why are you only telling me now?”

Leah rushed at him, not giving him a chance to answer.

“Well, the Duke told me not to make a fuss.”

“Ugh! I’m so upset!”

Leah couldn’t easily accept that Terrence was sick.

She acted erratically, half out of her mind, and trembled like an aspen.

“Miss, please calm down. He will get better soon if he takes the medicine. He has been overworking lately,” Luke said, barely suppressing a smile, as he tried to soothe Leah.

*That’s right, the ‘appeal to sympathy’ tactic couldn’t possibly fail. Terrence must be secretly thrilled inside right now.*

“Give me the medicine, I’ll take care of Terrence.”

Leah sobbed. It seemed the root cause was that she had pushed Terrence too hard that day.

She regretted only saying what she wanted to say and not properly listening to him.

She couldn’t deny that Terrence liked her, but she had only ended up venting her inferiority complex about the Empress on him.

So she felt even more sorry for Terrence. She should have resolved it through conversation like an adult, instead of getting excited like a child.

“The medicine?”

*There’s no such thing.*

Luke was embarrassed. He had only created the situation plausibly, but he hadn’t prepared a medicine bottle next to the bed.

“I’ll go get the medicine.”

Luke quickly left the bedroom. Leah sat down beside Terrence and took his hand.

“I’m okay.”

Terrence comforted her in a weak tone. But inside, he couldn’t be happier. She had come running at the news that he was sick.

*Indeed, Luke was right about everything. Grace still had feelings for him. Now that the complicated conflict was resolved, his heart felt much lighter.*

*You look so beautiful when you’re teary because of me.*

“I’m sorry, I pushed you too hard.”

Leah held his hand tightly and apologized.

He must have had his own thoughts. She had suspected and concluded first, and even gotten angry.

“I mean, Grace…”

Terrence was about to explain to Grace. Just then, the door opened, and Luke rushed back into the bedroom.

“Miss, I brought the medicine.”

“Is it a fever reducer?”

“Probably.”

When he opened the medicine cabinet, there were so many medicines in similar brown bottles that it was hard to find one quickly.

Since there was no easy-to-find fever reducer, he had brought the sleep aid recommended by the head maid.

She said that water boiled with Zizyphus jujuba seeds [jujube dates], dried chrysanthemum flowers, lotus seeds, and lavender was milder and more effective than Dr. Wilson’s medicine.

It was immediately effective for relieving fatigue, so it would be okay to take it when pretending to be sick.

“It’s… a sedative.”

Leah immediately placed her hand on Terrence’s forehead and nodded.

“The fever has gone down. It will be much better if you take a sedative.”

She took the medicine bottle and spoon from Luke.

“I’ll be on my way then.”

Luke tactfully left the scene. Now that he had done his part, all that was left was for the two of them to reconcile.

Leah helped Terrence sit up in bed.

“Take your medicine and get a good night’s sleep.”

“I have something to say to Grace, rather than medicine.”

“No, later.”

Leah was firm. But Terrence thought that explaining things when Grace’s emotions were softened was the right time.

Terrence was about to open his mouth, thinking this was the time.

“Ugh… !”

Leah poured the medicine onto a spoon and put it in his mouth. But was the smell of the sedative always this bad?

*They say good medicine tastes bitter.*

“Cough, cough.”

*What is this, water that’s been used to mop the floor?*

Terrence had never tasted such a disgusting medicine in his life. He choked as he forced himself to swallow it, coughing incessantly.

“Are you okay? You have to eat it even if it’s bitter.”

Leah scooped another spoonful of medicine and put it right into Terrence’s mouth.

“Ugh… !”

Terrence forced himself to swallow the medicine. He couldn’t spit it out like a child. However, he couldn’t help but feel nauseous, coughing incessantly.

“I… have something to say, Grace.”

“Yes, you’ve finished your medicine. Go ahead.”

He couldn’t speak properly because he was so badly choked by the bitter medicine. Still, he seemed anxious, grabbing Leah’s shoulders and showing a serious attitude.

“Me and Vi… Vivian are…”

“Yes.”

“Cough, cough! I… actually like Vivian a lot…”

Leah handed him water, hoping it would help him rinse his mouth.

However, Terrence’s condition did not improve much even after drinking water.

“Vivian and I… have known each other since we were young, cough, cough.”

He didn’t have to say everything if it was so difficult.

At that moment, Leah thought he was waiting for a crucial opportunity to tell her everything.

What kind of feelings he had for the Empress. But it wasn’t easy to listen.

Because Terrence was constantly calling the Empress ‘Vivian’ with affection.

*They liked each other?*

“When I meet Vivian, cough, cough!”

*He wants to meet her?*

“There’s something I really want to say, cough, cough!”

*Is he going to confess?*

“I’m going to go to Vivian and say it, cough!”

“Stop it!”

Leah understood what he was trying to say. Even in a difficult situation where he was choking, he was looking for Vivian and saying he had something to say.

Leah now felt like the tangled thread was unraveling.

Terrence had liked the Empress terribly since he was young and even tried to get engaged, but it fell through. Later, he got engaged to Grace, but he had no affection for her.

*Is it because my current appearance is similar to the Empress that Terrence showed interest?*

The old Grace had the opposite tendencies to the Empress.

She suspected that he was trying to find the appearance of his first love in the changed Grace.

*The feelings I felt from Terrence were all a delusion.*

The person he really had in mind was in the Imperial Palace.

His old feelings must have been revived when he met her again. So even though he was sick and in pain, he kept trying to talk about his relationship with her.

At first, she thought Terrence was trying to explain that he wasn’t like that with the Empress. But the more she listened to him, the more frustrated she felt.

Leah brought a clean towel and wiped around his mouth.

“Sleep, I’ll be back.”

*Where are you going, leaving me behind?*

Terrence was horrified by the pale hardening of Grace’s complexion.

It seemed like she was misunderstanding him again. But why was he so sleepy? His strength drained from his body, and his eyes closed.

Terrence tried hard to come to his senses and grab Grace, but he lost consciousness due to the sleepiness that weighed down on his body.

*He fell asleep.*

Leah covered the sleeping Terrence with a blanket and quietly left his bedroom.

* * *

Leah headed to the Imperial Palace with Pauline.

“Is that true?”

Pauline couldn’t believe it even after hearing Grace’s words. Terrence desperately searched for the Empress even while he was sick.

“He said he has something to say.”

“Miss, are you going to ask the Empress to come to the Duke’s residence?”

“Yes. Because Terrence desperately wants it.”

“Yes?”

Pauline kept tilting her head. She felt like something was going wrong.

It was too strange that the Empress suddenly became the topic of conversation between the two.

Terrence had never mentioned the Empress before. Rather, his interest in Grace had grown.

“I heard it clearly. Terrence said that he liked the Empress since he was young and that there was something he wanted to say when he met her.”

Of course, he didn’t say it in a continuous sentence like this. But you’d have to be an idiot not to understand the meaning of the short words.

Finally, they arrived at the Imperial Palace.

*I’m not real anyway. Grace is just a stranger who can’t fill the Empress’s void.*

So she wasn’t in a position to complain to Terrence.

*Leah Hamilton, is this the time for you to indulge in luxuries like love or misunderstanding?*

She blamed herself for temporarily forgetting her goal. Just because she was in Grace’s body didn’t mean she was the real her.

*It’s not mine. Don’t be greedy.*

From the beginning, Terrence was not her man. But living as Grace, she got confused and wandered for a while.

It was better this way. She repeatedly vowed that love was not something she could afford.

Leah got out of the carriage with Pauline and headed to the Empress’s Palace.

Her heart ached with the misery that washed over her with each step she took. It seemed she liked Terrence more than she had expected.

* * *

Terrence woke up at five in the evening. He must have fainted from the shock after eating that disgusting medicine. But he saw a woman’s figure in front of him.

“Grace?”

Terrence got up from his seat, rubbed his eyes, and asked. But it wasn’t Grace’s scent. An unfamiliar feeling and a strong rose scent stung his nose.

“Why is the Empress here?”

He looked at the Empress who appeared in front of him with a bewildered expression. No, where did Grace go?

“Duke Courtois, no, let’s talk comfortably since it’s just the two of us.”

The Empress looked at Terrence with her arms crossed.

“Yes?”

“Hey! You stupid bastard!”

The Empress shouted at Terrence.